The has come and brought its domination with it. It has conquered almost every demographic, the Kids all want the Wii, the Chicks are all about it, the Middle Age men who used to love the NES and SNES when they were teens but now don't have time to spend 80+ hours beating FF love it. Grandparents love it. Parents love it( it makes their kids get off their fat asses at least). But one very important(if not the most) demographic has not fallen to the power of the Wii.....

 The 14-21 year old guy group. Now many of them may have a Wii for when girls come over or when they just wanna chill with friends, but it is not the console of choice, at least as a general rule.  I am 22 years old I find it strange to see a sudden shift with people my age, guys younger than me are all PS3/360 lovers, many of them appreciate Wii, but again not their console of choice. A good example is me, I like the Wii, but just like those younger than me now, I too was sucked into the GTA3 craze.... I have matured since then and those types of games just don't feel so "cool" anymore. But then I look at my girlfriend's little brother, he is 15 years old and when I was at their house for thanksgiving I heard him beg several times for an X360, he had a large Halo 3 poster in his room. He is a perfect example of the demographic the Wii is having trouble reaching.

So I have been doing some thinking and I have come up with some ideas of why they act the way they do(thank my Phsycology teachers for this one, lol)

1st thing I did was put my self back in my shoes as a 14-17 year old boy, when I did, It all made sense. You all remember the days when you were trying to prove how mature you were, basically trying to be a man... Adults watch violent movies so you associated violence with maturity.. The problem with this is obvious, adults who love wantan violance as entertainment are actually just as inmature as they were when they were 15. Now I agree violance has its place, Movies like Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, and The Patriot are enhanced by the realism. But at the same time the violance itself should not be the part that makes you like the movie(although you can like it) To me Manhaunt 2 was one of the most inmature games ever, it fed completely on your inner carnal nature.

The second reason I beleive this demographic will be hard to reach is because MOST of the Core gamers are in this group. I used to be in this group, but to be fair I really am not anymore- I wish I was, I just don't have time to be... But HS are the one who work partime jobs so they have money to buy lots of games, and they have the time to play them still. It is fair to say right now the 360 has more games geared to people who have butt loads of time to play them... The Wii can be enjoyed just a couple hours a week, can you really enjoy a FF game playing it 45 mintutes 2-3 time a week... I know I couldn't. I belive the Wii has been improving in this area, and will continue to do so, especially with the way sales are going as of late.

I have been trying to think of ways that the Wii could win this demographic(if they did the domination would be unreal) but I have really hit a wall.. To these gamers graphics are top priority, and Wii will never have that... Games like FF and RE5 would go a long way to convincing a few but I just don't see it happening.... the best the Wii can hope for is that they can convice this demographic to get a Wii also, because they are gonna get their 360/PS3 regardless.

One thing I hear alot is that the Wii is not mature.... I am pretty sure a mark of Maturity is not being swayed by peer pressure and I am pretty sure that is the #1 thing that is pushing sales of the other 2 console, teens boys think it will make them cool. All of that said I still am decideding if I am gonna get a PS3 or 360... I am not gonna choose yet, I refuse to pay more that 299 for a console(I am leaning towards PS3 right now, GT5 and FFXIII are kinda tantalizing, plus I don't like FPS game that much)

In my neighborhood mostly consisting of college aged folks in Southern Ca, just outside of Los Angeles, we seem to lean more towards the super long MMO's and multiplayer games I.E Halo 3, COD4. I go to an art school in Pasadena Ca called ACCD. A lot of the students their play PC games but also own a 360. I don't know a soul in the school who owns a PS3, they either aren't interested or they just don't talk about it. Maybe that'll change after Christmas. I know four girls that have a Wii and meet every weekend to play.

Hmmm... 14-21 is the PS3 demographic.

This generation of xboters are older, 18-30.

@Toky: The second reason I beleive this demographic will be hard to reach is because MOST of the Core gamers are in this group. I used to be in this group, but to be fair I really am not anymore- I wish I was, I just don't have time to be... But HS are the one who work partime jobs so they have money to buy lots of games, and they have the time to play them still. It is fair to say right now the 360 has more games geared to people who have butt loads of time to play them... The Wii can be enjoyed just a couple hours a week, can you really enjoy a FF game playing it 45 mintutes 2-3 time a week... I know I couldn't. I belive the Wii has been improving in this area, and will continue to do so, especially with the way sales are going as of late.



I own many loooong games that I haven't beaten on the 360, I just play about 4hrs wk average cause I get at least 40 hrs or more a wk in homework. Plus I illustrate children's comics.

 There's a whole lot of truth to that. I'm 32 yrs old and most people I know at school are 23 and up and they play mostly 360 games. Not saying that they wouldn't play PS3 if they had the chance.

So I take you guys agree? But at the same time I do still beleive the Xbox is strongest 14-21, after that people don't have time to be hardcore and switch to Wii, the good thing about the Wii is if they ever want to be core again they can, the Wii will have a good library soon enough.

The insecure 14 year old boy demographic (including the insecure 14 year old boys at heart) will probably never embrace the Wii because its technical specs are not drool worthy and it will (probably) never have as many pointless ultra-violent games as the other systems do ...

I remember being in that mindset when I was 14 as well, and I can honestly say that it would be difficult to sell Mario Galaxy to these gamers when Kane and Litch was available ...

Wow this is a lot of assumptions haha.

^Happy Squirrel

for a second there I thought I was the only one who went though the insecure 14 year old stage... I wonder where they are all now, I am just waiting to be flamed... then again, maybe they realized I was right...

"One thing I hear alot is that the Wii is not mature.... I am pretty sure a mark of Maturity is not being swayed by peer pressure and I am pretty sure that is the #1 thing that is pushing sales of the other 2 console, teens boys think it will make them cool."

This kind of made me giggle. When you think about it, the Wii is so successful because it is trendy. Nintendo did a great job marketing their product and now everyone knows what a Wii is. They hear that it is a fun system for the whole family, everyone is buying it, and it's cheap too! So people don't mind taking the small risk in trying it out. So how many people have moved on and bought a second game besides Wii Sports? I would guess not many.

You brought up the issue of graphics, and I have a theory for you. Games are big money these days. AAA titles are always pushing the boundaries in terms of graphics, interactivity, story delivery, AI etc... Since these games are setting the bar high, they will not run on the inferior hardware of the Wii. This leads to all AAA titles going to either PS3 or XBox, or both if it's cross-platform. And we are inevitably left with a much lower quality library on the Wii. My guess is that half the money EA is making FROM the Wii, is going into the development of titles for other consoles.

Nintendo is a pretty family-friendly company. They worry about things like online games and violence. Best way to keep me from buying your console? Alienate the hardcore gamer, develop a piss-poor online platform, and then try to tell me you understand my demographic.

'Hardcore' players tend to prefer a classic controller to the Wiimote

Motion controls have been implemented better on the PS3 than on the Wii. Don't bother trying to argue this point, as it's just an opinion.

And as an aside... I still dont know what the f--- they were thinking when they named this thing.

As a second aside, despite the way it may have come across through text: I don't hate the Wii, it's just not my thing.