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Nintendo is Bringing Hardcore Gaming to its Knees

Wii Sports. Wii Fit. Dr. Kawashiwa's Brain Training. Ubisoft's Imagine series. Each title summons a bevy of emotions from those who've donned a controller since their infancy. Some claim that Nintendo's foray into the world of casual games is merely a trend; a blip on the hardcore gamer's radar that will be squashed once Sony's Playstation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 gain steam. Others believe that the widespread popularization of video games can only be good for the industry and increase the potential for marquee hits. The truth is, when titles such as Carnival Games and MySims (EA's bastardized iteration of the popular PC series) can outsell big-budget releases including Devil May Cry 4 and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, the potential for developers to continue releasing big-budget titles catering to the hardcore decreases dramatically.

The unbridled success of the Nintendo Wii in America and Japan no doubt took gamers by surprise. A number of reasons accounted for its positive entrance into the market. At its launch, hardcore gamers got their fix from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (which has sold six million units to date) and with a realistic price point of two hundred fifty dollars, didn't burn a hole in many middle-class gamers' wallets. Secondly, the Wii's favorable media coverage during the 2006 holiday season made Nintendo's fledgling console the hot item, and it hasn't looked back since. With popular TV personalities like Al Roker and Conan O'Brien giddily playing Wii Tennis on their respective programs, parents saw something they had never seen before: people their age actually playing, and enjoying, video games. As I watched Venus Williams and O'Brien return volleys on the Late Show, an uneasy feeling suddenly came over me.

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Goodfella2487 - contributor
Published: 585 days 8 hours ago | Article | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii

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cmrbe - 585 days 8 hours ago

1 - F*ck this

If casual becomes dominate this gen and the next i will give up gaming.

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resistance100 - 585 days 8 hours ago

1.1 -

Agreed.

If casual gaming takes over, i will stop gaming. However casual gaming can also be the death of gaming. Why you ask? its simple.

The core gamer probally buys on average 6-12 games a year (just guessing on my experience). Whereas the average casual gamer buys probally 2-5 games a year. Now with people buying less games and the games they do buy will most likey be the ones everyone else is buying (like we are seeing that only the 1st party wii titles are really selling), this will basically make it harder for studio's to make a profit and sell there games, leading to a decline in developers. Then you have to take into account that the average casual gamer can and most likey will just stop buying games at all at one point. This will then lead to the remaining studio's getting smaller.

Well this is just one theory i believe could happen if the core gamer was to disapear. Hope it makes sense

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cmrbe - 585 days 7 hours ago

1.2 - Before i never really worried aout the impact

of the wii on the hardcore market as i believe that the hardcore will always remain the bread and butter of devs and publishers. My real worry is if casuals becomes more lucrative the devs will focus more on casuals and less on the hardcore. A situation where devs can develop 2 casual games with the budget of one big budget game like COD4 but end up selling 3 million copies and counting each like wii fit is very dangerous for the hardcore market.

Perhaps what you are saying could come to pass. I hope it won't. It would be such a waste. I hope the gaming industry keeps moving forward not just in terms of gaining respect as a serious entertainment industry but offcourse advance further technologically.

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Voiceofreason - 585 days 5 hours ago

1.3 -

Half of the million sellers on Wii are 3rd party.. @below Yeah thats what happens when the maker of the console actually believes in it before launch and 3rd parties show little to no interest. Most of the ones that did have come out and publicly apologized for the poor effort they put into their games.

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Rock Bottom - 585 days 5 hours ago

1.4 -

But all the top 5 are first party.

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PirateThom - 585 days 6 hours ago

2 -

At least, hardcore gaming has Kojima and Sony/Microsoft on its side. (And Microsoft is becoming questionable with its remote plans which I hope aren't true, but I disgress).

Nintendo died to me the day the Wii came out. I'm sorry to anyone that doesn't feel that way, but to me Nintendo have sacrificed quality gaming and the people like me who put them where they are for plastic accessories and mini-games.

I own a SNES controller T-shirt, I hacked my PSP just to play SNES games and in the Console Wars Nintendo will always be better than Sega, but this isn't my Nintendo, this is a Nintendo that doesn't care about gaming.

The Game Cube sold less, but it had games I actually enjoyed playing. I doubt I'll buy another Wii game. That's just how disappointed I am.

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ZeVeX - 585 days 6 hours ago

3 -

I've hated that goddam peice of sh*t known as the wii ever since it came out, it just makes video games look childish and naf instead of a art form, disagree all you want but thats the truth of it.

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Prismo_Fillusion - 585 days 5 hours ago

4 -

Hardcore gaming is just FINE.

I'm pretty sure that GTAIV's sales have been doing just dandy.

There's no reason why casual gaming and hardcore gaming can't coexist. They always have, they always will.

People who continually disrespect the Wii and its fanbase have no respect for the casual gaming that made hardcore gaming what it is today. And if people still enjoy casual gaming, and many do, let them enjoy it. There will always be a large fanbase for guns and killing - that won't change.

