Nintendo's First Girl Game On Wii - Will Pikmin Be Successful?

Nintendo thinks the market is saturated enough to release their first game for girls, Pikmin

For a quick refresher course they also did this on the DS with Super Princess Peach. It sold modestly well (for first party) moving 1 and a quarter million units in under 4 years. Now Nintendo is going that route with the Wii. They have their first girl game set for launch hoping to grab onto a large demographic on the Wii, girls who play games.

On the Wii they might be a little more cautious because instead of Pikmin 3 we're seeing a rehash of Pikmin 1 with new controls. Nintendo is not risking as much this time around spending little money for this test.

This could be due to a few factors....

The idea that a game is for girls might push away some users who aren't willing to deal with the stigma of buying "a game for girls"

Games aimed at girls usually are toned down. Princess Peach did not offer the same complexity and challenge that Super Mario games offer. Will gamers not want to have a watered down experience and instead pick up Overlord on the Wii which is Pikmin aimed at a more experienced audience?

Nintendo has tried to appeal to girls on the Wii for a while now. Animal Crossing ads showed girls who lay out in the beach house without a care in the world except taking care of the daily workings in their town. Animal Crossing wasn't developed for girls but it was still pushed on them. So far as to have two girls seemingly talk on the phone before you knew it was Wii Speak.

Pikmin on the other hand is a Nintendo franchise that's been built for girls since the reaction to the first in the series. As we see in this quote...

Since a number of female users were also enjoying playing with the original Pikmin, it is well suited to the expanded gaming audience on Wii

We now know that Nintendo is going to try to attract girls with Pikmin. There's talk of new games for both of their platforms hoping to entice more girls to buy games. They are being designed to attact that demographic.

I was watching Good Morning Japan and they were talking about Pikmin. He said that Pikmin ties into the female instinct to nurture and care for things. The girls may have a natural instinct for taking care of the Pikmin in the game. He said that this "motherly instinct" may be what connects the title with girls.

He also said that in Japan most of the plushies and other Pikmin related material has been purchased either by the girls themselves or for a girl.

What do you think? Will the stigma of a "game for girls" stop the overall audience from buying Pikmin just like how the overall public doesn't buy Imagine Figure Skater?

This won't end well.

This won't end well.

_BlueDuck_

If I may ask a side question. Why is Pikmin considered a "game for girls"?

If I may ask a side question. Why is Pikmin considered a "game for girls"?

everlong12

Guys, he's not trolling. It's obvious that he's given this mountains of thought and has brought forth tons of evidence to support his claim.

[QUOTE="everlong12"]

If I may ask a side question. Why is Pikmin considered a "game for girls"?

Darth_Nater307

If I may ask a side question. Why is Pikmin considered a "game for girls"?

everlong12

Well Nintendo sees girls drawn to the title but they didn't give the reasons

The person on Good Morning Japan said it's because the game ties in with the "motherly instinct"

I think males are still going to buy the game. It's a first party Nintendo Game, and the first to come out this year. Wii owners will gobble it up real fast, stigma or not. So what if it's for girls? Most people will deny it whether they believe it or not. I'm curious to see where this discussion leads.evrdayblues

Yes but Princess Peach had that going for it too.

I don't care what's for girl or what's for boys

I bought Super Princess Peach and had fun with it. When I was at the counter the clerk actually made sure I wanted it.

[QUOTE="evrdayblues"]I think males are still going to buy the game. It's a first party Nintendo Game, and the first to come out this year. Wii owners will gobble it up real fast, stigma or not. So what if it's for girls? Most people will deny it whether they believe it or not. I'm curious to see where this discussion leads.Jaysonguy

Yes but Princess Peach had that going for it too.

I don't care what's for girl or what's for boys

I bought Super Princess Peach and had fun with it. When I was at the counter the clerk actually made sure I wanted it.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

really?

I think that is not that is consider a "girl game"is that it was liked by female audience, so they are "hiting" this audience. I guess that if it were a complete girl game, I`ll be all over it.. and I personally do not like it. Thus I have not try it again, nor I think I willchang_1910

well if it attracts more gamers, then good! female or male, they are "remaking" pikmin for those who missed it on the gamecube right?

