I sort of have to agree. I don't see the next generation of consoles to attract the casual market's attention like the Wii did. But why would anyone who doesn't have video games as their main hobby, bother?
Thoughts?
Just for you. "I'm just a musical prostitute, my dear." - Freddie Mercury
Dare is say this?! I... also... sort... of... agree... with... Patcher... GASP Casual user who don't care about video games (or people saying people who play video games need to "grow up") will keep on playing Temple Run or Draw Something (or whatever the fad is) on their smart phone. As long as they don't influence the console market I'm fine.
A brilliant marketing strategy can make miracles (recently Microsoft). And there will always exist those idiots that buy a console to weight themselves or to offer "Horses" to their daughters.
I kinda agree with him. The Wii was big with the casual market but now there are facebook, iOS games and also kinect. The Wii U is not doing anything new with motion controls, so I dont see casual gamers trading in there Kinect for a Wii U.
Edit I do wonder if Xbox 360 or PS3 gamers will buy the Wii U, or if they will just write it of because it's Nintendo.
The truth is, yes, the days of attracting casual gamers with consoles are pretty much gone. The Wii came out at this ideal niche in time. Video games had been able to evolve to the point where controls could be intuitive to non-gamers; instead of pressing buttons, they could play golf/bowling/etc with more natural movements. At the same time, smart phones had not become as pervasive as they are today. Now, there are so many free (or cheap) apps to provide casual gamers with the quick fix they're looking for. I know so many children who used to have handheld games and now are ditching them for iPhones or Android phones. Yes, they can't quite give the same experience as the Wii... but that's what the Wii is for. Between the Wii and even Kinect being much cheaper than a next gen console, these casual gamers will be plenty satisfied without shelling out money for new consoles (and possibly handhelds too).
Of course, this is only a threat if Nintendo decides to stubbornly chase after the casual gamers. If they change their focus completely to hardcore gamers, they will do fine. There are still many people who will buy new consoles and handhelds, more than enough to sustain the industry. They just need to stop pushing towards casual gamers. They can still innovate, but the focus has to be hardcore gamers. The only thing I believe may catch the casual gamer interest again is "true" virtual reality. No, I don't really have any explanation what that may be, other than that we're quite far from it. There may be a sonsole niche for casual gamers in the future, but currently, I do believe that casual gamers won't be buying more consoles anytime soon.
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I heard a good theory about the Wii U... Casual gamers will buy the Wii U, even though it is a "hardcore" console. Why? Wii in Wii U is the keyword. The Wii U might be the best console ever, might be great for hardcore, but that won't make hardcore gamers buy it. Why? Again, that dreaded keyyword, Wii. I like the Wii! I do! But 360 and PS gamers don't as much as I do.
When a new console comes out, one without the Wii name, other gamers will buy it, any and all.
I don't know, I feel like the children and less-involved people (like women) are under-represented in the game industry considering that a majority of well-polished games are rated M in my opinion. Without any games to lure more people into the console realm, the dedicated-audience could start shrinking, and the platforms may not sustain in a shorter period in the future.
POINT: there should be more developers and even a publisher or 2 to serve the general audience (really risky though)
Nintendo better give up on the casual market pretty quick because they don't stand a chance at all once Apple decides to release a new Apple TV with a video game controller to play appstore games on your TV. Not a chance.
Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. -Albert Einstein
I disagree to an extent, while it is true that many casuals will not continue gaming after the Wii there are some that started out as casual gamers, but have become hardcore after being hooked by some of the hardcore Wii games.
I should know because I personally know 2 people that fall under this category.
That said the majority "at least 80-90% of casual gamers will never upgrade to the Wii U or other next gen consoles.
There's really no such thing as a "casual" game. A casual gamer is someone who doesn't play video games regularly. In that regard this is very correct. Nobody is going to want to buy a $250 system and $60 games when you can get $1 games on your smartphone. Also when the Wii came out most of the smartphone games were not very good and there wasn't as many.
Consoles are for the most part aimed at gamers who dont only play casual games though. The Wii focused on that market and got lots of sales, yes, but with more and more people becoming gamers in society It's not like Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo are in much trouble over this. There are plenty of gamers out there who simply ARENT content with casual gaming on such platforms, and theres enough people like this to keep the industry going, and console releases happening.
But what if the gamer demographic is a continuous spectrum rather than two types? People keep discussing about the dedicated gamers and the casual gamers, but what about the people in between? Game developers and game publishers could try their best to win as many casual gamer's hearts as much as possible. Just Dance made a ton of money. The more casual games can still be a viable option.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/7/3004973/xbox-360-99-two-year... Consoles next-gen are fling to be all in one set top boxes. By casuels not buying consoles he means not buying something that's only focuses on games. Out of all the big 3 Microsoft is the only one who has made serious inroads in this and will really help them when next gen starts. They've been setting up the set top box thig for a while.
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