It has often been said by some armchair analysts that the casual gamer is going to burn Nintendo at the launch of next generation, the idea that because they are less dedicated, it's going to be harder to get them to budge into the next generation. I would like to assert the opposite: that the casual gamer is going to be an invaluable resource for pushing hardware sales, for all manufacturers (if they are able to approach them)
The idea here is that it takes less effort in terms of money for a manufacturer to net a casual gamer to their platform. Now, in terms of "casual," i am defining broadly, both the "red ocean" casual and the "blue ocean" casual, the Madden gamer and the Wii Fit gamer. The key in making both of these types of gamer easier to attain is that all you need is the right piece of software.
Conventional wisdom for selling consoles used to be that you had to build up a broad catalogue to sell consoles. The more good games you had, the better chance you had that one of them would get consumers to bite. And this strategy is what is necessary to sell to the "core" gamer. The core gamer wants the platform that will give them the best catalogue, or at least promises the best catalogue. You have to make, or get third parties to make, dozens and dozens of games to really make your platform seem more appealing than the competitors.
Now, however, we have reached the age where the System Seller is a distinct beast on its own, and that the right pieces of software, even if only one or two games strategically released, can sell a console on its own for weeks, months, or even years. Now, it is not easy to make these titles, since it requires tremendous creative genius to make something that's going to sell to a broad number of people, and is compelling enough to create a unique experience that requires consumers to buy the hardware. It's not an easy thing, but if you can do it, it's a helluva lot easier than making dozens of games, and moneyhatting dozens more, to try and build momentum traditionally.
Equally, casuals are not nearly as discerning about hardware features. They are primarily utilitarian in terms of features: they want the features that augment the system-seller software that gets them to bite. e.g., Wii buyers wanted motion controls, but not as a thing in themselves, they wanted motion controls because you could play Wii Sports with them. You're not going to get a casual gamer saying "there's no way in hell i'll buy a PS3 until they have cross-game voice chat!" They'll buy it because it has Gran Turismo.
If the hardware manufacturers really focus on crafting long-legs system sellers for next generation, the casuals could be a far greater asset for them. It doesn't absolve the question of who buys more software, but in terms of using software to push hardware, a better technique has been discovered.
Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.
