Core or Casual: Which of the two markets are more important/desirable?

[Joelcool7]

Kasz216 said:

I disagree that the core market stays loyal.

Where was the Core market when the Gamecube was in last place?

Where did Sega's core market go come Dreamcst?

Core gamers are nothing but Casual gamers who take things more seriously, feel more entitled and often complain more.

When people talk about targeting "core gamers" it's a code word for "niche gamers" that makes niche gamers feel exclusive rather then having weird out of the mainstream tastes.

All consoles target Casuals and only fall back to a "core" position when they aren't winning.

This depends on what you consider a core gamer.

Nintendo had a hardcore user base back in the days of the NES. I remember an article on N-Sider that placed Nintendo's core user base around 15-20 mill. That user base according to an N-Sider sage (Kezay) was continues from generation to generation. Now you may disbelieve me but it was there, look at software sales for the GameCube. SmashBros Melee sold more copies then the origional did on 64. other titles like Mario didn't sell as high as their 64 counter parts but they still sold over 6-million copies (Kart and Sunshine). Also the GameCube despite having barely any third party support still shifted over 20-million untis. Also note that Nintendo made more profit off the GameCube then Sony did off the PS2 more evidence that the hardcore demographic supported the console with millions of software sales despite the lack of hardware sales.

Where was Sega's hardcore base? It was destroyed by years of neglect. Sega lost alot of their user base by constantly releasing new ad ons like the Sega CD and 32x. Then Sega launched the Saturn with very weak third party support. Then with no notice to publishers or fans alike Sega launched the DreamCast desperate to retake a footing in the market. Sega's fanbase was stretched thin and many were dissapointed in the lack of games and support Sega gave Saturn/CD/32x. However note that even DreamCast sold over 10-million units between 99-01 which was decent considering how much GameCube and X-Box ended up selling over 5-years. Fact is DreamCast probably would have succeeded in the long run had Sega had the money to continue fighting.

So as you can see Nintendo has an instilled loyal core base of about 15-20 million, these fans and gamers will buy Nintendo's console every generation and they will support the console with millions of software sales. Sega had a user base probubly close to 8 million loyal Sega fans.