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A Change of Paint For Nintendo

Posted by Derrick Sanskrit

Industry leader Nintendo has made a lot of changes recently, many for the better from a financial standpoint. Their current handheld, the Nintendo DS, introduced the radical concept of two screens (DS does stand for Dual-Screen, after all), one of which was touch-sensative. Their current home console, the Wii, did away with excessive cords and buttons in favor of a wireless motion-enabled controller. Both are decidedly less-powerful than their competitors' machines. Both introduced methods of play entirely unseen before in mainstream gaming. Both were initially scoffed at as risky gambles and almost certain failures. Both have ushered in a whole new demographic of casual gamers of all ages. Both have been outselling all competition for a long, long time.

And so with all of this innovation and family-friendliness coming from Nintendo and not its rivals, it seems a minor facelift was in order for Nintendo as a corporation. The following press release was sent out recently by Nintendo PR:

Dear Media Partner,

For several years, a new generation of Wii and Nintendo DS games have adorned themselves with a new logo, in discrete grey.

In various publications the former logo, with red lettering, can still be seen. In the event that you have not already done so, we would like to sincerely ask you to now only use the current, gray Nintendo logo.

Yours sincerely,

Your friendly Nintendo PR team.


While I had noticed the gray Nintendo logo on the packaging for my Wii and DS, I had not realized this was an official change. The Nintendo logo sometimes appeared white on black backgrounds, and having a red logo on those pristine white boxes would surely distract from the fashionable product photos. The change to gray certainly made aesthetic sense in those instances, but as a corporate rebranding? I'm not yet sure how I feel about that. The gray logo is decidedly colder and more modern than the classic red, but is that what Nintendo realy wants these days? While the big N has always strived to be all-ages appropriate, they've never succeeded in that goal moreso than in the present. Housewives are playing Wii Fit and Brain Age, grandparents are playing Wii Sports, little kids are playing Mario Kart and Nintendogs. Housewives love little accent colors, grandparents might have a hard time seeing such a subtle gray and kids love bright colors. Okay, those were just stereotypes, but you see what I mean, right? Maybe now is not the best time for corporate subtlety. More people love the Nintendo brand than ever these days. Maybe we shouldn't be trying to have the logo just blend in. What do you guys think?

Related Articles:
Nintendo Might Just Hate You
Why Is Super Mario Bros. Fun?
What Games Actually Appeal To Casual Gamers
Two Years In: The Wii's Feats of Strength and its Disappointments


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Comments

LBD "Nytetrayn" said:

...isn't this just for Europe, though?

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

November 26, 2008 1:03 PM

joel said:

I think that the positioning moves nintendo from the idea of an "entertainment system" to something more of a "lifestyle product." it seems they are taking some hints from Apple's playbook. Very simplified, understated logo with a very strong brand identity that comes through their product design, instead.

A DS is recognizable because it looks different from its competitors. Same with the Wii, and the iphone, by extention.

The challenge would be to create a strong advertising image that is as unified as apple's. From what I remember of Nintendo's advertising, it's usually "flavour of the week stuff" where Apple's has become pretty iconic because they keep very, very tight control over their graphic standards on all mediums.

Both apple and nintendo can do that because they're household names by now.

tl;dr: Recognizable product > Recognizable Logo.

November 26, 2008 6:40 PM

Nemo Incognito said:

That logo isn't the Nintendo I know :(

Is Nintendo really so paranoid about keeping it's lucrative new market that it thinks adult buyers would associate a more colourful logo with "kids games" and get turned away?  That's dumb.

November 26, 2008 6:56 PM

Demaar said:

Not as drastic as ditching the Nintendo brand altogether of course, but I still think this is a bit of a bad idea. I mean, if they want to make themselves look more hip (or whatever), why not redesign the logo altogether? A change of colour doesn't really change anything beyond the aforementioned visibility.

Think about it this way: what is designed to stand out more on a best selling author's covers? The title of the book, or his name?

November 27, 2008 11:36 AM

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

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