casual gamers

[inventory]

Why is it that games like Wii Fit, Wii Sports, Wii Play, and games like it sell way more copies than actual games? I cant understand why anyone would rather buy a Wii and crap like this than Bioshock, Dead Rising, or Overlord (I thought DR and Overlord were well done and a fresh take on the genre). According to VG charts Wii Fit sold 6,300,000 (in 29 weeks) so far while Overlord (361,414 in 57 weeks thats only the 360 version) and Dead Rising (1,251,889 in 106 weeks) hardly sold any in comparrison. Does anyone else see this as really screwed up? On the SNES there were tons of great games and you had everything from RPGs to Racing games. Now look at the Wii or GC and tell me what youve got. I can understand that the competition has gotten harder and the money for them is great but thats no excuse to sell out like this. Ive had this argument befor with one of my friends who has owned every Nintendo system that I know of (he even bought all the variations of the gameboy) and his argument is always "Their just getting the money from casual gamers and then investing it in bigger projects". I dont see any big projects and I havnt seen them do anything different since Pikmin. In other words they are taking the money from casual gamers and making more games for casual gamers. That is strictly good business, but the actual real gamers are the ones who suffer. Now that Nintendo is making tons of money off of this, other companies are going to do the same. Ripping off something as gay as Miis sickens me. Look how square keeps rereleasing titles with hardly any extra content. Pretty soon we wont see games like Bioshock and the deep RPG goodness of Morrowind anymore, because itll be over the casual gamers head. Plus if im a developer why the hell am I gonna spend all that money to make a fun, interesting,imaginative and deep world when I can just make crap like Wii Play. In a just world Wii Fit would not in a million years outsell Twilight Princess. Am I the only one that thinks this or do those games I mentioned suck?

 

[mjhhiv]

EDIT: Nevermind. I read the question wrong.

 

[inventory]

what im trying to say is that soon we wont.

 

[sheomad]

ok 1 im not reading ALL that but the wiis annoying when i get a few friends together to play super smash brothers and reality fades away in the "funness" when i wakeup their are 2 dead people with my wii controler stuck in there temples o-o

 

[sheomad]

oook i read parts of it this time the way game companys make muny is by remakeing old games and selling them to the younger generation that wasnt around when the older games like nitendo 64 were out or the super nitendo before that in which case why would they target the older more intellegent generation with complex games when the could blow up lil pink squares and make the same money with less work selling it to 6yr olds on the wii

 

[Jumplion]

I've had this discussion with my friend before, and even he's not to happy with the way Nintendo is doing things now (he's a Niny-boy). It started after the failure of the Gamecube, the DS with it's "innovative" touch screen thing and easy to develope for hardware (when was the last time you've seen a Hanna Montana/That's So Raven/High School Musical platformer on the PSP?)

Though I've narrowed it down to this;

Nintendo is trying to sell you it's peripherals
Sony is trying to sell you it's Blu-ray
Microsoft is trying to sell you it's online.

I find it hard to believe that someone could counteract my statement.

If you need proof of Nintendo selling peripherals, just look at Wii Play. It's still at the top 20 charts, why is that? Because it comes with a controller, and any sensible person would think "might as well get a game with my controller". Even I fell for that. More examples; Wii Fit=Balance board, Mario Kart Wii=Wheel Peripheral, Wii Sports Resort=Wii Motion+, Wii itself=Wii Sports.

I would explain the other two (Sony and Microsoft) but I don't want to distract the main issue here.

Nintendo's a business, no matter what you may think, they want money and Casual gaming may very well be their current niche in the gaming world.

But Nintendo and the Wii is definately a "gateway" dru-ehem, gateway console. My friend started with the wii, but now his trigger finger thirsts for some blood and eventually he's going to get a PS3 for many games that couldn't be possible on the Wii like God of War III, inFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Final Fantasy 13 (versus to), and some other games that he's interested in.

