My theory on why Nintendo is so dominant in software sales

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jarrod said:
Fuck. I remember when we called people who played mostly stuff like GTA, Madden or console fps "casual gamers". Hardcore being hijacked is the worst thing about this gen, to me a "hardcore gamer" is still someone who spends all their time tinkering with Source mods or who imported a J-360 for Cave shooters.

Agreed 100%, the distinction is worthless at this point. Maybe it should be casual/mainstream/hardcore

I think one thing OP is forgetting as far as Nintendo's success is how excellent the quality is. Nintendo, Valve, Blizzard, and I can't think of any other developers who actually work on a game until it is perfect and done and have insanely high standards.  In fact, Miyamoto is known for totally scrapping games and starting over from square 1 if it doesn't meet his quality standards.  In all 3 cases, the quality and control of their games are so far above everyone else's it should be a no brainer as to why they all sell so well.