sixrocket Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 I think it might have burst. Uber-casual gamers are turning more and more to smartphones and tablets, and consoles have been attempting for the last 5 years to draw in as many in the non-gamer demographics as possible. Will any of these people buy a WiiU, or a Kinect2, or will they just purchase the latest iPad or phone, content with the games available online? What do you guys think? Are we looking at a paradigm shift in gaming, once again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 I don't see the "casual" market being anywhere like as big next gen as they were this gen. How do you convince Grandma to buy a WiiU when she already has a Wii? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Mobile devices have or will take over the casual market since more and more people will have smart mobile devices. If I want to play a quick casual game, I think I will go to the what I already have instead of buying a new console. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 So impromptu survey: Dean: would you buy a replacement for the Wii? Mum: No, we've got a wii and it works. Even if we had the money for one I wouldn't get one cos we barely play on the Wii as it is. Phones are eating into casual (and I'd say core too) handheld market, Wii is eating into the casual market. However I wouldn't want to make many guesses on plausibility of casual market next-gen, Wii was slammed ahead of release and then came out on top. Of course before that "casual" didn't exactly exist. Though if casual market does gain traction on Wii U it is much bigger than that of core. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 I think that instead of the "casual" focus we will instead see one of two things next gen, maybe both. 1) A massive surge of free to play games, as they have been pretty successful recently when done right. 2) A more numerous amount of cheap "indie" games that still cater to seasoned gamers much like the ones you often find in the humble indie bundle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excel_excel Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 The iPhone didn't slow down sales of the Wii when it released. Worth pointing out how not necessarily casual experiences from Nintendo did really well, like Super Smash Bros. Brawl and New Super Mario Bros Wii. There's still a market for sequels to those games on a new console. I'd say a more apt comparison is handhelds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Yeah, Nintendo could do just fine targeting WiiU at the core and having the games to back it up. What I don't think will happen is anywhere near the same kind of success with the casuals that they had with the Wii. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Probably worth noting when the iPhone launched it didn't even have apps, let alone games. Stuff like that didn't come in earnest until several years in. Stuff like Epic Citadel n Angry Birds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixrocket Posted July 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Yeah, the Iphone, when it launched, was very limited. That comparison doesn't work at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excel_excel Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Probably worth noting when the iPhone launched it didn't even have apps, let alone games. Stuff like that didn't come in earnest until several years in. Stuff like Epic Citadel n Angry Birds. Yeah, the Iphone, when it launched, was very limited. That comparison doesn't work at all. Yeah but when it got the apps and all that it didn't seem to have any effect on Wii sales. There is no popular software on Wii that became available on the Iphone and all of sudden became massively popular. Maybe there is something I'm missing here, but I don't see the connection at all between the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 The connection is that casual players are not going to buy a dedicated gaming device to connect to their tv when they can satisfy their gaming desires on their phones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excel_excel Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 (edited) The connection is that casual players are not going to buy a dedicated gaming device to connect to their tv when they can satisfy their gaming desires on their phones. But the software always sells the hardware. Your not going to get New Super Mario Bros on your iPhone. Or any Nintendo software for that matter. Edited July 26, 2012 by excel_excel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyber Rat Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 I called this years ago. People who jumped into gaming this gen aren't going to stick around for the future. Gaming just happened to be the latest fad. People are moving on to smartphones and smelling skunks or whatever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 The connection is that casual players are not going to buy a dedicated gaming device to connect to their tv when they can satisfy their gaming desires on their phones. But the software always sells the hardware. Your not going to get New Super Mario Bros on your iPhone. Or any Nintendo software for that matter. But Nintendo software is only going to sell the hardware to the enthusiasts, not the casuals. Grandma doesn't care enough about a sequel to a game she already has to spend $200+ on new hardware to play it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excel_excel Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 (edited) The connection is that casual players are not going to buy a dedicated gaming device to connect to their tv when they can satisfy their gaming desires on their phones. But the software always sells the hardware. Your not going to get New Super Mario Bros on your iPhone. Or any Nintendo software for that matter. But Nintendo software is only going to sell the hardware to the enthusiasts, not the casuals. Grandma doesn't care enough about a sequel to a game she already has to spend $200+ on new hardware to play it. But kids will want the new Mario Kart or New Super Mario Bros. Are you saying that Grandma is the one getting an iPhone which is far more than $200? Like I totally understand how the casual market of adults has definitely shrunk but I don't agree that all these people have suddenly moved onto iPhones as their dedicated gaming devices and there is no market for a Nintendo console for those who actually bought games for the their Wii. Edited July 26, 2012 by excel_excel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Grandma might not be getting a smartphone but Mom certainly is. The cost doesn't matter: Everyone has cellphones, eventually most people upgrade, and most of these people upgrade to smartphones since they're so damn cheap. IIRC, over half of the phones in the US are now smartphones. I don't even think that's a recent statistic, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 If the grandparent/parent are going to be getting a console, tablet or a smartphone (Let's get away from just the iPhone.). My money would be on the smart phone. Then a tablet and lastly, maybe a console. All with regard to gaming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 ^The older iPhone models are always cheap anyways. New one comes out, current one becomes affordable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 I don't agree that... there is no market for a Nintendo console for those who actually bought games for the their Wii. No one's saying that, we're just saying Nintendo can't bank on selling millions and millions of units to "non-traditional gamers" again. If that is their strategy they're going to be sorely disappointed. If their strategy is to target more of the "core" and the kids then they could do very well indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excel_excel Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 I don't agree that... there is no market for a Nintendo console for those who actually bought games for the their Wii. No one's saying that, we're just saying Nintendo can't bank on selling millions and millions of units to "non-traditional gamers" again. If that is their strategy they're going to be sorely disappointed. If their strategy is to target more of the "core" and the kids then they could do very well indeed. I think that's the key though, they aren't going to sell to the casual market but millions of kids have been exposed to the Wii and games like New Super Mario Bros and Mario Kart Wii. I mean I even saw kid buying with their parents when Monster Hunter Tri was released over here. That kid market will be at its biggest in years for Nintendo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 But that's completely beside the point of the topic at hand, which is how the recently exploded "casual" market will do in the coming years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excel_excel Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 I dunno, I think its a different market but its the same people....Nobody buys an iphone just to play games wheras they bought a Wii to play games. Its interesting to think about Kinect 2 which may be in the xbox console itself next time. Would that have any effect on sales really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.