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Top Seven Reasons Hardcore Gamers Don't Matter Anymore

Damon's thoughts on the new age of gaming.

By Damon Brown May 27, 2008

The Big 3 consoles of this generation.
© N/A

Each week, Mania special correspondent Damon Brown, author of Porn & Pong: How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider and Other Sexy Games Changed Modern Pop Culture, offers his unique take on society, entertainment and other issues of critical concern to Maniacs. You can also find Brown writing about technology, sex, music and video games for Playboy and Spin.

Reason #7: The Wii

THE SITUATION: As of April, the Nintendo Wii has sold almost 10 million units since November 2006. There are already major shortages of Wii Fit, the new interactive board released on May 20^th. School systems, retirement homes and other facilities are making Wii Sports part of their exercise program. Currently six of the top 10 games are for the Wii (Mario Kart Wii, Wii Play, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock)–even though it has the fewest available games relative to the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3.

WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: The Wii, along with the best-selling Nintendo DS, changed Nintendo from a kid-oriented game company (at least in the mainstream) to a family-fun, health-conscious brand… and it’s all going according to plan. Mwahahaha!

Reason #6: Hollywood is getting involved

THE SITUATION: Director Steven Spielberg and Electronic Arts just unveiled Boom Blox, a Tetris-like game aimed for the Wii casual market. A Wii-based Sex In The City game is expected this summer. Another company, affiliated with Carmen Electra, is developing a Wii pole dancing game “…to encourage men and women of all shapes and sizes to improve their pole dancing skills while having fun, toning up and burning calories.” .

WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: Everyone seems to have forgotten about E.T. (we’re looking at you, Stevie) and decided the game market was safe enough to aggressively crossmarket not only to hardcore gamers, a la The Chronicles of Riddick, but to casual gamers. In turn, hopefully you’ll go see the SITC gals at the movies or, perhaps, Carmen the next time she’s stripping in your town.

Reason #5: Casual games cost less, give more dough

THE SITUATION: According to the latest Casual Games Association report, the casual game industry is worth more than $2 billion. The industry for Solitaire, Bejeweled and the like is growing 20 percent annually, meaning it will be about 3 bill in a couple years.

WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: The million-selling Grand Theft Auto series obviously isn’t hardcore anymore, but compare the sales of Tetris to, say, the potential sales of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Now compare the amount of money it cost to make them. Liquid Snake’s costume probably cost more than the whole Diner Dash franchise budget.

Reason #4: The big dogs smell the money

THE SITUATION: Electronic Arts acquired Pogo, the popular online gaming website, and other casual companies like PopCap are being eyed by major corporations. EA also reorganized into four new divisions, the last being EA Sims, a whole company dedicated to the casual gamer franchise.

WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: For years companies have been saying cell phone gaming is the next frontier… and have lost millions, if not billions in the process. Until your phone becomes as cool as the Nintendo DS, expect the corporations to push more casual games through consoles and computers–and find new ways to market Solitare to your mother.

Reason #3: The women are out there

THE SITUATION: According to the Electronic Software Association, only 40 percent of all gamers are women. According to the Casual Games Association, 75 percent of all casual gamers are women. Publishers argue that social games like The Sims and non-confrontational titles like Nintendogs and Animal Crossing are bringing even more women into the gaming community.

WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: Women make up more than half of the American population. (Yes, boys, you are outnumbered.) EA, Activision and others don’t care about you anymore–they already know how to get your money.

Reason #2: Gamers are old

THE SITUATION: According to the Electronic Software Association, the average gamer is a 35-year-old male. The average male of that age likely has a wife, a kid or two, and a daily job. More telling, in 2005 AARP (incidentally, in an article I wrote) found that 20 percent of all gamers are over 50. These numbers were well before the Wii, which Nintendo strategically placed at senior expos and conferences at launch.

WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: Doesn’t your thumb start to get sore after playing Ikagaru for more than an hour? Wearing glasses after years of staring at the TV? Why do they make games so damn hard nowadays?

Reason #1: Games are officially mainstream now

THE SITUATION: Since April 29^th, television watchers would have caught full Grand Theft Auto skits on Saturday Night Live, MadTV, Conan O’Brien, and several other shows.

WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: If SNL expects its several million viewers to know who Nico and Vlad are–and centers the two minute skit on the stiffness of the motion captured characters and the brittle conversations–then games aren’t just for you anymore.

Read Damon’s blog at www.damonbrown.net.

COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

irascible 5/27/2008 4:54:08 AM

Is the Carmen Electra game going to be called "Wii Whore"?

ponyboy76 5/27/2008 5:44:28 AM

Zing!! How about Wii Suck or Wii Slut?

Derahk 5/27/2008 7:03:28 AM

It's all about the fun factor. A game being overly complicated with incredible graphics doesn't make it a great game (I'm looking at you Final Fantasy).

LittleNell1824 5/27/2008 8:26:36 AM

What women (like myself) want is more games like Legend of Zelda - quest games that aren't too dark, but aren't too childish: a good mix of story, puzzle solving, and battle sequences. Although, we do like the Wii because we can use it for solo game playing (like Legend of Zelda) or for group playing when guests are over. Everyone loves to play Wii sports when they're out in poker and waiting for the next game. I suppose if they come up with challenging workouts, it will be nice for that too. So, one purchase - lots of uses. That's ok with me.

galaga51 5/27/2008 9:26:30 AM

Does the Sex In The City or Carmen Electra game come with a wii-brator? Oh wait, the wii-mote already vibrates!

irascible 5/27/2008 11:56:31 AM

In this case galaga I'll bet it comes witha special attachment. I'd say SexintheCity game will come with a free lobotimizer but I believe if you watched that show it's "mission accomplished".

