(I had a cold and so curled up on the couch like a little baby and thus the hiatus for those who are curious. Now on to the post:)

I played the Wii at a friends house on Saturday. And it is freaking awesome. And it’s shocking that we haven’t seen anything like this sooner. Especially shocking when looked at as a business case.

What makes the Wii great? It’s fun. It’s not that the graphics are stunning (they are good though). It’s not that the gameplay is so sophisticated that you feel like you’re in another world (though the games are engrossing). And it’s not that the games are connected over the Internet and you can play the world (playing the person next to you is fun enough). Those are all the defining characteristics of Sony and Microsoft’s latest systems. The Wii’s games are lighthearted and are unique in that they require a tremendous amount of involvement in aiming, motion, or coordination. They’re challenging, but not annoying. And it is light years different than the fare from Sony and Microsoft.

From a technical perspective the Wii isn’t sophisticated. Do you remember Duck Hunt? That game for the original Nintendo where you shoot a gun at your TV to hunt ducks (hence the name, “Duck Hunt”). The idea of it was to make the game more interactive and engrossing—and did it ever work! That was what—like 15 years ago? The Wii also doesn’t seem to have the latest crazy, ridiculous graphics and processor technology that Xbox 360 and Playstation 2 have. So it’s not the technology that took so long to get to us.

Anyway, the Wii is a business triumph because it represents thinking about delivering a product in a way that’s different than simply matching and/or one-upping the competition. Instead of competing based on using the latest, greatest technology or the most complicated games with incredible amounts of internet connectivity—Nintendo asked “how can we make this game more fun and a totally different experience than the other guys?” And man did they succeed.

Fundamentally, the Wii is a triumph because they redefined the category. And it’s a testament that not every industry is involved in group-think. There’s a great book on how a business can redefine themselves based on factors that competition is ignoring, it’s “Blue Ocean Strategy” and while a little academic, makes for a great book.