Wii Would Like to Play PS2
I’m still quite tired from setting up the site so I’ll start off with a small article…
Many gamers would have you believe that Nintendo is responsible for the flood of casual gamers and non-gamers who have been introduced to the videogame industry. While I agree that Nintendo is succeeding greatly as they focus their effort appealing to new and untapped audiences, I disagree that they are the ones that encouraged growth in this direction in the first place. Nintendo is taking advantage of the foundation another company had already lain. The true leaders of this gaming revolution are in fact, none other than Sony with its PlayStation 2.
Unlike Nintendo who has shaped their current image to appeal to a new audience beyond the core gamer. Sony insists that their main focus has always been the core gamer. However, while Sony was saying one thing, they were doing something entirely different by encouraging and supporting the development of certain games that were definitely not part of the norm.
Games under the banners of the EyeToy, SingStar and Buzz! series did a lot to attract attention from casual gamers and non-gamers. Unfortunately, Sony never went full force with these titles. Most of them were released in Europe and Australia, some made their way over to the US and to my knowledge only the EyeToy had a Japanese presence. In any case, Sony did at least, make an effort to advertise these titles and they became quite popular in the regions in which they were sold. A lot of people outside of the gaming community, who had no idea about Wii at the time, all had their eyes on the PS2 and the titles mentioned. These were the first truly expanded audience titles appearing in the industry and they weren’t alone. Sports titles such as Madden NFL as well as racers, games based on movies and others such as Guitar Hero cemented the PS2 as the must have console for casual and non-gamers along with the usual core gamers. Granted, the PS2 wasn’t alone in its efforts, since The Sims, a PC game was just as influential, but I feel that the PS2 was the ignition that started the industry in a direction towards an expanded audience.
120 million+ PS2′s have been sold in its lifetime, and a lot of those units sold were thanks to these expanded audience games. As the last generation ended, the new began and the mass audience was introduced to the DS and Wii for the first time. What Nintendo did was and is one of the smartest business decisions made for the videogame industry. They were able to look at the industry trends and gauge, quite accurately, what people wanted even if they didn’t know they wanted it in the first place. Nintendo refined Sony’s efforts, but instead of making the expansion of the gaming audience one of their secondary objectives, Nintendo made it their primary goal.
What the industry has been shaped into with this generation is a place where both traditionalist gamers and new audiences can coexist with a selection of games that has never been so diverse. A lot of credit can be given to Nintendo for their effort, but their efforts wouldn’t have gone as far if it wasn’t for the PlayStation 2.
Maybe it's like you said that they're now being considered as a major audience target by Nintendo but I'm sure games like Point Blank and Puzzle Bobble served as something for them to get into video games in those days.
I'm not sure if casual gamers go for the whole Guitar Hero thing, but, a lot of girls really love Sing Star. I, myself, am not really fond of it. But, again, its that whole interactivity thing.
And also, I think that arcades are responsible for drawing in casual gamers, as well, because it really where they start out.
I remember there was a pretty plain shooting game on the system where one was shooting discs while the other was a duck hunting game, now you didn't need super smart brains to work out how to play the game but it did get more challenging as you progressed through each level yet it remained fun. The fun thing about it was that it was a game the family could play together as there was also a two player mode if I remember correctly.
Casual gamers - People who play limited titles? People who play simplistic games such as say; tetris? People who do not spend more than 1 hour at their consoles?
Hardcore gamers - People who are completionists? Gamers who spend 10 hours or more at one game sitting? Or people who just play complicated games like MGS, Final Fantasy, God of War?
Seriously this cannot be the definition of gamers. Gamers are gamers period. You cannot judge a gamer to be a casual player or hardcore player. Heck I'd say, my 47 year old uncle is a 'Hardcore' Wii sports player; he can spend 5 hours straight in boxing. And I think its every bit complicated, as say MGS if he needs to coordinate the punches.
But I digress.
The only reason the PSOne and PS2 did sell through the roof is simply piracy. I'm from Singapore and I can bet anyone here a hundred dollars a modded PS1/2 would outnumber a straight unmodded system 10:1. Most games which did come out for the earlier gen PS were literally, how do I put it...crap. Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid are most probably the key titles anyone would remember for the 2 systems, and yes of late, God of War. I'm not too sure about Americans but in asia Winning 11 pwns like crazy. Yet non of these games really were reflected in the figures.
Game charts show game sales figures in the 100Ks but the real deal lies with piracy. Wii would not like to play PS2, We would like to play high quality free games. And FYI, without piracy the PS1 and 2 would have been bumped off the map.
My stand is that PS2 didn't start a 'casual' gamers trend. Piracy did. If there were as many developers for the Sega Saturn and Sega wasn't such bitch to make enemies with all their 3rd parties we might have seen some sort of competition. Yet they made a mistake with launchin Dreamcast early and using proprietry GD-Roms. It still got hacked but too long...
Well in any case... nintendo still has time till some genius hacks the PS3... Its already done by a brazilian guy just its too complicated and 25-50 gigs of BD-Rom...lol, but one thing is for sure. Piracy made and broke the gaming industry, for Sony.
From a broad economic perspective: smart business on behalf of the console company. Getting brands, labels, and major names 'in your hat' early on in the game (no pun) with a discerning, discriminant eye as to which companies they rake in (or don't). Getting them committed as full and as early on as possible. Sony IMO has had success similarly in electronics and computers for umpteen years. Comes as little surprise they know how to do it over the long term here in gaming.
A console company researches the trends, as well as factors relative to gamer audience and their response, about the prospective game company they are looking at bringing on board. If it is a company that is already well established they factor in its track record too; If it's a new, fresh company I'm sure the console company's marketing research dept. (or whatever) has its criteria in that case as well.
And perhaps having competing brands on your platform is also a way to ensure that better brands, and more of them, are delivered to your customers. Competition is good for everyone, right?
I think the sort of direct attention game labels and companies give to their audiences tells their own creativity/writing dept. what to do and where to go with their products. They do tend to experiment.
The console company's marketing research department would keep a careful eye on this in the mean time.
Just my opinion.
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