BM050-3-3 Individual Assignment Page 1 of 9

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Learning Outcome

The student should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the widely
recognised attributes necessary in developing and successfully commercialising a new product.
Students are also expected to be able to develop coherent lines for argument and provide
solutions to a given innovation management scenarios. Last but not least, students are expected
to be able to apply and evaluate innovation management and new product development
techniques for launch planning, implementation and management.
This in-course individual assignment constitutes 50% of the total course grade and is
broken down into TWO (2) questions attributing 50 marks to each of the total assignment
assessment grade.

Nintendo Wii: A 'Revolution' in Gaming?

In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi (Fusajiro) founded Nintendo Koppai in Kyoto, Japan, to

manufacture special hand-made playing cards called "Hanafuda." In 1907, the company started
manufacturing ordinary playing cards. In 1929, Fusajiro retired and his son-in-law, Sekiryo
Yamauchi (Sekiryo), became the company president.
Nintendo's hand-held game devices were hugely popular and were a major source of
revenue for the company. However, the company's stationary consoles were not as successful. In
fact, Nintendo's console sales declined with the release of every new generation of consoles. In
the 1980s, when Nintendo launched the NES, its only major competitor was Sega Corp. (Sega),
which launched the Sega Master System, a not-too-successful game console. However, in 1991,
when Nintendo launched the SNES in the US, Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis was the most popular
game console in the market. The SNES was not able to dislodge Genesis from its pre-eminent
position, partly because the Genesis, unlike the SNES, offered backward compatibility.
The SNES was also incompatible with several US-made TVs, resulting in image
distortion. This too proved to be a dampener on sales. However, sales of the NES and the hand-
held devices were still strong, which meant that Nintendo was still the biggest player in the
gaming (hardware) industry.
Nintendo, however, soldiered on. Immediately after launching the GameCube, the
company started work on its next console. Initially, Nintendo aimed to make its new console

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Level 3 Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation 201005
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"faster and flashier" so that it displayed great graphics at high speeds. However, one year into the
development of the new console, the company started to rethink its approach.
Faced with rising game console development costs, Nintendo was forced to reconsider
whether it wanted to continue in the race to build consoles which had greater processing speeds
or which supported improved graphics. "Give them (gamers) one, they ask for two. Give them
two, and next time they will ask for five instead of three. Then they want ten, thirty, a hundred;
their desire growing exponentially. Giving in to this will lead us nowhere in the end. I started to
feel unsure about following that path about a year into development," said Genyo Takeda
(Takeda), General Manager, Integrated Research and Development Division, Nintendo. In the
game console industry, it had become an accepted practice for the console manufacturers to lose
money on the hardware and to recover the loss by charging high licensing fees to game
publishers and developers.
With Nintendo's market share falling, industry observers expected it to exit the game
console industry. Nintendo, however, had other plans. In 2004, it announced that it had begun
work on developing a new console. A few months into the development, Nintendo realized that
the continuous technological upgradation in each succeeding generation of consoles was
increasing hardware costs but discouraging innovation in the games industry. Therefore, it chose
to tread a different path. It decided to develop a console that would offer gamers unique
gameplay, even though it would not have the latest processor or graphics. For this purpose, it
designed a completely new console called the Wii with a unique controller. Apart from the usual
gamers, Nintendo wanted to attract casual gamers and people who had never played video games
before.
To widen the appeal of its console, Nintendo priced the Wii low and provided online
capabilities, backward compatibility (with GameCube games), and several multimedia features.
The Wii generated a lot of buzz because of its unique design and gameplay, and this was
expected to translate into good sales. The Wii, however, faced several challenges. Analysts were
skeptical about whether Wii's unique gameplay would be reason enough for serious gamers to
accept a technologically inferior product; especially when the competing consoles (PS3 and
Xbox 360) boasted of cutting-edge graphics and HD capabilities. In addition, the fact that games
developed for the Wii could not be replicated for PCs or competitor's consoles was expected to

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reduce the number of prospective game developers for the system, resulting in fewer game titles
being available for the Wii.
In May 2006, Nintendo unveiled the new console and the much talked about wireless
controller at the E3 conference in Los Angeles. At the conference, Nintendo announced that its
new console would be called 'Wii'. It also gave a 150-word explanation as to why it had chosen
the name. Nintendo said that the name was in accordance with its philosophy of creating a
gaming world without boundaries, attracting new gamers, and making a fun product for everyone.
Nintendo's press release explained, "Wii sounds like "we," which emphasizes this console is for
everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language
they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii." The unique spelling was also
expected to be easy to search on the Internet as well as to serve as a trademark.
Even though the Wii had a lot going for it, concerns about its eventual success remained.
With the PS3 launch, gamers would now be able to experience true high-definition images and
sound on their games, in comparison to which the Wii games would look primitive. Some
analysts felt that even casual gamers would find the graphics power of the Wii disappointing in
comparison to the other consoles. The unique gameplay of the Wii also had the potential to cause
its downfall. Some analysts felt that playing games with the Wii Remote could become repetitive
and tiring over time.
With more and more households willing to buy more than one game console, the
Nintendo Wii stood a fair chance of being included in Christmas and other holiday shopping lists,
because of its low price (compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360) and unique interface. Analysts felt
that customers would choose between the Xbox 360 and the PS3, but were highly unlikely to buy
both, mainly because of their high price and similar features. Not surprisingly, Microsoft
officials believed that customers would prefer the Xbox 360. "People are going to buy two
(machines.) They're going to buy an Xbox and they're going to buy a Wii … for the price of one
PS3.
(Online Source: http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20strategy/BSTR247.htm,
th
Accessed 19 May,2010)

