Author Topic: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.  (Read 6755 times)

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Offline SixthAngel

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Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« on: July 18, 2007, 09:07:29 PM »
Can anyone think of other industries that need to be changed to actually appeal to a broad audience instead of a select few?

I can think of American comics.  The dominating companies focus almost all of their energy on a niche genre called superheroes, they cater to collectors, they have a horrible distribution method with specialty shops, and have a terrible format(one story in 15 pages for way too much).  Foreign comics are coming in and doing extremely well because the market for the other genres, formats, and distribution methods is there just waiting to be taken.  Time to stop catering to only the current hardcore and move on, there are more casual readers as well as new hardcore readers to gain in all genres and formats.

Any other industry you can think of?

Offline GoldenPhoenix

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RE:Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2007, 09:13:16 PM »
Interesting question. I'll have to think about that one.
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Offline GoldenPhoenix

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RE:Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2007, 09:17:53 PM »
This may be an odd one, but I think the Diet industry (Even though I think most of it is worthless) should broaden their horizons. At the moment they seem to target women, I think there is a BIG opening to target men as well. Like gaming was before the Wii, western society has an image that only women should care about themselves and look good, while ignoring a big consumer base, the men, actually making them feel disconnected, maybe even embarrassed to think about it. Kind of like the more "hardcore" genre of games that have come out that are flat out intimidating to a big chunk of people.
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Offline SixthAngel

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2007, 09:53:18 PM »
I like that one but men are hit by the health industry by telling them they need to be huge and muscular.  The losing weight idea part could be put into far more prominence though as men aren't supposed to worry about fat but muscles.

Offline GoldenPhoenix

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RE:Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2007, 10:03:37 PM »
Quote

Originally posted by: SixthAngel
I like that one but men are hit by the health industry by telling them they need to be huge and muscular.  The losing weight idea part could be put into far more prominence though as men aren't supposed to worry about fat but muscles.


True, it would be interesting to see how they could blend the muscle and diet together!
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Offline bustin98

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RE:Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2007, 04:49:04 AM »
How about the stock market?

And I don't mean retirement funds. But imagine if more people got into trading stocks. I think as an industry stocks and bonds is intimidating, so it really needs a makeover and more ways to educate potential investors.

Offline Ian Sane

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2007, 05:14:30 AM »
I agree about the comic industry.  Kids used to read comics but these days it seems that everything is for comic book geeks.  Now there's some geeky stuff that's REALLY good but the major DC and Marvel comics like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc. should be good enough that comic geeks still like them but be accessible enough for anyone to get into them.  If you read the old Stan Lee Spider-Man comics there really is something for everyone in them.  One thing I think would really help is having one comic book per character.  I shouldn't have to buy four Spider-Man's or four X-Men's a month to keep up with what's going on.  It should just be Amazing Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men and that's it.  The only characters that I would give two books would be Superman and Batman but that's just because the geek inside me doesn't want to see Action Comics or Detective Comics get canned.

More than superheroes would be good but I don't have a problem with superheroes.  GOOD superhero stories are entertaining.  The problem is that it seems that ever time I read a superhero book these days I get a "talking issue" where it's inbetween the action and everyone is just talking and no one is even in costume.  How about something a little more fun?  And other genres like humour and sword & sorcery and science fiction would be cool.

Though I think the biggest problem with superhero comics is that they change writers.  All it takes is one sh!tty writer to add something horrible to a character's continuity and it's stuck there.  I like comic strips where it's the same writer the whole time and when he calls it quits the strip ends.

Offline ShyGuy

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2007, 06:11:08 AM »
Comics is the first thing I thought of as soon as I saw the thread title. In fact, somebody posted a quote from Reggie about expanding market over on a comic book message board and a Comic book writer responed that this is what the comic book industry needs.

Offline bustin98

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RE:Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2007, 08:34:37 AM »
The thing is, comics, and magazines in general, have already been mainstream. More so than video games and movies. Look to the sales of comics in the 40s and 50s and comics on average sold millions of copies every month. Then comes the Comics Code Authority and the Seduction of the Innocent. And the comic world is never the same again.

