Do not fear, this is not as long a read as Acitic's rabling novel :P but i am kind of covering similar ground.
The falacy of casual Vs. Hardcore is something that does not just exisit with the confines of System wars, so called gaming 'analisits' use the false dycotomny too make their predicitons, just last week patcher was spouting something about the 'Casual' market and gaming 'Journalists' use the term constantly, just look at last weeks invisible walls and you will hear the term repeatedlty.
Why is it totally redundant? Well Demographics.
Let me explain; The 'Hardcore' gamer (and i use that term losely) playing Persona 3 or the Last Remnant you can proabaly bet isn't the same guy playing STALKER; Clear Sky. The people playing peggle might not be the same as the people playing games like "Let's go to the movies". There is not just one block of one gamers who like all the "Hardcore" Stuff there are certain groups who like certain combinations of things and tend to like certain genres/ stlyes of games,I persoanlly think JRPGs suck balls but that's a whole other thread.
Do games 'Analists' think they are the same mystical casual person? Well this is kind of par for the course, we all probabaly know people like patcher are a joke but what i find dangerious is this moving into the mind of developers.
Case in point; Hose of the dead overkill, awesome game 'Hardcore' but sold like crap. does this mean all hardcore games won't seel on the Wii? No!! The game is a spoof horror move rail shooter, a very niche crowd by anyones definition. People were also surprised by the sales of Mad Wrold, but why? It was a 5 hour ultra violent, Arthouse game with even more focused niche appeal, on a mass market system. When the Wii gets a title that is actually really good (im looking at you Conduit!) that has mass appeal it sells (see nintendo games) becuase it fits a very large chunk of the market regardless. Same with games like Halo 3, it outsold Bionic commando for a reason. Both are 'hardcore' but both inhabit different places in the market place.
This only surpises people when you start talking in 'Hardcore' instead of demographics in the market. It's dumb to even lump games together, the kids playing CoD; MW will most likely not be playing Sins of a Solar empire (i play both but im a PC and general gaming nut, that's my place in the market). Even pretty Genres don't have the same market, Someone who is addicted to Halo 3 online is not neceserally going to buy Arma 2. I could go on forever, Tekken heads will not automatically love CnC4. The Dude who loved GTA4 is likey not quing up to play the latest Japanese Bullet Hell title.
If i can see this so can the so called analysts, there is to much oversimplification on this board, across all sites, with gaming jouralists and analysts. It's just wrong to lump people into two groups.
Log in to comment