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Topic: How can the NX bring back the casual gamer?

Posts 1 to 20 of 25

TheMisterManGuy

So by now the casual gaming audience that Nintendo made popular with the Wii and DS has retreated to mobile. Many people assume there's no way they can get that audience back. I wouldn't be so sure. Part of the reason the Wii declined late in it's life was because audiences were getting tired of it's lack of evolution. The idea of paying $50 for proprietary discs to play on a proprietary fixed console ceased being a viable business models model for this audience as soon as mobile gaming took off, which offered games for only a couple bucks or in many cases, free.

I think the reason Nintendo is getting into mobile development is to repair it's weakened reputation with casual audiences after the damage the Wii U did to their brand. Once they gained their trust, they'll encourage them to invest in their ecosystem. And that word, ecosystem is what I feel will help Nintendo win back the casual crowd. They realized that selling $300 proprietary boxes that play $60 proprietary discs is a dying business model, and one that needs to go. They expressed adopting an iOS way of thinking, and keeping audiences satisfied with an evolving dynamic software platform that can run on any device will be their key to success.

This also leads into the next goal, bridge the gap between mobile and traditional gaming. Currently, there are clear stereotypes where mobile games are often associated with pay to win puzzle games, while dedicated traditional games are stereotyped as big budget blockbusters for young men. Why can't there be something in between? Something that combines the simplicity, intuitiveness and convince of mobile gaming, with the support, power, and features of dedicated game machines. This is something Nintendo should address going into the future. You can argue the Wii U tried to do this, but the Wii U's goal was to transition the expanded audience into more hardcore games with a more complex control scheme. But that strategy was poorly executed from the start. So this is just how I think Nintendo can get the casual audience back, what do you think they can do?

TheMisterManGuy

Individual

Nintendo should focus on the power of their console first (so I makes it easier to have third party support), then focus on the games, then focus on optional innovation. If said innovation is both a handheld and console in one system, that's fine! Just stay with the baseline of technical console, then add extra tidbits of good OK innovation.

Individual

3DS Friend Code: 5370-0957-8341 | Nintendo Network ID: Ultimategamer132

TheMisterManGuy

@Ultimategamer132 Power is important, but Nintendo doesn't need an uber-powerful PS4/Neo killer. They just need something that's good enough. After all, they've proven before that specs aren't the end all be all of gaming

TheMisterManGuy

Octane

@TheMisterManGuy They have also proven that it's easy to scare off third party developers if your hardware is underpowered, difficult to work with or based on a completely different architecture.

Octane

TheMisterManGuy

@Octane is why I said they need something that's good enough, rather than the best. They need hardware that's in the same range as the PS4/XBONE without trying to outdo them.

TheMisterManGuy

Octane

@TheMisterManGuy I don't think it needs to be the best, but matching the XOne and PS4 in 2017 in easy feat, a little too easy. I expect at least something that's a little more powerful that a three-and-a-half-year old console.

Octane

Individual

@TheMisterManGuy

I've heard a lot of people say this and I can attest to it too. Nintendo only struck out with the Wii casual gamer wise because tablets/smartphones weren't really a thing yet. As Tech land USA said "They played Wii Sports and left their Wii to collect dust." I admit, I have a hefty catalogue of games on the Wii, but I barely touched them if not to play it for five minutes. Nintendo simply got lucky.

Individual

3DS Friend Code: 5370-0957-8341 | Nintendo Network ID: Ultimategamer132

TheMisterManGuy

@Ultimategamer132 Eh... I don't buy it. It's an argument thrown a lot, but it's an over-simplification of the REAL issue. There was more the Wii's rise and fall than pure luck. What made the Wii a big success was it's simplicity. It lowered the barrier of entry to home gaming by ditching complex button layouts, in favor of a streamlined, friendlier interface. The whole concept of the Wii could be explained in 15 seconds or less. It set a new standard in pick up and play game design.

True casual gamers were getting tired of it late in it's life, but only because

A) The Wii was showing it's age

B) Nintendo struggled to adapt to the market in a timely fashion.

Then comes the Wii U, which tossed out everything that worked with the Wii, and replaced it with a bulky, ugly, needlessly complicated nightmare that consumers couldn't even grasp. In the casuals eyes, it was just a bad tablet add-on for their Wii. Why buy that mess, when you already have a tablet and Wii that work perfectly fine. On top of confusing name and poor design, Nintendo still expected casuals to pay $60 for games they already played. "We already have Wii Fit, why do we need another one?" All of this combined, made the Wii U a big slap in the face to those who loved the original Wii. People say casuals got bored of their Wii's and moved on to tablets, but they have no evidence to back that up.

Edited on by TheMisterManGuy

TheMisterManGuy

Bolt_Strike

The NX isn't drawing in casual gamers, I can practically guarantee that. Casuals want a non-dedicated gaming system, which the NX is already confirmed not to be, so the NX won't be drawing a lot of casuals away from mobile regardless of what it does. If Nintendo isn't prepared to take that step, and it seems like it'll be a while before they do, then they're not winning back casuals period. Let it go and focus more on hardcore.

