Oh so we are specifically talking about the games. Um well games that are going to push consoles are mainstream brand games, such as Mario, Halo, and Grand Theft Auto. Normally the mainstream is the ones that buy consoles for a single game when it releases, and that's only going to happen when a huge mainstream brand name game releases.

Mainstream games move consoles. 100 bioshocks and No More Heroes can't compare with 1 Halo, or Mario.

I think that should be a new catagory of gamer. So many people divide it into casual and hardcore, but what about the mainstream? The people that buy 2 games a year, but they are "hardcore" mainstream titles such as Halo and Grand Theft Auto. Can they be considered "hardcore"? They spend little time gaming, buy only a few games a year, and only go after the big hype mainstream titles. But They Aren't "Casual" because they ignore party games, simple games (Diner Dash) and "non-games" such as braintraining. They are the mainstream.

The Mainstream gamers are the ones that made the PS2 so popular, now the casuals are starting to become a large demographic as well. Both of those demographics are much larger than the "hardcore" (read:Spends excessive amounts of money on their gaming hobby), and are the real deciding factor in the console wars.

Movie tie ins usually suck a$$.

Having a well rounded selection of good titles is what will sell consoles. I NEVER bought a video game because it was based off of a movie, and I've gerneally avoided them like the plague.
10 year olds aren't as stupid as you'd seem to like to think. They'll go after the "cool" games, and no movie tie in game has ever succeeded in giving anyone that impression.
Possibly pokemon, but I really don't count that one, cause the pokemon anime was made to support the game, not the other way around.

games

What makes you think so leo-j?  What's your reasoning behind that statement?

Good point a good movie tie pretty much has to sell well

high quality software line-up

also the mainstreamers buy yearly renewals of games like madden, fifa, nfs...