Stop whining, you three-year old fanboy babies.

/rant

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Voiceofreason - 585 days 5 hours ago

5 -

It is seriously hard to take any of you seriously when you know so little about what you are talking about. You kids act like the Wii is the first and only console to ever have casual games or shovel ware. Forgetting of course that the PS1 and PS2 libraries are full of both and the Pc is even worse. It did not kill gaming in any way. I think the only reason you people cry is because its not a Sony console getting all the attention this gen. I have a hard time believing Wii sports is going to destroy gaming when the majority of games released in the last 9 years were casual. Some of the stuff you guys are claiming is just completely stupid..Higher budget does not equal a Hardcore game.The Wii itself is not stopping hardcore games from being made and it has several to prove that.Oh yeah and Nintendo sacrificed quality gaming? Yeah that makes a lot of sense with some of the highest rated games this gen..I really wish that just once, one of yo guys could actually make a valid argument against the Wii that doesnt get blown to bits the minute I look at the PS2's power and library.

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Intrepid - 585 days 4 hours ago

5.1 -

Bubbles.

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jtucker78 - 585 days ago

5.2 -

Yes, the PS1 and PS2s libraries were full of shovelware, but don't forget that the PS2 actually had decent hardware by last generations standards.
That means the PS2 was a perfect choice of console for those who liked casual and hardcore games, because it could do everything.

The Wii is pretty much last generation hardware wise, so if you want lots going on on screen, huge virtual worlds, physics, graphics, sound AND especially online play. Then the Wii isn't up to the task.

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Xiru - 584 days 18 hours ago

5.3 -

PS1 and PS2 got their shovelware as the console started to gain popularity. At the begining, developers actually "tried" to make great games for the system. PS1 and PS2 were never marketted to attract non-gamers over gamers, and it was not the specific focus of Sony to do so. With the PS2 you have a huge lineup of great 3rd party games in addition to 1st party and shovelware. With the Wii its a huge great 1st party lineup, with a ton of 3rd party shovelware. That is the difference.

And the guy above me is right, the PS2 was the same basic technology as the xbox and gamecube, so developers didn't have to choose one or the other, they could port a game to all 3 systems of that generation. This time around, developers have to choose, either 360/PS3 or Wii because of the difference in hardware.

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ItsIncognito - 585 days 1 hour ago

6 -

Wii attracts a lot of non gamers. And guess what there are billions of them. So the hardcore gamer was always in the minority and Wii makes this visible. So nothing new here.

The point is sony and MS are battling each other to dead in the so called Console War, that by itself is so stupid even childish in my opinion.
Nintendo on the other hand is laughing and while they do so they make lots of money.

My kids love games, I never hear them rant about pixels and 567P. No they say to me what a lovely game. At the end of the day isnt that what counts???

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Alexander Roy - 584 days 23 hours ago

6.1 -

You are right, imho. "Hardcore Gamers" have always been there and will stay. Those people that the Wii brought to gaming, i.e. older people, people who never wanted to play a game before, have also been there forever, they just were not called "Casual Gamers". Just because there now is a casual market doesn't turn all the HC's around to only play minigames or the like. Casual games have always been there and most people played them - Solitaire, Minesweeper anyone? The only problem might be (or is, depending on your view), that a lot of developers want to get their part of the cake that is the success of the Wii and only make games for the casual market. However, although there is an undeniable raise with CG's, we still have great games for the HC audience. Final Fantasy, Gears Of War, The Legend Of Zelda (if you played Twilight Princess, you know that it uses the Wiimote alot without being cheap or "gimmicky"), just to name some of the bigger names.
(No Wii bashing on my side, I've got one myself - and a PS3, if that matters.)

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blindfromthesun - 584 days 20 hours ago

7 - something about the title is disturbingly sensual

I am not going down on my knees for Nintendo. Big N can go down on their knees and do hardcore gamers a service. We were the ones that supported N when times were tough and he/she wanted a little love. This is how we are re payed? I don't think so.

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ItsDubC - 584 days 20 hours ago

7.1 -

Remember when everyone ditched the N64 for the PS1?

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Leathersoup - 584 days 20 hours ago

8 -

Hahaha who wrote that title? If the Wii is brining hardcore gaming to its knees, why did GTA IV just set world records for sales?

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Xiru - 584 days 18 hours ago

9 -

This is what i've been complaining about since day 1. Nintendo is proving that the hardcore market isn't the most profitable. It just isn't worth it for a company to put 40+ million into a game, unless it has a huge name like GTA. If developers jump on the bandwagon and start making casual friendly only games, we will lose a lot of creativity and great games. The real kicker is that Nintendo has been stating since E3 2007 that they will not leave out the hardcore gamer, but a press release just recentley from Nintendo of Europe I think, stated "There is no such thing as casusal games, only games." This is frustrating, Nintendo is trying to say that they don't see the difference between Wii Sports and Final Fantasy 13?

Sigh, this generation is a frustrating one. I just hope the PS3 and 360 keep selling at a decent rate. There is no stopping the Wii.

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