Gartner: Wrong Again
It's refreshing to see that the software industry isn't the only place where Gartner has no clue - listen to them on the Wii:
The newly published article cites Van Baker of analyst firm Gartner suggesting of the Wii: "Its appeal is primarily to casual gamers, and there's a serious question about how long casual gamers will stay engaged with the platform... It wouldn't be surprising to see them lose interest after a relatively short amount of time."
I suspect that Baker has never used a Wii, or attended a party where one is around. The Wii gets everyone engaged - serious game players and casual audiences. The Xbox and PS3 pretty much hit one demographic: the hard core.
The last time I looked, the hard core gaming crowd wasn't as big as the casual one, but hey - that's a complicated thing for a Gartner guy to wrap his head around - he might have to engage with the real world, or something.
Comments
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[Norman Gerre] May 30, 2007 21:58:26.160
That's irrelevant. The point isn't that casual gamers are engaged, but that they're engaged only casually -- as in temporarily, for short periods of time. The terminology is confusing, because some players of casual games do so obsessively, like those people who've spent the last decade playing Solitaire for half the day, but most of them aren't like that. A lot of consumers are used to flitting from one form of entertainment to the next: it's not unreasonable to think that they might lose interest in the platform faster than hard-core gamers traditionally have.
Re: Gartner: Wrong Again
[ James Robertson] May 30, 2007 22:49:14.452
Comment by James Robertson
Yeah, that explains the astounding Wii sales numbers (which show no sign of slowing) - that's word of mouth at work. Also, so long as Nintendo sells a unit (which they make money on), the games are gravy - unlike MS and Sony, who lose their shirts on each console sale.
the key
[ Troy Brumley] May 31, 2007 8:46:46.078
Comment by Troy Brumley
Is if people are engaged long enough to buy one or not :) I would buy a Wii if I could find one because I know that Jackie and I would play it. Other game consoles just don't have the appeal. I would class us as "casual" gamers, but our money spends too.