Bolt_Strike

Switch Friend Code: SW-5621-4055-5722 | 3DS Friend Code: 4725-8075-8961 | Nintendo Network ID: Bolt_Strike

DjLewe78

The casual gamer now plays mobile games.
Nintendo now makes mobile games.
They will figure it out

1 up !

TheMisterManGuy

@Bolt_Strike If you want my guess, I don't think the NX will be it's own platform at all. I think it's just a pawn in a much more ambitious plan. A unified, software OS for all future Nintendo devices that run on Tablets, set-top boxes, pocket devices, and even Smart TVs in the future. Iwata has said Nintendo wants their hardware to be like iOS, so this would make sense. "Dedicated game device" is probably just a big fancy term for an entertainment machine with games as the main draw. Iwata has also said that selling $300 proprietary game boxes that play $60 proprietary discs isn't going to cut it anymore. What predict Nintendo will do is bridge the gap between mobile and traditional gaming with their new platform.

TheMisterManGuy

DefHalan

Bolt_Strike wrote:

The NX isn't drawing in casual gamers, I can practically guarantee that. Casuals want a non-dedicated gaming system, which the NX is already confirmed not to be, so the NX won't be drawing a lot of casuals away from mobile regardless of what it does. If Nintendo isn't prepared to take that step, and it seems like it'll be a while before they do, then they're not winning back casuals period. Let it go and focus more on hardcore.

There are plenty of Casuals that would be interested in a Game Console, there are plenty of Casuals already on PS4 and XB1. I think Nintendo could recapture the Casual audience, but we need to see the hardware before we can guess how.

People keep saying the Xbox One doesn't have Backwards Compatibility.
I don't think they know what Backwards Compatibility means...

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Bolt_Strike

TheMisterManGuy wrote:

@Bolt_Strike If you want my guess, I don't think the NX will be it's own platform at all. I think it's just a pawn in a much more ambitious plan. A unified, software OS for all future Nintendo devices that run on Tablets, set-top boxes, pocket devices, and even Smart TVs in the future. Iwata has said Nintendo wants their hardware to be like iOS, so this would make sense. "Dedicated game device" is probably just a big fancy term for an entertainment machine with games as the main draw. Iwata has also said that selling $300 proprietary game boxes that play $60 proprietary discs isn't going to cut it anymore. What predict Nintendo will do is bridge the gap between mobile and traditional gaming with their new platform.

That won't really help their hardware sales though, if anything that would decrease hardware sales. If you have access to Nintendo games on your mobile device or PC, what's the incentive to buy a Nintendo console then? You can get more games and more features out of non-dedicated hardware, so the vast majority of gamers won't be interested in their consoles and just run Nintendo's OS on their PC or mobile device.

Bolt_Strike

Switch Friend Code: SW-5621-4055-5722 | 3DS Friend Code: 4725-8075-8961 | Nintendo Network ID: Bolt_Strike

TheMisterManGuy

@Bolt_Strike What I'm saying is, the NX will be a device that run a NintendOS of sorts, that will also be employed on other Nintendo-made devices like Tablets and Pocket devices. It'll be a tightly controlled ecosystem like iOS or other Apple platforms.

TheMisterManGuy

IceClimbers

Bolt_Strike wrote:

If you have access to Nintendo games on your mobile device or PC, what's the incentive to buy a Nintendo console then?

You should probably be asking that same question to Microsoft.

3DS Friend Code: 2363-5630-0794

CanisWolfred

IceClimbers wrote:

Bolt_Strike wrote:

If you have access to Nintendo games on your mobile device or PC, what's the incentive to buy a Nintendo console then?

You should probably be asking that same question to Microsoft.

To be fair: I asked that a lot to Microsoft during E3. Then I remembered they're Microsoft, and I stopped expecting a sane answer...

I am the Wolf...Red
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Bolt_Strike

TheMisterManGuy wrote:

@Bolt_Strike What I'm saying is, the NX will be a device that run a NintendOS of sorts, that will also be employed on other Nintendo-made devices like Tablets and Pocket devices. It'll be a tightly controlled ecosystem like iOS or other Apple platforms.

Except Nintendo doesn't make tablets and mobile devices, so if they're going to run it on those kinds of devices they either need to make their own or have it run on non-Nintendo devices. And the latter is much more likely.

Bolt_Strike

Switch Friend Code: SW-5621-4055-5722 | 3DS Friend Code: 4725-8075-8961 | Nintendo Network ID: Bolt_Strike

TheMisterManGuy

@Bolt_Strike I remember Iwata saying they were planning to introduce multiple form factors and as well as add and subtract them when needed in the future. Again just like iOS.

TheMisterManGuy

JohnBlackstar

Microsoft doesn't care if they sell you a console 5-10 years from now. They want to sell the Xbox service. Hardware doesn't make them money. If they can sell you software and services on multiple platforms they win. Nintendo on the other hand has always been a hardware company and they don't operate a pay service for Nintendo Network. They must either restructure and offer a pay service, or continue on as they are. Only other option is to become a large software company, but the profits are harder to come by that way.

JohnBlackstar

Octane

IceClimbers wrote:

Bolt_Strike wrote:

If you have access to Nintendo games on your mobile device or PC, what's the incentive to buy a Nintendo console then?

You should probably be asking that same question to Microsoft.

Then they're selling you a game on Windows 10; either way is a win for them.

Octane

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