This following article was originally published in March of 2010 on That Gaming Site.
Nintendo has long sought that new frontier of gamers – gamers who have never picked up a controller, who have never spent hours in front of a TV playing The Legend of Zelda or Super Smash Bros – but many of their longtime fans have struggled to stay faithful to the company and their new direction.
The Nintendo DS and Wii did more than just usher in a new gaming generation. It changed the very idea of gaming. Later this year, with the release of Sony’s and Microsoft’s new consoles, the line between casual and hardcore gamers is going to fade. Despite the fact that Nintendo does not fear these new devices from competitors, there have been very few “hardcore” games released for the Wii.
Nintendo plans to show the world they haven’t forgotten their roots by catering more to their beloved hardcore fan base with the release of new Zelda, Metroid, Pikmin, and Mario games later this year.
But just how many hardcore players from the “pre-Revolution” era remain faithful to Nintendo after four years of catering mostly to casual gamers? And can Nintendo win back the fans they have lost with these four titles?