I've been reading all the topics about how Wii is attracting casual adult gamers and expanding the market, and despite my Nintendo loyalties I was skeptical that just Wii could achieve this, especially considering Sony's efforts aimed at this market in the past mainly attracting existing demographics.

My parents are technically aware and have jobs in science and engineering, but until now have been disinterested in what video games I had, even when I tried to get them to play Mario Kart, Golf and Tennis.

They had played Wii Sports for a while after I bought my Wii, and enjoyed it but the game is rather short and they never indicated they would be interested in future Wii games.

However today my mum came in and said she'd saw an advert for MySims, it looked nice and it was just what she was looking for (having played The Sims 2 and dislike the "real life" aspect of it).

Then my dad came in and said his work collegues were discussing Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 for the Wii and how good it was.

Then my mum, while looking for MySims on an internet shopping site, had watched a video for Boogie and liked the look of that too. 

I asked them why they'd never been interested before, and they said they had found previous video games too hard to control but the Wii Remote combined with the simple but clear graphics of these games had made them want to at least try the new games.

Maybe the Wii is truly the beginning of a revolution in the demographics of gamers. If my parents are interested in Wii games, this surely must reflect changing attitudes everywhere. I just hope Nintendo won't aim Mario, Metroid, Zelda and Smash Bros. at this market too much because I have games I want too.

It might just be the Wii is the new big thing too.

After all my parents haven't played videogames since the Atari and bought that and the Balley Astrocade for themselves, but are interested in the Wii. I mean it's getting some crazy attention and is offering something newish.

They bought a LOT of Atari and Balley games too... yet didn't get back on when the NES came out.  Then again that might have just been because of the crash so who knows.

Blue Ocean forever...

Nintendo has made it their aim to serve an under served market. That is the business plan. Why would it still be surprising that people who formerly had no interest in video games are now interested in titles for the Wii?

Just as a note, how often do you hear people talk about 'fun' videogames on platforms besides the Wii?

I have seen many people who have played simple flash games for hours on end who would never buy a XBox 360, PS3 and gaming PC because the flash games are more 'fun' than what is produced for those consoles. I could be wrong but I think the complexity of many PC, XBox 360 and PS3 games takes away the simple 'fun' from the game, and the gamers dislike of the term 'fun' (probably because it is 'kiddie') means that it is probably not a concern for the developers.

I see the Wii as an attempt to return the 'fun' to more complicated games by ensuring that everyone can pick-up and play the game ...

Because it's cheap, innovative and easy to use. An adult gamer knows he won't have much time to spend playing games and so doesn't want to spend loads of money on one console. Also it is good for adult gamers, as it's ease of use makes it good as a tool to entertain guests.

Because it's cheap, innovative and easy to use. An adult gamer knows he won't have much time to spend playing games and so doesn't want to spend loads of money on one console. Also it is good for adult gamers, as it's ease of use makes it good as a tool to entertain guests.

because i can download games from when i was a young one... now if only they would speed up delivery... the new games are nice, smg looks really good. it would be nice though if all games gave you the option of using a controler

It's not just if it can attract casual adult gamers (the ones who haven't played games in years if ever or whos normal gaming sessions consist of playing the very odd game of solitaire on the computer) it's also if they are going to be able to keep the bulk of that audience interested in the long haul. I don't mean interested next year but interested for the next 5 or 10 years that will be the story if the market has truly been expanded for good.

Many things have come and gone that interested those people for a bit (I remember my parents who're non-gamers playing the Atari 2600 because it was the big new thing at the time, after awhile they got tired of it and left. The same thing happened years later with the NES, especially Duck Hunt, but again the same story and they became non-gamers after they tired of that experience). Years from now (when the next generation of consoles come out) and the motion experience is no longer fresh will the same thing happen? I guess time will tell.

Keeping them stay hooked is actually a lot easier than getting them to actually play the first time. Once they fall for it, there's no going back.

I think this is the main drawcard. My mum is the biggest gamer in the family, but she plays what most people would call 'casual' games. What do almost all casual games have in common, extremely easy input.

Up until about 3 years ago when my parents bought their 2nd HDTV to replace the one my mum normally uses, she was still playing an atari 2600. Now she primarily plays PC games. While my brother and I have tried to introduce her to other consoles or more complex PC gaming, she can't handle controllers with more than a few buttons. The 2600 controller (joystick with 1 button) and mouse (directional control and two buttons) are about as complex as she can handle.

The wiimote offers something very similar to this. Not only is the input for 'casual' games usually limited to one or two buttons, but the directional movement is natural being either point where you want, or handle the controller how you would with the equivilent real world object.