The author, Sean Malstrom, explores and attempts to debunk the notion of the "casual gamer" and how this "type" of gamer exists and is depicted in the videogames industry. Saying that the industry equates the "casual gamer" to a "ret
ard gamer", the notion paves the way for the amount of shovelware we've seen from third parties: overly-simplistic, terrible-looking, horridly-player games that simply aren't that fun. Where Nintendo's creations have prospered, third party attempts have suffered.
Malstrom introduces the notion of the upmarket and downmarket to describe the industry: the upmarket describes the top-tier, with the "hardcore" games and users, like MGS4, while the downmarket describes the bottom-tier with the "casual" games and user, like Wii Sports. Providing this base, he begins to explore and explain some of the things Nintendo is doing this generation, and how the rest of the industry has responded. He provides and explains quotes given by various top executives of developers and publishers from the past six years. He shows how the industry has reacted to Nintendo's success, and using that as a way to understand Nintendo's strategy, to understand Nintendo's use of the Blue Ocean strategy and disruption.
Sean Malstrom is a
former writer for the now-defunct news site
The Wiikly. Many of his newer articles can now be found at
his personal page. He so far has correctly predicted mostly what has transpired this generation.
Centuries ago, men attempted to fly by putting wings on their arms and flapping really hard. Logically, in their minds, it should have worked. Birds fly. Birds have wings. Therefore, having wings should mean man will fly.
The gentlemen, puffed with pride, failed every time. Had they examined the nature of flight, as opposed to the nature of birds, they would have realized the concept of lift (as Bernoulli did). One must examine the physics of the flight rather than putting feathers on one’s arms in imitation of birds. The descendants of these birdmen are with us today. In the gaming industry, they represent some of the highest gaming executives and esteemed analysts.
Nintendo is flying high. Rather than examine the nature of this flight, the birdmen are mesmerized by the feathers. The analysts and executives do not see the concepts of disruption and don’t even understand the Blue Ocean principles (though they think they do). The feathers they see on Nintendo’s ascent are casual games. Therefore, they surmise, if they make casual games then they will be flying high with Nintendo.
There is nothing new here. Years ago, when Grand Theft Auto 3 hit big, all the birdmen began putting out Grand Theft Auto 3 clones. Years before that, it was first person shooters. More years before that, it was bloody fighters. One can find the birdmen back in the 8-bit generation making platformers. They would look at Super Mario Brothers and go, “Oh, I get it! We just need to make a game with cute music, colorful world, and upgrades like the magic mushroom!” Slapping wings on their arms, these games flopped. Amazingly, despite how many times the birdmen fall down, each generation they are ready to put on feathers and jump off a cliff.
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