Core gamers are crucial, like always, but there must also be mass market products to succeed.
Sure, the hard-core gamers have likely seen these trailers since they were out in August.
What everyone should be watching instead is the quiet but massive migration of core gamers online.
FORBES: Mobile Gizmos Hastening The Demise Of Video Game Consoles
After the hard-core gamers got their turns, less videogame-savvy editors took a shot, too.
Ubisoft has aimed ZombiU squarely at core gamers, and especially at fans of old-school survival horror.
Now, one hardware company thinks hard-core gamers are ready to take their action on the move, too.
They allow for new play patterns and game experiences that are approachable for casual and core gamers alike.
FORBES: THQ CEO Takes on the Game Industry's $60 Price Point
The research firm says there are now more Mobile Gamers than Core Gamers, the largest segment last year.
But free-to-play, virtual goods-based games have been associated with casual, relatively simple social games, so will hard core gamers play them?
The Call of Duty series is popular with both casual and core gamers, fostered by a sizeable install base with current-gen consoles.
The wide availability of broadband has clearly made it easier for the South Korean firms to attract more than just hard-core gamers.
These companies recognize that mobile and social gaming are growing, but that doesn't stop them from pitching their games at core gamers.
But here is the twist: Kinect is not aimed at core gamers.
FORBES: Microsoft Confirms Kinect Pricing, But Will Gamers Bite?
But all other segments, defined by NPD as Core Gamers, Family and Kid Gamers, Light PC Gamers and Avid PC Games, shrank.
Zynga games didn't attract mid-core to core gamers and they flooded back out to 'American Idol' or whatever other entertainment is popular today.
Dunaway, known for her sunny demeanor, had the unenviable task of serving as an apologist for the casual gaming-oriented Wii console to hard-core gamers.
"The big question mark is how it's going to break down between how much is casual and how much is for core gamers, " Torres said.
Next year's PlayStation 3 is expected (by most hard-core gamers, though not by Microsoft) to run more than twice as fast as the Xbox 360.
The last Xbox was a powerful piece of kit that appealed mainly to hard-core gamers, but it has lost Microsoft a considerable sum of money.
"I think that the smartphone and tablet market is cannibalizing the dedicated handheld market, especially for non-core gamers, " said Michael Pachter, videogame analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities.
News sources also mention smartphones and casual games, and I think those have a much bigger impact on the industry than most core gamers want to admit.
The early adopters of a new game technology are usually core gamers, who are willing to shell out the big bucks for the latest and greatest system.
FORBES: Microsoft Confirms Kinect Pricing, But Will Gamers Bite?
The Microsoft strategy sounds more like a niche strategy for hard-core gamers, in which case it's investment in a console strategy should be smaller and more targeted.
And yes, I do mean both casual and core gamers.
FORBES: iPhone 5 Boasts "Full Console Quality" Graphics, But Apple Mutes Mobile Gaming Presence
The premium model would likely sell out as core gamers take their cut, but the basic model becomes an absolute necessity after early adopters have already purchased their consoles.
The bigger problem is that the majority of the folks this appeals to are already the hard core gamers and pc enthusiasts who build their own rigs as it is.
FORBES: Why Steam Box and SHIELD May Cause the Death of Consoles as We Know Them
Given the success both companies have had with connecting with both mainstream and core gamers over the year, Destiny, if it fulfills its promise, could become yet another billion dollar franchise for Activision.
Sure, the Xbox 360 can be righteous and cool with hard-core gamers, but this is not a sufficiently large user base to recoup the magnitude of investment Microsoft has made in its gaming platform.
应用推荐