That Elmo example made me laugh. I see the same thing with how universally liked cute stickers are in my classes. Funnily, som boys will be at a certain age when a kawaii animal sticker will disgust them, but a smiling notepad will be just fine.toriver said:Ah, sorry I misunderstood you. But yeah, I agree with you on that point too. I think a lot of it has to do with the current perception of the Wii and its marketing towards younger gamers. I think, too, that Nintendo is also shifting its marketing further "east", if you will. As I am sure both you and I know (being that we both live here), "cuteness" has been a big part of Japanese pop culture for a while now, and having things be "cute" helps sell things in Japan to both children and young adults. Even the toughest of 12-year-old boys here has a soft spot for Pikachu and Piplup. One of the funniest things I've seen here was a Sports Day banner for my elementary school's Red Team featuring Elmo with his fist raised surrounded by fire. They thought it was "tough" but you would get laughed out of the competition in America with that as your flag. It's the whole American Kirby Is Hardcore [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmericanKirbyIsHardcore] trope. It doesn't have to feature buff guys with guns or a zombie apocalypse to be considered "tough" and fun.
WARNING: American Kirby is Hardcore link is TVTropes! Click at your own risk!
kinda the same, i do play online but the main drive is the story... yet I got grouper?!JUMBO PALACE said:I got "the grouper" but that isn't me at all. I rarely play multiplayer and most of my interest is in a game's story.