We know, The New Yorker isn't the first name in video game writing, but staff writer James Surowiecki is a well respected business writer whose most recent column, titled "In Praise of Third Place," is valuable reading for every fanboy whose metric for success is a simple market share ratio. Much of this stuff is old hat for anyone familiar with Nintendo's core strategy, or who have spent more than a few minutes in a flamewar with Nintendo loyalists, but Surowiecki's mainstream pitch is fascinating, full of references to business icons like GE's Jack Welch and Glengarry Glen Ross' Alec Baldwin character (what was his name again?). In short, the Wii ceded the video game arms race to big spenders like Microsoft and Sony and, lo and behold, it may be better off having done so! What would the big guy from downtown, from Mitch and Murray, say to that? It turns out third place isn't "you're fired!"
[Thanks, Andrew]