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Level 3 Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation 201005
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Questions

1. Discuss and suggest some feasible application considerations when developing a new
product development strategy for Nintendo Wii.
[50 Marks]

2. In this highly competitive game console environment, illustrate how Nintendo Wii better
manage innovation within the organization to stay ahead of its competitor in the gaming
industry?
[50 Marks]

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Level 3 Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation 201005
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THE REQUIREMENTS

A written essay of approximately 3,000 words that evaluates business issues from the topic in the
next page.

The assignment must adhere to standard academic documentation standards:

 Please use appropriate citation and reference according to the Harvard Name
Referencing System in order to avoid plagiarism.
 Font type should be Times New Roman.
 Font size should be 12 pts.
 Vertical/line spacing should be 1.5 line spacing.
 You must use enough of your own words to convince that you understand what you are
writing and are not just “cutting and pasting”. Normally your own words should be no
less than 80% of the total word count.
 You should on no account make reference to www.wikipedia.com, www.about.com,
www.alibaba.com or the likes as sources for your work. These websites can be useful to
provide you with the definitions and the general ideas about the concepts within module
but it is not acceptable to be inserted into your academic writing.
 You may include diagrams, figures, tables etc without word penalty.
 You are required to use at least 4 references with 50% of them are from relevant
textbooks, magazines and academic journals.
 A sliding scale of penalties for excess length will be imposed according to the amount by
which the limit has been exceeded. Your word count must be indicated on your cover
page.
For limit excess(excluding executive summary and references):
11 – 20% 10% reduction in the mark
21 – 30% 25% reduction in the mark
31% + the work will be capped at a pass i.e. 50%

Point to note: maximum penalty for exceeding the word limit will be a reduction to a pass
grade.

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Level 3 Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation 201005
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Marking Scheme

Question 1 Percentage
1 Background of the case should be clearly discussed. 15%
2 Feasible application should be discussed in depth 15%
3 Identify the multi-dimensional concept of float glass technology. 10%
Use of proper language, grammar, referencing, and
10%
4 acknowledgement of external sources

Total 50%

Question 2
Explain the dilemma, recognize the difficulties of managing
1 20%
uncertainty.

2 Answers should be justified and must be logical and critical. 20%

Use of proper language, grammar, referencing, and
3 10%
acknowledgement of external sources
Total 50%

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Level 3 Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation 201005
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ASSIGNMENT STRUCTURE FOR GROUP ASSIGNMENT

When completing the assignment it should have the following general structure:

 Title page
 Executive summary, abstract or synopsis
 Contents page(s)
 Question I
 Question II
 Conclusions
 Reference
 Appendix

Please pay particular attention to the following:

 The executive summary should be no more than one paragraph, but it should excite
interest for a reader, other than the assessor, to read the whole.
 Ensure that the contents page precisely reflects the whole content of the reporting
including the executive summary and appendices.
 Page numbering: Ensure that the contents page accurately reflects the position of the
contents. Page numbers prior to the ‘introduction’ should be roman numerals. From the
introduction onwards page numbering should be Arabic.
 Bibliography should be listed according to the Harvard convention with authors listed in
alphabetical order.

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Level 3 Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation 201005
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Marking Criteria

Marks are awarded based on the following guidelines:

Grade Assessment Guidelines

Pass answers are expected to be legible, tidy, well organized and written in
General clear, understandable English. Students who grossly exceed the word limit
will be penalized.
Superficial analysis, concepts ad language of the subject is absent or scant.
0-39% Irrelevant regurgitation of text book. Ideas are poorly expressed. Many
key issues are ignored. Concepts and language of the subject are used but
are often confused in application and or explanation.
40-49% Some understanding of the relevant models and concepts. Some elements
of an appropriate structure are present. Restricted analysis of some issues.
Evidence of reading and research. Understanding of the application of
50-59% appropriate models and concepts is demonstrated. Key issues are
identified and analyzed, although this may be restricted at times. Some
source s are acknowledged.
Evidence of wider reading. The assignment effectively interprets the
information and exhibits the integration of ideas across the subject area.
60-69% The assignment has credible recommendations. A systematic approach to
development and evaluation is used. Most sources are acknowledged and
referenced using Harvard system.
70% Arguments are clear and convincing. Confident integration of theory and
and practices is demonstrated. Consistent referencing to sources using the
above Harvard system.

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Submission and Administrative Information

 Individual should include the Coursework Submission and Feedback Form with their
submission. The lecturer will give the CSFF before the submission dates.
 Plagiarism is NOT acceptable. Representation of another person's work as your own,
without acknowledgement of the source, for the purpose of satisfying formal assessment
requirements is considered plagiarism. The possible consequences of plagiarism include:

 Reduced grade for this module

 Referral for this module
 Failure of this module
 Expulsion from the Institution

 You can avoid plagiarism by using correct referencing, attribution.

 You may not copy another group’s work in any way.

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Level 3 Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation 201005