This is my first thread post on here, so take it easy on me guys and gals!

             Here is my theory on the direction and overall plan Nintendo has in mind for the Wii. As of right now, as to whether Nintendo has any interest in the wants/needs of the hardcore audience, I'd say YES. Now as to whether their focus is fully centered on the hardcore audience at this time or not, I'd say NO. Nintendo will always be aware and attentive of the hardcore audience's demands, but right now their attention is steered towards more of the "casual" audience more than the hardcore. This is what I think and what my OPINION is from my own perceptions.

Nintendo will not FULLY support the hardcore audience until at least the last half of the Wii's lifecycle. This is probably not as far away as you would think. This will also not happen until Nintendo's overall mission with the Wii is accomplished, bringing EVERYONE into the living room, so to say. They want that group of people who have never played a videogame in their life the most right now, but this is a VERY GOOD THING and I'll explain my reasoning for that right now.

Nintendo is training the future of gaming, OUR future.... "the hardcore audience of tomorrow". Nintendo's grueling process will bear great reward for us in the future for us hardcore gamers. Imagine having 3 times the amount of hardcore games on the Wii when compared to the PS3 and XBOX 360? That would be enormous. You would definitely have a harder time in deciding which game to pick up every time you went to the store. That is the future.

So, whenever you've lost all hope and feel like giving up on Nintendo, just remember that Nintendo will never give up on you. The software titles of tomorrow will overshadow the disappointments of yesterday.

ALRIGHT NOW!! DIFFERENT SUBJECT!!................... WHO IS GOING TO BUY "THE CONDUIT"?

Well, it's a very good first thread, I think.

Besides that, I somewhat agree with you but not completely. I think Nintendo are, and will be nurturing the "core" as well as the "casual" throughout the whole life cycle of the Wii. I think they just had some timing issues lately(possibly leaving the schedule open for 3rd parties).

@Majin-Tenshinhan:      I see what you're saying. I believe that Nintendo will continue the support of "casual" titles in the future, but what I'm saying is that Nintendo's attention towards the hardcore audience will be much greater than before. And with more "casuals" in the future getting into more "hardcore" games, that demand will just skyrocket.

Nintendo spread wide. They just don't whore out the attention making announcement of announcement of an upcoming secret unannounced game that just started development and be ready in 4 years, which gives plenty of time to re-announcement the exciting announcements of the same game for years to come.

Its being discussed so many times but it was easily summed up by the game overthinker.

We don't to admit it, but videogames are for children. There toys and Nintendo as a business MUST make games for children to ensure they have a healthy future. Expanding your business is always a plus.

Catering only to a smaller audience (the hardcores, or hardlycores) is not a good long term strategy. (see the gamecube and N64) Its most people on the internet think Nintendo should only cater to them is what keeps the argument going despite Nintendo have being very successful now and shown they CAN appeal to not only the young, but older generations and even *gasp* WOMEN.

They did something no one expected them to, they changed, they started doing new things but of course instead the gaming industry (third partys and the media) and the Hardcore (basement dwellers) didn't want this. They wanted to stay in there safety bubble.


That comes down to the question did Nintendo stop catering to the hardcores? Oh course not, there are still games its just the ""hardcore"" love to wail and moan that there not getting everything like a spoiled child. Nintendo have to cater to this new audience also because THERE APART OF NINTENDO'S BUSINESS NOW!

So just deal with it because thanks to this Nintendo will be in the industry for many more years to come.

@Galaki: I'm not talking about Nintendo's announcements at all. I'm talking about the content of the final products that they release to the public. I don't think their announcements make much difference anyways ever since their last E3 showing that promised a "NEW" "hardcore" game, "Animal Crossing", which disappointed the general hardcore audience. The only thing that they showed at the event that was of any interest to me was the announcement of "WiiMotion Plus".

You might want to reread. I wasn't talking about Nintendo :)

Ok the important issue should be addressed first.. YES I'm gonna buy The Conduit :P

I think you're right in a way, Nintendo started out downstream and are going to continue to build on those downstream games (this means games for people who are new to gaming), but their ultimate goal is to get these new gamers to play the traditional Nintendo franchises i.e. they want to upstream these guys.

You can see evidence for up streaming in Mario Kart Wii, a traditional Nintendo title that is bridging the gap between downstream games and upstream games. This will continue and I expect ExciteBots, Punch-Out!! and Pikmin 3 will be the next main 'bridge titles'.

At the same time however, Nintendo have released Mario, Paper Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Super Smash Bros., Battalion Wars, Fire Emblem and Excite Truck and all of these games came within the first 1.5 years of the Wii's lifetime. Galaxy was supposed to be a launch title, Imagine that, Wii Sports, Twilight Princess AND Mario Galaxy all right there and after Galaxy got delayed Metroid was poised to fill it's position! Imagine if that did eventuate, there would have been a lot more gamers sooking about Wii's software library then as less spacing would mean more drought..

Nintendo have had spacing issues but they are supporting all kinds of gamers whether it be downstream (Wii Fit), Bridging titles (Mario Kart Wii) or hardcore titles (WarioLand) all released around the same time.. The issue for Nintendo is to get the downstream gamers to enjoy and want more upstream games like Zelda and Metroid because the sales figures clearly show that the upstream gamers have no problem playing Mario Kart and buying Wii Fit.

If the rumours are true then we'll see downstream games including Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus this year, we'll also see more bridge titles in ExciteBots: Trick Racing, Punch-Out!! and Pikmin 3 and we'll see a bunch of upstream games such as Kirby (hopefully), Sin & Punishment 2 and perhaps games from Monolith Soft and Retro Studios which both will be due for a game between Q4 2009 and Q4 2010.

Nintendo have the net cast out very wide and I think they're doing an excellent job at achieving their goals so far. There's going to be a new Zelda, a new Mario, brand new IP's from Retro and Monolith Soft, and also a bunch of great third party content like Grand Slam Tennis (a bridge title), Red Steel 2 (upstream), and also downstream games such as EA Sports Active and Boom Blox Bash Party. It's an exciting time in the world of gaming and for Wii it's only going to get better.

@Dinomax:  Are you trying to argue with my opinions? I don't understand. Everything that I said has nothing to do with your arguement. Nowhere in my statements did I say that Nintendo would cater to a "smaller" audience in the future or that there would be a complete absence of support for the casual audience. The point I'm trying to make is that many of the people who have'nt played videogames before will become more interested, involved, and informed on videogames than before and after a few years they will deviate towards more hardcore products, causing more of a demand of hardcore titles than the already existing demand.

Sorry, I forgot to reply to your question - Yes, I am planning on buying The Conduit.