If you're a hardcore gamer, and you start with a Wii, what i've found is that usually (and this applies to me) they won't find it as much fun because it doesn't have as many "hardcore" titles as some of the other consoles (and NO, don't go on a list of how there are "hardcore" titles for the Wii. Almost all of them (besides No More Heroes) were made to give casual gamers very easy access to play the game. That doesn't mean it's not a "hardcore" game, it just means that it can be to simplistic to the more "hardcore" players).

However, if you start with a Wii, you'll want a more hardcore gaming platform (no, don't say PC because not everyone's tech savvy, and NO don't tell me how "it's easy to build your PC! Everyone works with one!" because both my dad's co-workers who don't even know the basics of programming and the stupid Half Life 2 demo that won't work on my PC are proof of contradictory to your claims.) and you'll be playing both of them lovingly.

INFACT, this exact same thing happened with my friend when he got the Gamecube. First he got a gamecube, then he got a PS2, and he played them both very much until he got a Wii. Now he neglects both of them, but STILL. I just realised that!

 

[squid5580]

I did it! I read through the wall o'text. Ok you are saying that the "casual games" are being bought by alot of "casual gamers" which outnumber the "other gamers" (or would you/they prefer to be called hardcore?). So since the CGs are buying casual games by the truckloads you fear that everyone will start making the casual games. And I am sure this apocalypse will take place since no one cares about art or making a grand game but everyone is just in it for the $$$$

 

[super_smash_jesus]

I agree that casual games are coming out in the truck load, but soon enough, all those third party developers releasing heaps upon heaps of crap-tastic casual games will eventually turn the tides on the market. Wii fit, is in itself, a way for me to stay somewhat in shape/flexible, and I don't really consider it a game. I mean, it is really just a glorified Tai Bo class. As for it outselling twilight princess, that sucks (because TP is one of the best games I have played) but oh well, they do stock wii's and wii fit in nursing homes and that really isn't my demographic.

Developers, I would like to believe, are in it to make a good game, and not just cash in on a easily made game, it is a profession and people generally treat it like one.

 

[Retoru]

Why is it that games like Wii Fit, Wii Sports, Wii Play, and games like it sell way more copies than actual games?

How are those games not "actual games"? They don't cease being games simply because you have no interest in playing them. Attitudes like that are the main reason why some people who have less time to devote to gaming don't get into gaming. There's always some little elitist prick who will deride them for not being "hardcore" enough or not spending hours of time they don't have to complete a game within the first week of its release.

Casual gamers are still gamers, and as such they deserve our respect just as much as the so-called "hardcore" gamers. My wife is a casual gamer, I'm somewhere in the middle, I used to be a hardcore gamer, but marriage, a full-time job, and a 3 year old son ended those days for me. I don't look down upon her for her choice in games, the fact that she even plays games is great.

Hell, even I play some casual games from time to time. Some of them are pretty damn fun. The only problem I see with the casual gaming trend is that we're being inundated with too much garbage. You can only remake BeJeweled so many times before it gets tired. And, how many different variations of a tower defense game do we really need?

A little more innovation and variety in the casual gaming scene would be great, otherwise it's going to become stagnant and all those casuals that we've gained into our particular sub-culture will grow weary of the same old shit and abandon gaming.

I guess the point I'm trying to get across is this: there are plenty of games out there and plenty of game makers. Not every game will appeal to every person, but that's the beauty of gaming. There's something there for everyone, and personally I think casual titles are helping the gaming industry. They are creating a very large new customer base, and some of those new gamers will branch out into more involved genres of gaming and cause additional units to be sold. Additional units moving means more capital going to the game makers, more capital to the game makers means they can make more games, more games means more fun for us all, casual and hardcore alike.

So, grow up and just let them be.

 

[Cahlee]

This is a little off-topic. But could someone please define casual gamers for me. Is it someone who play casual games? Or is it someone who plays games casually?

 

[Retoru]

Both.

 

[The Wooster]

You know, I'm sure there's a bunch of guys on a pc forum somewhere saying exactly the same thing about the 360 and the ps3. Oh and I'm sure there's a bunch of guys playing chess somewhere saying the same thing about PC's. Oh and I'm sure there's a bunch of guys somewhere running woolly mammoths off cliffs that say the same thing about chess.

