Nintendo: Wii U's HD Graphics Will Bridge the Casual/Core Gap

[Logan Westbrook]

Nintendo: Wii U's HD Graphics Will Bridge the Casual/Core Gap

The Wii's standard definition graphics are part of the reason that the casual/core divide is there is in the first place, says Nintendo.

Plenty of gamers - probably a few too many - write the Wii off as a "casual only" console, but Nintendo is confident that the Wii U will not suffer the same fate. Shigeru Miyamoto thinks that the Wii U's extra graphical power will put Nintendo back on the hardcore gaming map, as Nintendo will no longer be left out of third party releases.

Miyamoto thought that Nintendo's decision not support high definition graphics on the Wii had, at least in part, been responsible for the separation between casual and core gamers. He said that there had been other factors, like controllers and the Wii's less than amazing online functionality, but that visuals were the element that people understood the best.

Obviously, he didn't think that the Wii really was just a casual console - adding that series like Legend of Zelda, which had always been designed with core gamers in mind, attested to that - but said that the updated graphics would help people get over the psychological hurdle. Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata also noted that being able to get a wider range of third party titles - something that was difficult to do on the relatively underpowered Wii - would help a great deal as well.

Miyamoto makes an interesting point; as much as people might claim otherwise, visuals do make a difference to how people perceive games. There are a lot of great games on the Wii, but as Iwata suggests, a lot of the really third party big franchises either skipped over the Wii entirely, or delivered inferior versions when compared to the Xbox 360 or PS3. Of course, Nintendo's marketing campaigns, which emphasized how easy it was for total novices to start playing, also played a big part in putting the idea that the Wii was a casual machine in people's head, and that's something that Nintendo will have to address in the future.

Source: Nintendo [http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/e32011/newhw/0/6] via Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-08-miyamoto-wii-created-core-casual-split]








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[luvd1]

... Is he blaming us for not "getting it"? Wow. I didn't know I was that shallow and stupid. Thanks for patronising me.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

-cue the usual WiiU dismissals-

Alright, with that out of my system, I think the console will do fine. At the very least devs no longer have a reason to shun Nintendo, but I hope they realize that this isn't Nintendo "catching up" to MS and Sony. As for the casual audience, I could see them upgrading to the WiiU since it IS a legitimate successor. This isn't like MS and SONY thinking that people would "upgrade" to the Kinect and Move

 

[dragongit]

Really? Shiney graphics=core gamers? How about AAA titles that don't appear to be catered to children? Mario, Zelda, and Metroid were some of the few games one could concider "core" that came out of Nintendo. Its true they will have acsess to the Third party developers, but the other two systems have them already beat at that, and if they bridge the gap in their next generation, instead of being on par, then likely they will fall behind again.

I'm still willing to see where this goes though, maybe it will be better then I expect, but I need to see the price tag before I make any moves to pre order it, or to wait for a big price cut.

 

[Michael Hirst]

I don't see Nintendo being able to gather back their core gamer supporters who have already moved to the 360/PS3 with this system, the graphics might be nicer but it still has all the appearances of a more casual gaming system.

To explain that further, the controller looks like an ipad with some buttons on either side and gaming will never be more casual than the ipad. The audience isn't dumb enough to not make this comparison in their minds.

I also have great cocnerns about cost. While Nintendo systems have been realtively cheap in previous years (the wii namely) the controllers for the Wii U are not going to be affordable relaly, especially if someone wanted 4 of them.

Now to get personal, most of Nintendo's recent efforts have really bored me away from them, the focus on devices and hardware (wii fit, 3DS etc) seem to show a disregard for the games which is what we buy the systems for. I understand Ocarina of Time is now due for 3DS but no matter how you slice it, it's still a remake, not only that but a remake of a game I can still play on my gamecube, the 3DS has maybe 4 good games to date and nothing revolutionary.

The best way to impress anyone with a new gaming system is to impress them with the games. I bought the PS3 because I liked Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank and the plans for MGS and RE (which looked good/exclusive at the time)

 

[geizr]

The casual/core divide exists because there are a bunch of loud-mouth, immature, entitlement minded elitist gamers who can't deal with the idea that they aren't the center of the universe or the largest possible market.

 

[Vibhor]

They just need to remake skyward sword and twilight princess for Wii U and I am buying it at any cost they want.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

The casual/core divide exists because there are a bunch of loud-mouth, immature, entitlement minded elitist gamers who can't deal with the idea that they aren't the center of the universe or the largest possible market.

Sounds about right. Heck, most "hardcore" gamers aren't even really what I would call hardcore. Hardcore is being able to beat Super Mario Bros 3 without dying, not just shooting some dude online.

 

[XT inc]

Um is there anyone else picking up the irony of them saying the new HD graphics will allow them to have third party support... of current generation games. When xbox 3 and sony 4 come out with their 600$ consoles, setting the bar for next gen power the Wii U will once again be the console parties down port to.

