AP

IF TALK of synergistic processing elements, parallel floating-point shader pipelines, vector units and 1080p high-definition video sets your pulse racing, you are probably looking forward to the launch of the PlayStation 3 (PS3), Sony's new video-game console, which goes on sale in Japan and America next month.

Most people find such technical trivia baffling, however. As a result, the video-games industry's relentless pursuit of ever more computing power and graphical detail might ultimately prove counterproductive. That is the view of Satoru Iwata (pictured), the president of Nintendo, the Japanese company that dominated video-gaming in the 1980s before being deposed by Sony. Its new console, called the Wii, is also launched next month. But it is a very different beast from the PS3, inspired by a radically different strategy.

Video gaming is a cyclical industry in which new consoles are launched every five or six years. In the last cycle, which began in 2000, Sony's PlayStation 2 emerged as the clear victor, far outselling Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube. The next cycle will pitch Microsoft's Xbox 360, launched last year, against the PS3 and the Wii. With each cycle the power of the hardware increases, making possible better graphics and more complex games. But Mr Iwata believes the industry has reached a crossroads: by designing products for existing gamers and neglecting non-gamers, it undermines the prospects for future growth. There have even been signs in Japan that the market was starting to shrink. “We need something radical to change the situation,” says Mr Iwata.

The main problem with modern games, he says, is that they require players to invest enormous amounts of time. As lifestyles have become busier, leaving less time for gaming, the industry has moved towards epic games which take dozens of hours to complete. This is leading some occasional gamers to stop playing and deterring non-gamers from giving it a try, says Mr Iwata. There are other factors too: novices are put off by the need to master complex controllers, festooned with buttons, triggers and joysticks. And not everyone wants to escape into a fantasy gaming world. “That attracts avid gamers,” he says, but can make it “difficult for people to become interested in games”.

Nintendo set out to reach beyond existing gamers and expand the market. This would involve simpler games that could be played for a few minutes at a time and would appeal to non-gamers or casual gamers (who play simple games on the web but would not dream of buying a console). They would be based on new, easy-to-use controls. And they would rely on real-life rather than escapist scenarios. This was not an entirely new approach: dancing games that use cameras or dance mats as controllers have proved popular in recent years. But Nintendo began to design entire games consoles around such ideas.

The testing-ground for Nintendo's new strategy was the DS, a handheld console launched in 2004. It has two screens, one of which is touch-sensitive and can be tapped or written on with fingernails or a stylus. This made possible games that did not rely on complicated combinations of buttons. “We didn't know, if the DS didn't make it, what kind of products would be needed,” says Mr Iwata. But in the event the DS was a smash hit and has sold more than 21m units worldwide. This month Nintendo raised its profit forecast for the current year because of unexpectedly strong sales of DS consoles and software.

The most popular DS game is “Nintendogs”, in which the player takes dogs for walks, teaches them tricks and enters them in competitions. The dogs can be taught to respond to voice commands issued via the DS's built-in microphone and petted via the touch screen. “Nintendogs” has proved particularly popular with female players. Also successful are the “Brain Training” games, which consist of puzzles designed to keep the player's brain young and nimble. Unlike most games, which sell well for a few weeks before sales tail off, “Brain Training” sold consistently for months, and Nintendo's research found that 60% of sales in Japan were to new users who bought DS consoles specifically to play it. Just as “Nintendogs” appealed to female gamers, “Brain Training” has helped to bring gaming to an older audience.

The Wii is an attempt to apply the lessons of the DS to a fixed console that plugs into the television. Its key innovation is its wand-like controller, which resembles a simplified TV remote-control rather than the usual button-strewn joypad. Motion detectors translate the movement of the wand into on-screen action, making possible tennis, fishing and sword-fighting games. (Some games use an add-on controller held in the other hand.) The Wii can also display news and weather information from the internet, organised alongside the games as a series of “channels”. Old games from Nintendo's back catalogue can be downloaded to draw in lapsed gamers.

This is, admittedly, a harder sell than the DS, says Mr Iwata, since a portable console lends itself to word-of-mouth promotion. His hope is that existing gamers will act as ambassadors, encouraging friends and family to give the Wii a try. And by providing non-gaming functions such as news and weather too, the aim is to overcome non-gamers' aversion to consoles, so that eventually they might flick to the “games” channel and give something a try.

The contrast with Sony is striking. It is pushing the PS3 as the most advanced console, with a powerful new processor chip and a high-definition “Blu-ray” optical drive. But its complexity has so far proved a liability rather than an asset, pushing up its price (to $500, compared with $249 for the Wii) and delaying its launch by several months. The PS3 will not appear in Europe until next March, and the console will be in very short supply for months. This week Sony said its profits in the latest quarter had been wiped out by PS3 problems and a massive recall of faulty batteries supplied to other computer-makers. This has dented Sony's reputation just as it is trying to emphasise its technical prowess.

The industry had been preparing for a showdown between Sony, the current champion, and Microsoft, its deep-pocketed challenger. Nintendo was expected to be an also-ran, peddling its familiar game brands, such as Mario and Zelda, to children and die-hard fans. But its unusual new strategy means that Nintendo is now the company to watch. As it sets out to broaden the gaming population, Nintendo is not fighting against Sony and Microsoft, says Mr Iwata. Its real enemy is the indifference that many people still feel towards gaming. Of course, says Mr Iwata, he would be happy if Nintendo became the leading console-maker again as a result of its new approach. But a victory over Sony and Microsoft in a shrinking market, he says, would not be a victory at all.