Topic: Why Nintendo Hasn't Abandoned the Hardcore

[Nick DiMola]

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=16415

  With all of the recent stirrings of E3, I felt it necessary to talk a bit about the sentiment of Nintendo abandoning the hardcore. Since Nintendo presented it has been all doom and gloom from the gaming media and fans alike. Though at first blush this seems true, I'm not sure that there is significant proof that Nintendo has abandoned us hardcore gamers.    

If we look at the Wii thus far we have a fairly solid collection of titles from Nintendo all geared to satiate the Nintendo "hardcore" crowd. We have seen Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Smash Bros, Battalion Wars, Fire Emblem, Mario Kart, Paper Mario, and Wario Ware on the Wii already. We also know that Nintendo is working on Disaster, Wario Land, Pikmin, Animal Crossing, a new Mario and a new Zelda. Are there really that many franchises they have missed? Nintendo has clearly invested quite a bit in the hardcore, and as we speak, they are still developing more for us.    

The down time in Nintendo's release schedule leaves a bit of breathing room for third parties. A classic argument against Nintendo is third parties can't compete with Nintendo's first party offerings. What better can Nintendo do for third parties than give them a window to release without fear of first party competition? Keep in mind that development kicked off late for most third parties due to the Wii being an unexpected hit, so most of their titles are now under development or on the verge of release.    

Finally, just because Nintendo had an underwhelming presentation at E3, it doesn't mean they have forgotten about the hardcore. Look at Sony and Microsoft; their press events were equally terrible. E3 is dead now, and the big three don’t treat the venue in the same way they once did.    

There is no doubt that Nintendo is evolving, but give them a chance to prove they can cater to both crowds; their track record thus far proves they can.      

As of yesterday the Wii has surpassed the 360 in America as the market leader, you can expect more third parties to start investing in Wii development. Some of them will inevitably develop casual titles, but not all of them. We have titles like Madworld, Fatal Frame IV, and The Conduit coming up in the future, and they only represent a portion of what we have to look forward to.    

Don't jump ship just yet; there is still plenty to see.

[D_Average]

Until they prove themselves otherwise, I'll continue to believe Nintendo is moving in a 80/20 direction w/ the hardcore (20 being the hardcore).  Reggie made it quite clear in May the core would be "pleased" with E3.  That core game was Animal Crossing.  Sure, Zelda and Mario teams are "hard at work", but those games may not come out for another three to four years.

I certainly don't blame Nintendo for their actions as it makes perfect business sense, but it does get a little annoying to hear them preach about meeting both audiences while their actions clearly speak otherwise.  That said, I'll enjoy the Nintendo games I have for now, but I'm not going to hold out any hope we'll suddenly get hit with a slew of new IP's and in depth games from the big N.

[Aero Leviathan]

I wish we could come up with a different word than 'hardcore' to describe people who like to play normal video games. 'Hardcore' makes it sound like an aberration, whereas the 'casual' games are actually the deviation in this case.

[D_Average]

Softcore??     

[Crimm]

Softcore??     

No full-frontal button combos.

[TheYoungerPlumber]

This is BS and you know it, Nick. Nintendo sent a strong message with what they said and what they showed at E3: they don't really care about us any more. I may write a blog entry on my thoughts sometime this weekend, although I'm sure others have said everything I'd say by now elsewhere.

[Morari]

Man, it's no wonder Nintendo may or may not care about you so-called "hardcore" gamers anymore; you're a bunch of whiny little brats.

[D_Average]

Man, it's no wonder Nintendo may or may not care about you so-called "hardcore" gamers anymore; you're a bunch of whiny little brats.

A bunch of whiny brats that gave them the $$$ to create The Wii in first place.   

[NWR_Lindy]

A bunch of whiny brats that gave them the $$$ to create The Wii in first place.   

EXACTLY.  I've given Nintendo hundreds upon hundreds of dollars for their product.  In return, they give me games that I'm not remotely interested in.  I'm not happy with that.  That's not whining, that's customer displeasure.  If you ordered a steak well-done and got it rare and bloody, would you consider somebody that returned the steak to the chef a "whiny little brat"?  Gimme a break.

