| SnowWhitesDrug said: I was reading a thread about Microsoft moving its attention towards games that were inclined to the cartoon representation of Nintendo games and less attention on competing with the ps3 on the racing and fps genre. If this is true and MS is focusing on competing with Nintendo do they or even Sony have the ips or the potential they need to create the disruptive software Nintendo is making? (Im concerned that MS doesn't realise a pretty cartoony game is not all that’s behind making these disruptive games that appeal to audiences that have never before played games) There is talk about MS developing a motion control device but if Nintendo is correct it’s not just the input device but the games as well that work with the hardware that make its system disruptive. Nintendo has a HUGE array of ips that have leant themselves to its business plan so what I want to know is if MS and Sony changed their business model to attract the consumers Nintendos blue ocean strategy has, do they have the software to back up the hardware or keep these new gamers on their system??? I ask this because they seem to ride on this “hard core” gamer market with fancy shooters and racers and adventure games all geared towards a teen to adult male audience, do they have anything that would appeal to the markets Nintendo is creating or will they have to re-invent their games or new ones? If they have to make new ones, will they have the market presence of games that carry the tried and true titles of Super Mario this or super Mario that, or Wii sports/ play/ fit. I was also wondering, is it even worth them trying to take back some of Nintendos market share in the long run or would their 40 - 50 - 60 million life to date sales be enough for them as a company to decide to continue to play in the graphics whore arena? |
An excellent post.
You asked for facts, not drivel. Now I don't have links, but Shane Kim (a big boss at MS gaming division) has talked several times that MS are aware of the new, "casual" market and the need to offer those types of games on the X360. For example he's said that X360 has a strong profile as a hardcore-console, but not so much as a device for the casual gamers but that it is a priority for MS to strengthen it's casual appeal. In these interviews he's named the IPs that MS has and which they believe in strongly, like Viva Pinata, Banjo-Kazooie and Scene-It. Last summer he also hinted about future plans apart from the games themselves, which I believe can have been the motion-controller that is now strongly rumoured.
If you read analysts (and not just Malstrom) not many people believe in MS or Sonys ability to attract the casuals though (at least not in the short run), and I think MS/sony are aware of that themselves (because they aren't idiots). It's simply that it's hard to turn the tide. Even if there would appear rather innovative new IPs for the X360/PS3 which aren't just kiddy-oriented cartoon games but smarter than that, it will still be the Wii that is identified with being casual/all-including/revolutionising and the other two are simply regarded as dinosaurs for the ancient-age gamer. How do you change that picture? It's already deeply imprinted in the mindset of everyone. Also, de facto it takes time to develop new games/ideas. The time advantage for Nintento is huge.
So personally, I agree with the pessimists, this generation is lost for MS/Sony to attract the wider audience.
