Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Hey @Nintendo, why do you still not get it?

When my alarm goes off, I roll out of bed and the iPhone springs to life before my feet have even hit the floor.  I'm checking email, Facebook, Twitter and some games I play.

My very next step is down to the basement where the big TV is and the Wii Fit.

Both devices have a tiled interface, both are persistently connected wirelessly to the internet.  Both have the ability to offer up content to download to the device.

On a very regular basis, the Apple iStore Apps icon has a little number in a red circle on it.  Goody!  Something new.  Some small change to one or more of the apps I've downloaded (hey Apple, when are you going to let Google update the Maps app?!??!!).  Maybe the change is inconsequential and I won't know why it updated.  Or maybe it's some fascinating new change.

First off, why are the simpler Nintendo games not available on the iPhone?  I know, you have a competing product.  But you can get Microsoft Office for the Mac.  Port your old programs and open up for yourself a new revenue stream.

But, more importantly, why doesn't the Wii have an app store?  I know... it has the Internet Channel or whatever it is, but it's not an "app store" - Nintendo needs to open up the platform, get developers on board, offer free and paid games (and get a cut of it).  And if possible, avoid the whole "credits" middle-man scheme.  It's annoying.  (Though I can appreciate why you do it.  But iTunes is international and seems to make currency work instead of inventing their own. Look into it.)

I would definitely use the platform more if I could get simple apps that take advantage of the platform's cool functionality.   Especially if I could press the little round button (hey... they look to be the same size) twice and have it pop back to the home screen while continuing to let me do free step.

But seriously Nintendo,  I don't know what you're working on, but you need to divert a few people over to (a) update the Wii platform's OS code regularly to get people excited about new functionality and (b) fix your app store.

At the end of the night, I'm back on the Wii platform for another hour of Wii Fit, also using my iPhone and/or laptop at the same time.  (Update: Apparently @Nintendo is not a Twitter address.  That's a surprise.  Or maybe it isn't.  C'mon, Nintendo, wake up.)

And a few more blue sky thoughts...

- a little RCA-to-USB plug-in device.  Let me feed my cable box's signal into the Wii and spit me out picture-in-picture.  That would further allow me to use the Wii for multi-taking.
- an iPhone app.  I don't know what for.  As another controller (minus infrared camera) to allow more people to join in on simple games or somehow control the system - or to allow everyone to easily add a keyboard, adding more value to the messaging/email system.

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