Has Nintendo taken easy route with the Wii – pleasing casual gamers
This generation is shaping up to be unlike any seen before in the gaming industry, with the Nintendo Wii, a console that is distinctly un-next-gen, winning the current battle for sales. Unlike previous generations, where the console with the most graphical power, or the biggest feature set has won out, the Wii is challenging the accepted terms of what makes for a successful games console.
It has done this by catering to as large a group of gamers as possible, eschewing high-end graphics, and complicated games, for games which are likely to appeal to all ages, sexes, and races. These people are collectively known as casual gamers, a term which correctly points out the habit for them to play on a non-regular basis, with a kind of take it or leave it attitude.
The question for me is did Nintendo take the easy route when deciding to go after casual gamers, or did it actually make things harder for itself?
The recent E3 conference showed up exactly where Nintendo’s business strategy lies, with the three big games announced as Wii Music, Wii Resort, and Animal Crossing. All of which are much more likely to appeal to the casual end of the market. Meanwhile, there was no sign of Mario, Zelda, or any of the big list of characters Nintendo has at its disposal to go head to head with Microsoft and Sony on a more level playing field.
Instead, Nintendo is letting Microsoft and Sony come to it, with both rivals definitely trying to ape the success of the Wii with a more casual approach to gaming. Katsuya Eguchi is head of Nintendo’s Software Development Group No. 2, the group responsible for all three of the big E3-announced releases. He recently spoke to Wired about how casual gaming isn’t the easy option many think it is.
It’s a lot of pressure. Not only do we have to find things that are interesting for people who might not play games, we also have to lower the difficulty so they’re not put off right at the beginning. But you can’t just make a game easy enough for anyone to play. That’s a trap. If you do that, players are going to get bored quickly and not come back.
You have to have features within the game that are brought out as the gameplay continues, in balance with that difficulty ramp, that will bring them into a richer or more traditional gaming environment.
The man has a point. I actually agree that the casual market is very hard to develop for, with such a broad range of people to have to keep in mind during development. What Nintendo has done so well with the Wii is to take things back to basics. Yes, the console is underpowered, and some games look worse than their Gamecube ancestors, but that hasn’t stopped the console selling in vast numbers in every single territory.
For hardcore gamers, it is very easy to dismiss casual gamers as less important to the industry, but in this generation, they are actually leading the way changing the face of the industry. Whether that’s a good thing or not remains to be seen, as it could mean technology takes a back seat to pure, unadulterated fun. But isn’t that why we all play games in the first place?
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6 Responses to “Has Nintendo taken easy route with the Wii – pleasing casual gamers”
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July 25th, 2008
Nintendo prints money, they did the smart thing. Why go against 2 companies that will basically have the same games and partially some exclusives and do the same thing they are doing? Might as well take it easy and grab the free money and appeal to the casual gamer.
July 26th, 2008
Sorry DAVE PARRACK, I don’t agree with you initially on this one. The PS2 was not more graphically or feature set advanced over the original xbox, but ps2 killed everyone. I don’t think it was ever about the most advanced system that determines the one that wins the generation. Some would argue that the n64 was more powerful than the psx, but psx won out. If this were true, then techinically, the orig xbox should have killed the ps2.
Now that that is out of the way…. I certainly hope tomorrows gaming is not going to “wiiafied”. It willl be a verrrrry sad generation indeed if gaming turned into substandard graphical “dinky dink” games. I would see me leave gaming. In saying this…. I don’t think that would become a reality though.
July 26th, 2008
well there arent any hardcore games coming out because the all the hardcore wii games just came out…people want more mario…hell galaxy came out just 8 months ago…when halo 1 came out yes everyone wanted halo 2 but they had to wait 3 years…games arent made over nite!
July 26th, 2008
You say “Unlike previous generations, where the console with the most graphical power, or the biggest feature set has won out, the Wii is challenging the accepted terms of what makes for a successful games console.”
Which is actually the exact opposite of the truth. N64, Sega Dreamcast, Xbox, Colecovision etc all LOST with arguably better graphics and more capabilities over PSX, PS2, Atari etc for one reason – price point. Trading better graphics or features in exchange for price has proven time and again to be a failing strategy for game consoles. Why? Because this is a game machine, aka a toy. If something is just as fun, or more fun. or even only slightley less fun than the competition and chances are your going for the cheaper toy.
July 27th, 2008
As Jimbo and Spideydog already pointed out, Dave Parrack needs to go back and read more about the previous console wars/generations.
Dave also needs to understand that the Wii wasn’t the first console to cater casuals. The first one was the original Playstation.
It was Sony that started the trend when they decided that core gamers (the user base that used to support the gaming industry), was a rather small and finicky crowd. So instead they branched out catering to people who never considered themselves gamers. Bringing into the fold millions of future gamers.
I mean, does anybody remember all those articles and news stories on how Sony had made gaming mainstream? Some articles praised Sony while many others attacked their strategy. Mentioning that catering to casuals or non-gamers was like a virtual Ragnarok or Apocalyptic strategy that would end up killing the industry. Fact was, that with the PS1 and PS2, Sony had casuals under their spell. Because of them (and core gamers), the Playstation brand name became synonymous with gaming all over the world.
Some gamers would say: “No, no, no… the PS1 and PS2 had a majority of core gamers”… Not even close.
Think about it… the PS1 had a user base of about 140 million. The PS2 has a user base of about 150 million or more. And yet, most “core games” only sold to a tiny fraction of that enormous user base. Not a single core game sold 140-150 million copies on those consoles. Not even half those numbers. Most core games usually sold from 1 to 11.5 million units (and I’m talking individual games, not complete franchises or series).
So you had to wonder, what was the fudge where the majority of the PS1/PS2 user base playing? How come they didn’t buy GTA III or some other core game and made it a 100 million selling game?
They didn’t because they weren’t core gamers. They were actually casuals.
The same crowd that has emigrated presently to support the Wii in mass.
Both Sony and MS knows that without the support of those millions of casuals, they won’t ever reach the top. And that’s why they have their own strategies set in motion trying to capture them.
The problem with Sony… is that they willingly tossed casuals aside when they started promoting the PS3. For some idiotic reason, they figured casuals weren’t important anymore to their success. They were (in early 2006) still on top and were market leaders. They thought they could do without them.
But now… Sony knows better than that. Bring in Little Big Planet (as “casual” as Animal Crossing, no less), SingStar and Home.
July 27th, 2008
Nice post Edgar.
Though, I can never stay angry at DAVE.