mass-market
Latest
The Soapbox: Classism and the oxymoron of the casual MMO
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Seeing as how it's becoming something of a Massively tradition to offer rebuttals to my Soapbox articles, I figured it was time to turn the tables. A few weeks ago, our own Bree Royce penned a piece about class warfare in MMORPGs. Though it contained a number of valuable insights, I feel it struck the wrong chord when it comes to discussing the reasons "hardcore" MMO players dislike the pervasive trend towards accessibility. While the thrust of Bree's article dealt with classism and my response started out with a similar focus, this week's column has since morphed into more of a pseudo-rant on the casual vs. hardcore debate. Yes, the terms are malleable, and yes, this debate is eternal, but it's eternal because it matters (inasmuch as anything related to entertainment can matter). Join me after the cut for a traditionalist's take on MMOs and discover why they aren't "casual" games -- and why this has very little to do with social class.
EA's Moore maintains 'mass market' mantra
It may surprise you to learn that EA wants more people to buy its games -- specifically, the people who don't normally buy games. It's certainly a sound strategy (just ask Nintendo), and one that EA Sports president Peter Moore has developed a clear fondness for. Speaking at a recent and still laboriously named BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Conference (via Gamasutra), the ex-Microsoft mouthpiece stuck to his more-is-more message. "We need to grow into a more mass market company, and at the same time we need to make sure we're digitizing our content, we're having deeper and more meaningful relationships direct to consumers," said Moore. He described some EA Sports titles as being "too hard," suggesting that "more approachable and accessible" content was in order. Ignoring Facebreaker's glass jaw for a moment, perhaps the company will find its (possibly overweight) audience with forthcoming fitness package, EA Sports Active.
Pachter: Nintendo has not abandoned the core audience
Not everyone stumbled away from Nintendo's E3 presser feeling lightheaded and sick to their stomach. Some, like Wedbush Morgan soothsayer Michael Pachter, felt that the presentation was on point, offering an "even more positive view" of the company, while adding belief that Nintendo has not yet turned its back on the 'critically important' hardcore crowd."We think that Nintendo focused upon building upon its formidable lead with the mass market," notes Pachter, "and do not consider the lack of major hard core game announcements to be an abandonment of its core." Granted, this is a man who has the ear of investors and not necessarily gamers, and given that the analyst anticipates Nintendo to report revenue of more than $3.9 billion for 2009's fiscal first quarter, with an estimated $17.7 billion expected for the year, try to at least look surprised when his world views don't align perfectly with your own.
Pachter: Nintendo hasn't abandoned core gamers
If you were disappointed with Nintendo's E3 showing, then odds are you have a lot of like-minded folks to agree with you. A majority of the industry feels that Nintendo's showing at E3 wasn't really, uh ... good. If you're not looking for real games, then you were probably happy with Wii Music.Pachter thinks that Nintendo hasn't abandoned the core gamers. He went on to say that "some hardcore gamers were critical of Nintendo's failure to announce new Mario and Zelda games at the show... we think that Nintendo focused upon building upon its formidable lead with the mass market, and do not consider the lack of major hard core game announcements to be an abandonment of its core." Interesting, but what do you all think? Did Nintendo abandon the core gamer or is the hope for a new Zelda and Mario game sometime in the future proof that they haven't forgotten about those core folk?