[QUOTE="everlong12"]

If I may ask a side question. Why is Pikmin considered a "game for girls"?

Jaysonguy

Well Nintendo sees girls drawn to the title but they didn't give the reasons

The person on Good Morning Japan said it's because the game ties in with the "motherly instinct"

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="evrdayblues"]I think males are still going to buy the game. It's a first party Nintendo Game, and the first to come out this year. Wii owners will gobble it up real fast, stigma or not. So what if it's for girls? Most people will deny it whether they believe it or not. I'm curious to see where this discussion leads.evrdayblues

Yes but Princess Peach had that going for it too.

I don't care what's for girl or what's for boys

I bought Super Princess Peach and had fun with it. When I was at the counter the clerk actually made sure I wanted it.

Well it was released here in 2006 and late 2005 in Japan. It had about maybe 65 million DSLite's around the globe by then?
And Nintendo was still pumping out DS titles like crazy then.

Maybe Pikmin will buck the trend because there's not a girl on the cover?

Mario was also on the cover of Princess Peach but it also had a girl in a big pink dress. Pikmin aren't really "girly"

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="everlong12"]

If I may ask a side question. Why is Pikmin considered a "game for girls"?

metroidfood

Well Nintendo sees girls drawn to the title but they didn't give the reasons

The person on Good Morning Japan said it's because the game ties in with the "motherly instinct"

That's what I'm thinking too lol

I think he means more along the fact that you're supposed to keep as many safe as you can to accomplish all your objectives

suicide missions eh? I may be a girl, but I'd rather send a little pikmin off on a suicide mission than act motherly towards it :twisted:

Well, from the responses so far, I'd say it's obvious that Pikmin has not developed a 'stigma' (not the most flattering choice of words for game-playing females, btw) as a 'game for girls' regardless of what Nintendo's intentions may have been.

[QUOTE="chang_1910"] I think that is not that is consider a "girl game"is that it was liked by female audience, so they are "hiting" this audience. I guess that if it were a complete girl game, I`ll be all over it.. and I personally do not like it. Thus I have not try it again, nor I think I willclicketyclick

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ...and here I was thinking that I`m just do not like strategic game...

suicide missions eh? I may be a girl, but I'd rather send a little pikmin off on a suicide mission than act motherly towards it :twistedfluffy_kins

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ...and here I was thinking that I`m just do not like strategic game...

chang_1910

[QUOTE="everlong12"]

If I may ask a side question. Why is Pikmin considered a "game for girls"?

Jaysonguy

Well Nintendo sees girls drawn to the title but they didn't give the reasons

The person on Good Morning Japan said it's because the game ties in with the "motherly instinct"

There is no such thing as a game for girls, or a game for boys either.

From what I remember, all of my friend that enjoyed Pikmin are men.

Just because lots of girls happen to buy Pikmin, doesn't make it a girl's game.

Maybe you will call Brawl a girl's game if alot of girls happen to buy it.

[QUOTE="chang_1910"]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ...and here I was thinking that I`m just do not like strategic game...

clicketyclick

It's not sexism, it's instinct!

[QUOTE="chang_1910"]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ...and here I was thinking that I`m just do not like strategic game...

clicketyclick

Pikmin on the other hand is a Nintendo franchise that's built for girls. As we see in this quote...

Since a number of female users were also enjoying playing with the original Pikmin, it is well suited to the expanded gaming audience on Wii

We now know that Nintendo is going to try to attract girls with Pikmin.Jaysonguy

You're either misusing that quote or misinterpreting it. They didn't design the game for girls.... It just so happens that it attracted a significant female audience; it's not that they designed the game specifically for females. Rather, they designed the game for wide appeal, and looking back, they're trying to decide why the female portion of that wide audience may have been attracted to it. With the remake, he's just pointing out that because it seems to be attractive to females in general, it fits pretty nicely into the Wii's whole "expanded audience" thing.

All this shows is that Nintendo designs its games for a wide audience, which isn't anything new.

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]Pikmin on the other hand is a Nintendo franchise that's built for girls. As we see in this quote...

