For example, i know everyone here can beat me on a “hardcore game” like Halo (i´m not good at halo, sorry) but i´m sure a can kick ass in a non hardcore game like puyo pop fever. Cause i love puyo pop, and i´m good at it….

“dont see anything next gen about it… sum it all up its gamecube version 1.5….. basicly gamecube with a motion sensing controller”.

that´s right, you go it and you known what´s worst, this not next gen machine, is winning by a hughe margin the next gen race , pretty ouchhh

I say it again hardcore games, no more heroes, metroid prime, smash brawl, mario galaxy, bully, scarface, resident evil 4, the godfather, call of duty 3, just to name a few.

“dont see anything next gen about it… sum it all up its gamecube version 1.5….. basicly gamecube with a motion sensing controller”.

that´s right, you go it and you known what´s worst, this not next gen machine, is winning by a hughe margin the next gen race , pretty ouchhh

I say it again hardcore games, no more heroes, metroid prime, smash brawl, mario galaxy, bully, scarface, resident evil 4, the godfather, call of duty 3, just to name a few.
and that it is a gamecube version 1.5::: bas

Thanks. megastryke, that was a great article, i laugh out loud with some older posts, specially the one that said the wii will only sell 18 millions units into 2012, and the one that indicates the wii is going come in a distant third, that one is priceless, ja ja …. im still laughing

the other ones are great though, i recomend everyone that had commented in this blog to give it a try, it really add something to this article, specially the part that saids the casual gamers that had bought wii sports, wii play, etc will crave for hardcore games, upscaling their taste , and thats the reason why supersmash bros brawl, supermario galaxy, and mario kart, are selling so great, speacilly brawl, with almost 5 million units selled in a short time.

Thats a silly thing to say, come on. I’m not gonna argue over the idea that GTA4 is more aimed at the core market than Wii Fit, that’d be silly. But what a ridiculous comment. Thats like buying GTA4 then two mintues later saying ‘How rubbish, there hasn’t been a GTA released since GTA4!’

Brawl isn’t out here yet, No More Heroes is barely a month old. If you expect new releases every 2 seconds then I honestly don’t know how you’d expect it to be done. Making games properly takes time.

“Considering most of the people who think i’m unfairly biased are the same who supported Alasdair’s ridiculous pro-Nintendo rant it seems clear to me who the real blinded fanboys are…”

Oooh bitch I actually see where you’re coming from here, and think you’re at least partially correct. Nintendo’s approach has certainately leaned a lot more to the casual market but the good thing is that games that a lot of ‘core’ gamers would write off because they’re too childish (such as Super Mario Galaxy) aare still great quality games. Yes, as a Wii owner, I will have to put up with 75% of Wii games being casual games, but it’s a similar story on the DS and I don’t think any gamer, casual or hardcore, could argue that it’s got the best games for all.
Basically I think that anyone who says the Wii is totally casual and won’t ever ever have anything for hardcore gamers is the kind of douchebag that just enjoys blowing peoples heads off and swearing a lot at others. Whereas the Wii will never be classed as hardcore because of it’s total lack of ‘ZOMG n00bz0r i jst leik pwned him’, it’s still a gaming machine, and one with the most high quality exclusive games on the market. Let’s face it, Nintendo know how to make games.

And I’ve totally lost what I was saying; basically yeah you’re right that GTA4 is for mainly for the more mature market (75% pre-teen kids btw. Only 25% are mature people who are allowed to play the game and will appreciate it) and Wii Fit isn’t. But that doesn’t mean the Wii doesn’t have its fair share of excellent titles that hardcore gamers can appreciate. I’d say the DS probably has the same ratio of hardcore to casual games, and it blew the PSP away by having such a variety of quality games. Wii is (and will continue) doing the same.

Christ, Nintendo Fanboys can be so defensive!”
Matt, i own all the consoles right now, even the handleds ones, and not a nintendo fanboy, i love videogames and i grew up with nintendo and thats a diferent story, but i like my 360 also more than the ps3 (wich sometimes i feel that is a dead console in terms of originality and good marketing, heck even sony doesnt know what they want to do with the console, who they are aiming for?), but i really do hate when people said so trashy things about nintendo, like the wii is a toy, the wii do not have any good games, and things like that , the waving thing, etc. ,without given it at least a try with an open mind, sometimes sounds like the other companys are little angels x360 / ps3, and nintendo is the devils army, even when everybody knows that at least sony, has been paying a lot of money in order to advertise (not directly of course), that the wii is for children and it is a toy, that for me is not a fair game, when a see a fair game for all the mayor consoles makers, that only dedicates themselfs to do great consoles, and give good products to us , then i will not defend nintendo, i will defend all companys.

