Sega’s Emojam: A Pager for Kids… and a Missed Opportunity?
Context
For many retro gaming enthusiasts, the announcement of new hardware from a major gaming company is always exciting, especially when it comes to Sega. The company is known for making iconic home video game systems like the Dreamcast, but since 2001, they’ve not ventured into mainstream console territory.
Key Points
- The Announced Device: The “emojam” is a pager-style device aimed at children that uses emojis to communicate. It’s produced by SEGA Fave Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the larger SEGA Group.
- Target Audience and Features: The device is designed for kids and equipped with Wi-Fi for messaging and featuring over 1,100 original emojis. Kids can create secret messages using a combination of emojis, and there’s even an “emoji lab” function to make new ones.
Safety Measures and Concerns
- Safety Functionality: The device has measures in place to ensure that only contacts who physically touch the bottom of the device can exchange information with the child. This is aimed at preventing communications with strangers online, a common concern for parents of young tech users.
- Unique Selling Points: Unlike other messaging tools, emojam encourages safe communication and offers a “puzzle-solving” element by encouraging kids to decode messages using emojis.
Thoughts on the Release
- Market Positioning: Emojam is positioned as a novelty item for children in Japan, which is interesting given the current saturation of smartphones among youth. It remains to be seen if this unique concept can capture an audience in today’s technological landscape.
- Future Implications: The release of emojam seems to position Sega more towards toy and technology innovation rather than traditional gaming hardware, a shift that could have implications for its future product lines and target market.
How do you think the emojam will be received by both children and their parents in today’s digital age? Will it carve out enough of a niche to make a significant impact on kids’ communication tools?
As with many things, such as the dreaded Tiger electronic games in the ‘90s, it will likely be popular among parents as a safer alternative to smartphones for kids’ communication, but the kids themselves will hate it and long to own an actual smartphone. Not that I’m saying it’s a bad idea in general since it has the advantages of being safer and encouraging less screentime, but it’s probably destined to fail out the gate.