Since a number of female users were also enjoying playing with the original Pikmin, it is well suited to the expanded gaming audience on Wii

We now know that Nintendo is going to try to attract girls with Pikmin.JordanElek

You're either misusing that quote or misinterpreting it. They didn't design the game for girls.... It just so happens that it attracted a significant female audience; it's not that they designed the game specifically for females. Rather, they designed the game for wide appeal, and looking back, they're trying to decide why the female portion of that wide audience may have been attracted to it. With the remake, he's just pointing out that because it seems to be attractive to females in general, it fits pretty nicely into the Wii's whole "expanded audience" thing.

All this shows is that Nintendo designs its games for a wide audience, which isn't anything new.

No, I'm not saying they designed the first one with girls in mind.

They saw that Pikmin did really well with girls and they've gone in that direction ever since.Even bringing it to the DS because they're hoping to bring it to that audience over there too.

That's why the guy on Good Morning Japan talked about girls and only about girls with Pikmin. Even bringing up how the stuffed novelties associated with the game are selling.

Pikmin is silly putty. Something that did not work as intended but did have a secondary benefit worth taking advantage of.

For some reason the first Pikmin clicked with the female audience, from that point on they've tried to exploit that

[QUOTE="clicketyclick"][QUOTE="chang_1910"]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ...and here I was thinking that I`m just do not like strategic game...

chang_1910

Jaysonguy refuted his argument that Pikmin is a game "for girls".clicketyclick

Nintendo said it's for girls and obviously the journalists in Japan say it's for girls since they did a story on the game that only involved girls

So yeah, I have no idea where you think I'm saying anything against it

JaysonGuy - because any game that does well with females MUST be a game targetted at females!

From now on, the following should be referred to as "girl games":

World of Warcraft

Brain Training

Professor Layton

Mario Kart

Tetris

New York Times Crosswords

New Super Mario Bros

Final Fantasy (pick one)

And lastly, as evidenced by the very avatars in this thread, Madworld.

JaysonGuy - because any game that does well with females MUST be a game targetted at females!

Dingerious

When the company says it's directing them towards girls like Nintendo did here?

Yup

[QUOTE="Dingerious"]

JaysonGuy - because any game that does well with females MUST be a game targetted at females!

Jaysonguy

When the company says it's directing them towards girls like Nintendo did here?

Yup

Oh look at this! It's a quote from the very link you provided:

Pikmin was a very unique and original game already when it was first released on GameCube and, even today, it is very unique. Since a number of female users were also enjoying playing with the original Pikmin, it is well suited to the expanded gaming audience on Wii.Your Own Link

also (adverv) -in addition; too; besides; as well

It pays to read the links you provide.

OMG..I can not believe I`m gonna actually get into this from a serious point of view....

@Jay: if anything is liked by female do not mean that is for females. Why was this game liked so much by females? for the same reason that males did. According to reviews it has a great gameplay, nice graphics and nice story. Dingerous here pointed already what I was going to... FINAL FANTASY... why is this game so loved by females? easy, have a GREAT story with anything you can look into, exc horror. ( :P ) the gameplay is great. The characters are so well develope that make you feel watching a great epic movie and you even have great romance.

Female gamers also like (some love them) horror, action and so on.. But a lot of the female love RPG.. why? for what I ahve explain above. I ahve never play Pikmin, nor I will bc is strategic. But for what I read in reviews and gamers have told me (there was a time that I was into trying the game) this game is pretty much that gerne.

Also.. is not that female like this game more than males (I would said try I poll, but dunno if the ratio F:M in GS would do it) is that when a game is liked by women, the market take notice bc is a way to "expand" or so they think. If Fatal Frame would have had a better market here, I`m pretty sure it would have trigger the same (thus I do not have proof of this, nor have I talk with enough ppl) but I can tell that a lot of female are fans of teh serie, among horror series, FF have pry (again no proof) teh most female audience... Why? again... great story, different gameplay which work great and beautiful enviroment....

hope that helps...

@clicketyclick: aaaawwww.... still no hope for men kind. I`ll let you know when I add you to my wii. and when I find my MKcode I`ll send it to you (assuming you like MK)

Oh look at this! It's a quote from the very link you provided:

[QUOTE="Your Own Link"]Pikmin was a very unique and original game already when it was first released on GameCube and, even today, it is very unique. Since a number of female users were also enjoying playing with the original Pikmin, it is well suited to the expanded gaming audience on Wii.Dingerious

also (adverv) -in addition; too; besides; as well

It pays to read the links you provide.

