By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Nintendo Discussion - 'Hardcore' vs 'Casual': What really sells?

I see the wii as the perfect balance between casual and hardcore.



Around the Network

Nice Find,
Now nobody can say "only casual games only sell on the wii"



Shouldn't you order the charts by sales instead of hits. Hits is just how many people viewed the game page on this site...



jlauro said:
Shouldn't you order the charts by sales instead of hits. Hits is just how many people viewed the game page on this site...
The sales get's cutoff.

 



ferret1603 said:

This is a pretty much constant theme in Nintendo Discussion but I haven't seen a breakdown of actual sales anywhere in said threads.

These are the million selling Wii games according to VG Chartz (some data is missing but it's the best we've got to go on). I've designated them hardcore or casual. Feel free to disagree as it's a crappy and arbitrary distinction anyway but one the industry is obsessed by and probably will be for a while yet. If I can imagine my parents or a non-gaming friend wanting to play it I've labelled it casual. So basically casual here means accessible. Core gamers may also like it. IMO MK, Sonic, Lego Star Wars and GH3 don't fit into either because they have very easy and very core aspects so I've labelled them "both".

PosGameConsolePublisherHitsScoreSales
1
Wii Sports
Nintendo48,6167.8623.66m
2
Wii Play
Nintendo26,3126.8312.49m
3
Super Mario Galaxy
Nintendo135,2328.126.56m
4
Super Smash Bros Brawl
Nintendo89,9308.035.38m
5
Mario Party 8
Nintendo24,5027.465.20m
6
Mario Kart Wii
Nintendo44,1417.785.12m
7
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Nintendo36,7348.264.81m
8
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Sega8,1737.764.44m
9
Wii Fit
Nintendo46,1327.864.37m
10
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
RedOctane18,9927.692.70m
11
Big Brain Academy: Wii DegreeNintendo8,9267.412.37m
12
Wario Ware: Smooth MovesNintendo6,5967.382.34m
13
Super Paper MarioNintendo14,7317.792.34m
14
Link's Crossbow Training
Nintendo14,6987.341.98m
15
Carnival Games
Global Star10,5127.241.86m
16
Mario Strikers ChargedNintendo15,7727.801.65m
17
Resident Evil 4: Wii EditionCapcom47,9338.131.60m
18
Metroid Prime 3: CorruptionNintendo52,2148.091.37m
19
Sonic and the Secret RingsSega11,7207.751.37m
20
Rayman Raving RabbidsUbisoft6,8747.661.34m
21
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
LucasArts10,4117.751.24m
22
Resident Evil: Umbrella ChroniclesCapcom33,0407.771.22m
23
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2Ubisoft11,9837.751.20m
24
MySimsElectronic Arts6,9187.251.07m
25
Red SteelUbisoft5,6587.041.05m

Wii Sports - casual

Wii Play - casual

Super Mario Galaxy - NOT HARDCORE , Generic Game,  Simple Storyline , Simple Gameplay Mechanics ,  Mild Violence, could apeal to anyone and everyone , no specific target audience.

Super Smash Bros Brawl - hardcore

Mario Party 8 - casual

Mario Kart Wii - - NOT HARDCORE , Generic Game,  Simple Storyline , Simple Gameplay Mechanics ,  Mild Violence, could apeal to anyone and everyone , no specific target audience.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - hardcore

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games - casual

Wii Fit - casual

Guitar Hero 3 - By defintion a game that is Casual and hardcore is casual (Negative + Plus = Negative )

Big Brain Academy - casual

WarioWare - casual

Super Paper Mario - NOT HARDCORE , Generic Game,  Simple Storyline , Simple Gameplay Mechanics ,  Mild Violence, could apeal to anyone and everyone , no specific target audience.

Link's Crossbow Training - casual

Carnival Games - casual

Mario Strikers Charged - casual

Resident Evil 4 - hardcore

Metroid Prime 3 - hardcore

Sonic and the Secret Rings -By defintion a game that is Casual and hardcore is casual (Negative + Plus = Negative )

Rayman Raving Rabbids - casual

Lego Star Wars - By defintion a game that is Casual and hardcore is casual (Negative + Plus = Negative )

Resident Evil UC - hardcore

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 - casual

My Sims - casual

Red Steel - hardcore

 

 I find there's a problem with your defintion of "Casual".

My definition of a casual game is a pretty much generic game which is simple in gameplay mechanics,storyline and overall game concept , there is generaly little or no violence in these games. I think Casual games are synonymous with Mass Market games , they apeal to everyone , try to offend no one for maximum profitability.

Mcdonalds could be seen as the "casual game" of the resturaunt industry, generic food , simple in taste , apeals to everyone ,offends no one = Maximum profitability.

Wheras Itallian food is more the "hardcore game" of the resturaunt industry , specific taste , specific target audience , more people are likely to dislike this kind of foor than are likely to dislike Mcdonalds.

Once you apply my definition ( a definition which I believe to be more accurate ) you'll find most of the wii's sales are casual. 

 BTW : LOL For conclusive proof that most Wii sales are hardcore ,pathetic atempt i might add.



Around the Network

I'm curious why have you listed "hits" as opposed to actual sales? Cherry picking are we ?



nothing with the name "Mario" in it is "pure "hardcore" - it might be hardcore games, but the franchise so well known to casuals, that they will buy and play it among their party games



Imperial said:
I'm curious why have you listed "hits" as opposed to actual sales? Cherry picking are we ?

The idea that the sales column got cut off when he pasted the image is too far-fetched, right?

Lafiel said:
nothing with the name "Mario" in it is "pure "hardcore" - it might be hardcore games, but the franchise so well known to casuals, that they will buy and play it among their party games


By your logic all the best selling games aren't "pure hardcore". 

Imperial said:

Negative + Plus = Negative   

What kind of weird math are you using?

 



People shouldnt spend too much time debating 'casual' and 'hardcore' games...thats what sees the games industry perceived as geekish



I hope my 360 doesn't RRoD
         "Suck my balls!" - Tag courtesy of Fkusmot

I find there's a problem with your defintion of "Casual".

My definition of a casual game is a pretty much generic game which is simple in gameplay mechanics,storyline and overall game concept , there is generaly little or no violence in these games. I think Casual games are synonymous with Mass Market games , they apeal to everyone , try to offend no one for maximum profitability.


I have a problem with your definition of casual.

In fact, I have a problem with everyone's definition. To me, hardcore gamers exist on pure skill or strategy based games. A chess master is a hardcore gamer, the guys in "King of Kong" are hardcore gamers. Someone who plays story-based games like MGS or GTA, games that are becoming increasingly easy and have save spots every 20 minutes are casual gamers.

But we're not talking about *your* definition or even mine, this article refers to the mass media's definition. To media outlets like IGN or kotaku or New York Times, Mario Galaxy is very different from Wii Sports - one represents old traditional "core" gaming values, one represents new casual gaming values.

The definition that Nintendo uses internally, as sean malstrom has pointed out, is that it's a middle-market game.

Anyway, great post and great analysis. Don't let a few trolls ruin it.

PC + Wii owners unite.  Our last-gen dying platforms have access to nearly every 90+ rated game this gen.  Building a PC that visually outperforms PS360 is cheap and easy.    Oct 7th 2010 predictions (made Dec 17th '08)
PC: 10^9
Wii: 10^8