Things were getting better in the late 80s and early 90s. DC revitalized their line of heroes, started adult oriented comics with the Watchmen, Sandman, Constantine, etc, and specialty stores were springing up with comics that did not have to display the CCA label.

Then came the 'investors'. On top of that was Image, specifically Rob Liefeld and his constantly late books, Jim Lee's uninspired group books, and Jim Valentino's rudimentary 'Shadowhawk'. The 'investors' viewed Image and the path blazed by them as a volatile market and jumped ship. Both DC and Marvel began producing books with gimicky covers, cover prices skyrocketted, and the back isue market became over-saturated with 'hot' titles.

The Internet is the cause of the decline of magazine readership. Why buy a magazine when someone will end up blogging about it?

I would love to see the Industry pick itself back up and hit their stride again, but I have doubts. They need these things, IMHO:

1: Return of superstar artists and writers.
2: Get a handle on the pricing, drop it down a bit so they can be a reasonable impulse buy.
3: Return to a competetive distribution system. Diamond Comics becoming the sole distributor is detrimental to the expansion of retail spots.
4: Stress story lines that do not require the reading of every issue to understand what is happening. I could not get into Battlestar Galactica because I would miss episodes. But Stargate (first 6 seasons at least) followed a formula that allowed anyone to view without feeling lost because they were busy the week before.
5: Introduce something that cannot be experienced through the Internet. Force interest into those comic shops and 7-Elevens.

Yeah, I'm a big comic geek, or at least was. Started reading in 1984 - 85, owned my own shop in '92 til '94, which was about when my 'investors' got out and Image screwed me over. (I'm looking at you, Youngblood.)  

Online Kairon

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RE:Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2007, 07:20:24 PM »
It should be called the "Blue Ocean Strategy" instead of Wii treatment, shouldn't it?
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Offline SixthAngel

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #10 on: July 19, 2007, 10:17:10 PM »
I like the Wii treatment.

This can even apply to products that are doing well.  The GBA was a total success and yet it was still changed to the DS at huge risk to increase the potential userbase.

The music industry seems to be dominated by new bands that are popular with the youth market.  Some older listeners keep up with the new music but others fall behind.  Making new music that appeals to fans of oldies should be more common then it is, I can only think of the rare one that seems to get renown.  I understand the difficulties of attracting an audience set in their likes but it is very possible, especially if they actually see some of the advertising.  Correct me if I am wrong because I don't know much about the music industry myself,I am going by personal experience with others, some genres may attract the older audience far better as well.

Offline Ian Sane

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #11 on: July 20, 2007, 05:13:32 AM »
Music is another good example.  Damn, SixthAngel you're on a roll!  I feel like an old fuddy-duddy with current music and I'm only 25.  In fact I was still in high school when it seems music started attracting a younger age.  I think they just need for variety.  Every rock band has the same bland boring sound.  Music seems to exist entirely for 13 year olds now.  Actually it's probably become so mainstream focused that anyone who likes good music isn't interested.  Nonetheless it needs to expand or just not suck anymore, whatever comes first.

Pro wrestling would benefit from attracting a wider audience and providing more variety.  If you don't like WWE you're out of luck and since the late 90s wrestling seems to be very focused on being edgy with lots of sexual content and every good guy being an anti-authority rebel who says "damn" and "ass" all the time.  I think the problem is the WWE's near monopoly.  In the past wrestling had more variety.  Logically there should be a more family friendly wrestling product (like WWF in the 80's), something more like ECW for teens and young adults who like the edgy atmosphere, something more like the old NWA to target older wrestling fans, and maybe something that tries less to be a spectacle and more like simulating a sports atmosphere (or is like a fake UFC).  Back when there were more leagues there was more variety and the quality was up due to the competition.  I don't know how an industry dominated by one company can do this but it needs it bad.  Back when WWF and WCW were both big and competing hard against each other wrestling was everywhere.

