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MisterManGuy said:
Some people don't read many books, but they can at least read proficiently. Saying that people don't need to learn how to play games is exactly like saying people don't need to learn how to read. This video explains what I'm talking about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNV2xtiBk5U&t=47s I'm not saying you'll get everyone to become more involved gamers, nor am I saying that you necesarily need to get every Candy Crush player into Dark Souls. But if we have no window of opprotunity, no way for people to at least take an interest in more traditional style games, then we have a huge problem. This isn't even about women anymore, it's about people who are new to games and or don't really play a lot of games at all, which include both men and women. You do realize there are plenty of male casual gamers too do you? It's not like every guy on the planet is a hardcore gaming junkie. This is why I say it's important to at least make an effort to get casual gamers to take an interest in non-mobile games. And don't tell me that's not possible because mobile games are free. If people can spend $15+ on Movie Tickets or buy expensive Starbucks coffee, they can spend $40-60 on a game as long as it's good. Like I said, if your product is desirable, people will buy it. The Switch is selling well because it's a desirable product. Casual gamers aren't just women who play smartphone games exclusively. They're simply people who play games, but don't play a lot of games, and aren't as enriched in gaming culture as hardcore gamers. For example, a casual gamer may not be a fan of most console games, but can probably pour hundereds of hours into Breath of the Wild. There are casual fans of every medium. Movies for example, have people who don't really go to summer blockbusters, but will always be willing to go see say, a period piece. It's the same with games. Saying Consoles must be for this demographic only is oversimplication and doesn't really help games grow as a medium. True, not every game is for everyone, but we shouldn't shut off demographics from an entire ecosystem, just because they play phone games. |
I don't really buy that it's a "huge problem" though.
First of all, there are new gamers coming into the industry constantly. That's because there are kids being born constantly, so like lol, there's never really a danger of gaming not having new customers. Sony's game division just had their highest profit since 1998, this shouldn't be possible if the market for more complex games has declined.
$15 for a movie ticket and $60 for a game is still huge whopping difference. I would never pay $60 for a concert I only kinda/sorta was interested in. I would need really strong motivation to spend $60 on anything. That's not a trivial throw away amount of money for most people. $15 ... ok, yeah that's more reasonable.
What's wrong with people playing on smartphones? It's not that consoles have to be just for one demographic, it's that smartphones simply are better than consoles at delivering games to the casual/non-gamer type. You're not giving them smartphone enough credit. They've kicked the console's ass at that, and that's fine.
Once upon a time everyone had to have a stereo player in their living room because it was basically the only way to listen to music. Then technology changed and you had the WalkMan, which became the DiscMan, which became the iPod, which is now the smartphone. Not very many people have a dedicated music stereo system in their house anymore, and that's fine. If someone just wants to listen on their phone, that's fine. Technology advances and it gives people more personalized options. Same with a PC ... plenty of homes these days don't have a big fat tower PC anymore, but 15 years ago you basically had no choice but to own one. Well tech changed, and the same thing has happened with gaming, and quite frankly maybe that's a good thing.
We are so quick to label it a bad thing, but why should someone pay $300 + $60/game if they just want to have 30-90 minutes of fun a week? Why shouldn't there be a better option for people like that? Consoles don't need to be all things for all people, and quite frankly they're not even very good for casuals to begin with.
Maybe also we should be more secure in what our medium is? I'm a fan of the NHL (that's ice hockey). I recoginize the NHL is never going to be like the no.1 sport globally. And you know what? I don't give a shit. Who cares. As long as the league makes a good amount of money, that's good enough. I don't get less enjoyment out of it because I need to have some grandma like the sport to validate it as something worthwhile to me. Games have always had this huge chip on their shoulder and always tried to chase the movie industry, and quite frankly maybe it's time to just say what we have is good enough. Plenty of people and enjoy video games every day and they're not going anywhere.
