I like your comparison of Nintendo to Disney, and I think it holds up. That being said, Finding Nemo moved me very deeply. The Wii is the first console system my parents enjoyed playing with my brother and me. If this simple fun could incorporate deeper meaning, the way Pixar and Disney have done in a few of their films, it would be very powerful.

Very true. I was really moved by most of the recent pixar and disney films. Although Disney does own many other more experimental movie studios. The Nintendo Disney comparison I am using is more refering to the audience they are aiming. I really hope to play games with power like American Beauty, Forest Gump and Fight Club...

I completely agree with that. I want games that compare to a Cohen brothers movie, or a piano concerto by Yukio Yokoyama, or a Lucien Freud painting. I think 'depth' is the word. Anything that is made from more of an artistic, experimental, exploring point of view rather than a commercial, lets-face-it-straight-out-propaganda kind of angle.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that. I'm not a great blog reader, but will make a conscious effort to frequent this space.

Interesting post. My experience with the Wii was very different. Every holiday with my family, which includes my parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, basically adds up to a Wii party now. Starting on Thanksgiving everyone got addicted to Wii, especially for Wii Tennis and Wii Bowling. My mother was so addicted that she got a Wii for my family at home. My dad still likes to play tennis and bowling and my mom is really into Elebits. My grandma came over and insisted that I tell her when the Wii was available. She has never in her entire life wanted a gaming console for herself.

Nintendo has always been like Disney. Their marketing strategy has been behind the strength of their franchises even during the NES era. They're a family-friendly brand that tries to appeal to everybody. And just as many adults love Disney, many love Nintendo as well. Games have always been made for adults. Mario is not a "kids-only" game, for example.

And yes, to expand a company must use sub-brands or new brands altogether. Contrary to what you think, ESPN is brand targeted toward "younger" people. It's an adult brand, targeted specifically at males 20 and older (usually through around 45). Disney also owns ABC, which is a standard news station that appeals to a wide variety of people, including the very old.

I think it may be self-defeating or at the least very limiting to compare videogames to movies in terms of how they affect people. They are very different mediums, and they can evoke very different emotions. I've never been as scared watching a movie as I have been playing Fatal Frame 2 or even a Silent Hill game, even if films can be more graphic or visually intricate. I've never felt so rewarded or energetic as I did after knocking out Mike Tyson in Punchout!!

What is the power of American Beauty, or Forrest Gump? Do we really want to replicate that with a videogame? I can think of many games that are more powerful than Fight Club or American Beauty, but they're powerful in different ways.

All entertainment media share a fundamental feature, to make the audience experience sophisticated emotions. Music, TV, novel, movie or games. While the detailed feeling are different based on the sensory available in different media. The general emotions audience went through are identical among the established media.

And people prefer different type of emotions based on their needs when they choose movies, books and games. If you happen to live a boring life and not feeling achieving, you probably prefer fantasy novels, character development based movies or role playing games to make you feel improving after all.

Though video games have a wide varieties of mechanics, the emotions they emphasized are very limited compare with film and TV. If you really want to nail pick on the American Beauty, it's the emotion of self-questioning, though provoking, and value challenging. Forrest Gump has more sophisticated emotions across the entire movie, they are deep, warm, well attached to every American and even people across the globe, it is a crystal of what this country is proud of. I can't list more than 5 games that address these emotions in depth.