"Nintendo needs its core: the casual, to survive"

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What do you guys think? Will Nintendo go full hardcore? Full casual? A certain percentage each? I think the Wii killed any chances of the Wii U being perceived by Average Gamer as a core console, and I'm not sure the Wii core is the type to upgrade to new hardware for better graphics..

At this point all the consoles need the casuals to survive

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What do you guys think? Will Nintendo go full hardcore? Full casual? A certain percentage each? I think the Wii killed any chances of the Wii U being perceived by Average Gamer as a core console, and I'm not sure the Wii core is the type to upgrade to new hardware for better graphics..

WreckEm711

At this point all the consoles need the casuals to survive

LaytonsCat

Nintendo's core fanbase is the same group now that it has been forever, minus some who jumped ship and plus some who are now old enough to have grown up with Nintendo.

The Wii was a period when a lot of extra people jumped on board for a specific type of experience - namely, stupid fun motion gaming and nostalgic feelings of "oh I remember that." But those people didn't become the core, even though they outnumbered the actual core exponentially. Those people will come and go, but the core for Nintendo is the group that loves Nintendo's traditional stuff and gets giddy about anything new from Nintendo (via the Gamecube and Wii).

I think the WiiU is Nintendo's recognition that they need a stable core in order to have a stable business. Iwata has said stuff to that effect already, and the focus on better hardware - despite their claim with the Wii that better tech is a dead end - and more traditional games is pretty good evidence of that.

All of their games appeal to the casual audience. They also appeal to game enthusiasts, so it's kind of a win win for Nintendo. For example, everyone loves Mario Kart, Zelda, and Mario. You'll push millions on 'hardcore' players and millionson the casual audience.

The problem nintendo will have is gaining the casual audience from the 360 and PS3. Even though the Wii-U will be getting Assassin Creed 3 and other casual titles there is already an established user base that will not shell out $300 to play it on the Wii-U. Why would you pay $360+ dollars to play Assassin's Creed 3 on the Wii-U when you can pay $60 to play it on an HD console you already own?

Wii Pictionary.

/generation.

Now i'm only pointing this out as to explain why pandering to casual players isn't a bad idea IF you do it right.

Think about it even if you please the fans you do have for the rest of the gaming lives they will eventually die.

Which means that you will need to get new players you could try to get core players from sony and ms but you can't get all o them even if you did you would still need to get new players eventually.

That's where the casuals come in and really them targeting the causals will eventually benefit us maybe 10 years or 20 years down the road you will still play games but now you can't spend hours at a time playing a game so you need short games(which is usally casual games)

Imo it would be better to make every single game have pick up and play ascpets(kinda like there is minigames in zelda games maybe something like that) more games need multiple difficulties as well they should ideally have one super hard mode and one super easy mode and maybe 2 or 3 difficulties between but at the very least every game should have an easy mode and harder modes(as long as they aren't tied to unlockables*)

*unless those unlockables are either trival(like a new title screen,more difficulties,new outfits or something along those lines) and not something you reallly really would want(new stages,gameplay modes,playable character,etc) ofcourse i would make exception for the second thing if there was another way to unlock them that was easier

That's where the casuals come in and really them targeting the causals will eventually benefit us maybe 10 years or 20 years down the roadSMASHKING84

Younger kids are the most hardcore of gamers because they have the time to be. If I play Smash Bros. with younger people, I get smoked every time because they have the time and patience to master games in a relatively short period of time.

You don't see the kids who will grow up to be gamers playing the hell out of Carnival Games. That kind of thing just doesn't hold their attention long enough. They need something with a little more depth.... like pretty much all of Nintendo's franchises.

Without even reading it, I find the article wrong, as it fails to recognize what Nintendo's true 'core' audience is: Everyone

That's what it always has been, and that's what it should continue to be. All of Nintendo's best and most recognizable games have all represented the same elements, and those elements include pickup-and-play accessibility combined with considerable depth. Super Mario Bros, Tetris, Pokemon, Wii Sports... all of those games and then some have been successful in accomplishing this feat, and it's no surprise that these are also games that players of any age and skill type can get into. The terms that are used too often today don't even apply to these games. They can't be classified as "casual" because of the things more experienced gamers can accomplished in them, nor can they be classified as "hardcore" because the games aren't limited to players of specific tastes and/or skill levels.

Similarly, Nintendo's greatest successes have followed this approach. It has been whenever Nintendo tried to make things more complex and tailored towards a specific group of people when things have turned for the worse. This is perhaps my greatest concern about Nintendo now, as it seems to be going back to that exclusive mentality that is now commonplace in the video game industry, not the inclusive approach that has made the NES, GameBoy, DS, and Wii such mega-hits. The fact that the Wii U even attempts acknowledge two different groups of gamers is concerning enough, and from the controller's complexity to the lineup of games that have been announced for the system to this point, I've been given little reason to be optimistic about the system's chances.

Focusing on any one consumer stereotype is never a good idea if your intention is to grow as a company. Nintendo has to make sure the Wii U a console appealing enough to as many people as possible to ensure that it doesn't find itself relying on any one labeled group of gamers in order to survive.

When i said new players nowhere in my post did i even imply that new players was kids only alot of older people might not of played a video game in there life they would use be new players.

And i really don't like people saying nintendo should stop focusing on kids if they did that you never would've played there games sure now a days kids play fpses but when i grew up parent where alot more responsible and only let kids play age apporaret games(maybe they would let 11 or 12 year old play teen games but certainly not m rated games) besides EVERY avid gamer was at one point a kid and i don't care if you played games all your lif at some point when you were younger you would play games that would be considered casual)

And i know for a fact kids these days still play casual games hell when i was a kid i played mario party 1(ok i was techically 16 but whatever) sure i played hardcore games but i would play alot of casual games as well(mario kart,mario party,animal crossing,etc)

When i said new players nowhere in my post did i even imply that new players was kids only alot of older people might not of played a video game in there life they would use be new players.

SMASHKING84