If we look at the Wii thus far we have a fairly solid collection of titles from Nintendo all geared to satiate the Nintendo "hardcore" crowd. We have seen Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Smash Bros, Battalion Wars, Fire Emblem, Mario Kart, Paper Mario, and Wario Ware on the Wii already. We also know that Nintendo is working on Disaster, Wario Land, Pikmin, Animal Crossing, a new Mario and a new Zelda.

Note that of the 15 titles you list in this paragraph, only ONE of them is a new IP (and it also happens to be the one that's most likely to be utterly mediocre).  Like D_Average said, if you think that Nintendo is going to suddenly do a 180 and release a ton of new IPs aimed at gaming purists, you're kidding yourself.  They've tilted the playing field up towards casual gamers, slowly causing traditional gamers to slide off to the 360 and PS3.

I'll certainly get flamed for this, but I'll say it anyways: I no longer consider the Wii a "gamer's console" because as time goes on, there are less and less "gamer's games" for it.  Those types of games have become the exception, not the rule.  Flame away, but that's the way I see it, and Nintendo is doing nothing to convince me otherwise.  It's like they've said, "OK, make Wii sequels to all of the franchises that our hardcore fans expect, and that should shut them up."  I feel like Nintendo releases games like the ones you've listed only out of obligation, not because they really want to.  It's like they try to keep up this facade of wanting to appease traditional gamers when they could really care less.  It's pretty patronizing, actually.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Nintendo could go back to publishing 2 games a year, if you'd like.

[DAaaMan64]

OOH OOH

[NWR_insanolord]

Nintendo's biggest mistake was not making it clear ahead of time that E3 for them was about the mainstream media and casual-friendly stuff and that the core gamer stuff would come at another time. If they'd done that then nobody would have expected anything and nobody would be getting ready to throw their Wii into a woodchipper because Nintendo doesn't love them anymore.

[Morari]

EXACTLY.  I've given Nintendo hundreds upon hundreds of dollars for their product.  In return, they give me games that I'm not remotely interested in.  I'm not happy with that.  That's not whining, that's customer displeasure.  If you ordered a steak well-done and got it rare and bloody, would you consider somebody that returned the steak to the chef a "whiny little brat"?  Gimme a break.

You didn't order anything. You bought a console. Is the console defective? No? Well then, no more metaphor. If you're delusional enough to believe that Nintendo should read your mind and gear their entire marketing strategy toward you on that basis, then you need to grow up and get with the real world. Besides, steak is gross.

Note that of the 15 titles you list in this paragraph, only ONE of them is a new IP (and it also happens to be the one that's most likely to be utterly mediocre).  Like D_Average said, if you think that Nintendo is going to suddenly do a 180 and release a ton of new IPs aimed at gaming purists, you're kidding yourself.  They've tilted the playing field up towards casual gamers, slowly causing traditional gamers to slide off to the 360 and PS3.

New IPs don't get released very often anyway, regardless of the system. Expecting as much is setting yourself up for failure right off the bat.

I'll certainly get flamed for this, but I'll say it anyways: I no longer consider the Wii a "gamer's console" because as time goes on, there are less and less "gamer's games" for it.  Those types of games have become the exception, not the rule.  Flame away, but that's the way I see it, and Nintendo is doing nothing to convince me otherwise.  It's like they've said, "OK, make Wii sequels to all of the franchises that our hardcore fans expect, and that should shut them up."  I feel like Nintendo releases games like the ones you've listed only out of obligation, not because they really want to.  It's like they try to keep up this facade of wanting to appease traditional gamers when they could really care less.  It's pretty patronizing, actually.

No console is a gamer's system, that's what PCs are for. Consoles have always been a casual thing simply because of what they are. You plug them in and go, not having to worry about customizing your controls or anything. That's casual, and you console kiddies need to wake up to the reality of it all.

[GoldenPhoenix]

This is BS and you know it, Nick. Nintendo sent a strong message with what they said and what they showed at E3: they don't really care about us any more. I may write a blog entry on my thoughts sometime this weekend, although I'm sure others have said everything I'd say by now elsewhere.

