Fils-Aime restates Wii's general purpose; do you want your Nintendo back?

Speaking with CNet, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime further clarifies the company line that has been pushed by Nintendo since the announcement and launch of their "new generation" console, the Wii. We all know it by heart now: The Wii is a casual system meant to have the ability to appeal to the masses, not just Nintendo's or the video game market's core audience. Here's a bit of the philosophy Fils-Aime says is behind the Wii:

... First, how do you satisfy the core while still expanding appeal? And second, how do you leverage your strengths against entirely untapped audiences--to the so-called "blue oceans" in popular marketing speak?

The answer by Fils-Aime and Nintendo? 

Provide a new product that actually underperforms on an established industry metric for "progress," and substitute an alternative that typically is smaller, less expensive and easier to use.

And the result is:

It is purposely so simple and intuitive that anyone in a household can use it. It also incorporates functions like a photo browser, an Internet browser, and custom news and weather channels, which lead some people to wonder what these elements have to do with video games.

In all honesty, this begs the question: Do you want your old Nintendo back? Do you want that company that provided the best gameplay experiences with the best technology they could give at the time? Quite simply, is Nintendo alienating their core audience with the Wii? 

[Via Next-Gen]