Casual Gaming, Nintendo and You (Read before commenting)

[PedroSteckecilo]

I have recently started to liken the proliferation of so called "casual" games to the mass proliferation of CGI Animated Films of late. Studio's like to make them because they are cheap, easy to market, have a built in audience and can often make tons of money.

In this market Nintendo was "kind of" like the Pixar of Casual Gaming, producing high quality, fun to play, interesting games with a broad appeal to a wide audience... that is until their current E3 announcements and what appears to be their current game design direction. Nintendo now appears to be catering to the lowest common denomenator with rehashed Mii graphics and uninvolving gameplay, and whats worse their patron saint (I'm looking at you Miyamoto) refuses to admit that they may have made a mistake.

Nintendo NEEDS to be better than this, they've always made broadly appealing games that draw in Non-Gamers in droves but now they appear to be simply making product based on an ensured payoff with sheep like audiences who don't understand crap when they see it.

Finally, take note all yee Nintendo fans, I consider both Mario and Zelda to fit under this umbrella statement of Broad Appeal, High Quality, Nearly Casual Titles as I have seen many non-gamers be drawn into the hobby by playing these. They are not "Hard Core", but then again, Hard Core is bullshit, who cares about Hard Core as long as we have quality games designed with a purpose in mind other than a quick and easy payout. Designing things PURELY for financial means lowers any creative endeavor.

 

[Sylocat]

Maybe they're trying to avoid Hype Backlash [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HypeBacklash] by not showing everything they've got. And I've noticed that most people here were very quick to attack Nintendo for their poor showing, but I haven't heard a peep against Sony's even worse showing on this forum.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Yeah but alot of people have given Sony up for dead (I myself am tentatively believing that since the 360 is rapidly decaying in longevity the optimized games the system needs may eventually come out but so far they aren't looking good and I won't really defend them).

But overall it's the face they're putting on "casual" and "accessible" gaming, that people will buy whatever shit you put in front of them. This is true to a point, but it rarely works out well in the end.

 

[searanox]

I would call Zelda a hardcore sort of game, as it tends to be more cerebral, engaging and difficult than the popular trash like Gears of War these days, where the only requirement to win is a pulse. Zelda is actually fairly impenetrable for a lot of gamers.

I don't think Nintendo has given up on its core audience. It knows that it's who's really keeping them in business in the long run, and they will not disappoint them. The Wii is a fad, and its popularity will wane as those without much brand loyalty jump on the next, inevitably motion-controlled Microsoft and Sony platforms. I'm not flame-baiting here; the Wii is great, but most of the people buying it are either hardcore Nintendo fans who buy it because it's Nintendo, or casual gamers who normally don't bother with this sort of stuff, but find themselves intrigued by it. The hardcore Nintendo fans will stay, but most of the kids, the grannies, the non-gamer crowd? Expect them to either "graduate" to other platforms, or not at all.

Maybe they're trying to avoid Hype Backlash [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HypeBacklash] by not showing everything they've got. And I've noticed that most people here were very quick to attack Nintendo for their poor showing, but I haven't heard a peep against Sony's even worse showing on this forum.

Sony is actually selling fairly well these days. To be fair, most of those sales are probably coming from people who want a cheap Blu-ray player, but... nyeh. They're still sales. At least the PSP is doing quite well in Japan.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

As my argument I submit only this- Casual Gaming and the Birdman Fallacy

http://malstrom.50webs.com/birdman.html

Nintendo's move is a business strategy called DISRUPTION, and is positive for games (I feel) so long as they countinue to move upstream and gradually make more casual games. You can hardly blame Nintendo for doing what works after the struggle they had with the n64 and the gamecube- they're finally regaining some steam.

 

[krow_7484]

In response to the idea of hard-core vs. casual.

Do you remember the first time you picked up a controller and started your first game? Back then, did you think that you were somehow different than anyone else who was doing the same? No...you were a Gamer. Pure and simple.

Now, we have issued titles to anyone who plays a certain game. Oh, you play Peggle? Casual. You finished Legendary on Halo 3 AND your WoW Druid has full purple gear? You must be hardcore.

The problem lies not with companies in my eyes. They are merely responding to what we as the Gaming community has done to itself; packaged and labeled ourselves for easy consumption.

Maybe if we did away with the titles and got back to the joy of playing games for enjoyment rather than comparing the size of each others Gamer-scores, we as Gamers would be better off...

Or maybe I am just blowing smoke out of a Southern orifice...

 

[Erana]

Fucking A+ article.