Unless of course some magic occurs and every codes for the wii u first and then upscales to the more powerful machines.

They should put it on hold and beef it up to next gen standards and be real with consumers. My Pc is much more powerful than my xbox 360 and it is 2 years old, what I want out of a gaming console in 2013-15 is a beast in a box with capabilities that do what current gen did to last gen and just bring the awe.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

I'm a longtime hardcore gamer by the M$/Sony fanboys standards, and I loved the Wii and a lot of it's titles. Granted, I also love my PS3 and gaming PC as well. Why can't more people have an open mind about the gaming market, and not just dismiss everything the Big N puts out as "kiddy" or "casual".

 

[XT inc]

Side note I define the hardcore gamer market as those who spend hours upon hours a week gaming and have done so for a very long time. These people want to be impressed and inspired and be offered things that challenge them at every level. I mean they are the ones who truly appreciate the new and the interesting.

Who is harder to please, someone who has seen it all and has a general grasp on what feels right or wrong in a game? Or someone who plays a game one in a rare while? Instead of raising the bar they seem to be catering to the common why go for an oscar when you can just plop out a mini game collection for someones mom.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Graphics are just a gimmick - it's more an issue of who they market to and what games their controls can support. Or at least it should be haha.

 

[Electric_Face]

Ninteno have been suffering a long-term problem with their 'hardware-first' business plan, and trying to force a new console complete with a controller with apparantly every device ever invented in the past 200 years on it is a testament to that. Remember the time when games where made for consoles, not the other way around? Looks like Nintendo doesn't! (fnar fnar)
Now, I appreciate them trying to bring in some of them delicious third party monies and the move away from the saccharine image they've been vomiting up over the past few years, however by trying to bridge the casual/core divide they dilute both of them: you've got your faffy mashmallowy tablet-controller that you wiggle like a child with it's rattle and that's supposed to make Batman zip up to a skyscraper ledge and unleash some pain-based justice or something? (I know it's not strictly motion controlled, but it's in there, as well as a camera, and a gyroscope, and a compass, and a bunsen burner, and a cat-nip dispenser and etc etc...)
Don't get me wrong, there is a lot to like about the Wii U, but all smacks a bit too much of Fisher Price, don't you think?

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well thank you captain Miamoto Obvious the third, yes your console had two hardcore games and the rest was shovel waggle ware, and the Wii had the power of a 20 year old PC so noone with a big game went near it.

 

[Towowo2]

This more or less is how developers choose to use the feature set they are given. A good one can tell when a feature would work well or when one isn't good to use. I'd like to think some developers are smart enough to make the distinction.

If they weren't interested in making traditional games as well they wouldn't of included a traditional control scheme.

 

[Xanthious]

Well shucks maybe we should all throw Nintendo a big party welcoming it to 2005. I think the "core audience" abandoned Nintendo and this beefed up Wii with an iPad controller isn't going to get them back.

Just like in anything else you should focus on the basics first and worry about the bells and whistles down the road after the fact. Nintendo seems to want to design with the bells and whistles being the focus and hoping that the basics will work themselves out in the wash. Nintendo just doesn't "get it" and that wasn't more obvious than when the bulk of their WiiU demo at E3 focused on all the extraneous bullshit the controller was capable of.

Unlike the 360 and PS3 that made solid quality consoles and worried about motion controls at a later date, Nintendo decided to focus on motion controls and extraneous garbage with the Wii and as a result the system suffered. It appears they are doing the same thing here, focusing on extraneous bullshit that has fuck all to do with gaming. Sure they are putting some more power under the hood but the focus is obviously still on the extraneous bullshit and not on making quality games.

 

[littlewisp]

He's talking about building a bridge to convert those millions upon millions of casual gamers Nintendo has picked up into hardcore -- he's talking, now that they've got lots of people, doing what they can to convert them into buying a game every month types.

Heehee, this is what I have been thinking. Nintendo already has the tweens and children (and their parents and elders), and now they need to grow them into more traditional gamers. Good for them!

Then you also have people like me who do branch out and buy other systems when Nintendo does their own thing, but do not hold that against Nintendo. Give me a fun or silly experience that I will enjoy and I will buy your new console. I don't need to feel like an adult when I'm playing, I still enjoy being silly. And, well, I like trying new things and appreciate it when a company experiments.

Ah well, we'll see further how people like that controller (those who try it, I mean, I'm never very impressed with people making predictions via looking at it) in the upcoming months, I'm sure.

 

[Hungry Donner]

From what I remember Nintendo specifically went after casual gaming with the Wii, and was not only up front about it but made a big deal about this fact. There's no reason a platform can't support both casual and hardcore games but I think he's right that losing major third party titles hurt them considerable in this regard.

Will the WiiU fix this? Maybe, but I suspect Microsoft and Sony will have no systems out within a year or so of the WiiU and the graphical capabilities will likely be far enough ahead that third party developers skip Nintendo again.