Many of you might have already read this before; I did, after all, first hear about it in a thread on System Wars yesterday. But I read itin its entirety, and when I was through, I coud clearly see where we are headed... and if that is true, then brace yourself.
I want you guys to read this thesis, called Birdmen and the Casual Fallacy. It is simply brilliant.
I want you guys to read it fully, or you will miss the point of it. I know it's long, but basically, it's entertaining and enlightening, and therefore, I think you should check the whole thing out.
The author describes what Nintendo have done with the DS and the Wii... and he describes how and why the Wii is the future of hardcore gaming, and before somebody posts it, no, this has nothing to do with motion controls being integrated into all games, because that will not be the cause, that will just be the effect.
Seriously, read it. And you will understand. Nintendo are geniuses.
charizard1605
I read that story a long time ago when it was first making the rounds on the ol' interwebs. At that time the Wii was releasing a bunch of games that I liked and I was actually enjoying the Wii...so the article makes sense. However, that was then and this is now. I've barely touched the Wii since I got my PS3, and while some games have come out that interest me a little, it isn't enough to make me want to buy them.
Here is the flaws in the article AND Nintendo's plans as I see it. In the article he talks about up market and down market. Sounds good. He also says there is no casual gamer, which I STRONLY disagree with. However, I've said it many times before. He is suffering from the very same INCORRECT definition of "casual" that most people here, as well as the gaming media, have bought into.I hate the term "hardcore". To me there are casuals, and there are REAL gamers. Real gamers have always gamed and always will game. They gamed when it was considered lame or nerdy, they games during the big boom a decade ago, and they will continue to game if the industry has another crash period.
"Casuals" in my opinion, may spend a lot of money, play a lot of games, etc. What distinguishes them from the so-called "hardcore" is there desire to put their IMAGE before the games. They want games that look or sound cool and care little about gameplay or story or character or quality. What makes this group so hard to define and/or pinpoint, is the fact that EVERYONE starts out casual. Only over time does their status as "hardcore" become more clear. Will they grow and develop over time, or will they quit gaming the second it becomes less cool?
The way I see it, NIntendo isn't interested in EITHER of these groups. Nintendo wants to attract the NON-Gamer. The person who has never to rarely played a videogame in their life. Nintendo wants to convince these people that videogames are just like a crossword puzzle in the local paper...or sudoku. Hey! Pick up this game, play it for five minutes then go about your day! The reason I call these people NON-gamers, isn't because they aren't interested in some games. Sure, they may play bejeweled or Bran Age or whatever. I call them NON-gamers, because to this group of people, they aren't playing a videogame or console. No. Instead, theyare doing a puzzle or readinga magazine,or whatever metaphor you can think of to describe a mindless activity to kill a couple minutesin between commmercials or while waiting for company to come over. THey are playing the digital equivalent of a board game. It's a novelty. It's facebook. SOmething you can do without caring too much about it.
As this group continues to make billions for Nintendo, Nintendo is focusing more and more exclusively on them while, in my opinion, forgetting about people who just want some good games. Granted, E3 has shown that they haven't completely forgot, but it certainly isn't something they are too concerned about.
Here is where Nintendo will run into trouble and where that article is wrong. There is ZERO evidence that this new audience has ANY interest in eventually moving up market. ZERO. NONE. This group doesn't WANT to play videogames whether casually or otherwise. They just want a small distraction. And as such, Nintendo is alienating their base in order to keep happy a group who just aren't interested in the long-term. Does Nintendo OR the author of this article really believe the people buying Wii Fit, which polls have shown is played a lot for like a month then forgotten (much like all that other informercial exercise equipment your parents buy) is going to eventually move up market? Do they really believe that by trying so hard to capture this fickle group, that the younger kids who start with a Wii, will stick around when they get older and WANT more of those up market games? Of course not, because NIntendo is so driven by the non-gamers now, that there is very little up-market product available.
So what Nintendo is doing, is investing their future in a group that needs constant, short term distractions with little to NO long term payoff. Once they get bored with Wii Fit sequals they realize they don't use that much, or with Wii Sports, they will be gone. They aren't going to start buying Resident Evil or even Zelda. They will leave. Meanwhile, the younger generation Nintendo's wii also appeals to, will eventually grow up and look at the Wii as a product that no longer offers enough to keep them happy. So they will leave as well. They will move to a TRUE up-market console that not only offers a wide variety of games for all ages and tastes...but they will move to a console that offers more flash, substance, features, online play, movies, etc.
That leaves Nintendo with nothing.
Sure, the Up-market theory made a LOT of sense back when Nintendo was still putting out Zeldas and MArio Galaxies and No More Heroes, etc. But that was an eternity ago. Certainly before last years E3 when they showed nothing but Wii SPorts and Wii Music. That was before the massive drought in up market games. And while there have been SOME exceptions fairly recently, many of these games are still variations of the mini-game collection type games Nintendo gets bashed for. Yes, I'm including Madword and No More Heroes in that list. And whil the new Punchout looks cool....I still have and play the original Punch OUt. I still love it and bought it for MUCH less on Virtual Console than the new version costs.
This years E3 was somewhat of a relief. A new 2D Mario is something I've been begging for for a decade. THIS is what NIntendo should be focusing on...this is TRULY a game designed to move people up market. How do I know this? Because it worked for everyone here, didn't it? Galaxy 2 is another great announcement but who know how long they'll make us wait for a game that is practically finished already. And their token third party announcements were most on-rails shooters. Meh. Certainly not enough to compete with the wide ranging wow-factor of what the 360 and PS3 showed.
Sorry, but this is reality. There is no up market for Nintendo at this point. They are wasting too much time and effort to make a quick buck off people who will leave them high and dry. Meanwhile, they are shedding the audience who has stuck with them and/or SHOULD be growing up with them. Nintendo has become the console version of twitter or facebook. A novelty for people who aren't that savvy and looking for a cool, fun distraction to share with their friends. But ultimately, it is something they will lose interest in quickly resulting in a 70% drop out rate.
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