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[Jubenhimer]

Some of the hardest games out there is enjoyable in short bursts. What has time it take to play a game with casual or hardcore?

If time was the deciding factor tons of games would be inherent casual on all platforms.

True, But Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey are very forgiving in difficulty. Yeah, Breath of the Wild is challenging, but it's never brutally hard thanks to frequent autosaves, which means your given a fair chance to learn from your mistakes and conduct a better approach, or simply do something else since there's plenty to do in the game.

For Mario Odyssey, Game Overs and lives have been stripped out entirely, so even if you die, the worst penalty is that you loose Coins, which you can easily earn back anyway. Plus, the game even includes an assist mode that literally points you to where you should be going, as well as prevent death from falling. And like BotW, there's also frequent autosaves and checkpoints.

There's a misconception that casual gamers don't like being challenged at all, which is untrue. Any gamer be it casual or hardcore, likely enjoys some form of challenge every now and again. Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey are challenging games, but they're also very accessible games, even to those put off by console games.

I think the way you are using the term 'casual gamer' is different than how most would interpret it, and that is leading to some confusion.

If you are saying that Nintendo is trying to accommodate players who can't fit long play sessions into their lives, then it's hard to disagree with that. If you are suggesting that Nintendo are going for the Candy Crush crowd (what people understand casual gamers to be), then you couldn't be more wrong.

Both really. Part of the reason mobile gaming became so huge is because people's lives are very busy these days. They don't have time to set aside to sit in front of a TV for hours and play video games. Smartphone games took off because they were simple, accessible games that can be played in bite sized chunks, so people who like games, but don't have time for something like Dark Souls can enjoy them with ease. Gaming on phones is so ubiquitous these days that it's become the new default entry point for non-gamers and new comers to the medium. Plus, they're on a device people already carry with them.

With the Switch, Nintendo's goal is to simplify home console games, to fit the lives of the casual gamers who play games on their phones. It may just be my interpretation, even Nintendo sort of admits this when they describe their smartphone strategy. The Switch isn't meant to replace your phone, but it is designed to accommodate those who are used to mobile gaming.

 

[DrGrus]

True, But Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey are very forgiving in difficulty. Yeah, Breath of the Wild is challenging, but it's never brutally hard thanks to frequent autosaves, which means your given a fair chance to learn from your mistakes and conduct a better approach, or simply do something else since there's plenty to do in the game.

For Mario Odyssey, Game Overs and lives have been stripped out entirely, so even if you die, the worst penalty is that you loose Coins, which you can easily earn back anyway. Plus, the game even includes an assist mode that literally points you to where you should be going, as well as prevent death from falling. And like BotW, there's also frequent autosaves and checkpoints.

There's a misconception that casual gamers don't like being challenged at all, which is untrue. Any gamer be it casual or hardcore, likely enjoys some form of challenge every now and again. Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey are challenging games, but they're also very accessible games, even to those put off by console games.

Not sure if I get your answer. You were saying that games that is enjoyable in short burst is casual that has nothing to do with casual gaming. If that was the case most of the games on PS4/ xbox one is casual compared to something like EU4. Are you backing of that statement?

Even the assist things you mention is hardly something that is unique for BotW or Odyssey and most games today have easy modes. I could not die in Rayman Origins which I played on Xbox360. It can be argued that a given number of life itself as a game mechanic is a leftover from the arcade era.

Now I think Nintendo is trying to get as many as possible to buy a Switch, I however do not see them doing anything special for courting casual gamers that Sony or Microsoft is doing. The only real casual thing I have seen is probably the classic line not the switch.

What I see in the Switch is Nintendo focus on flexibility, play when and how you want, not if the gamer playing is casual or hardcore.

 

[Jubenhimer]

Not sure if I get your answer. You were saying that games that is enjoyable in short burst is casual that has nothing to do with casual gaming. If that was the case most of the games on PS4/ xbox one is casual compared to something like EU4. Are you backing of that statement?

Even the assist things you mention is hardly something that is unique for BotW or Odyssey and most games today have easy modes. I could not die in Rayman Origins which I played on Xbox360. It can be argued that a given number of life itself as a game mechanic is a leftover from the arcade era.

Now I think Nintendo is trying to get as many as possible to buy a Switch, I however do not see them doing anything special for courting casual gamers that Sony or Microsoft is doing. The only real casual thing I have seen is probably the classic line not the switch.

What I see in the Switch is Nintendo focus on flexibility, play when and how you want, not if the gamer playing is casual or hardcore.

Well as I said, casual gamers like a bit of challenge too. And while a challenging game playable in short bursts doesn't necessarily make it a casual game, it does make it more accessible for casual gamers. You don't have to invest a lot of time into it to get enjoyment out of it, doesn't use some convoluted control scheme, and you can pick it up and put it down with relative ease. That by nature is casual friendly.

It's also true that Mario Odyssey's assist mode isn't anything new, not even for Nintendo themselves. It's really yet another derivative of the Super Guide systems that they've been employing since New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It's there for people who might feel lost in the game or don't feel comfortable with open world type gameplay, and they don't necessarily have to be casual gamers either.

Of course, Nintendo is trying to target a wide variety of people with the Switch, any successful platform holder would want to have a broad audience. I'm simply arguing against this notion that the Switch is some hardcore gamer box primarily intended for hardcore gamers, because nothing about the design or marketing of the Switch suggests that. I'm simply giving my interpretation based on what Nintendo has said and done regarding the Switch to explain what they're primary goal is with it.

 

[Godzilla's Left Toe]

hmm

 

[Blam]

hmm

Hmm indeed my man.

 

[Poor GRIMES]

Well

 

[shinkai]

hot dog

 

[Ponto]

Hmm indeed my man.

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

I just want to see games like Tokyo Mirage ported to the Switch and not be stranded on the Wii U.