Malstrom? that's the guy who predicted 20 million X360s sold by 2011.

I'm talking about how Natal isn't that different from the eyeToy/PSeye in how it functions from a non-technical perspective ...

If someone came out with a motion controller that functioned like the Wiimote but used a conventional camera to "see the screen" rather than an IR camera and sensor bar it would still be a product that was very similar to the Wiimote even though the technology is different.

Maybe I don't understand, but from what I read what you just said it would be like the PS1 isn't that much diffrent from the SNES because it basicly does the same thing... it plays games.

@ Kung gras

Edit: The largest demographic of gamer is often overlooked and can best be described as "Mainstream" gamers ... These are the gamers who make games like Guitar Hero, Mario Kart and Halo so popular. The only thing they're worried about when it comes to games is if a game is fun enough for long enough to justify their purchase.

^^ That statement is ridiculous pure and simple.
Exactly what is the reason for buying games??? Isn't fun the most important factor? This statement is so absurd, you just described every person that's ever purchased a game. Everybody buys games based on how fun they think it is and if it's worth your money. If someone purchased games with any other mindset how could they not buy every game released?

The manner in which the person playing the game approaches gameplay is important but so is the intention of the developers who make the games. Developers that make games for traditional gamers make them so they require a certain level of involvement and devotion. The player has to immerse themselves enough to play the game. I'm pretty sure all the middle aged women and dudes who buy transformers the game because they think it's as good as the movie, don't want to bother with anything resembling an HUD or leveling up systems etc. It'll put those type of people off.

Just why is halo a mainstream 'casual' game??? Because it sells extremely well? Halo requires the player to fully immerse themselves. The controls are complex for casuals like most of the wii gamers. The multiplayer is immersive and intuitive and requires heavy gameplay not to mention devotion for things like the forge maps. How could you even claim that halo is a game for mass consumption. There are simply just that many gamers nowadays that allow it to sell that way. If you claim something like Forge is something that would appeal to casual gamers you're view is either skewed or you refuse to see the truth.

Nobody that plays one game for more than 5 hours at a time can be considered casual in my opinion anyway.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/144724-ps3-causes-heartache-for-sony?source=yahoo

There's a link touching on the subject. This is how the stock market wants nintendo to market themselves.

Any company that publicly trades gets scrutinized by the market to find out what makes the company go and where exactly is it going in order to best predict wether to invest in it or not.
Therfore, these comments bare some weight.

Once again you are missing the point. If I wanted to devote myself to a game it would not be Halo, because it's not competitive enough. The most popular playlists online are the social playlists for a reason. If I wanted to devote myself to a game it would be a game that is made to be completely skill-based, like Starcraft or Diablo II.

   The mainstream gamer statement is not ridiculous. It's actually quite spot-on. Mainstream gamers are the ones that buy the mainstream genres, like the big fighters, and the big FPS games. Not to devote themselves to them, but to play them in a non-hardcore fashion. As for console games, this would be a "casual" fashion mind you (Hardcore is defined as playing competitively or by any means trying to aquire extreme skill in the game, or anything else that could actually justify the word "Hardcore"). Console gamers that play console games in a really "hardcore" fashion are either really nieche or doesn't know that the PC excists. A counterstrike expert would laugh at a competitive Halo or Killzone 2 player.

If Halo required players to fully immerse themselves, I would never have played Halo 3. The most fun I have had out of that game since I bought it is completing the Single player campaign, and fooling around in big team slayer and playing Infection with friends. Pretty casual stuff. The multiplayer is only fun on the social playlists because that's were I can pilot a wraith tank and blow people up. In the Ranked AKA COMPETITIVE AKA "Hardcore" Playlists, all the fun weapons are gone and I just wish I was playing Team Fortress 2 or Counterstrike Source instead because the dual analog controls are so broken. So yes, Halo 3 is a core or mainstream game at "best" but It's definatley best played casually (infection pwns).

And yes, forge is casual. A hardcore player would only use forge to try an balance the maps which means removing all the fun overpowered stuff that Halo 3 has and thus making a boring map. All the fun forged maps are made by casual players, and they are fun because they are so ririculous, like my Helms Deep maps.

People don't play on consoles to be "hardcore". They play to have fun. I like consoles because they are simpler and are always guarranteed to play the games made for them. But not to be "hardcore"

EDIT: If you think that people are put off by leveling systems and HUDs then look at this scenario. When I was a really small kid, I had never played games before (exept for Super Mario Land on a friend's gameboy) But I got Pokémon yellow for the gameboy colour and suddenly I started playing it to death. It's my most played game by far. Was I "hardcore"?

The guy had some valid points, and his list started out pretty well until:

5) Realise that you have to provide entertainment for the population at large. FPS titles are not a good idea.

And then it went downhill. There are many people that would enjoy playing a GOOD FPS casually on Wii. And with the Wii controls, maybe even competitively.

He had some good points IN THE VERY BEGINNING. But these buissnes suits aren't right all the time.

@KungKras

You say I throw hardcore around too lightly but you do the same with casual. When I say hardcore i only say it subjectively. Core is a better term but it's just a label. The important thing is what the label means.

The core label means a person who is an educated well versed gamer. This person has always played games and is a fan of video games. As such, they play games like a movie buff watches movies. For all the unique factors said medium of entertainment brings. Most people watch movies but there's a difference between a fan of movies and a person who just watches movies. A casual moviegoer watches a movie to pass time. A movie buff watches a movie for the value he believes it has.

I don't think you understand what casual means. Casual is usually but not always a new gamer who plays games in the same manner they watch tv or surf the web. It's just another thing to entertain yourself while you wait to have something important to do. A casual gamer is not a fan of video games. They have very low gaming IQ and don't follow the industry period. Alot of them aren't even able to tell you which company makes which consoles half the time. Most of these gamers are on the Wii. Mainly because without the Wii these people wouldn't be gamers at all.

Being a niche gamer does not make you hardcore. If that were the case then the wii sports/wii fit exclusive gamers would be hardcore gamers. Your example does not make HUDs appealing to the general public. When you got into pokemon you were already a gamer of some sort, as a small child. The fact that you were a child alone makes my case. Most core gamers have been gamers since childhood. They didn't just happen to stumble upon video games. Core gamers were chosen by the allure of games; video games simply just appealed to us.

Have you seen the elaborate forge map obstacle courses??? This isn't even for the core gamers. It's purely hardcore of hardcore. These porge courses are complicated, carefully thought out courses made by hardcore gamers so that other hardcore gamers can attempt to clear them however they think is best. People use all types of weapons and grenades and techniques to clear the courses. Alot of people cannot clear a course, or simply take hours to do it while the very best (just a few dozen) can do clear a course in 20-30 mins on avg. Let me reiterate, it is VERY HARD TO CLEAR THESE COURSES.

When you hear hardcore in the gaming media it is just a loose term to describe video game fans and the games they play. To a core gamer games as a whole are fun, period. Out of the whole catalog of games we individually choose what we enjoy most. A casual gamer is just a fun seeker. To a casual gamer, games aren't fun, only the RIGHT game is fun. The whole video game library isn't an option, just the small part of it that most closely resembles entertainment for them.

Malstrom=douche bag

I'll say it again, this guy may make some fine points, but he is an over-zealous, d-bag writer