Yes, that's right, the first one also pulled in a large number of girls

Nintendo was not going to let that slip away and went a certain direction with Pikmin since then

Did you not see where Pikmin was being covered solely from the girl standpoint? Also that merchandise based on the game is selling overwhelmingly in favor of girls?

Pikmin is a game for girls? Ican't remember the last timeI've heard anything so illogical. Nothing in that statement makes any sense.

Pikmin is a game for girls? Ican't remember the last timeI've heard anything so illogical. Nothing in that statement makes any sense.

J_Ford

I'm sorry that an interview with Nintendo and how the game is seen in Japan doesn't make sense to you

[QUOTE="J_Ford"]

Pikmin is a game for girls? Ican't remember the last timeI've heard anything so illogical. Nothing in that statement makes any sense.

Jaysonguy

I'm sorry that an interview with Nintendo and how the game is seen in Japan doesn't make sense to you

Just because Japan see's a certain game one way doesn't mean the rest of the world does.

[QUOTE="clicketyclick"]Jaysonguy refuted his argument that Pikmin is a game "for girls".Jaysonguy

Nintendo said it's for girls and obviously the journalists in Japan say it's for girls since they did a story on the game that only involved girls

So yeah, I have no idea where you think I'm saying anything against it

You're either misusing that quote or misinterpreting it. They didn't design the game for girls.... It just so happens that it attracted a significant female audience; it's not that they designed the game specifically for females. Rather, they designed the game for wide appeal, and looking back, they're trying to decide why the female portion of that wide audience may have been attracted to it. With the remake, he's just pointing out that because it seems to be attractive to females in general, it fits pretty nicely into the Wii's whole "expanded audience" thing.

All this shows is that Nintendo designs its games for a wide audience, which isn't anything new.

JordanElek

No, I'm not saying they designed the first one with girls in mind.

They saw that Pikmin did really well with girls and they've gone in that direction ever since.Even bringing it to the DS because they're hoping to bring it to that audience over there too.Jaysonguy

You might want to make that clearer in your first post, then, since you say this,

Pikmin on the other hand is a Nintendo franchise that's built for girls.Jaysonguy

which makes it seem like you think Pikmin was originally built for girls, when really you mean that Nintendo has focused on the female market with the franchise in more recent years.

In response to that, I don't remember seeing any evidence back in the day that Pikmin 2 was being targeted towards female gamers, and I don't see any of the evidence you've given as supporting the remakes as targeted toward females. Again, they're just saying that it fits nicely into their strategy, so they're predicting that female gamers specifically will be interested in it. Some of the advertising will reflect that, but it won't be advertised exclusively for girls. This is just regular business practice. I don't see anything special here.

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="clicketyclick"]

Nintendo said it's for girls and obviously the journalists in Japan say it's for girls since they did a story on the game that only involved girls

So yeah, I have no idea where you think I'm saying anything against it

clicketyclick

You're either misusing that quote or misinterpreting it. They didn't design the game for girls.... It just so happens that it attracted a significant female audience; it's not that they designed the game specifically for females. Rather, they designed the game for wide appeal, and looking back, they're trying to decide why the female portion of that wide audience may have been attracted to it. With the remake, he's just pointing out that because it seems to be attractive to females in general, it fits pretty nicely into the Wii's whole "expanded audience" thing.

All this shows is that Nintendo designs its games for a wide audience, which isn't anything new.

JordanElek

Yes, I get that part but why do you all miss how it's taken in Japan?

Nintendo has said that since the first Pikmin, even though it did poorly, they saw a chunk of girls attracted to it and have known about that ever since. I gave you the one article that I could remember.

You and Jordan are arguing that Nintendo saw they had a product that had a strong connection with girl gamers and did absolutely nothing with it. They just said "hope this continues" and that was it.

I on the other hand am saying that Nintendo knew what they had, built off of it, and now when it's covered it's done in a way that only talks about the connection to girls.

