The New Gaming Industry

[Shiny Grimer]

http://malstrom.50webs.com/sword.htm

This is an interesting article. I haven't read it all, due to the sheer enormity of it, but the post that originally contained it had a quote:

”You mean Microsoft and Sony? They will now focus primarily on survival which means to gain as much profit as possible in order to hopefully cancel out their monumental launch losses. They know they are being disrupted, but what can they do? Microsoft may desperately attempt a counterattack (most likely a co-option). But everything has changed. Their capabilities and disabilities have become swapped.”
You say, “It is obvious that Microsoft and Sony will not go down the same path for their next consoles. They will attempt to emulate Nintendo.”

Malstrom nods. “The old values are dead. Nintendo won. The new values will slowly become the mainstream of the industry. There will be a new hardcore built from the current downmarket, but they will be based on the new values, not on the old ones. Hardcore will continue, but they will not resemble today’s hardcore.”

”Just as the Tabletop Cycle gave way to the Arcade Cycle and that gave way to the Cinema Cycle. It is natural changes in the entertainment industry.”

Malstrom agreed. ”The older gamers know this; the younger gamers will learn it as I once did. When tradition is recognized as tradition, it is dead.”

Basically, the Wii is the future of the gaming industry. Those party games and 'casual' games are what can be expected. The old 'hardcore' games are in the past - after all, the Wii is more successful and popular than the Gamecube was. My thoughts on this?

I’ve been playing video games since the Nintendo 64 (and computer games long before that). My thoughts?

It would be nice to be able to talk about games with other people and have them understand what I’m saying. I can’t talk about Pokemon without someone saying that it’s for little kids, or Mario without a mention of how old he is. I don’t ever dare to talk about EarthBound – only when people talk to me about it first do I respond (by the way, the over day at this debate tourney, I found a kid who played the translated Mother 3. This made me very happy as I was drawing a Mr. Saturn :3). Being able to talk about games and play them with other people would be awesome.

However, I know the games I like wouldn’t be the games they like. I like the old ‘hardcore’ games. Well, as hardcore as Nintendo gets. Paper Mario, Mario, Pokemon, Pikmin, etc. These are games in the classical sense of games. The newer games are like virtual reality. “Dancing for people who can’t dance! Sports for people with no hand-eye coordination! Music for the unmusical!” etc. While these are fun with friends for a while, I wouldn’t turn back to them like I would with Pikmin. I wouldn’t write about them or draw about them or think about them as much as I would with EarthBound. They might be the future, but they’re not a future I look forward to. As the new style of games becomes more popular, the style I like will eventually cease to exist since it won’t make any more money.

tl;dr: Although I’ll be able to talk about and play games like Wii Sports and Guitar Hero, I’ll still be alone when it comes to EarthBound and Paper Mario. I guess it’s a win/lose situation for me. Either way, this is the direction Nintendo is taking, so I should get used to it and embrace the new while still cherishing the old.

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

No matter what, things don't look good for PC gaming. :<

But yeah, folks like us are most likely to be relegated to the dustbin.

Consoles are still evil! And fun. >.<

 

[Cryssie]

I don't know, I wouldn't say that games of a more "traditional" style will cease to exist... there's clearly still a huge market for them. The number of "hardcore" gamers might seem to be dwarfed by the legions of casual players drawn in by Ninty's "games for non-gamers" approach, but they're still there and I just can't see those "traditional" games drying up completely while this is true.

As for Sony and Microsoft emulating Ninty's approach in the next generation... well, I'll be very interested to see what the next gen brings.

I do wonder if the "games for non-gamers" wave will have died down by then, and if Ninty will then cunningly use its mountains of cash to make an excellent "games for gamers" machine that will have little "hardcore" competition from the casual consoles from Microsoft and Sony, leaving them in the dust once more.

I don't think it's likely exactly, or even that I would like it to happen (competition keeps things advancing, no?), but it just struck me and I thought it would be an amusing reversal. 8D

 

[see ya]

Well, I think people are panicking a bit too much about the whole "Nintendo pandering to casual 'gamers'" thing. Every time there's a fundamental change to the world of gaming, everyone has to be all "THE SKY IS FALLING!". Gaming has survived worse than this.

