There's no denying that Sony has been doing good work on the PS3 side of things as late. With Killzone 2 proving to be a decent success, inFamous, Heavy Rain and MAG all coming, not to mention the selection of PSN titles available, the publisher has done good. Sony knows it too, and is never going to let the opportunity to blow its own trumpet get away.
"There’s certainly a line-up of very strong family-friendly titles that we’re looking at for PS3 in our continuing effort to appeal to that casual consumer," says marketing boss John Koller. "We’ve captured the hardcore. The install base we have now tells us that the hardcore’s purchased. We’re moving on now to continue to support them with a tremendous line-up of games, but also look at softer brands that maybe we had with PS2 franchises we’re bringing over to PS3, or new IP."
Koller also hinted at what the PS3's lineup may have in store by simply saying, ""Think of some of the latter-half PS2 franchises." Oooh, mysterious!
While I'm sure most of what Koller says is pure marketing talk, this is actually the kind of thing I wish Sony and Microsoft would do more of. Nintendo has its audience, which is catered to perfectly. Sony and Microsoft have their own audience, and it makes more sense to cater to them first than to a demographic it doesn't even have yet.
I don't remember LIPS topping charts and making waves in the industry. That's because the over-rated and badly identified "casual gamer" that has been turned into some sort of Holy Grail simply isn't interested. MS and Sony have their own perfectly suitable demographic and they should focus on that. For them to appeal to the soccer moms and grandmothers is like a liqor store trying to sell Tickle Me Elmos.
Contest:
8:40 AM on 04.20.2009
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Nonetheless Playstation's always been about variety, and for me that what makes the PS3 a better purchase (not just for the games either). That may make me a casual, but can you call your self hardcore if you only play Tournament Shooters?
I don't think LIPS was a big hit because everybody who was into karaoke already had Singstar.
It's a toy for children and adults alike, attractive to the non-gamer community, so if you look at it as a toy, these are just playful people, not games, casual or otherwise.
however the industry has labelled these people "gamers" and to seperate them from the real gamers called them "casuals".
Really, you're a gamer if you spend more than say, about, 10 hours a week gaming. I would imagine very few Wii owners actually do, however all hardocre games would see that as a "light" gaming week.
Another measure would be the buying of games, a gamer should be someone who buys 2+ games a month. Not the person who buys a Wii and Wii-sports, plus perhaps a game for the kids each year.
I like how the bigger consoles cater to specific groups, hardcore gamers, cheapskates. But i wish they would stop bothering with reaching for this "casual" market. They only bought the Wii because it's more of a toy that a console.
Too late, leave it be and concentrate on what you're good at!
Meanwhile, Sony has stuck with me - XMB and all. And even if they DO attempt to bring in the casuals, I feel that I can safely say they will never get top billing over me so long as I game on their system.
Wait... what?
This.
The quote sounds eerily like a "we'll still be friends" speech coming from your sexy but shallow girlfriend in high school, just after she realized that college guys can provide cars, credit cards, and free booze. She might still put out once in a while - she might even learn some fun new tricks - but you won't be getting enough of her attention to notice unless she catches something that you don't want to share and falls out of favor at frat parties. Did that sound bitter?
I honestly don't understand why people have to get into heated debates or honestly care about the definition of who or what a hardcore gamer is.
Hey, if Sony has catered to their core audience, good for them. So has Microsoft, and Nintendo. Okay, so Nintendo hasn't been doing that lately, and it's yet to be seen what they'll be doing post E3, but honestly, I've got enough stuff going on in REAL LIFE that I'm not playing as much games as I'd like to. Granted, I still get to have some days of extended play.
The fact that there are less than thirty PS1 games in the American PS store at this point in the PS3's life cycle is just sad. Worse is the almost total lack of Sony Japan Studio games on the PS3. The Last Guy (great game) and Loco Roco Cocochakamoko-whatever (great screen saver) are the only two that immediately spring to mind.
Where's the PS3 Parappa, Jumping Flash, Ape Escape, Patapon, or real Loco Roco? Are games for long time Playstation fans like myself just not "hardcore" enough for the PS3?
I would die for a new Jumping Flash game...the first thing I bought on the PSN was the first Jumping Flash and it's just as good as I remember it being.
Someone, please make a fun party game! (Super Smash Bros. is too hardcore at this point; people that have never played it get turned off by how much better others are)
But as a format, it's great - no arguements there. I hope it survives, as it's implications for the video game market are exciting, something which PS3 has been able to demonstrate, but I still believe it's doomed. The timing is unfortunate. Plus the advent of digital content in downloadable form is going to prove more cost effective on both sides of the market.
Still, as you say, perhaps I'm a crazy. I just like spouting shit.