| Soundwave said:
Mario Kart Wii and Punch-Out! are examples of bridge games. I would still consider those "core" games but they are accessible enough to casual players. Reggie said with a straight face last year at E3 that Animal Crossing was their "core title" .... I think they have paid the price for that. You can't ignore us core gamers forever. But I think this is a good thing -- you will now see a more aggressive Nintendo starting at E3. People want the big Nintendo guns like a new Mario, new Zelda, new Donkey Kong, Star Fox, etc. ... this is not an audience Nintendo can just ignore. They will now be forced to have more this fall than just Pikmin 3. |
Again, I agree and disagree.
I completely agree that Mario Kart and Punch-Out!! are intended as bridge titles, and if that's the example of what you mean as "core" games then I do agree.
I'm much more ambivalent towards your classification of Animal Crossing: true, many online don't consider it a "core" game, but then again they had no such complaint towards the Gamecube version, and the two are often pegged as being essentially the same game. I've also noticed that Madden and similar sports games have also shifted in definition, albeit the other way. For what it's worth, I'm willing to set aside this part of the conversation, primarily because I don't think the term has a sufficiently firm definition for anyone to say with certainty where each game lies on that scale.
Where I really disagree with you is that we'll see a "more aggressive" Nintendo this year: I believe they will be just as aggressive this year as they were the last. That, by the by, is a good thing, because last year they were quite aggressive indeed. The difference, I think, lies in how they'll play out their strategy; where last year they were in full-blown "Defend the Expanded Audience!" mode, I think they now realize that neither Microsoft or Sony has the slightest idea what the expanded audience wants, so they can now focus more on traditional players, and on bridging the gap between the two.
So basically, I agree on the sentiment, but quibble with the details. Overall, methinks I'm just wasting your time now. 