This is a survival mechanism for Nintendo. They had to start thinking outside the box and set themselves apart from the other consoles after they realized that doing the same thing as everyone else was setting them back. They had to draw in new gamers and appeal to more people to keep up, and in that regard, the Wii has been a massive success. (Okay, Wii Music is going a bit overboard with this concept, and the E3 demonstration was nothing short of painful)

And it's not like they're completely giving up on hardcore games, either. They're just not advertising them as much. Mario, Link, Samus and the rest will always be there, even if they're pushed a bit into the background. Getting rid of hardcore games entirely would be a horrible financial decision on Nintendo's part.

Meh, it's an optimistic view, but in my experience, things like this usually don't turn out so badly.

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

PC gamers are still doomed.

 

[Koori Renchuu]

Well, I think people are panicking a bit too much about the whole "Nintendo pandering to casual 'gamers'" thing. Every time there's a fundamental change to the world of gaming, everyone has to be all "THE SKY IS FALLING!". Gaming has survived worse than this.

This is a survival mechanism for Nintendo. They had to start thinking outside the box and set themselves apart from the other consoles after they realized that doing the same thing as everyone else was setting them back. They had to draw in new gamers and appeal to more people to keep up, and in that regard, the Wii has been a massive success. (Okay, Wii Music is going a bit overboard with this concept, and the E3 demonstration was nothing short of painful)

And it's not like they're completely giving up on hardcore games, either. They're just not advertising them as much. Mario, Link, Samus and the rest will always be there, even if they're pushed a bit into the background. Getting rid of hardcore games entirely would be a horrible financial decision on Nintendo's part.

Meh, it's an optimistic view, but in my experience, things like this usually don't turn out so badly.

There is no casual gaming. It is the spoon in the Matrix. There is only a downstream. You missed part of the article's point. Just go with the flow! You also missed the fact that there Nintendo is dominating the video game market as far as sales of consoles go.

 

[Lucas₇₅₅]

I feel in the middle of this situation. While I'm bound to the hardcore games, I also tend to submit to some of the casual games, just because they seem fun. I always seem to be thinking "Where's the hardcore games? They're going extinct!" but I look around, and see Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and Smash Bros. Maybe the Wii is getting to my head. :/

 

[Yarnchu]

While I do agree with most of the quote, I doubt "hardcore" games will die. As long as games like Brawl and D/P make money, they will still exist, and possibly even thrive despite the "casual" gamer mindset the industry has right now. We just need to be optimistic is all. And if all else fails, there are always flash games.

 

[Zhorken]

"Casual" vs "hardcore" is a stupid distinction in almost all cases. Dividing video games as a whole that way is really, really dumb.

 

[Retsu]

I would hardly call Mario "hardcore" anyway. :P

 

[Dannichu]

I would hardly call Mario "hardcore" anyway. :P

But he takes on giant walking mushrooms with teeth with nothing but his own feet! He can turn into a bee and stuff!

I find "casual" games like Brain Training, Wii Sports and Nintendogs fun for the first week or month, tops, and then get bored :/

 

[Icalasari]

PC gamers are still doomed.

Not necessarily. It could be a chance for open-source games to be developed by many people without worrying about companies such as Microsoft

 

[Zuu]

I would hardly call Mario "hardcore" anyway. :P

Say that to the Japanese SMW hacks. :P

 

[see ya]

There is no casual gaming. It is the spoon in the Matrix. There is only a downstream. You missed part of the article's point. Just go with the flow! You also missed the fact that there Nintendo is dominating the video game market as far as sales of consoles go.

Actually, I agree. I was talking about people who's reaction is "CASUAL TAKEOVER ARG NINTENDO ISH DEEEAAAD!!!1"

And yeah, I know Nintendo's way ahead. I was saying that's why they're playing up their "casual" games more, because that's what's really, really working for them. (I don't believe in the term, either, just used it for convenience).

 

[ultraviolet]

I don't think Nintendo is stupid enough to completely cut out the market for hardcore gamers because that's where most of their revenue has come from and will come from after party games die.

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

Not necessarily. It could be a chance for open-source games to be developed by many people without worrying about companies such as Microsoft

I suppose. My favorite games seem to come from smaller studios, though, and I'm afraid they would be the hardest hit by the current conditions.

 

[theinsanething]

I don't mind the addition of Casual Games coming to market, but can they at least have actual games, shit like DS Cooking Guide is not a game.