Opposable Thumbs, the gaming side of Ars Technica, wants to tell you that hardcore gamers are on the decline. They posted an article earlier that compares the sales data of various genres over the last year and comes to the conclusion that since Cars, the licensed game based on the Pixar film, was the second best selling title (behind the unstoppable juggernaut of Madden 2007), that casual, mainstream gamers are taking over the gaming landscape, and that hardcore, Bawls drinking, vagina fearing gamers are on the way out.
Here’s a quote:
The landscape painted by the thorough report reveals quite a few interesting factors about the changing industry. As growth continues, we’re bound to see some substantial changes. As it stands, hardcore gamers are still a pivotal purchasing force in the games market: most of the top ten titles were what I would consider “hardcore” games. However, the trend away from the hardcore and towards the casual is becoming increasingly more predominant. We’ve talked quite a bit lately about the growing demand and response for casual games, and when coupled with the shocking sales of licensed products, I’m left wondering whether or not the number of hardcore gamers is dwindling.
While Señor Thumbs has proven his competency in reading (and adding), he missed a crucial part of the logic behind his argument; Cars was released for everything. Seriously, they had ports of it for Linux-based rectal thermometers. Since the only title also released on as many platforms was Madden (and it managed to outsell Cars), one begins to see flaws in the argument.
Then again, maybe I’m just mad that Larry the Cable Guy is getting those kinds of residuals and I live in a tin shed in the wilds of Eastern Europe. What do you guys think? Is the hardcore gamer going the way of the dinosaur?
