About a year ago I wrote an article on Gamasutra called "MVP Like Nintendo in 1980", which discussed how the Game & Watch was Nintendo's Minimum Viable Product (MVP) of it's handheld gaming.
I decided to make a video that dove a bit more into what Product Vision is, why it's important, and how you can use it to help drive your own product growth and development, all while using examples from Nintendo and the Game & Watch.
References:
- Here's my GDC talk: "Don't Ship Product, Ship Value: Start your Minimum Viable Product with a solution"
- Janna Bastow is on Twitter, she’s really cool: https://twitter.com/simplybastow?s=20
- Papa Nintendo Gunpei Yokoi picture: https://meiobit.com/384147/fracasso-do-virtual-boy-nao-tirou-gunpei-yokoi-da-nintendo/
- Game & Watch picture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhJPereVNjM
- Ad- “A pie in the face…”: http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/1213/retro-scan-game-boy-politics-92
- Ad- “Roadtrip, Advanced”: https://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Bardley/a-look-at-video-game-ads-of-the-past-game-boy-advance-part-two--317292.phtml
- Ad- “This is the part where you go somewhere better”: https://vgprintads.tumblr.com/post/187591754313/2004-ad-for-super-nario-64-ds-super-mario-64
- “Using a Calculator Chip.” Iwata Asks, iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/clubn/game-and-watch-ball-reward/0/1.
- “Test Models with Little Bulbs.” Iwata Asks, Nintendo, iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/clubn/game-and-watch-ball-reward/0/2.
- “DS Finally Outsells Game Boy, Best-Selling Handheld Ever.” Destructoid, www.destructoid.com/ds-finally-outsells-game-boy-best-selling-handheld-ever-173069.phtml.
- “Absorbed In Development.” Iwata Asks, Nintendo, iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/clubn/game-and-watch-ball-reward/0/3.
- Staff, IGN. “Game Boy Inventor Dies in Car Crash.” IGN, IGN, 7 Oct. 1997, www.ign.com/articles/1997/10/07/game-boy-inventor-dies-in-car-crash.
- Maurya, Ash. “Don’t Start With an MVP.” Love the Problem, Love the Problem, 29 Mar. 2018, blog.leanstack.com/dont-start-with-an-mvp-aa883de5cd18.