http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/24/0524216

"Chris Jager from GoodGearGuide argues that the rise of casual gaming means near-certain death for hardcore gaming. The sales of casual 'party-friendly' games are massively outstripping the sales of classic hardcore games, and the makers of other consoles are taking note of Nintendo's success in attracting non-traditional gamers to the Wii and DS. There is evidence that Sony and Microsoft are both trying to tap into the casual market, and it's only a matter of time before hardcore gaming goes the way of the Nintendo PowerGlove." Of course, the trend toward casual doesn't just involve Nintendo — World of Warcraft's success (and the huge effect it's had on the MMO genre) is often credited to its focus on casual gamers. While it's not unreasonable for game studios to want all players to see all of the game's content, perhaps there's a better way of catering to the more hardcore players than tacking on difficulty modes and "do it the hard way" achievements.

WHEN CAN IT BE WII LOVE WEEK?! WHEN, I SAY?!

Wouldn't the death of hardcore gaming actually be caused by hardcore gamers buying fewer games? How would anything else ever affect that? I guess hardcore gamers are being converted to casual gamers, and that's why hardcore gaming is shrinking. Because if both were growing, it wouldn't matter which group was growing faster, and everybody would be happy.

But-t-t-t wait... The Wii is Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomed!!

How can it be killing hardcore gaming?! Noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

The Wii's death is like a Portal cake!!

Didn't I see someone say that "Games are not "Hardcore" but how we choose to play them"?

I kind of liked that!

In a grand conspiracy, the casual gamers and the Nintendo fanboys shall obtain credit card numbers from Xbox Live, PSN, and Steam, and then they shall take all their money, and use it to guarantee that their preferences are never profitable again

None can stop them! I dare any to try!

The idea of hardcore gaming really only came about from those who wanted to distinguish themselves from 'regular' gaming. Now that they're not selling as well as they did before and there's whole other counter style of games doing better than their market, they are, for a lack of a better word, whining.

Why is it fine for them to act all superior and 'hardcore' and tout their superiority when their making fists fulls of cash? Yet once the tables are turned, they point the finger and call foul. If anything, the reason many hardcore games (aka their companies and their marketing/business) aren't doing as well this gen is because of their 'either like our games or F*** YOU' mentality.

It says there is even evidence that Sony and Microsoft are tapping into the casual audience.. I can clearly see Singstar, Buzz and Eyetoy on the PS2 so does that mean Sony actually started this whole 'decline'??

This article doesn't seem to be calling out casual games either, just well designed games that are accessible to more people or 'mainstream games'.. It's like the people who sook abour their favourite indie band going mainstream.. Why do they think games such at GT, GTA, Halo etc sell so well? Not TEH HARDCOREZZ I can tell you

Yeah, because Wii Music DESTROYED Halo 3 in sales...

Why can't these people understand that casual gaming is no new phenomenon? Hardcore gaming is not going anywhere as long as the GTAs, CoDs, GTs and Halos of the world routinely sell over 10 million copies across all systems.

Some people are such drama queens...putting faith in casual gamers is stupid. For all you know, for them gaming could be a temporary hobby, and in a few years, they'll switch to mountain biking.

GTAIV, Halo 3 and COD4 are as casual as they come in their own genres... I'm not sure on GT though.