Tonebone 5/27/2008 1:39:55 PM

This article is so FOS and generalizations. But I will keep my comments to that simply because I tire of arguing this idea that hardcore games and gamers don't matter.

tiredjay 5/27/2008 2:12:01 PM

7. Those Pokemon games are for the DS, not the Wii. The Wii has the lowest attach rate for game consoles since the Atari 2600 days. It makes Nintendo money, but almost nobody else, as it's bought as a party game by the majority of those who purchase it, and they generally aren't buying games. The people buying the most games are the hardcore gamers. 6. Spielberg's been in the game biz since the original Medal of Honor. He's just a shrewd businessman. 5. So, by this, are you saying that Diner Dash the movie is in the works? The most played video game in the world, by a huge margin, is Windows Solitaire. 4. EA bought Pogo in 2001. Nothing new here. 3. Women have been there for ages, the guys just weren't looking. 2. And? We've known this for the better part of a decade. 1. You're young, aren't you? SNL spoofed Pac-Man back in the day, and Mario, and ... Also, doesn't SNL doing a GTA skit derail your argument? It implies that Hardcore gaming is what it's all about. Now, if they'd done a Bejewelled skit....

scytheofluna 5/27/2008 2:16:04 PM

Agreed Tbones, but I'll make the argument anyway, because I'm tired of Wii sales being used to insinuate that harcore gaming is out. The Wii sells because it is cheap, and it has broad base appeal. I own one, but I play it the LEAST of the three current gen machines I own. Sure if you look at console sales alone the Wii is leaving the other two consoles in the dust, but if you look at the number of QUALITY games being produced for it the numbers aren't so hot. Sure tons of developers are hopping on the gimmick wagon and producing tons of low budget low innovation cash in games for the console, but the good stuff is few and far between and almost all of it is first party Nintendo Product, like the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Mario Galaxy/Kart or Super Smash Bros Brawl, or ports of really good PS2 games as is the case with Bully Scholarship Edition, Resident Evil 4, or Okami. LITTLE NELL, let me just say Okami is the game for you. After playing the PS2 version of that game the most recent Zelda release fell a little flat for me. (I say this as someone who buys Nintendo consoles and handhelds for the sole purpose of playing Zelda) Okami is that good, and any Zelda fan should give it a shot. That being said, hardcore gaming is, and always has been what drives the industry. Zelda's great, but in this day and age when you can play games like Oblivion, or Mass Effect, it's a bit of a stretch to suggest that a game like that is still ground breaking. Still fun yes, but when most of it's competition has full voice acting and orchestral scores, the text dialog and midi music are a bit dated. Sales of quote "hardcore" games like GTA IV and Halo 3 speak for themselves. Simple isn't always better, and while many folks will happily line up to buy generic RPGs and party games for their Wiis, most of those games don't really have any lasting appeal and will be forgotten long before their inevitable sequels are cranked out, most hardcore games are passionately adored by their fanbase, and will wear out before we stop playing them. Did I enjoy Mario Galaxy? Sure, but I'd rather play GTA IV or Bioshock or Assassin's Creed any day of the week. Nintendo is selling consoles to people who aren't typically considered gamers and that's a great thing, but the fact that the Wii is basically a dressed up Gamecube with a fancy controller is going to cause them some issues too. Third party support with Quality games is already a demonstrated fault. Broadening the mainstream appeal of games is great, but unless quality (and that includes graphics) accompanies that transition, you're going to leave a lot of people who helped nurture this industry wanting something more, and quite frankly, the Wii just doesn't deliver the kinds of gaming experiences I want for the most part. Most "hardcore" gamers would agree, and would also suggest that the writer of this article doesn't really seem to be looking at the big picture. Fads come and go, so Nintendo is going to have to start putting out some games with some substance and real immersion. Zelda is good, but Zelda is no Oblivion. Mario is good, but Mario is no Ratchet And Clank. And people will buy total crap if you put the word Pokemon on it, so to quote those sales figures is just a good way to point out how gullible and naive people are. And Derahk, many games that are fun aren't "over-complicated". Final Fantasy certainly could use some innovation, I'm certainly bored with it,(though it's hardly over-complicated), but there are plenty of great games with beautiful graphics and a substantive story and immersive experience, and most of them aren't found on the Wii. If you wanna' spend 20 bucks on Cooking Mama, sure it's cheap, but are you really going to get your money's worth? I spent $80 on Assassin's Creed, and I know for a fact that I got my money's worth. It's all in the preference of the gamer, and making statements like this writer did that "hardcore gamers don't matter anymore" is just asinine. I'll take Gears of War 2 over Super Smash Bros. any day.

scytheofluna 5/27/2008 2:30:14 PM

Good call Tired J on the attach-rate comment. Most people who own Wiis will buy half the games in a year that someone who owns a 360, or PS3, or even what a serious PC gamer would buy. Console sales are great, but if your third party support is in the toilet, once everybody has a machine you'd better have some good product to back it up. Wii Ski ain't it. That's where the Gamecube failed. That purple lunchbox was technically superior to the PS2, just like the original X Box, but during those days Sony had the edge in game selection. I bought one of those and a GBA and a DS too, and the only frackin' games I have for them have the words Zelda or Mario on them. The lack of third party support killed the 'cube, and the same thing could happen here, once the "ooh and aah" factor and media attention wear off when it comes to the Wii. I don't buy games that don't average at least an 8 on a ten point review score scale from multiple reviewers, and Nintendo is short on gleaming game review scores these days. Party games are for 8 year olds and the vast majority of gamers are 18-35. "My Sims" just isn't going to compete with Halo or Prince of Persia. Sorry.

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