 

[Maet]

I don't want to sound too vague and stupid, but I don't think Nintendo knows what the hell they're doing anymore. I completely understand that they're just riding the money waves of casual gamers, toddlers, and women, but I'm almost at the point where I think it's completely by accident.

I've had my Wii since launch, and I look back at it and all the Nintendo standards I have for it, and feel depressed because most let me down and I have no desire to play them again. Then I look to the post E3 '08 future, and see nothing on the horizon. I see Nintendo as pushing gaming as a market and business, and not so much as a source of entertainment and fun.

At least Microsoft and Sony cut us a break and throw us a bone every now and then, but Nintendo is like a condescending abusive spouse.

 

[dukethepcdr]

This is a little off-topic. But could someone please define casual gamers for me. Is it someone who play casual games? Or is it someone who plays games casually?

I think it's a bit of both. Some people play games casually. They play all kinds of genres of games, not just the puzzle games, but only play them a few hours a week.

Then there are gamers who play "casual games" like Bejeweled and tetris, but play them for hours and hours. I've seen gamers who play mostly puzzle and those free flash based games online but play them as hard core as gamers who play shooters and RPG's.

It's like trying to define what "Alternative rock" is. There are all kinds of casual gamers.

 

[Graustein]

This is a little off-topic. But could someone please define casual gamers for me. Is it someone who play casual games? Or is it someone who plays games casually?

Casual gaming is a label applied by self-proclaimed "hardcore" gamers who think that games with topend graphics and lots of violence are somehow inherently better than any game that doesn't involve shooting something with lots of well-rendered gore.

To answer the OP, who said to look at GC and say what they've got, I say:
Zelda: Wind Waker
Zelda: Twilight Princess
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2
Super Smash Bros Melee
Warioware Inc.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Soulcalibur 2
Starfox Adventures
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
Killer 7
Tales of Symphonia
Resident Evil 1 & 4
Zelda: Collector's Edition

Just from my library. Most of these, I fail to see how they lie in any "casual" designation, at least any more than games for other consoles. But of course it doesn't sate our collective thirst for blood like the vampires we are, so of course it's for kids, because no self-respecting adult doesn't like gore.

 

[LivemeLifefree]

So there's a lot of third party casual games, so what? Nintendo put out like 4 or 5 and they're suddenly the anti-christ? I'd say no, I'm not tired of it. Casual games are meant to be fun, which is what gaming use to be about. Now it seems every game I play is like a job, and (to me) it gets tiring. Also, it's not Nintendo's fault a lot of third party people are making casual games, and that the "hard core" games keep getting delayed.(Look at Disaster Day of Crisis) Also there were a lot of "hardcore" games on the GCN, and to come for the Wii. You've to know where to look to find such things is the problem. Plus, I'd rather have hordes of "casual games" thrown at me instead of generic RPGs and FPSs.

 

[Chiasm]

I am not sure why "causer gamers" would be seen as ruining your gaming mainstream most casual games are popular and sell alot as they are fun and allow you to spend 1 or less hours playing a game and relax. The thing I hate is how it seems every new game is a life sim with you need to eat and you need to go collect 10 coconuts then I'll be able to advance and collect 10 walnuts now just to see some amazing CGI cutscene then back to collecting coconuts for a few grinding hours.

You mention Bioshock but Bioshock itself was a casual game in the way it was simplified from System Shock 2 and allowed you to play for 1-2 hours and get somewhere even dying in the game wasn't frustration it allowed you to shoot and kill and advance with no hurdles to jump why it was fun is you could say it was made for a more mainstream audience.

P.S I so far have enjoyed my Wii far more then my 360 on just being able to quickly explain how to play a game to a friend and then its all fun. Most of the 360 games seem be online only these days.

 

[LivemeLifefree]

They believe that because "casual games" make so much money that every company will resort to making them.