Blog #8: Consumer Behavior

Consumers can really make or break a product depending on how well or bad that product does, either because of how it was advertised, or just how well the product works.  One product that was received terribly by consumers was the Nintendo Power Glove.




The Power Glove was released in 1989 as an NES accessory. It was something completely new and unique for its time as it allowed the user to have motion controls in video games. The Power Glove was considered a success for a short time in the US, but was an instant fail in Japan, causing the company that made it to declare bankruptcy. The glove was advertised well, even having a center point in the movie "The Wizard" which made the glove seem to have amazing motion control abilities. The problem with the glove however was that it performed horribly. The motion control barely worked. Players found that controlling games with the Power Glove was universally more difficult than with the standard NES controller. Another problem is that Nintendo’s original Entertainment System is not technologically sophisticated enough to handle the three-dimensional environments that could truly take advantage of a device like the Power Glove, despite Mattel's intriguing attempt with Super Glove Ball, a type of handball simulation that was one of only two games made to specifically utilize the Glove's features, the other being a forgettable fighting game called Bad Street Brawler.

Combined with the over-hyped advertising, poor motion control, and lack of technology and games to utilize the power glove, it ultimately failed to impress consumers and soon found itself swept under the rug like it never happened.  The only thing worse than the Power Glove in terms of video games was the game E.T., but that would require a whole new blog post to talk about why it was so terrible and the effects it had on the video game industry.