I'm not sure yet if it was surprising or not, but Nintendo (intentionally?) shunned the hardcore at their E3 conference. They must have known the effect it would have had, so I'm guessing it was VERY intentional.

Conference summaries:

 Ninty - 100% casual

 MS - 50% hardcore, 50% casual

 Sony - 90% hardcore, 10% casual

...

Visiting a few sites around the web, one thing that sticks out at me is the HATE that Nintendo seem to be drawing from the "hardcore" gamers - and its getting stronger. They snubbed the hardcore at E3, and I think they are on a 'mission' to destroy hardcore gaming boundaries once and for all.

I have to give MS some kudos, as I think they had the most balanced conference. Plenty of hardcore, including the FFXIII announcement (which honestly ONLY affects the hardcore), yet they showed they definitely intend to follow Nintendo down the "casual" route (Lips, The Movies, ...).

Maybe I just don't give Sony enough kudos, as they were already "casualised" (to some level) - but I saw their conference as pandering purely to the hardcore. They had a real chance this E3 to show some "change of direction", but instead they gave us "We are right, we will win - we will stay our course".

...

Lets compare some of the Ninty & Sony Wii v PS3 titles shown:

 - Snowboarding (WiiFit)

 - Animal Crossing (WiiSpeak)

 - WiiMusic (Wiimote, WiiFit, ...)

 - WiiSports Resort (aka WiiSports II) - WiiMotion +

...vrs...

 - God of War

 - Little Big Planet

 - MAG (MMO FPS)

 - Resistance II

From a hardcore gamers perspective, the PS3 wins easily. Big, epic, flashy big-budget games - lots of violence, blood, death, online, etc...

BUT - from a "future sales" perspective, the Wii thrashes the list. Each of those 4 games will provide some form of "new gaming experience", with either a new piece of hardware - or combination of hardware. Each of the 4 will appeal to different (and new?) gamers, and could potentially sell a heap of hardware - especially the Snowboarding game.

(I should note that Animal Crossing does NOT come with WiiSpeak, or require it - but i think this is a money milking strategy more than anything else)

The big standout title on the list is LBP - its the one true "casual" PS3 title, and its easy to see just how important that title is to Sony this Xmas. Its probably the MOST important PS3 title released to date (when its released).

The other 3 titles from Sony are "revenue makers" - they will sell to a solid audience, make their money, not sell that much hardware (surely all three target the SAME gamer?) - but will be very profitable. They will also be staggered, so they will appease the hardcore for a good length of time.

...

But in short - Nintendo is just going to draw more & more "hate" from the hardcores after this E3. If people thought it was bad after last E3 with the focus being "WiiFit" - you ain't seen nothing yet.

There might be a few chuckles from the snobcore for a few days, but I doubt it'll be as focused as it was after Wii Fit. And even if Nintendo doesn't show us anything new over the coming days (highly unlikely), it just means a couple of blokes on the internet will get their knickers in a bunch. No skin off my back.

And people complain when Microsoft and Sony say they aren't competing with Nintendo.

Forgive me for saying I play and enjoy games for entertainment, not sales.

Relly NIntendo is pushing a lot the casual gameplay, without other core game I could be very dissapointed, but by the current treend I think is more than safe to say that this focus on the Wii games was more about to secure good sales of those mostly unknow new ips...

i didnt wanna say it,but ninty now focus more then 90% on casuals

Well, if we put it like this:

Reggie = hardcore
Reggie = enjoys Wii sports resort
WSR = hardcore

I think the logic behind that is unbeatable.

Nintendo needs to step up there game: new IPs, hardcore titles, M titles, enhanced Conduit-like graphics for more games, and a realization that true NTDOY fans-old school in particular-want more than point and move avatar games. I give Ninty 110% pandering to casuals- If they want a "hate war" they should take a lesson from Neville Chamberlain--appease and you'll have one.

As long as more good core games from Nintendo come out eventually, will Nintendo maintain its hardcore fanbase? If they lose it chasing after casuals, they are screwed once they lose inevitably lose their top dog position in a gen or two.

Almost by definition, the "new" gamers Ninty are targeting are the *opposite* people that you find on the web - places like VG, Gamestrailers, etc.

...OR they could do the opposite of all of this, and end up actually pleasing more than the small niche of a small niche in the general population.

For what it's worth, I vote for the option that doesn't turn the Wii into the 360 lite.