So recently on the news, there has been a lovely buzz about video game GOD Miyamoto (For those non-gamers out there, he invented Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Pikmin, Waverace, Donkey Kong, etc. etc. etc.) revealing that Super Mario Galaxy 2 (coming out next year, for those keeping track) will be a bit more hardcore. In other words, it will be a bit more difficult, and gear itself towards the hardcore audience that was rather disappointed in the rather-easy difficulty of Super Mario Galaxy. I am going to admit, despite Super Mario Galaxy being a spectacular game in nearly every way possible, the game did have its simple moments. The game was most definitely created to try to grab a new audience of gamers. Yes, it would be beneficial to the hardcore crowd to get to play a tough Mario game, since the last time we had a tough Mario game was Super Mario Sunshine (which had its frustrating moments towards the end). However, why on earth should Nintendo listen to the hardcore crowd?
If I ran the company, the last group of people I’d listen to would be those so-called hardcore gamers. It sounds rather snobbish to look away from the people that kept your company afloat all these years as gaming made its transition from cult hobby to mainstream sensation, but the Wii is the way that it is because of the abandonment of these so-called hardcore gamers. Nintendo is reaching successful numbers it couldn’t dream of back in the late 90s as Sony was ripping away at its success. Personally, I would first rant away at this group of people before finally pleasing these buggers. The success of the Wii can be traced to way back to 1996, when the Nintendo 64 made its debut. The events that started here would lead to the sudden shifts in momentum and why Nintendo is on pace to be the holder of the two most successful systems in the history of video games.
Back in 1996, the Nintendo 64 started its march towards gaming history as its debut was the biggest at the time, and it pretty much eternally trounced the now-forgotten Sega Saturn. But, as the years dragged on, the Sony Playstation attracted the new generation of gamers; sports games enthusiasts, racing game sim addicts, RPG-lovers, among others. The Playstation was cheaper, cranked out more games, had much better third-party support, and overall was the better buy; even if the Nintendo 64 games were far superior. The Nintendo 64 was the choice for first-party games, but lack of RPGs and lack of hardcore games made it hard to attract new crowds. Nonetheless, 32 million copies weren’t too shabby, despite losing to PSX’s 102 million.
The next generation was the true test of the hardcore Nintendo fans, and this is where they failed. Despite two Zelda games, one Mario game, the best fighting game of all-time (at the time), two difficult yet amazing Metroid games, and a variety of unsung modern classics, the Gamecube was a dismal failure. While 33 million isn’t shabby, this time we see only 21 million Gamecubes sold around the world. The Playstation 2 achieved this number within a couple of years. It was embarrassing to see that once the frontrunners of the industry were throttled by not only their ex-partner Sony, but even by the overblown American system the Xbox: which attracted mainly your first-person shooter enthusiasts.
So, you run the company, and see your hardcore crowd dismally falling apart and branching off to the competition, what is there to do? Fortunately, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Suddenly, with controversy, increasing appeal, and realization that it makes more money, video games were starting to appeal to the mainstream media crowd. This was no longer a market for your kids; the median age for gamers was a whopping 27 years old. Gaming was a rapidly expanding business. Halo 2, released in 2004, sold a lovely 8.46 million copies worldwide. That means a lovely 423 million dollars was earned on this game alone: only 8 movies that year made more money. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas made a whopping 867 million dollars worldwide; that year only 1 film made more money (Shrek 2 in overrated fashion).
To add to the frustration, this was the first generation of gaming in which difficult games created a backlash. Video games like Super Mario Sunshine, and especially F-Zero GX, received poorer sales after everyone learned of its difficulty. More bad news:
Mario Sunshine didn’t outsell N64’s Mario 64.
Wind Waker didn’t outsell N64’s Ocarina of Time
F-Zero GX didn’t outsell N64’s F-Zero X.
