Nintendo’s relationship with the older demographic continues to be worthwhile for the gaming company, since Nintendo Wii will be a highly visible part of the 2011 Life@50+ National Event & Expo. Hosted by AARP and in Los Angeles this year, the event opens on Sept. 21.
It’s a return engagement for Nintendo. Seniors have responded well to the social and physically active Wii gameplay style, as Nintendo reports, with the console and motion controllers finding a home in physical therapy sessions and assisted living facilities as well as in private households.
Nintendo will have hands-on demos of Wii Play: Motion, Wii Sports and Wii Fit Plus, in addition to a “block party” with live music, food and wine.
The Wii console broke barriers when it consciously addressed consumers who had never before played a video game and introduced gaming controlled with physical motion. It was a smart move, since about a third of the U.S. population is 50 or older and collectively has more than $3 trillion in disposable income, according to AARP. Combine that with the realization that people nearing 40 have never lived in a world without video game consoles, along with other factoids like the average age of a gamer is 37, and it makes a lot of sense for Nintendo to continue courting AARP’s constituency.
Related Links:
Life@50+ National Event & Expo – http://tinyurl.com/46a76ed
Photo courtesy of flickr user Tom Newby, used under Creative Commons license
Infographics courtesy of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA):
