The gaming demographic has changed dramatically, that's no secret. Hardcore gamers are now joined by millions of casual gamers who until recently would never have considered themselves gamers at all. Now they're flinging their angry birds and they're crushing their candy alongside the rest of us who are still curb stomping zombie hordes and saving the world daily. To keep up with this changing landscape, Nintendo will need to refocus their approach quite dramatically. They have a number of light-hearted franchises which will capture the fickle attention of the casual crowd, but their key IPs tend to be too demanding for the vacuous casuals and not demanding enough for "serious" gamers. Two decades ago it made sense to aim at a younger market, because gaming was still a sideline hobby, something for the kids to do when it was raining outside. Today, things are vastly different - the biggest money is being spent by the gamers themselves, not the parents. Gamers are getting older. That's why it's your Call Of Dutys and your Grand Theft Autos which bring in billions of dollars in a few days, and that's where Nintendo needs to be looking if they want gamers to see their brand as a viable option. Mario Kart is awesome, and it sells too, but Nintendo needs to cultivate a gaming climate which attracts the people with the money to spend for the foreseeable future - in five years you might have lost interest in colourful platform games, but hardcore gamers will still be playing hardcore games. And the current spate of casual gamers hooked on freemium rubbish on their iPhones will still not be paying money for dedicated gaming consoles.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