I still don’t understand this fascination with hardcore/softcore/casual gamers. Surely, we’re all just gamers? We all enjoy playing a video game of some description, whether it be Brain Training on the DS, Wii Sports on the Wii, Motorstorm on the PS3, Halo3 on X360, God of War on PSP etc. etc. etc.

I own all of the consoles, I’ve got Wii Fit on pre-order and I have GTA 4 on pre-order. I’m really looking forward to playing both, but I’m more curious about Wii Fit – because it’s something totally different! Something I’ve not experienced before! I know GTA will be fun because the previous iterations were fun, but the Wii Fit is something altogether different. I’m figuring it’ll be like Singstar on the PS3… I’d always wondered what it was like, and so finally relented and bought it. Needless to say, my Wife and I had a blast!! It was great fun!

I also remember the first time I introduced my parents to the Wii. They’d heard the hype and seen the adverts, and were curious. The most gaming my parents had ever done was watching their 3 kids play and moaning about the arguing and noise. But when Wii Tennis was on the screen, I couldn’t get my console back!

I know they’d never have any intention of playing a game on the other consoles, unless it was fun for them. I think that’s the whole point. I never understood it until I played on the Wii. It seems to me that Nintendo’s games are a different kind of fun. I can’t see this being a bad thing! If it stops the “All video games are evil!” attitude then it can only be a good thing! If it gets people of different ages / walks of life talking about a common theme then good! I hope the adverts do attract more non-gamers to dip their toe into our world for once… who knows? It might spur them on to try other games on different formats?

I agree with Matt.. the games industry isn’t in jeopardy…. it’s diversifying. It’s evolving to encompass different areas never imagined, where hopefully an OAP could discuss the latest game releases with a teenager, or, god forbid, parents actually spend time with their kids playing games and building bonds with each other. More importantly, hopefully people will be too busy having fun to start arguing which console is the best!? We all know that they’re all only as good as the games available….

Plus, to all those abandoned hardcore gamers, i ask you: do you got a family? a mom, a dad, and all of that? The wii is pretty cheap, so buy one. Go, play a sunday with your familiy wii bowling, and go in the night, make a bunker and play GT4/Halo 3/whatever you want, hardcore gamer. And you´ll understand whats Nintendo doing. Keep that pace, and someday your mother will be with you playing GTA 5

There. Everyone should read that. The guy who writes the articles on that site is studying Nintendo’s business strategy very closely and has been able to accurately predict the Wii’s impact since even before launch. One of the most important things he mentions is that the Wii is NOT a casual machine. That’s merely what other companies see. They see minigames and waggle and assume that is the reason for the Wii’s success. Not true. Nintendo is following a strategy that has worked for disruptive companies in the past. It requires targeting downstream market, i.e. the minigames and “casual” games, and then slowly creeping upstream and eventually grabbing market share from the businesses that assumed they were in the clear. I can guarantee that Nintendo will be pushing more than “casual” games come E3. They have to if they want to tap into the upstream market.

The Wii’s already tapped the market it intended to – women, children and the casual gamer which does open up the market to go two different ways. GTA represents the continuing strength of gaming as not only the hobby it’s always been but also as a strong culture and artisticly serious media. Wii Fit on the other hand is the gateway into gaming for many. I’ve personally dealt with more people asking about Wii Fit – who obviously know nothing of games as a whole – than with those who ask at a console launch. Most are surprised that you actually have to spend another 179.99 to play it! The potential market growth is huge, especially as the year goes on with further marketing, word of mouth spreading and New Year (resolutions) approaching.

In fact, in some bizarre sense, I can see Wii Fit as being a more important game for the industry as a whole. All those people that buy into the Wii for the sake of it and then go onto to try things like Super Mario Kart, No More Heroes or even Bully and realise there’s also 360s and PS3s out there that offer different experiences. Considering there are no more consoles on their way over the next few years publishers will really have to rely on software to push growth in the industry and Wii Fit has the potential to bust that wide open, much more than GTA I believe.

Calling it casual somehow in my mind puts it in the same league as Ubisoft’s ‘Imagine’ range, which doesn’t sit well in my mind…

I applaud your caveman-like grammar.

This applies to everyone. What then defines a game’s “class”? Is it the targeted audience? Difficulty? Style? Accessability? Depth? Blood, gore, violence, ect? Most people assume “hardcore” and “casual” have universal definitions, and each one is their own.

I have heard several people state GTA is a casual gaming series. It seems the reason for that label is the open-world accessability and ease of play. That’s OKAY. Just try and specify why it should be described as that, because it might lead to bantering back and forth whether it is casual or not, when the supposed constant happens to be a variable and no one realizes it.