A copulating one? Not just a normal +A?

 

[Jumplion]

I'm not afraid of the direction Nintendo is going, they can do their thing for all I care. But like I've said in so many other Nintendo Casual ect.. threads before, I'm afraid that the Wii is just a fad and that it's just going to stop selling.

ONe of the few if only reasons the Wii is still alive right now is because of 2 things; it's fanboys/girls and the motion control. If they did not introduce motion control, they would have a time bomb on their hands.

We were all there once, when the motino controll was introduced everyone was thinking of the new possibilities it could introduce with the Wii. Problem is, nobody is really doing any of those ideas.

 

[krow_7484]

Sorry...did something basic for hardcore...really kiddish. I apologize. Was trying to make a point with a blunted weapon.

 

[Woe Is You]

Nintendo now appears to be catering to the lowest common denomenator with rehashed Mii graphics and uninvolving gameplay, and whats worse their patron saint (I'm looking at you Miyamoto) refuses to admit that they may have made a mistake.

A mistake?

Considering how expensive games are to make and how successful the Wii is, Nintendo seems to be the only company doing things right. What Microsoft and Sony have been doing is basically madness: taking huge losses without any guarantees of profit. MS's claims of doing profit is basically a sleight of hand to distract stock holders and Sony is still losing money. Is Nintendo really the one doing mistakes? Or is it the companies that are taking massive losses and contributing to the soaring costs for making a game?

I'm afraid that the Wii is just a fad and that it's just going to stop selling.

I'd be more afraid for the 360 and the PS3 in that case.

 

[Jumplion]

I'm afraid that the Wii is just a fad and that it's just going to stop selling.

I'd be more afraid for the 360 and the PS3 in that case.

Bullshit I say.

All Consoles are fads, that's why we get the "next-gen" consoles to keep up with fads. Right now it's all about the hardware fueling the software (Wii=Motion control Sony=Blu-Ray/Super Chip or whatever)

Atleast Sony is trying to introduce some new tools for developers to work with and open up possibilities, blu-ray and the like which is exactly what Nintendo is doing albiet diminishing the potential slightly without the strong hardware.

If Nintendo didn't include the motion control with the Wii, I personally think that it would have been a flop with no developers wanting to work with it considering the failure of the Gamecube.

I'm just worried that the motion-control will back-fire on them and that it will suddenly just drop dead. You can only stay on top for so long.

 

[Woe Is You]

Nintendo has already gotten their money out of it. If the Wii suddenly "backfires" on them, they'd still be on the winning side of the deal.

And when do you think such a backfiring would happen? The DS was released 4 years ago and it's still selling like hotcakes. Like the Wii, the hardware it has is vastly inferior to the competition in processing power, but that could also be considered a feature in some cases. Lesser processing power and familiar tools (if you have any experience with the Gamecube) means cheaper games. That means more Katamari-esque stuff for us.

 

[Lewrawen]

Didn't they say something along the lines of 'E3 isn't where to speak to hardcore anymore'?
Fast-forward three months and things got brighter for the seasoned gamer. Receny press conferences showcased no less than 40 new Wii titles, very few of which for what is considered the 'casual' gamer. Punch Out!! Sin and Punishment 2, Another Code, etc. They're clearly working to shed the Gamecube's 'toy' image by appealing to both gamer types, and by god they're picking up steam.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

As my argument I submit only this- Casual Gaming and the Birdman Fallacy

http://malstrom.50webs.com/birdman.html

Nintendo's move is a business strategy called DISRUPTION, and is positive for games (I feel) so long as they countinue to move upstream and gradually make more casual games. You can hardly blame Nintendo for doing what works after the struggle they had with the n64 and the gamecube- they're finally regaining some steam.

Seriously, it's this. They realized they needed to find a way to keep drawing in new gamers and not just making complex games over and over. Yes, we're all capable of playing tricky new games. Most people don't even understand why a PS3 game won't work in an Xbox360 game.

You don't hand someone who doesn't know how to read a copy of 'The Canterbury Tales'. You hand them something light and easy then they move on to more complex stuff.

 

[SimuLord]

Considering the "hardcore" gamers with their insistence on graphical quality and hardware-driven gameplay are setting the industry up for a redux of the Crash of 1983, I'd say Nintendo's insistence on keeping themselves profitable is a pretty damn smart one. In dollars and cents (or yen) terms, Nintendo's the only company in consoles these days whose business strategy makes even the slightest bit of sense.

Hardcore gamers cost the industry so much money it's a wonder anyone makes hardcore games anymore.