Nintendo has been taking heat since last week's e3 performance. Truth be told, they've been taking heat for some time from die-hard Nintendo Fanboys.
The press briefing announcing titles such as Shaun White Snowboarding, Animal Crossing, and Wii Sports Resort continues to highlight Nintendo’s failure to enchant the hardcore Nintendo gamers. The question of “what about us?” has colored the bulk of the articles following the event.
An interesting distinction worth note is the difference between “hardcore” and “core” gamers. When gaming revenue goes head-to-head with the box office and Wii Sports is popular in nursing homes, it’s safe to conclude gaming has hit the masses. Core gamers are the demographic that are the most populous on a console. They make up the base of ownership. They may not rack up the most playing hours. They may not even know what ‘RPG’ stands for. They may have no interest playing a shooter or epic adventure.
A hardcore gamer exudes an unwavering commitment to gaming. They play often and they play hard. Gaming extends beyond the console onto the internet and everyday life. Like a Harley Davidson owner often says, “it’s not a hobby. It’s a lifestyle”. Back in gaming infancy, hardcore gamers were the core gamers. The terms were synonymous. But thanks to the Wii, no longer can "hardcore" and "core" be used interchangeably.
It’s impossible to say conclusively if Nintendo has chosen to abandon the hardcore gamers without having an eye into the organization. Perhaps they foolishly believe a Zelda announcement in 2009 is enough to satisfy fans. If we believe what Nintendo heads tell us, the hardcore fans are still important. But if you look at the actions of the last two years, there’s a different story to be told. Watch any Wii commercial and think about who that advertisement is speaking to. The writing has been on the wall for almost two years.
Gamer Agnosticism
Assume the obvious that Nintendo has indeed made the business decision to move in the casual direction. Assume they have willingly left behind the Nintendo fanboys that have been committed for more than two decades. Assume the occasional Zelda is nothing more than a pity game to avoid the onslaught of angry gamers feeling betrayed by Reggie Fils-Aime. Is that such a bad thing?
When a company wants market share they have two options – steal market or grow the market. Nintendo clearly chose the latter to enter this generation of consoles. Without joining the hardware loss leaders of Sony and Microsoft, they had no other obvious options. Since companies ultimately exist to make money, it’s difficult to criticize this strategy that has been wildly effective.
Instead of focusing on the currently central issue of Nintendo giving the finger to hardcore gamers, why not look past the horizon? What will this strategy mean 5 years from now? I secretly have hoped that the Wii would be the gateway drug for all my non-gaming friends to enter the hardcore world (or at least semi-hardcore). I went out of my way to find a Wii for my best friend’s wedding gift in hopes that maybe one day, we’ll play Halo together. Today, she wouldn’t be able to discern the ceiling from the floor in a shooter, but hey, neither could I when I first picked up the genre.
It’s unlikely that hardcore Zelda and Mario fans will see things from this perspective. Perhaps this sentiment is unique to females that are lone gaming wolves in their real life social groups. Regardless, a Nintendo fanboy must to choose to be a gaming fanboy to see the bright side of Nintendo’s business model. To the gaming agnostic, it's an exciting time in the industry. If Nintendo is wise, they are well into working on their next loop of innovation. Microsoft is quickly ramping up a market-share theft strategy as proven by their casual and hardcore e3 offerings. Gaming agnostics love it. Steal from each other, innovate and steal again! The consumer ends up better off. But ultimately, at what point will the Nintendo fanboys finally get it? You may be hardcore, but that doesn’t mean you’re core.
