29 replies to this topic

[Keviin]

Nintendo has been saying that, with the Wii U, they want to get the "hardcore gamers" back to them. But do you think they could succeed? Do you think this group will actually look back at Nintendo? Will this even make Nintendo profits?

I think, to be honest, this focus group will still not find the Wii U attractive enough. They are dissapointed in the Wii, and rather wait for a next gen PS/Xbox because hey, it will be more powerful and 'cool' anyway. No matter how powerful it will be for example, they will always mother dog about the controller. And if they release an additional 'classic' controller, they will find something else to mother dog about. This group just cannot, and I believe, will not be statisfied by Nintendo.

And since Nintendo is trying desperately to win them back, they will start to care less about the main focus group of the Wii: the casual gamers. They will think there are too many hardcore games, or that it's too expensive, and so on.

In short, for the Wii U to be succesful, they should really think about what group they want to focus on. Hardcore gamers probably won't be statisfied by the Wii U because of their naivity, and casual gamers might not be too fond of it too because of their less casual approach. Discuss.

[Joshua]

Hardcore gamers are the ones that will continuously purchase video games in the long run. They are needed to sustain the longevity of the Wii U.
The Wii should be self-explanatory when describing what will happen to a console with hardly any 'hardcore gamer' support.

[MorbidGod]

There will be some like this, who will always hate Nintendo. However when people see their favorite games on the Wii U, start to see what exclusives it will have... Most gamers will buy it.

And don't forget, Nintendo has a league of fans that will buy a Nintendo branded toaster.

[BazzDropperz]

-

Edited by BazzDropperz, 14 July 2014 - 01:31 AM.

[Fig]

What even is a hardcore gamer? I see a lot of people that are really into specific genres, are they hardcore gamers?
Maybe hardcore gamers are the people who regularly buy games, but to be honest I don't buy that many games and I'd consider myself a dedicated gamer. If you go by the level of dedication, then wouldn't most gamers be hardcore gamers? I honestly don't know anyone who would call them self a "casual gamer". I prefer things the way they used to be, when we could split people into two groups - gamers and non-gamers.

Well, Iwata defined the market they are going after not as "hardcore", but as "people who play video games as their main hobby". Like Joshua said above, Iwata stated that these people will continuously buy games throughout the console's lifespan.

That absolutely makes sense to me. As a business, you cannot accept stagnation, because that inevitably leads to decline. Nintendo conquered the blue ocean, and they have stated that they intend to continue to cater to that audience in the future. But they want to make a good first impression with dedicated gamers, because a "casual" impression was hard for Nintendo to overcome with the Wii. So yes, Nintendo absolutely needs to cater to "hardcore" gamers to grow and sustain their business.

[Stewox]

Nintendo has been saying that since WiiU reveal ... they're listening, i don't see problem with this, some people are just late to the party.

First of all ... PS360 aren't no hardcore at all.
Second of all , nintendo already had the hardcore ... quess who buys metroids and zeldas ..etc ... obviously not COD players.

The third thing is, nintendo doesn't even need the PS360 demographic ... And i don't even care about them nor I want them here, I don't care about 3rd parties either. I would rather want the PS360 demographic to not like it so we won't have these crazy western mainstream stupid demographic of kids coming in and diluting and corrupting the great nintendo community. Honest opinion.

Edited by Stewox, 15 May 2012 - 04:30 AM.

[Bootortle]

There will be some like this, who will always hate Nintendo. However when people see their favorite games on the Wii U, start to see what exclusives it will have... Most gamers will buy it.

And don't forget, Nintendo has a league of fans that will buy a Nintendo branded toaster.

Nitendo toaster? Where can I get one? You know what they say, "All toasters toast toast."

Seriously though, I think our favorite little upcoming console will do do fine.

[dagwood dang]

Well, Iwata defined the market they are going after not as "hardcore", but as "people who play video games as their main hobby". Like Joshua said above, Iwata stated that these people will continuously buy games throughout the console's lifespan.

That absolutely makes sense to me. As a business, you cannot accept stagnation, because that inevitably leads to decline. Nintendo conquered the blue ocean, and they have stated that they intend to continue to cater to that audience in the future. But they want to make a good first impression with dedicated gamers, because a "casual" impression was hard for Nintendo to overcome with the Wii. So yes, Nintendo absolutely needs to cater to "hardcore" gamers to grow and sustain their business.

^ Just listen to Fig on this one guys.

