^yes leatherhat, but this generation alone there are several million new users thanks to those simplistic games, meaning there was indeed a potential market that had not been effectively addressed before. If 10, 20 years ago something like the Wii had existed with similar marketing, then maybe just maybe the industry would have evolved differently. Well, the NES had tons of "casual games" but no system before the Wii could really break the "controller barrier" or had the right marketing/software push combination to reach that massive, dormant audience.
One thing is left to be answered : Is it possible to address both the CORE and the CASUAL at the same level? Is it possible for a system to tap (very succesfully) into this huge market the Wii has awaken and at the same time be very succesful with the hardcore gamers? So far the Wii has failed to properly satisfy both sides, and HD consoles on the contrary have failed to conquer the casuals. But the truth is neither Nintendo, nor the HD hegemons have really tried very hard to do this (conquer both sides). I don't think they believe this is possible with their current products. They just weren't designed that way for one simple reason, the market (which includes the consumers) and the industry were very different when they were concieved and introduced.
Now Sony and MS want to make a serious push to conquer the other side (or at least part of it) with their current generation hardware, but I doubt they will have much success. Nintendo also failed to attract the core so the third-party support for that audience will continue to diminish, although they still struggle to change that perception a little each year with some titles, but it just won't happen. It seems you can either be (VERY) succesful with the casuals or be (VERY) succesful with the hardcore but not both. I guess we will have to wait and see if a future product can be so popular (and amazing!) to capture both types of consumers. If such a console ever exists it would definitely capture over 60% of the market, I think.
