Nintendo's marketing

[ZeroAX]

Nintendo was once the best. Their games defined many a childhood. That, and, even though nintendo has spent the past ten years or so saying a big screw you to the real gamers, they still put out enough good stuff that they cannot be completely written off. The wii is an awful platform for the hardcore market, just abysmal, but we still get zelda and smash brothers out of it.

.....why? I'm sorry but this makes me sad. For some reason hardcore gamers think that Nintendo should only pay attention to them. In the 4 years that the Wii has been out, we got 1 Zelda, 2 3D Mario games, a 2D Mario game, Donkey Kong Country, 2 Metroids, SSMB, Mario Kart, Kirby, Super Paper Mario, a punch out game, 2 excite racing games and the list goes on. Why shouldn't Nintendo release some games for other people as well?

[Erik_Twice]

Nintendo is the only company alive that has been producing consoles since the 8-bit era so it has had a more lasting effect than the competition.

That said, I doubt it has always been in the mind of most people. The N64 and the GC were a footnote compared to the Playstations back when they were around.

Note that saying that "most people had a NES" is very American, Europeans were more into computers and in my territories the SMS outsold the NES.

The wii is an awful platform for the hardcore market, just abysmal, but we still get zelda and smash brothers out of it.

No, just no. I can count more good titles on the Wii for the "hardcore gamer" than the other two consoles combined.

Some more titles:

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Sin & Punishment 2
Murasama The Demon Blade
Tatsunoko vs Capcom

[Rayban]

I would like to know what the definition of "hardcore" gamer is. A person that has played every single Mario game could be considered hardcore, right? I just don't get the whole "I'm a hardcore gamer, I don't own a Wii and I'm better than you."
WTF IS A HARDCORE GAMER?!?!
Any kind of gamer is cool in my book

[Erik_Twice]

WTF IS A HARDCORE GAMER?!?!

Someone that instead of intestines has shumps and craps Ataris after breakfast.

[Rayban]

WTF IS A HARDCORE GAMER?!?!

Someone that instead of intestines has shumps and craps Ataris after breakfast.

I bet there are people that would say Atari hasn't made a "hardcore" game...

[Balasubbie]

Not to jump on a point, but I can really see why Nintendo went the slightly familiar route of marketing the Wii as a family friendly unit, as they went all out and explicitly made and marketed the Gamecube to a, I dunno, more dedicated or 'hardcore' audience, and they lost the war, not even coming second in its generation. It's a pretty good business sense:

That didn't work so let's try this.

Anyways, there's plenty of decent 3rd party software on the Wii, just takes
a bit of looking is all.

Anyways, back on to the topic.

[Limewater]

WTF IS A HARDCORE GAMER?!?!

You should use the search function. This has been discussed a lot.

A Hardcore Gamer is someone who exclusively plays Halo and Call of Duty.

[Niode]

Not to jump on a point, but I can really see why Nintendo went the slightly familiar route of marketing the Wii as a family friendly unit, as they went all out and explicitly made and marketed the Gamecube to a, I dunno, more dedicated or 'hardcore' audience, and they lost the war, not even coming second in its generation. It's a pretty good business sense:

That didn't work so let's try this.

Anyways, there's plenty of decent 3rd party software on the Wii, just takes
a bit of looking is all.

Anyways, back on to the topic.

The problem with the Gamecube was the fact that it was purple. It looked like a child's toy. That put a lot of people off, especially with the sleek (for the time) playstations/saturns. They looked like serious kit, not toys. It doesn't matter if you have all these games aimed at the mature market or serious gamers, if the console looks like a toy, it will struggle to sell to the core demographic. Personally I bought a Gamecube on day one because it was so incredibly cheap. £129 for a brand new console. I couldn't believe my eyes. The Gamecube should have been a runaway success, more powerful than the PS2 and capable of producing graphics to rival the Xbox, for £129. It just fell flat on it's arse because of it's design.

I hate the whole 'hardcore gamer' moniker. I prefer to be known as a serious gamer, somebody who has all the consoles, buys all the good games regardless of genre. The Wii has got quite an impressive library of titles that are good. Just because all you see is shovelware on the shelves doesn't mean great games don't exist.

Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Metroid Prime 3
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
Okami
Cave Story
New Super Mario Bros
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Zack & Wiki
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Little King's Story
Sin & Punishment
LostWinds
Fluidity
Boom Blox (and it's sequel)
Punch-Out!!
Super Paper Mario
Monster Hunter Tri
No More Heroes
No More Heroes 2
Dead Space: Extraction
Trauma Team
Mario Kart
De Blob
MadWorld
Goldeneye 007
Red Steel
Red Steel 2
A Boy and His Blob
Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Do I really need to keep going?

[ZeroAX]

Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Metroid Prime 3
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
Okami
Cave Story
New Super Mario Bros
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Zack & Wiki
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Little King's Story
Sin & Punishment
LostWinds
Fluidity
Boom Blox (and it's sequel)
Punch-Out!!
Super Paper Mario
Monster Hunter Tri
No More Heroes
No More Heroes 2
Dead Space: Extraction
Trauma Team
Mario Kart
De Blob
MadWorld
Goldeneye 007
Red Steel
Red Steel 2
A Boy and His Blob
Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Do I really need to keep going?

Pff, kid console. Only 3 FPS games (4 if we count on rail shooters)

[Gnashvar]

I would like to know what the definition of "hardcore" gamer is. A person that has played every single Mario game could be considered hardcore, right? I just don't get the whole "I'm a hardcore gamer, I don't own a Wii and I'm better than you."
WTF IS A HARDCORE GAMER?!?!
Any kind of gamer is cool in my book

I think they sometimes confuse mature with hardcore. Just because something has violence in it, it doesn't mean its for gamers. I also get confused and sometimes angry at the term.

I do not play halo or most shooters so that makes me a casual gamer? The 2600 was my first console. I think I have more of a gamer than what the new crowd considers themselves. Just because my choice of games is Mario and Zelda doesn't make me casual.

I wish some of these so called "hardcore" would give the original ninja gaiden or kid icarus a spin.