The casual/family/mini-game market didn't stick around the same way a core gamer did, but they certainly did buy Wiis. The numbers prove that.
Problem with that demo is that they treated the Wii like a fad. Be honest for a second. Think about how many times you've heard "yeah I bought a Wii, but after a while I just put it away."
I don't know about you, but I've heard that more times than I could count, and probably more times than Nintendo was comfortable with. It would be in Nintendo's best interest to bring it back to center. build a library that supports more dedicated/veteran/core gamers, but not ignoring the attention of their new-found Wii demo. This is their main focus. The Console's price will be based on this as well.

Sidenote: I think the opening post is charged a bit with a little bias. It doesn't make gamers naive for wanting what they want.
Business is all about feeding monsters. It's simply supply and demand.

...and what is a mother dog? That some sort of regional slang? please educate.

[jalio_the_brave]

I think the key is that Nintendo needs to make sure that they have top notch exclusives as well as lots of third party support. Most gamers want to have 1 system to play all of their favorite games, not 2 or 3. Nintendo needs to make sure that gamers can have that.

[Keviin]

A part of the point I want to make is that they shouldn't try to get PS360 gamers to the Wii U because it just wouldn't work. However they should try to get back the fans that moved to PS360 because of the Wii.

With "hardcore" I meant what a lot of people nowaday consider hardcore. That includes the typical COD even though I don't personally consider them hardcore.

Nintendo is just going to have a hard time with the marketing process. They need to be clear about (a) focus group(s).

Edited by Keviin, 15 May 2012 - 06:39 AM.

[KennGalaxy]

In order to be successful in the "hardcore" arena, Nintendo can't accept being looked at as a second tier console, By fans and/or developers/publishers. It has to start with Nintendo making an effort to secure damn near every 3rd party game that come out on PS3/360, and hardware willing, PS4/720.

Gamers that Nintendo are expecting to switch from 360 or PS3, are going to want to still be able to play those big 3rd party games like Mass Effect, Skyrim, GTA etc...
There goal should be to make there console a one stop shop, too many people had a Wii and____. If they want "hardcore gamers", they can't market the WiiU strictly as a novelty console, but instead show how good the 1st,2nd, and 3rd party support will be and the online features.

That's what will win them back a lot of that crowd, and also what will help them retain it.

[Usman Mohammad]

Nintendo has been saying that since WiiU reveal ... they're listening, i don't see problem with this, some people are just late to the party.

First of all ... PS360 aren't no hardcore at all.
Second of all , nintendo already had the hardcore ... quess who buys metroids and zeldas ..etc ... obviously not COD players.

The third thing is, nintendo doesn't even need the PS360 demographic ... And i don't even care about them nor I want them here, I don't care about 3rd parties either. I would rather want the PS360 demographic to not like it so we won't have these crazy western mainstream stupid demographic of kids coming in and diluting and corrupting the great nintendo community. Honest opinion.

Cough CoD player here, what did you say about not playing Zelda and Metroid?

The term hardcore gamer applies to those that invest time into games just as someone is a film fanatic. However you see this mis conception of what is hardcore/core. I'll day this right now, fanb

[Ixchel]

they can't market the WiiU strictly as a novelty console

I think this is the most apt description I've seen so far. It wasn't just that the Wii was marketed to casuals, but it was heavily marketed for party games. It's whole marketing plan was based on it. The bad thing about party games is that they're heavily mini-game focused, and go stale very quickly either way. I know that Nintendo wanted to secure that casual-every-family-member audience but it should have also focused on advertising games that would last hours and be playable at any time. Casual or hardcore.
I think their plan to appeal to the hardcore first is their best bet. If they had tried a split for the Wii it may have been even better, but now they are looked at with doubt first by "hardcore gamers" so if they show too much casual stuff too soon it'll easily frighten them away into thinking it'll be another game library flop. The casual market can be captured at any time... They look for sales and probably won't buy the other systems first... Or at all.

Edited by Ixchel, 15 May 2012 - 08:37 AM.

[Chinomanila]

A casual gamer buys maybe four games in a systems lifetime, a Hardcore gamer buys thirty.

[Usman Mohammad]

A casual gamer buys maybe four games in a systems lifetime, a Hardcore gamer buys thirty.

Everytime when anyone says they're a hardcore gamer I just think "really?". It's hard to explain but we are the core, all ideas of what you think a hardcore gamer means is almost true, its just that you need to change to core gamer. We are the CORE NINTENDO gamers, being core gamers is to do with franchise and genre preference. IMO hardcore is a competitive core gamer, which dissects the game to find most information that will better help them/better understand the aspects.

