The former has been greeted with scepticism and derision by the general gaming community yet the latter is  seen as perfectly acceptable and has been welcomed to the gaming scene since it's arrival. My question is why?

Both games come with a hefty peripheral both in size and price tag. Both feature accessible play mechanics that start out easy and increase in difficulty. Both games are cut down into bite size chunks of play time & both have you on your feet for prolonged periods of time. Why then with this much in common are these titles treated so differently by your average gamer?

Is it because one has practical implications, in this case excercise, and the other is solely for entertainment & if so why is DDR not subjected to accusations of ending gaming as we know it & taking the industry in a dangerous direction? Is it because one is seen as having cooler subject matter, & if so is that not just down to personal taste? Is it beacause one uses mini-games and the other uses tracks?

It seems to me that it's all just down to a vocal minority of spoilt babies who want the gaming world to revolve around themselves and no one else, who deem rock 'cool' and excercise 'lame' & thus the latter must cease to exist. Some people need to stop being so close-minded and accept that just because they like red  somebody else can't like blue, it's pathetic.

Am I missing something?

Can I take this hush to mean the silent agreement of the forum?

Yeah pretty much.

No, there's just a lot of topics to answer out there...most take like 10 minutes to get a reply.

It's probably because Guitar Hero is a scaled game, where expert gamers can get better, and thus a game perfect for "casuals" and "hardcore gamers"...like Super Smash Brothers.

Some casual games are just plain easy though, and those are the ones they probably scoff. I think if the game is designed well enough to be fun, and allow some competition amongst gamers of all skill levels, then it's fine with me, and probably with most people here.

Simple ...

Neither Nintendo fans or Nintendo haters will point to Guitar Hero because it is a successful 'casual' game that isn't produced by Nintendo; this looks bad for the Nintendo fans because it makes Nintendo less inovative while it looks bad for the Nintendo Haters because it shows that Nintendo may not be riding on a fad.

Because Guitar Hero was made to look cool, with the hardcore in mind, even if it ended up being one of casual gamers' favourite games, unlike Wii Fit.

Nitpicking here Rol, but Guitar Hero is a complete rip off of Guitar Freaks which was an arcade game right up there alongside DDR. 

My local arcade were I grew up had several installments over the years of it. So the idea was very established before Guitar Hero came along. 

I don't agree with HappySqurriel (argh spelling!) totally...I'm a Nintendo fan...and Guitar Hero simply rocks...I'm going to play the 80s version tonight. It's a great game, and I applaud developers that make great games... I don't think most Nintendo fans hold a grudge against other developers that make great games...that's just dumb...

I do agree that the haters might ignore GH in arguments though...there's a lot of casual games outside of the Wii and DS realm that don't seem to get mentioned, like DDR, Singstar, GH, puzzle games, etc...

The only 'casual' games I've played are Wii Sports and Big Brain Academy on DS and I found neither to be a walk in the park. I still haven't got all the platinums in Sports and just plain gave up getting an A+ on BBA. I think because of N's roots in traditional gaming they'll always provide a gaming experience that is challenging to all who play it. Having not experienced Wii Fit first hand I'm not 100% but I'm pretty sure that it'll cater to all skill levels.

I think the casual games that are insultingly easy are the ones aimed at young children, which is understandable.

Too little options (Casual/Hardcore) for too many game genres.