Even though everyone on this sight has been aware of this at some point i thought i would post this as a reminder:

Lots of people i have seen in situations like talking about which console is best / which is a persons favourite console / best software dev etc. They say yeah i like nintendo but i dont like their new direction and marketting towards casuals etc.

if Nintendo had NOT marketted towards casuals, any type of console they made this gen would have been a COMPLETE failure, with far less sales then the cube had at this point, and they would have far less money to spend on hardcore games and the like!

Remember that next time you go to attack Nintendos current strategy and the games they are releasing!

**This is not to say i was impressed with their e3, i believe they could very well have done their conference with the casual side and a core game too.

Another thing that people forget is that when your software team can release a mainstream title and make twice as much there is far less incentive to make any title that caters to the much smaller core market.

Nintendo themselves for their 1st party releases probaby is going to focus 60/40 or 70/30 of their efforts to Mainstream/Core which doesn't give the Core market much when you consider that titles for those genres can much longer to develop.

Your right, Nin needed to change the gameing world to proceed, and i think they did it the right way. Nins 'main' titles are the ones most of us consider 'core', and those are the titles that are bound to sell millions, so rest assured they are in development.

Nintendo needed to shift their focus in demographics to avoid performing the same or worse as the GC from a commercial standpoint. They had little hope of gaining market leadership through releasing an expensive console on parity with the 360 and PS3 that would result in a net loss with every hardware sale, especially without the third party support both had on board from the previous generation.

They took a gamble with their blue ocean strategy, went with simpler, more focused hardware that was inexpensive enough to both provide profits with every unit sold from the beginning as well as a consumer friendly price, and it paid off way beyond their expectations.

But the reason for Nintendo's current success is not the source of debate.


Nintendo's core demographic, the ones who kept the GC alive and Nintendo in the console business last generation, seem to feel slighted that the company's focus no longer caters to them, but instead to the demographic of new and non-traditional console owners and potential buyers; the additional demographics responsible for Nintendo's current success.

I think the way Nintendo sees it, is that they already have the Nintendo core demographic locked up, same as they have every generation, leaving them little reason to focus efforts "preaching to the choir."

There are still other events at which Nintendo can make the announcements many of its long time fans have been looking forward to, but they still missed out on a prime opportunity at this year's E3 due to the high level of expectations that had been generated among their core demographic.

But it's important to clarify that Nintendo's core demographic is no longer what is keeping Nintendo afloat as a company, even if they are still largely responsible for buying most of its core hit franchises.

there is only a few games im looking forward to atm(2 exclusive, 1 coming to pc as well). as a purchaser of their product, i feel i am entitled to express myself if they are not meeting my gaming needs. of course...since they(nintendo) obviously dont actually give a shit, it probably doesnt matter.
i dont care who else they target ...but when they stop targeting me, i wont want to purchase anything from them. other companies seem to feel they can target both...why does nintendo have such a one track mind.

I never attacked Nintendo's strategy ...

Haven't the "core gamers" been jumping ship since the SNES/Genesis days? Atleast it seems that way to me..

@greenmedic88: Use the aligned launches comparison tool for each territory, and see how the HD consoles together are selling significantly less than the consoles of the previous generation. Then, using the same tool, look at how the Wii is the one driving growth in the console market.

After doing that, tell us if you maintain your theory that Nintendo is the one driving the market away ;)

You came to the wrong conclusion if you think my theory is that Nintendo is driving the market away.

It doesn't take any degree of intelligence to look at the sales growth for Nintendo to see that their strategy, which has exceeded anyone's expectations, has been wildly successful.

The point being made is that Nintendo's focus is no longer on their own core demographic, at least not on the basis of last week's E3 showing.

If the keynote was any indication, the consumers responsible for Nintendo's current success (non-traditional demographic) are now what they consider to be their "new" core demographic and stand likely to be the continued focus for Nintendo's continual growth strategy.

That's a ridiculous statement.

First of all: Mainstream titles? Almost all Nintendo games are mainstream titles. Mario, Smash Bros, Kart all sold in the several millions. That's mainstream as hell. Zelda is pretty mainstream as well. So yeah, Nintendo will keep making mainstream titles, although not in the way you see it.

You clearly still believe in the non-games fable. What non-games have Nintendo given us? I'd say that WiiPlay is the only one so far that you could call that, but it's $10. I think WiiMusic might come very close. Saying WiiSports and WiiFit are not games is stupid. These are revolutions in videogaming, whether you like it or not. MotionPlus be as well. So that's two games in two years. In the same period we've seen a lot of games that also appeal to the core:

Galaxy, Brawl, Zelda, Kart, Fire Emblem, Batallion Wars, Paper Mario, Metroid. That's quite a list there. Mind you that's in only 18 months.
And coming: Fatal Frame 4 (hey, that's a Nintendo franchise now, Nintendo sure doesn't care about the core anymore), Animal Crossing, Pikmin, Disaster, Kid Icarus.

Nintendo knows their main income are the Nintendo games. Sure a "casual" title once a year will be there, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't hurt core game development at all.