It really isn't set in stone, many gamers say they're hardcore gamers but at the end of the day I take it way further than they do(and most people here) but I still dont call my self as a hardcore gamer. I am the core audience, I am the audience that enjoy competitive, deep, immersive, inspiring and fun gaming experiences that rival literature and films, we all know the types of games

Buying those games only still doesn't make a person a hardcore/true core gamer, I'm reading that CoD players aren't hard core gamers and that hard core gamers are those that buy zelda etc, other bits im reading is that BF3 is more hardcore to hardcore gamers than CoD... they're both first person shooters, they have different play styles to suit different tastes but yet the one point that keeps coming up is that BF3 has better graphics, better engine etc but arent the so called hard core gamers people that don't care about graphics and engine and care about core gameplay (which you really can't improve on CoD too much as it would be a drastic shift that opposes the current playstyle of the series).

There is too much hipocrisy, loopholes etc in this arguement and that even I would admit to point out there are flaws in my post mainly because there are too many interpretations and views that either contradict one and another or help another.

The truth is, the core gaming market are those that play on PS3 and 360, now if you tell them play zelda on wii, they will say it sucks etc etc (I have three older brothers that pretty much are like that, one complains that I play pokemon and that im too old for it however he plays a farmville clone on his phone, so thats an example of hypocrisy. Another is that my other two brothers just don't like nintendo for some reason, I was playing skyward sword and one of them goes why am I playing a rubbish game with those graphics. This is an example of thinking they're hardcore, they are core gamers, they are the core audience for God of War, Halo etc, games that come out for their platform of choice, but they are naive at times too) so its hard for Nintendo to get those people back if they say "heres a 2D mario for launch and animal crossing" (I hate AC with a passion, I don't understand it, I don't get how that is a core title) which will not appeal to those people since they want CoD, BF, NFS, and big steller named games. Nintendo is going after those lot because they are the ones that spend money on games, again I am contradicting myself but, if anyone actually sees what I see please clear up my points, it's hard to describe in words because its a hard concept to understand, and you have to experience these kind of people to fully understand it.

[Lord Pickleton]

A casual gamer buys maybe four games in a systems lifetime, a Hardcore gamer buys thirty.

Then I'm over qualified I buy way more than Thirty.

[Chinomanila]

Then I'm over qualified I buy way more than Thirty.

Hahahaha, I wish I could.

[Nin_Stream]

Microsoft has ditched the Hardcore gamers they are all about Kinect so the Hardcores are up for grabs. Nintendo will gain back the Hardcore Nintendo fans that left them for the 360/PS3 seeing as Wii U is an amazing beast of a system. They will be welcomed back home to the best of the best "Nintendo" As for the other Hardcores....(COD, and other shooters) I see no reason why Nintendo would fail at getting them. However in my personal opinion I dont want any of those arrogant baboons from COD and such in the Nintendo community. The Nintendo community is filled with polite and kind people who care about having fun. So Nintendo doesnt need to add the whinny punk kids and trash talkers from shooters.

In order to be successful in the "hardcore" arena, Nintendo can't accept being looked at as a second tier console, By fans and/or developers/publishers. It has to start with Nintendo making an effort to secure damn near every 3rd party game that come out on PS3/360, and hardware willing, PS4/720.

Gamers that Nintendo are expecting to switch from 360 or PS3, are going to want to still be able to play those big 3rd party games like Mass Effect, Skyrim, GTA etc...
There goal should be to make there console a one stop shop, too many people had a Wii and____. If they want "hardcore gamers", they can't market the WiiU strictly as a novelty console, but instead show how good the 1st,2nd, and 3rd party support will be and the online features.

That's what will win them back a lot of that crowd, and also what will help them retain it.

I have to ask...what is a 2nd party game....lol

[Andy]

I have to ask...what is a 2nd party game....lol

A 2nd party game is when a console manufacturer pays a third party studio to make a title exclusive to there system, and that console manufacturer studio holds some rights to that game instead of it being the sole property of the third party (at least that's how I understand it).

[PixelKnot]

I have very little hesitation to believe that Nintendo will succeed in this field with the Wii U.

They themselves confirmed that they have pushed the casual-friendly games aside for a while and decided to focus highly on big games for lifelong, dedicated gamers. And the third parties that had little to no involvement with the Wii have heavily praised the Wii U's hardware. (Ex: Epic Games)

So things are looking postive in terms of support from third party developers.