Star Wars: Rogue Leader 2 didn’t outsell the original N64 counterpart
Not a single DK installment came even close to outselling DK64 for the N64.
Double Dash didn’t sell N64’s Mario Kart 64.
The wonderment as to why Nintendo decided to adapt to the mainstream was rather appalling given the fact that Nintendo was clearly running out of ideas. They were losing fans to other platforms. A change was definitely needed. Enter Wii Sports.
Wii Sports started something that no other video game in history had been able to do: attract virtually every non-gamer to become gamers, since this wasn’t your daddy or granddaddy’s video game. The controller felt different, you were more active, it was virtual reality but it wasn’t at the same time, it was so simple and easy to pick up, even retirement homes were introducing Wii Sports to its residents. No major button combinations were needed to be learned, you just swing the darn thing when you wanted to hit the ball. The marketing campaign changed, and the hardcore was very afraid: everyone, not just the small crowd, was buying a Nintendo Wii.
The Nintendo Wii is on pace to pretty much tear apart every sales record known to man. Wii Fit is a 70 dollar game that is on pace to sell 20 million copies by the end of this year. That’s over 1.4 billion dollars. Guess how many movies have made that much this year or last year: none. Guess how many Wii games are on the best-selling video games of all-time list: 3 are in the top 10. Wii Play has made Nintendo over 920 million dollars. Not a single Gamecube game can claim this statistic. The 4 best-selling games of 2008 are Wii titles. The current best-selling game of 2009 is a 2008 Wii game: Wii Fit.
Mario Galaxy is the best-selling console Mario game since: Super Mario 64. Twilight Princess is the best-selling Zelda game since: Ocarina of Time. The sales are pouring back and throwing Nintendo into a realm of success it could have never achieved with its never-satisfied and quickly-to-run ex-fanbase.
These same people that abandoned Nintendo in the Gamecube era are on board with the surprised PS3 and Xbox 360 fans that criticize Wii’s ability to adapt to the mainstream, by claiming its not giving enough to the hardcore crowd. Even after Smash Brothers Brawl, Pokemon Battle Revolution, Mario Strikers Charged, Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, Animal Crossing: City Folk, and other exclusive Wii games made for an adult audience (Madworld, The Condiut) their complaints linger. So the question remains: why listen to them?
Why should anyone listen to this crowd? This crowd is a dying breed. Nintendo isn’t the only one that should stop listening to them: their competitors should do the same. Where did the rabid Playstation fanbase go anyway? PS3 is inches away from pulling the white flag, as its getting murdered in America and even in Japan, where they have had such amazing success before. Halo 3 was a lovely success but was outsold by the likes of Nintendogs. Grand Theft Auto 4 failed to outsell the previous installments. Street Fighter 4 also failed to reach the success numbers of previous installments.
Bottom Line: the Hardcore is an endangered species, and should stop whining, since it’s their quick abandonment that has led to the state of gaming we have upon ourselves today. These so-called hardcore games are quickly being outsold by smaller, shorter, more accessible games that 10 years ago would have been laughed at by anyone in the gaming industry. Companies at a whole learned that one could make much more money rounding out quick cheap games that the mainstream can easily eat up and move on without skipping a beat. Even small low-budget games like Boom Blox, We Ski, Endless Ocean, Lego Star Wars find themselves outselling phenomenal achievements like Little Big Planet, Spore, Metal Gear Solid 4, and even Gears of War 2.
Start spending, and maybe they will listen. In the meantime, the gaming world is shifting its focus to broader spectrums, and less and less attention will be given to those who have played games all their life if they continue to close their pockets whenever a big game comes out. I myself have owned every Nintendo gaming system, and have seen less attention given to me by Miyamoto and the big guys of Nintendo. But, I’m one of the few willing to accept this, after all, Nintendo as a company is doing absolutely fine without me. There’s always the Virtual Console to reminisce the good ol’ days.
So they say Wii Sports Resort is coming out soon…..
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