For all those who say Wii will be a teh cazualz minigame machine...

[webshark]

i was just sitting chatting in irc a bit ago when i had a brainwave (i know shocking huh? )

i have heard a LOT of talk about how the wii is going to be a failure or at least is going to crash hard soon because it is pushing the casual approach too much and is building a consumer base that has a much higher amount of casuals than normal. there have been grumblings about how this is going to turn into a minigame machine with no games on it with depth because the traditional gamer is going to be forgotten in the casual push.

and i was thinking, what about the DS? i dont think anyone can deny that the DS is EASILY the MOST casual friendly hendheld ever produced by nintendo. the DS is pushing so heavily on the casual and non-gamer crowds that games like My Household Accounts is in the top 10 sales list in japan last week. and games like brain age and animal crossing are still on the top 30 lists after being out for years. AND the DS is doing better than previous ninty handhelds but a wide margin despite the fact that they have the most serious competition they've ever faced.

after all the casual stuff for the DS, i dont hear anyone complaining about hardcore gamers being left out with the DS, on the contrary, from what i see, there are TONS of great games out for it for gamers of any type.

now what i cant figure out is why, in the face of the DS's MASSIVE success, why it is that people are convinced that the wii (which is doing thing almost VERY similarly to the DS did...innovative controls, casual friendly) is going to be a massive flop? and before any of you pull the "ninty always dominates the handheld market" card remember, they always won the console market till sony came in and, they got crushed instantly, and sony just entered the handheld market doing things VERY similarly to how they did the ps1, and they are getting creamed.

if i remember correctly DS also received a lot of criticism early on for having "gimmicky controls" and being just a fad, now look where it is. and here we are at the beginning of the wii's life doing the same thing.

thoughts?

[chedabob]

Like I said in the channel, Handhelds are always casual. Would a hardcore gamer sit there playing games on a 2.5inch screen with Doom 2 graphics for 9 hours? No.

Hardcore gamers want technological advancement. Handhelds don't offer that (well, they offer nothing that hasn't been out already in a larger format). Consoles and PCs do. And handhelds aren't designed for gaming marathons.

[2pro4show]

Originally Posted by chedabob

Like I said in the channel, Handhelds are always casual. Would a hardcore gamer sit there playing games on a 2.5inch screen with Doom 2 graphics for 9 hours? No.

Hardcore gamers want technological advancement. Handhelds don't offer that (well, they offer nothing that hasn't been out already in a larger format). Consoles and PCs do. And handhelds aren't designed for gaming marathons.

They've never been as casual as the DS before. I've never seen games like Nintendogs, Brain Age etc. before DS came along.

[chedabob]

Originally Posted by 2pro4show

They've never been as casual as the DS before. I've never seen games like Nintendogs, Brain Age etc. before DS came along.

They wouldn't have worked so well without the touch screen though.

[Juno]

Originally Posted by chedabob

Like I said in the channel, Handhelds are always casual. Would a hardcore gamer sit there playing games on a 2.5inch screen with Doom 2 graphics for 9 hours? No.

Yes. You wouldn't but I have done.

[2pro4show]

Originally Posted by chedabob

They wouldn't have worked so well without the touch screen though.

But the touch screen itself makes it more appealing to casuals in the first place.

[webshark]

Originally Posted by chedabob

They wouldn't have worked so well without the touch screen though.

that was the point of my post....the DS went MORE casual with MORE innovative controls, and its on the verge of conquering the world (exaggeration, but you get the point) the wii went MORE casual with MORE innovative controls and everyone is convinced that its going to be completely different.....

[chedabob]

Originally Posted by webshark

that was the point of my post....the DS went MORE casual with MORE innovative controls, and its on the verge of conquering the world (exaggeration, but you get the point) the wii went MORE casual with MORE innovative controls and everyone is convinced that its going to be completely different.....

I think it's just natural progression with the handheld hardware. Add in a touch screen or something, and it opens the gates for newer ideas to come out.

Touch screens had been very unreliable, but then the DS came out right about the time where they became reliable and cheap. The Wii components have been cheap for a lot longer.

Touch screens are a natural progression for handheld devices. For me personally, the motion controls for the Wii aren't.

[vrrroom]

wii sucks
ds owns

[webshark]

Originally Posted by vrrroom

wii sucks
ds owns

you know, i honestly considered adding a line at the end specifically asking for no one liners from you...