Miyamoto: Wii U Will Unite Core/Casual Divide
Shigeru Miyamoto blames Nintendo's decision to exclude HD in the Wii for the division created between casual and core gamers.
In a recent edition of "Iwata Asks," game designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto admitted that – despite its success – a divide was created between core and casual gamers with the release of the Nintendo Wii. Why? Because the company chose not to take the HD route when it developed the Wii console. He also referenced the Wii remote as a factor as well, saying that it brought "challenges" to core game development.
And while that may be true to a certain degree, the gap was pulled even wider by Nintendo's dominance with 1st-party titles, a plethora of lackluster, 3rd-party games that didn't cater to hard core gamers, and a limited social network that reduced users to mere numbers and letters. Ultimately the device and its motion-sensing "gimmick" was deemed more of a family gaming platform focused finding new ways to use its unique technology.
"I'm sure everyone would agree that we tried really hard to go wider," added Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata in the one-on-one interview. "But even though we worked aggressively to go deeper in certain areas, the general public's impression that Nintendo was casual grew as time went by."
Bingo. And as PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sales continued to grow, the dazzle of the Wii's motion-sensing tech eventually began to subside and sales began to drop. Although Nintendo fought to keep revenues high by reducing the console's overall price, eventually Nintendo was forced to show its hand in regards to the next console to keep core gamers intrigued with the Nintendo brand.
So with the launch of the Wii U, both Miyamoto and Iwata believe that it will finally bring the core and casual gamers back together – or rather, pull core gamers back to the Nintendo brand (if it's not already too late). Miyamoto even went so far as to saying that the barrier between core and casual gamer is merely "psychological."
"I think this is an opportunity for those games that were considered to be core up to now, to evolve into something [with an] even more interesting structure," said Miyamoto. "That core vs. casual debate seems like something that can never see a resolution, but with Wii U, I have a feeling that it all may change. If we are able to break those psychological barriers with Wii U, I feel like we will be able to take our goal of expanding the gaming population even further to the next step."
As revealed on Tuesday, the Wii U will arrive sometime in 2012 sporting HD graphics and a unique touch screen-based controller. EA has already pledged full support for the new platform, and on Thursday Ubisoft revealed a hard-core, non-casual first-person shooter called Killer Freaks from Outer Space.
- Verbatim's Dime-Sized USB Ideal for Car Audio
- HP Wi-Fi Tablet Arriving Next Month for $499
- E3 2011 Game Trailers Blowout Part 4
- Mozilla Labs Showcases a Browser Desktop
- IBM, AMD Providing CPU, GPU for Nintendo Wii U
- Enhance Your Kinect Experience With Nyko's ZOOM
- MicroVision Shows Off It's Portable Projector, the SHOWWX+
- Gear Up With Calibur11's 3D Armored Gaming Cases
- Wii U to Use 25GB Discs (But Not Called Blu-ray)
- Hands On With Nintendo's Wii U
- New Tentacle-like Prosthetic Arm
- Flexible Traffic Light Concept Wraps Around Trees
- JetLev: The $100,000 Water-Powered Jet-Pack
- Circboard Makes Typing on Controllers Easy
- Microsoft, It's Time To Retire Windows
- The Ultrabook, Part 2: It's Not What You Think It Is
- Backpack Transforms Into Beach Towel With Speakers
- Studio Transforms Into 4 Different Rooms
- Floating Couch Suspended By Balloons
Mass Effect, EA, bring Mass Effect to the platform. The third installment will be released on March 2012, 8 months later Wii U and Mass Effect 2&3.
I have them on computer though
I've yet to understand how someone could call themselves a hardcore gamer and yet not own a Wii.
Black Ops is available for the Wii
So thats not a hardcore game?
I've yet to understand how someone could call themselves a hardcore gamer and yet not own a Wii.
Because they're too busy playing PC.
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ZING!
I'm sorry, but the only people I consider to be a hard core gamer should be on the PC. Anything else and you're just fooling yourself.
this thing is huge...no tks
I've yet to understand how someone could call themselves a hardcore gamer and yet not own a Wii.
why would you buy an under-powered pos from nintendo? PC for life
why would you buy an under-powered pos from nintendo? PC for life
because it's fun... and I like alot of Nintendo first party titles.
Black Ops is available for the WiiSo thats not a hardcore game?
You mean CoD 8, no its not. Id say its more like Farmville both in term of quality and user skill.
I've yet to understand how someone could call themselves a hardcore gamer and yet not own a Wii.
Even though you got 4 thumbs down I actually agree. If you're a hardcore gamer you wouldn't be able to pass up games like Mario, Metroid and Zelda. Why? Because real hardcore gamers want to play the BEST games available and they may enjoy HD graphics but they know that gameplay is so much more important.
At this point, they should change the brand name from Nintendo to MarioZeldaMetroid. The game cube wasn't an amazing piece of technology, but Metroid Prime... Mutha -Fu[kin yeah!! that game was amazing. I'm primarily a PC gamer, but when I was playing Metroid, I would play that game for hours.
Nintendo is just trying to find a new niche, oppose to competing for an already existing one.
when did being a hardcore gamer switch from having fantastic gameplay and difficulty to just graphics and blood? I always thought of the latter as mainstream, which is different from casual.
why would you buy an under-powered pos from nintendo? PC for life
Why not have both? I enjoy games for all platforms: PC, PS3, 360 and Wii. Metroid and Zelda only are worth the price of admission on the Wii.
I don't understand how most of these so called hard core elite PC gamers can call themselves such without a Wii. But then again, if SSD speeds keep getting faster, there won't be any time to play Wii during my weekly Windows 7 Ultimate and game reinstallations.
No console game has made me played, non-stop for over 12 hours before. WoW and CSS HAVE.
No, I do have a life, but when I had days off, or some vacation time, and I really got pissed at people or just didn't feel like being around anyone, I could just stay inside, open up a few two liters of soda and just play forever. Most console games you would be done with after a certain time.
I don't think you can compare console hard core gamers and computer hard core gamers. There's an entire culture and way PC gamers have, and It's not one that is easily explained, but rather experienced.
I personally have no plans of console purchasing. I owned all 3 consoles from last gen (PS2, Xbox and Gamecube) and decided to skip this generation completely. I see nothing changing in the future that would ever warrant me to buy a console; especially when high end GPUs can be had for under $200 easily. Before, you needed to spend some big bucks to obtain a high-end GPU, but now, they'd dropped so much in price, that unless you're trying to do some insane resolutions, multi-screen setups or run the absolute highest eye candy, then something around the $150-200 range should easily suffice AND look a lot better than most console ports.
It's fine if you want to distinguish yourself as a PC gamer or a Xbox gamer or whatever. But you're NOT hardcore if you limit the platforms or genres of games you're willing to play. A hardcore gamer is going to play the best of the best regardless of cost.
@pandabear, you missed the best of that generation. The Dreamcast.