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RE:Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #12 on: July 20, 2007, 03:12:11 PM »
You know what... as much as everyone hates reality TV, I've just watched 2 hours straight of TLC's "What not to wear" and I am quite impressed. The show must be quite cheap to make, and there's actually a lot of content there (oh my god haircuts and make-up can do SO MUCH!!!) to pay attention to, not to mention the human feel-good stories and the non-TV aspect of how it relates to our real lives.

... And guess what's up next, A Model Life! Hmm... you know, I just can't watch "Survivor" or "Big Brother" or anything like that, but stuff like this, Pimp my Ride, and that show where they build people new homes and interior decorate it and all? Yeah... I can watch that... if I watched more TV.
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Offline decoyman

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #13 on: July 20, 2007, 05:16:03 PM »
I think you should call it the "Twiitment" instead.

But that's just me.
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Offline IceCold

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #14 on: July 20, 2007, 05:30:51 PM »
Damn, is the reality TV fad still not over?

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Online Kairon

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #15 on: July 20, 2007, 06:50:14 PM »
I'm sorry, but there's something wholesome about a show that ends up with people being more confident about themselves.
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

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Offline that Baby guy

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #16 on: July 20, 2007, 06:54:35 PM »
Dentistry.  They need something more fun.  Like braces that can steer your car.  That would be interesting...

Online Kairon

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RE:Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #17 on: July 22, 2007, 04:06:20 PM »
I just read this wonderful Article in the Sacramento Bee talking about Frozen Yogurt shops, which were basically extremely in decline and about to go out of business, but have since bounced back with a vengeance due to a self-serve and do-it-yourself-toppings angle.

It was a really great read, so here's a link to the entire article itself for your perusal!
BAH... it requires some sort of login... now I'll have to transcribe some quotes directly.

Here are some select quotes to save me the bother of mangling it up by putting it into my own words. It's very interesting to note the Wii parallels!

Quote

It's made one east Sacramento business a standing-room-only institution in just two years. The owners of a Land Park "fro-yo" startup say they turned a profit in their first month. Self-serve saved a failing south Sacramento County ice cream shop from certain death four years ago.


Notice how they're quickly profitable, in their first month, just as Nintendo is quickly profitable with the Wii.

Quote

(describing the decline of frozen yogurt vendors)Then Starbucks and Jamba Juice hit," said Jason Rhoades, a Northern California salesman for California's biggest yogurt shop supplier, Temecula-based Southwest Traders Inc. "They stole yogurt's thunder."

By 2005, the last year for which data are available, Americans ate a little over one pound of frozen yogurt per person. Many small shops closed during a decade-long slide, Rhoades said.


Notice how frozen yogurt used to uber popular, but experienced a decline as the "ocean became red" with competitors like Starbucks and Jamba Juice that drew customers away. This is a lot like how Nintendo was king of the hill, but then faded to the back of the public consciousness as Sony and MS moved in to compete.

Quote

"Ice Cream has gotten pretty expensive," he said. "Frozen yogurt let's people indulge for less money and gives them a rationale to feel OK about it."

Self-serve is a huge plus for shop owners, Tootelian said, because it keeps employee costs down and subtly prods customers to buy more.


Notice how they're comparing themself to ice-cream in terms of price, just like how next-gen game prices strike some as expensive. Notice how they ALSO hit on frozen yogurt's health perception, "gives them a rationale to feel OK about it," just like physical activity gives Wii Sports players a rationale to feel good about playing games.

ALSO, notice how they emphasize cheap overhead and keeping their costs low in order to keep profits flowing. One of the chief benefits of self-serve is that they don't need to hire as many employees, resulting in less personal service to each customer. This is very reminiscent of Nintendo cutting corners to maintain profitability in many traditional fields, such as online connectivity, internal memory, and graphics.

Quote

It's owners are considering a yoga instructor's offer to hold classes in the shop's back half when it's not rented out for parties.


