Ashish, my friend, bought his first  Xbox 360 console four months ago to play games remotely with his friends. But the 33-year-old project manager now spends more time using it to play movies, television shows and documentaries.

“It’s something that my wife and I can both agree on,” he says, adding that he plays Xbox 360 games only a few times a week—and often only after his wife is asleep. Each night, he and his wife, who live in Bengaluru, spend an hour or two catching up on TV shows with the console. “It’s kind of taken over from our DVD player,” says my friend.

Videogame consoles like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were designed primarily to play games, but the gadgets are increasingly evolving into multimedia home-entertainment devices as manufacturers add nongame features.

Last year, Microsoft and Sony began offering console owners video-watching services—Microsoft through a partnership with Netflix Inc. and Sony through its own service. Microsoft also plans to launch new features on its Xbox Live online service for premium members to stream music, download high-definition movies, and easily access Facebook and Twitter’s social-networking sites. Sony, which tried and failed to market the PS3 as an all-in-one entertainment device when it was introduced three years ago, is giving it another go. The company has also begun offering access to Netflix through the PS3.

Sony, which lets all users surf the Web and manage digital media such as music and photos through the PS3, says those features have become important factors in purchasing decisions by consumers.

Nintendo Co. has been slower to integrate Internet technology and video-downloading services into its Wii console, though it allows all users to surf the Web, share photos and check out news and weather information.

The above piece means a lot of things to a lot of people, I am just intrigued by the short Product Life Cycles in today’s Consumer Electronic industry.  Xbox and PS3, the two athletes in a race of three, today need to reinvent themselves, faster than ever, to be relevant to theirs customers today.

Xbox, Wii, PS3 have traditionally been acknowledged as great consoles and just that. Their Frame of Reference, a concept from the Branding Dictionary, was just great Gaming experience. Today, however, companies are trying to broaden this frame of reference to include all indoor leisure activities like movies, music, facebook, twitter, et al apart from GAMING.

Extending this frame a little more, I think we can use it at hospitals to improve body and mind coordination among people suffering from Neurological disorders. We can also use it to improve dexterity of movements in patients recovering from head injuries.

Am sure, most of you reading this will come up with numerous such suggestions. the ones I’ve shared above are  just off my cuff while writing this piece.

Cheers!

The above piece of information, if true – you are right, I am trying to make another point with this piece – would send shivers down the spine of most of us as Cricket is our Game, though the English invented it.

Now, lets get to the point. The video gaming industry, if I may call so, has evolved from the primitive consoles that I used to hire for rs. 80 a day around 15 years  to the PC Games that caused a wave to the  sophisticated Consoles (XBox/PS3/etc) today. Then, we have a huge bunch of us hooked on the flash games from any one of those numerous free gaming sites today.

However, in the Indian context while the hardcore gamers are aware of what they are actually missing, the flash gamers and the typical “Gaming to kill time” gamers are not even aware that there is a Nintendo Wii apart from Xbox and Sony Play Stations. For the uninitiated, Super Mario Bros is Nintendo’s greatest gift to mankind.

As with computers even gaming has evolved over generations, into its seventh generation gaming consoles are dominated by three names:

• Microsoft Xbox 360 was released on November 22, 2005. The Xbox 360 is capable of outputting 1080p (you can play on your HD TV) through HDMI and component.

• Sony PlayStation 3 was released in Japan on November 11, 2006. The PS3, apart from HDMI support, can also play Blue Ray disks

• Nintendo Wii was released in North America on November 19, 2006. The Wii uses 512 MB of internal Flash memory and includes support for removable SD card storage. Along with its lower price, the Wii is notable for its unique controller, the Wii Remote, which resembles a TV remote. The system utilizes a “sensor bar” that emits infrared light that is detected by an infrared camera in the Wii Remote to determine orientation relative to the source of the light.

Connecting it to the beginning of this blog, other players in the game are Atari Flashback 2, Evo: Phase One, FC Twin, Game Wave, Generation NEX, Mattel HyperScan, The Phantom and Zeebo. The Indian Gamers today are experiencing/playing/indluging only with two of the three dominant players in the world. (Is NINTENDO Listening?)

I have been following Nintendo for sometime now and awaiting its release in India. I feel now is the right time to enter the India Market as Nintendo Wii has been Left Out in the Cold This Holiday Season in its dominant markets. This brand with a rare distinction of being “Recession Proof” in retail circle about a year ago, today, is struggling with Y-o-Y sales down 43% between April to October ’09. The Company has also revised it’s forecast from 26 million units to 20 million units. Analyst feel 20 million could also be a herculean task for Nintendo as it has reached the maturity phase of the Product Life Cycle in most of its markets.

Given this grim outlook, I suggest that Nintendo re-invents itself and starts looking at Inorganic growth. To start with, it can look at expanding into countries like India, which cannot be ignored with more that 50% of the population between the age of 15 and 40 years. In real terms, the market size for Gaming can be a half a billion (now, that is a huge figure) prospective buyers.

With the competition in the Gaming Consoles is a three-way tie between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Nintendo’s future strategy, given its current performance, is incomplete without putting India on its global Footprint.

Two crucial factors for tasting BLOOD in the Indian market is the Right Business Strategy and razor sharp execution of the same. The name NINTENDO (the brand and the innovative games and exciting product portfolio) has already won half the battle. Strategy now boils down to the vision and an urge to bring this superlative Brand and fire it up from all cylinders in the Indian Market. As for the execution, it is the CORE COMPETENCY and the COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE that India prides itself with.

In conclusion, great corporations have risen to such levels not because of its great product or solution, but, because of its great Thought Leadership.