Nintendo
I chose the Nintendo company because I enjoy playing games and Nintendo has the top selling consoles in the world. There games and systems are very unique and they have also been making games for over 30 years.
Technology/Future – Nintendo create gaming consoles and games that are among the best and have been very influential and ground breaking with the use of motion controls in their Nintendo wii console and use of touch screen in the Nintendo ds and the 3d in the Nintendo 3ds that can be seen without glasses.
Space – Global/national – Nintendo is a global company that is the third largest in Japan
Culture – The Nintendo entertainment system was very influential in the 80’s, being very popular even after the game system crash of 77. Because of nintendos influence and their abundance of popular gaming character, Nintendo still have many loyal fans that see’s Nintendo being a big part of gaming culture.
Location - Japan
Production – where/how/why – Made in Japan on production lines to allow for mass production for low production cost.
News – Usually in news for new system releases, recently the Nintendo 3ds
Fashion/Image - Nintendo has always been aimed at not only serious gamers but also casual. It is also very family orientated; because of this, Nintendo has many characters that are cartoonish and colourful. Also there consoles are very sleek and some are colourful.
Consideration of user – Because the Nintendo Wii uses motion controls, a message comes up on games when the user has been using the motion controls for a prolonged time, the message suggests that the user should take a break.
Health – Nintendo warns users of the Nintendo 3ds that the system should not be used by people aged 6 and under. This is because the 3d images can harm the development of young people’s eyes. This could show the lack of care for peoples health over profit that can be made.
Environmental – Nintendo uses less plastic for cases as they put holes in certain places to reduce the amount of plastic used. This could be seen as an environmentally friendly thing to do but could also be simply seen as a way for Nintendo to cut costs on plastic. For shipping packaging they use 80 % recycled paper and for their instruction manuals they use 100% recycled paper.
Education – Nintendo have made several games for education including “Brain train” for the ds and also others on the Wii.
Stigma – Nintendo have a stigma attached to them that they always use the same characters in their games, always rehashing the same basic game only improved, also that they do the same with their handhold systems(there are 5 different version of the ds including the 3ds). I believe the reason for the use of the same charcacters, for instance Mario, a character that was created in the 80s and has been featured in over 200 games, is that it gives their company many mascots and can produce a fan base that buy anything associated with that character. The reason for the many versions of the ds can be seen as a way for Nintendo to make more money, forcing people to buy the latest version. Or it could be seen that the company is constantly trying to improve their consoles and give the customers the choice of buying a slightly better version.