*cough*WIIFIT*cough*

Quote

A few blocks south on Freeport from Yogurtopia's outlet, Here's the Scoop! ice cream shop owners Ron and Melinda Rucker have responded to their customers' requests by adding three hand-scooped frozen yogurt flavors, bringing their total to five.

"We don't do self-serve," Melinda Rucker said. "But to counter the competition, we're adding a yogurt smoothie."


Sounds a lot like Peter Moore telling us, "Oh, MS is going after expanded audience too! We think that's a priority! Here's a Buzz-rip-off trivia game and here's our own version of Rayman Raving Rabbids!"

Basically, "We're adding a yogurt smoothie" = "Casual and family players can play UNO on XBLA."

Quote

(speaking of 4 years ago)"The clientele didn't exist. There were days when we didn't get $45 coming though the door," she recalled.
...
Self-serve saved my business, absolutely, Ragland said, between waves of customers to her C street shop one recent afternoon. "Now I'd like to open a second shop. I'm thinking about Lincoln."


Yup, it's amazing how much gloom and doom was centered on Nintendo just 4 years ago as well. People were certainly hinting that their days of major business were over, and despite remaining profitable, they were certainly on a decline.

But the Wii and DS saved their business! Rise to heaven!
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A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline Mashiro

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #18 on: July 22, 2007, 04:16:31 PM »
Quote

This is a lot like how Nintendo was king of the hill, but then faded to the back of the public consciousness as Sony and MS moved in to compete.


I like all the comparisons but honestly, and I really feel positive about this, if Nintendo had just used a disc based medium for the N64, Sony never would have taken off like it did and the gaming industry would be a very different place than it is right now.

Online Kairon

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #19 on: July 22, 2007, 04:19:04 PM »
That didn't help Sega though did it Mashiro? Also, I repeat myself, but Miyamoto said they needed carts for Mario 64 with that day's technology, and probably for OoT too.

But let's NOT get off topic. The important point is that Frozen Yogurt stores have found a way to differentiate themselves and appeal to more people than the typical ice-cream customer. They've found a way to do it cheaply, and they've found a way to change the experiences that people have with their products. "Self-serve" is the wiimote of frozen yogurt shops.  
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline Mashiro

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #20 on: July 22, 2007, 04:32:34 PM »
There's a difference between Sega and Nintendo though, and that was Nintendo had the backing of many third party companies and had many established franchises on it's existing systems that people already enjoyed.

Case in point, if they had used a CD medium, Final Fantasy would have stayed on the Nintedo platform. The Dragon Quest  series being another (both heavy franchises in Japan that certainly moved systems). Many third parties were turned off by the cartridge based medium due to it's price and lack of space compared to the far cheaper CD based system.

Nintendo shunned the CD medium due to it's loading times. Which, while I agree loading times blow, don't cripple games. I am confident had they gone CD they still could have pulled off Mario 64 and Zelda OoT.

The Sega Saturn suffered from a number of other issues that lead to its failure. Such as a higher price point than the Playstation and also pissing off many retailers by releasing their console early at select retailers without informing other mainstream retailers which lead to Sega loosing a lot of shelf space. That and it's early release had primarily Sega titles which made software developers feel Sega was trying to push it's own software over theirs. Furthermore, the Saturn's not so friendly architecture didn't help lure developers over as it was extremely hard to get peak performance out of the Saturn when compared to the N64 or the Playstation.

(Not to get off topic just defending my point).

Online Kairon

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RE:Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #21 on: July 22, 2007, 04:50:26 PM »
AARRGGGHHH!!!!

Dare you question the word of Miyamoto? Dare you even contemplate the prospect of playing Mario 64 on a 2X CD drive with 1996 compression technology?!?!?

BACK! Back I say! BACK ON TOPIC! FROZEN YOGURT = NINTENDO!!!
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline Mashiro

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #22 on: July 22, 2007, 04:59:02 PM »
Lol ok ok umm yeah YOGURT = NINTENDO which. . . when divided by Sega + Square-Enix minus Sony divided by Microsoft = Profit ?

