You know, this doesn't really fit the topic but since I don't see a better place to ask Ill do it here. Why do game companies and gamers alike assume that to get people to game you need some shallow, crappy game like wii sports, sport champions, kinectimals etc.? All of us on this site are "core gamers" and we certainly didn't get started on such nonsense. Wouldn't it be better to give them fun experiences that challange them slightly so you  make new gamers and not just people jumping in for 2 seconds of fun then going right back to movies/books/tv ?

I'm not talking about just vgchartz. Tens of millions got into gaming without simplistic motion control games. And people aren't born "core" or "casual", they become them overtime. Meaning when the tens of millions of gamers out there started playing they  jumped in and slowly became core with high quality games and not shovelware filled peripherals. 

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? 

Wrong. I started on Atari which consisted of primarily simplistic games as compared to today's "core" games.

On top of that FAR more people play flash web games than anything any console puts out showing far more regular "gamers" enjoy the simply quick games. Nintendo simply captured what was extensive on the web and started that on the consoles.

Once they buy these games on a home console, these players are more likely to buy a slightly more complex game like NSMBWii and potentially keep moving up the game tree depending on their own personal lives. Some people just don't have time for longer in-depth games. Reason why the only game I purchase that takes a real long time to beat is Zelda.

Other than that, most of my games are less than 20hrs games. As it is it takes me months to get through it in my shorter play spurts.

Its not about length. Mario and wii sports are both pick up and play but Mario is a much better game. Games like TF2 are also very pick up and play and conducive to short bouts of gaming. And yet companies continue to produce motion control gimmick based games thinking that this is the best way to hook people. 

That's good news for PS3. The longer 360 lingers the longer PS3 has to eat into its huge deficit before PS4 rolls off the production lines.

Still I expect MS is really looking at end of 2012 for 720 with 360 cruising along for another year, or 18 months. I don't see MS dropping the 360 like they did the Xbox, especially not now that they have a very reliable console now, but I don't see 360 being actively on market for 10 years.

It'll certainly be another 5 years at least before I buy another console.