Hyping an event is something all companies do, and it is odd that people are putting so much attention on Nintendo's conference when basically every publisher/developer out there treated E3 like a minor event. We have no idea what changed between Reggie's statements and what Nintendo finally decided to do. For a long time it was expected that Kid Icarus would show up and it didn't, heck not many CASUAL games showed up, so I guess that means Nintendo is abandoning casual gamers as well. All the shows were poor, but at least Nintendo's poor show had a theme. Tell me how many "core" games came out each year on N64? Yeah, exactly. Heck you could say the same thing about GC. Nintendo is making more of everything and that is NOT a bad thing.

[DAaaMan64]

Lets see what makes profit:

Core games =  $
Casual games = $$

Core + Casual games = $$$

See what I'm sayin'?  Nintendo should just be making both (thats what I think they are doing anyway), it's not like they never made money on core games, they just make more on casual.  So why not make both?  You'll still end up with more money. I'm sure Nintendo is expanding.

[D_Average]

Nintendo's biggest mistake was not making it clear ahead of time that E3 for them was about the mainstream media and casual-friendly stuff and that the core gamer stuff would come at another time. If they'd done that then nobody would have expected anything and nobody would be getting ready to throw their Wii into a woodchipper because Nintendo doesn't love them anymore.

As has been said 100 times by now. Reggie said wait till e3 the core gamers will be greatly pleased.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

The casual is the new core.

Don't people get it?

[Peachylala]

We fans are such whiny bitches.

We bitch about VC releases.
We bitch about casual games.
We bitch about E3 2008.

People fail to see that Nintendo is making money, and they are not rushing games like they did back in the GCN era.

Yes, we are such whiny bitches.

[NWR_Lindy]

All I can say is enjoy Wii Music, guys!

[shammack]

SERIOUS GAMER IS SERIOUS

[D_Average]

All I can say is enjoy Wii Music, guys!

You forgot to add...."Have fun waiting until Spring 2009 to play "disc toss" with your fake dog.   

[AV]

i am confident Nintendo is making hardcore games, and 3rd party are too but they need to throw some red meat to its starving fans. A trailer for a game coming in 2009 would be worth while. Where the hell is Disaster Day of Crisis? I thought it was supposed to get japanese release soon.

[Jonnyboy117]

Obviously, Nintendo is still working on games that traditional gamers will enjoy.  And I understand why they didn't have much to show of such games at E3.  They just released some very big titles and may not be ready to show the follow-ups at this time.  All of that is perfectly understandable.

The problem with this E3 is that Nintendo didn't acknowledge any of these problems.  What we have here is a failure to communicate.  Nintendo not only ignored the traditional gamer at this show, they refused to answer any of our questions and diverted all complaints to Animal Crossing as a huge title that Joe Gamer should get excited for.  Sorry, I'm not interested in your rehashed N64 collect-a-thon.  You already released that one back on the GameCube... when we called it a casual game.

Instead of coming to the show with some teasers and straight talk for their long-term fans, Nintendo played semantics at E3.  They treated us like idiots with their pathetic diversionary tactics.  Do you know why people clapped at Miyamoto's Pikmin confirmation?  It's not because Pikmin is so beloved (it's really not) but because finally someone at Nintendo gave a straight answer to the traditional gamers.  At least, that's why I was clapping.

[ShyGuy]

Motion Plus was for you rotten apple core gamers. A simple thank you would suffice.

[blackfootsteps]

Note that of the 15 titles you list in this paragraph, only ONE of them is a new IP (and it also happens to be the one that's most likely to be utterly mediocre).  Like D_Average said, if you think that Nintendo is going to suddenly do a 180 and release a ton of new IPs aimed at gaming purists, you're kidding yourself.  They've tilted the playing field up towards casual gamers, slowly causing traditional gamers to slide off to the 360 and PS3.

New IPs don't get released very often anyway, regardless of the system.

Yes they do. A 'hardcore' PC player should know that better than anyone.