=D

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RE: Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #23 on: July 22, 2007, 05:05:57 PM »
So far, this thread has pondered blue ocean wii-treatment strategies in american comic books, the diet/weight loss industry, stock trading, the music industry, pro wrestling, dentistry and frozen yogurt.

Oh, and let's not forget that when Nintendo themselves talked about it, they talked about Pepsi's water and sports drinks in relation to the soda industry!
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

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RE:Other industries that need the Wii treatment.
« Reply #24 on: July 31, 2007, 01:14:39 PM »
Guess what just got blue-oceaned? NEWSPAPERS.

Now for a rundown of comparisons...

Quote

In case you missed the headlines , the ink-on-paper daily news business is in the middle of a long, painful, and seemingly irreversible decline. Newspaper circulation has dropped 30 percent since 1985 — and fewer readers means lower ad rates. That translates into diminished profits, falling stock prices, and disgruntled investors. In the past year, true panic has begun to set in.


Industry in decline? Check.

Quote

"We must mix our content with professional journalism and amateur contributions," read one of the PowerPoint slides prepared by Gannett execs. "The future is pro-am."


An "AND" console/newspaper? Check.

Quote

Shawnda Mitchell spends her days as an IT specialist for a local nonprofit organization that helps place children of low-income families in day care facilities. But in her spare moments, she works for The Cincinnati Enquirer, usually after work, when she slips out of her shoes and lounges on her bed with a laptop. Mitchell is a discussion leader for cincyMOMS.com, for which she gets paid $25 a week. "I'd probably do it for free," she says with a laugh. "It's so addictive."

When cincyMOMS launched in late January, Mitchell was responsible for seeding its discussion areas with posts and moderating forums. After 12 weeks, the site — a blend of forums and user-generated photos — was receiving 40,000 pageviews a day, and demand for ad space was outstripping supply. Initially, cincyMOMS was projected to bring in $200,000 its first year; it made $386,000 in half that time.


Cheap and easy profitability? Check.

Quote

The reality is that the average subscriber to a print newspaper represents $350 in annual revenue. An online reader represents about $35 to $53 annually. Which explains why The Indianapolis Star's version of cincy MOMS — called IndyMoms — now produces its own monthly print magazine featuring the best forum posts of the month.


Casual gamers buy less games? Check.

Quote

Linda Parker has a memo for professional journalists: Contrary to the fear rippling through newsrooms, citizens don't want your job. They don't want to interview obscure officials to write boring stories about arcane changes in local zoning laws. As online communities editor, Parker should know. A GetPublished! button features prominently on many Enquirer Web pages, and the submissions land in Parker's queue. They almost never resemble anything commonly considered journalism.


Fear of non-journalism destroying traditional news reporting? Check.

Quote

Gannett has learned what social networking sites like Friendster and LinkedIn figured out a few Internet eons ago: "People don't want to sit back and receive information. They want to be up there playing with it," says Callinan, the Enquirer's editor.


People want to get off the couch? Check.

Quote

So the paper will give people what they want: On May 1, the Enquirer launched the Data Center, a database stocked with a quirky mix of information drawn from public records and open archives — local baby names, crime reports, property sales, CEO salaries, gas pump inspections, and — strange as it sounds — polar bear hunting permits. Don't yawn. In December 2006, Gannett's paper in Asbury Park, New Jersey, posted its own version of the Data Center, called DataUniverse. It has drawn an improbable 35 million pageviews; most of those pages bring in additional revenue.


80% of Japanese Wii owners use the Wii's extra non-gaming, "boring," channel content? Check.

Quote

The Cincinnati Enquirer has published continuously since 1841. It has survived radio, the Great Depression, labor strikes, white flight, TV, and scores of paper shortages. That's no guarantee it will survive the challenge posed by the Internet, but it does guarantee it won't go down without a fight.


Wow! They're older than Nintendo!
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.