In response to that, I don't remember seeing any evidence back in the day that Pikmin 2 was being targeted towards female gamers, and I don't see any of the evidence you've given as supporting the remakes as targeted toward females. Again, they're just saying that it fits nicely into their strategy, so they're predicting that female gamers specifically will be interested in it. Some of the advertising will reflect that, but it won't be advertised exclusively for girls. This is just regular business practice. I don't see anything special here.

JordanElek

I edited it, now it rolls off the tongue

Their work though is for the girl side of it.

Like I said up there (with that wonky quote problem the board has now, is that getting fixed anytime soon?) you're saying that Nintendo saw Pikmin had a great connection with girl gamers and just hoped the rest would pan out?

If they made efforts to keep what attracted the female gamers then that's a game aimed at girls.

I can't be the only one who thinks this if the story I saw had the guy talking about girls and the game. I mean I can't even take full credit for all of this because I don't know if I would have been so convinced if I had not seen that story.

[QUOTE="Dingerious"]

Oh look at this! It's a quote from the very link you provided:

[QUOTE="Your Own Link"]

Yes, that's right, the first one also pulled in a large number of girls

Nintendo was not going to let that slip away and went a certain direction with Pikmin since then

Did you not see where Pikmin was being covered solely from the girl standpoint? Also that merchandise based on the game is selling overwhelmingly in favor of girls?

Jaysonguy

And here we are, at full circle:

JaysonGuy - because any game that does well with females MUST be a game targetted at females!Dingerious

EDIT: Here's a better idea. You are making the accusation that Nintendo is making all future iterations of Pikmin targetted at females. I want a quote stating this. I don't want a quote saying "oh, well, it did pretty good with the ladies" or a quote saying "we're hoping girls pick it up, too", I want a quote, from a Nintendo rep, stating that ANY Pikmin game is targetting females.

You made the accusation, the burden of proof is on you.

Like I said up there ... you're saying that Nintendo saw Pikmin had a great connection with girl gamers and just hoped the rest would pan out?

If they made efforts to keep what attracted the female gamers then that's a game aimed at girls.Jaysonguy

There have only been two Pikmin games, and the recent remakes don't have much new content, and I don't see any of the new stuff as relating to gender in any way. The only way for Nintendo to have addressed female gamers with these games is in advertising. Like I said, it's just a good business move to advertise to specific parts of your audience in addition to the general audience, so there isn't much to talk about here (unless you want to tackle the whole "what makes a game 'for girls'" argument that clickety and chang have been poking fun at, which would be extremely interesting).

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]Like I said up there ... you're saying that Nintendo saw Pikmin had a great connection with girl gamers and just hoped the rest would pan out?

If they made efforts to keep what attracted the female gamers then that's a game aimed at girls.JordanElek

:twisted: I think I would enjoy that fun part much more :P

Lets face it when Jaysonguy have something stuck in his head there is nothing that would make him reconsider or even open to a "maybe"... after all he for some reason always ignore some of the post. Maybe mine and some others were just the reason that may make him otherwise.

Some games are just like by female and males, but those like by female ASWELL would make a mark, bc mean more market. Period.

Yes, I get that part but why do you all miss how it's taken in Japan?Nintendo has said that since the first Pikmin, even though it did poorly, they saw a chunk of girls attracted to it and have known about that ever since. I gave you the one article that I could remember. You and Jordan are arguing that Nintendo saw they had a product that had a strong connection with girl gamers and did absolutely nothing with it. They just said "hope this continues" and that was it.I on the other hand am saying that Nintendo knew what they had, built off of it, and now when it's covered it's done in a way that only talks about the connection to girls.Jaysonguy

Lets face it when Jaysonguy have something stuck in his head there is nothing that would make him reconsider or even open to a "maybe"... after all he for some reason always ignore some of the post. Maybe mine and some others were just the reason that may make him otherwise.

chang_1910

He doesn't get random things stuck in his head, it's more like just one thing. Check out his other threads and ask yourself what they all have in common when posted in the wii forums:

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26786021

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26791502

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26762133

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26741184

There's a common theme here if you can spot it.

This stigma will have very little effect on the game's preformance because the genderstigma is something you've personally interpreted from information most people don't know about or would interpret differently than you.

If there's any stigma that hinders Pikmin it would be an age factor, not gender.