The rise of the Casual-Core gamer and the fall of Nintendo
I was going to write a piece about the Wii U and Nintendo’s hardware struggles today, but I got as far as writing the title and thought of something more interesting, so Nintendo will have to wait.
I was thinking about what kept the Wii afloat, and it struck me that it had two kinds of user: there are the core gamers, who grew up with Mario and Zelda games and wanted to keep on playing them (Nintendo do know how to rehash an old gem and still make it enjoyable). Then there are the casual gamers who enjoyed Wii Sports, maybe a bit of Mario Kart or some God awful music or puzzle game. These include all the old crumblies who got into Wii Tennis as a way of keeping fit, or the parents who would play LEGO Whatever to spend time with their kids.
So what did the other two consoles have that the Wii didn’t? Why did they attract such a different crowd? Well they had raw power and developer support for one thing. The PS3 and Xbox 360 may not have been as simple to write for as PC, but you didn’t have to wrestle with motion control like you did on the Wii, and they had a lot more resources to play with as well. This meant that all those risky new IPs like Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space and Call of Duty (I know, that was original Xbox first, just bear with me) were cheaper to make and much more likely to take off.
While the Wii enjoyed unexpected success from the casual market, the Xbox 360 and PS3 saw young gamers grow up and lose interest in many of the newer titles, preferring to stick with sequels of games they’ve played before and enjoyed. These people don’t have time to sit down and play 100+ hours of the new Elder Scrolls game, they want to play something social that they feel comfortable with. They might have a family to look after or a job to slave away at and can’t afford to invest the time a core gamer would into different games. They also probably want a way of socialising with their friends whilst staying at home and getting some gaming time in. Essentially, they are a casual version of a core gamer, wanting decent game play and memorable experiences, but with games they’re comfortable with and with a social element.
FIFA is an easy choice for these casualised-core gamers as most of them are football fans and will have played FIFA games before. Call of Duty was one of the better shooters of recent years, so as the inevitable sequels were released and they actually turned out to get better, that slowly got whipped-up into the AAA money spinner that it is today and became a Casual-Core staple. These are proper games, but they’re often being bought by people who will look at the next generation of consoles and end up buying an Xbox One, FIFA 14, Call of Duty Ghosts and Forza 4, then nothing else until they have some sequels out. Maybe they’ll dabble in a bit of Assassin’s Creed or Halo, but probably not with the same kind of enthusiasm. Of course your PS4 equivalent will end up buying FIFA 14, Call of Duty Ghosts and Gran Turismo (whenever it comes out), but the formula is much the same. You won’t see them picking up something new or different like The Witness.
These Casual-Core gamers have real buying power though. Think of all the Call of Duty DLC these people buy, and that they always buy new because they don’t want to be left behind on levelling or have their friends get an edge through extra practice. They can really make a publisher a lot of money and that’s very much a good thing for core gamers and for the platform. The more safe money publishers can make, the more likely they’ll take risks on new IP or indie/arcade projects.
This is what the Wii didn’t have and it’s what the Wii U will lack as well. If the expensive controllers and less penetrable experience of the Wii U keep the casual gamers out as well, I can’t see Nintendo keeping in the hardware game for much longer. There are plenty of miles left in Mario and Zelda, but wouldn’t they be better off following Saga’s suit and just worrying about selling games. Come to think of it, Mario Kart was a classic Casual-Core game that only missed out recently due to being tied to the Wii. If Nintendo started publishing off-platform they could finally tap into the Casual-Core market and start making some real money. Think of the DLC - track downloads, custom karts, new characters…
I guess I’ve ended up writing about Nintendo here after all. Still, the Casual-Core market remains an important sector for any platform, and Nintendo just aren’t seen as a valid choice by most gamers any more. Can’t they just pack it in so I can finally play Zelda again?