Greetings, master Malstrom.
I found it fascinating that you started repeating that phrase “The hardcore must be destroyed.” over and over again. Is this something you have adopted from that old Latin phrase usually abbreviated to “Carthago delenda est” (Carthage must be destroyed), most famously repeated by the Roman senator Cato the Elder? It seems to me an obvious parallel, what with Carthage coming back to threaten Rome every time after being beaten back and the hardcore being a recurring (or perhaps constant) threat to gaming as we know it.
Of course, it could just be a coincidence, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
All the best,
A most fascinating reader.
It started off when I noticed everyone was dumping on Iwata for the Wii U sales. “Wait a minute,” I said. “Iwata is doing what people wanted.” Back during the 7th generation when the DS and Wii were taking off, we heard a litany of ‘What about the hardcore?’ Even investors would ask Iwata “What about the hardcore?” Apparently, every game console must appeal to the hardcore. It didn’t matter that the game industry was entering decline. Nooooo. Everything must revolve around the hardcore.
The 3DS and, especially, the Wii U were designed to appeal to the precious hardcore gamer. Gone was the Wii remote. Back was the Gamecube controller with a large touchscreen on it. Bizarrely, the hardcore invented an alternate reality where the Gamecube was a ‘fantastic console’. Seriously, they did.
If Iwata has any fault, it would be listening to the hardcore. It is amazing how the hardcore escape all blame, yet they point at everyone else. When is the game industry going to entertain the notion that the hardcore are the problem? As gaming shrinks, the stigma against gaming grows.
To me, gaming always represented family, friends, and relaxation. To the hardcore, it represents status (!), a career opportunity (!), and circular discussions over internet forums (!).
I want gaming to succeed! I don’t want it to die.
The Game Industry turning its back on the Wii is really the Game Industry turnings its back on its heart. The die is cast. There is nowhere to go but decline.
Gaming succeeds when the hardcore fail. Nolan Bushnell saw that the hardcore game Computer Space wasn’t selling. So he put out PONG instead. The hardcore gamers didn’t like PONG because it was ‘simple’ unlike the complicated Space War. Hardcore failed and gaming succeeded.
PAC-MAN would never have been released if the hardcore had their way. Making a game for girls? It couldn’t work they thought. It did work. It ushered in the arcade boom.
Super Mario Brothers was a ‘stupid game’ to the hardcore. They hated the NES. But Super Mario Brothers saved console gaming as we know it.
Tetris was dumb to the hardcore. Since gaming defied the hardcore, the portable handheld was able to be established.
Even as recent as the DS, you know the hardcore were betting on the PSP and that the DS was a ‘stupid device’. However, it was released with 3d Mario so the hardcore didn’t think it was all bad. But the DS was in sales hell until Nintendogs, Brain Age, NSMB, and Animal Crossing DS were released… all games the hardcore didn’t like. Then the DS blew up in sales. Today, the hardcore think the DS was a great system because it had a ton of ‘RPGs’ and other weird genre games. But those games would not have been possible if it had not been the large install base.
Wii Sports defied the hardcore and grew the Game Industry. 2007, 2008, and 2009 were record years. Wii Fit defied the hardcore and also grew gaming.
Now the hardcore are very happy while the games industry is going to hell in a handbasket. They are like termites to the structure of game sales. More and more companies collapse. Yet, we keep hearing how we need to ‘satisfy the hardcore more’. After all these years, it is clear that the hardcore are never satisfied.
I say ‘the hardcore must be destroyed’ to remind people that the hardcore are at the center of gaming’s decline. You can call me Malstrom The Elder.
Perhaps the punchline is wearing thin. Do you guys wish me to stop demanding the ‘hardcore be destroyed’ at the end of every post? Because the hardcore clearly need to be destroyed.
Hardcoria delenda est!