Social games like FarmVille brought video games into the hands of people who would never once have considered themselves gamers - had never picked up a controller, had never shown any interested in the Console Wars, perhaps put off or alienated by the prevailing view of the dorky and/or hateful people who played them. Those same people were the ones who took to playing games on their touch screen smartphones like an Angry Bird to a pile of green pigs, an evolution of the Game Boy's portability which helped make women the dominant gender in the make-up of gamers for the first time in decades.
5. And The Wii Brings It Into The Home
Nintendo was similarly bloodied and beaten as Sega after its GameCube console spectacularly misjudged the console market of the time and failed to reach the spectacular profits they were used to. Rather than abandon the industry entirely, however, Nintendo simply decided to focus their attentions elsewhere, providing a type of gaming Sony and Xbox had overlooked. While their consoles went for the hardcore gamer, Nintendo went after the more casual gamers who had been brought into the fold with social titles and smartphones. The Wii was sold to a new audience, and introduced a new technology with motion controls that meant you didn't have to understand how controllers worked in order to play.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
