zorg1000 said:
Certain series showed declines but overall annual software sales were pretty consistent in 2008-2010 and didn't show any really notable declines until 2011. 2007 DS-110m, Wii-75m, total-185m 2008 DS-155m, Wii-177m, total-332m 2009 DS-144m, Wii-182m, total-326m 2010 DS-121m, Wii-182m, total-303m 2011 DS-81m, Wii-135m, total-216m Perhaps it comes down to most casuals on DS/Wii didn't want or need more than 1-2 entries of each franchise or had enough games in that particular genre. If somebody owned Wii Sports, Wii Play, Carnival Games, Mario Party 8, Deca Sports, Mario & Sonic Olympics, maybe that's enough mini game compilations for them for a few years. Or if somebody owned Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, Zumba Fitness, 2-3 Just Dance games than they are probably set on fitness/dance games for awhile. We kinda see this on mobile as well, Angry Birds & Candy Crush Saga sequels & spinoffs have not been downloaded nearly as much as the originals despite being free. Just because Call of Duty & sports games get annual releases and don't see a major decline doesn't mean that formula works for other games. There is probably a reason why Nintendo only releases 1-2 entries of any franchise per generation. We saw a lot of 3rd parties use the "let's milk this for all its worth before it dries up!!!" mentality by pumping out shit game after shit game on Wii & DS, that could be another reason as well. Just because someone is a casual gamer doesn't mean they don't enjoy quality games. |
Thank you for acknowledging the latter point though. Casual gaming is its own market with its own quirks to it. But that point also illustrates why it's very hard for Nintendo to keep casuals.
Just because they made Wii Sports and Wii Fit didn't mean anything to casuals once they get tired of that type of game. It's all about what do you have today and repeating on casual success is very difficult. Nintendo could not do it with Wii Music and Nintendo Land.
And yes absolutely we see this continue on mobile too, makers of blockbusters like Angry Birds and Candy Crush are having trouble finding that next big hit.
The casual market is like the pop music market ... just because you have a pop music hit, doesn't mean the audience is going to like that same song or artist forever, the audience is fickle in what they like.
Hardcore gamers are different (I'm not saying better, just different) in the sense that once they like something they tend to like it for a looooooong ass time. Franchises like GTA, Zelda, Street Fighter, Call of Duty, Mario, Madden, Pokemon, have fanbases that now span multiple decades.