Post-E3, Nintendo and Sony lay claim to each other's audience

Separate interviews with representatives of major gaming executives at Nintendo and Sony reveal that both companies are hoping to acquire fans from their competitors.

It's post-E3 and for the most part, gaming companies are feeling pretty confident about their work and their future. None seem more confident than Nintendo's president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime and PlayStation Europe's president Andrew House.

Fils-Aime and House spoke to CNET News and Edge Online, respectively about future and standing within the gaming industry.

Nintendo and Sony President's speak about the Wii & PS3's future

Nintendo's president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime discusses the Wii, its future, and potential hardcore games.

"Nintendo's in a very fortunate place." Said Fils-Aime, "The industry through April is down about 4 percent, but we're up about 19 percent. So consumers are voting for us with their wallets, which is a great place to be, especially when so much of our best content will be coming in the second half of the year."

When asked about E3, House responded,

"I think we struck the right balance between being very future-facing - new motion controller technology, certainly a lot of good information about the network and how that is going to evolve. We balanced that with very solid tangible game lineup information. If the audience there was anything to go by, it caused a tremendously positive reaction and I think it positions us extremely well."

In an interesting kind of reversal, each seemed to be making up for their setbacks, as Nintendo seems to be interested in trying to grab the attention of more hardcore games, while PlayStation is trying to broaden it's appeal to more casual gamers.

"We think we can win over the Halo audience" said Fils-Aime, "with something like The Conduit, a multi-player, online, shooting experience, or Dead Space Extraction. And you know what? Once those people buy into Wii, they'll go buy Mario Kart or Wii Fit Plus. We're not going to be satisfied just picking up that existing gamer. We have to reach beyond and get that consumer who doesn't game. That's the only way we'll be able to continue growing as a company and as an industry."

While Fils-Aime seems confident that hardcore gamers will eventually find an entry point into the Wii, House noted that the Wii may be just the first step for casual gamers that will eventually lead to their system.

Nintendo and Sony President's speak about the Wii & PS3's future

PlayStation's European President Andrew House believe's Sony will retain its title as the leaders in entertainment.

"If you look back at previous lifecycles, like PS2 versus N64 [sic], we have lots of data that suggests that lots of people bought into N64 as their entry level gaming device, and were happy to upgrade to a more powerful machine later in the life cycle when the price point was right for them. I think we're going to see this later on PS3, and the fact that it's a Blu-ray player as well and that there's a [greater] wealth of network based experiences than are perhaps available on the device they already have will add to the proposition.

Also, when asked about Sony and Microsoft's upcoming motion control projects, Fils-Aime didn't seem too worried.

"The only thing I'll say is a rhetorical question. Is it fun? If it's fun, then I tip my hat and say, "Well done." But what's happening sounds to me a lot like, "Who's got the prettiest picture. Who's got high-definition. Who has the best processing power?" It sounds like technology, when the consumer wants to be entertained. Our focus is how do we take active play and make it entertainment. And that's what we're going to continue to focus on."

In the end, whether one is holding the market for casual or hardcore gamers, both companies are pushing the envelope in terms of gameplay and technological achievements, and this may be the year in which both companies begin to blur the lines between casual and hardcore. Whether or not gamers will find a home on the Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360, it's clear from this year's E3 that the industry has changed, and it has changed in a big way, for better or for worse.

Check out the full interview with Reggie Fils-Aime here.

And the full interview with Andrew House here.

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Comments [14]

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Favelado

I'm sorry Nintendo lost me back during the N64 days, they need some real good powerhouse games (not just Mario and Zelda) to get me to come over to their side. Motion controls don't really mean much to me, I'm doing just fine with my 360 n PS3 controllers, they really don't have anything in their line up that its a "must have" IMO...

EKGPROD

The Industry is turning their heads at us Hardcore Gamers. Anyone who denies it is flat out blind. Nintendo, and now Microsoft and Sony are all trying to get a piece of the "Casual Gamer" pie. And the worst case scenario is them getting their wish. There will be a heck of a lot of money in it for Microsofts Xbox 360 and Sonys PS3 (the Hardcore Gamer Sytems) if they find a way to lure in the Casual audience. And if they do, you can say goodbye to Hardcore Games. Sure, we will still get shooters and all the games we loved. But now they will be watered down, with brutally easy controls, and difficulty levels. Dying and restarting from a previous checkpoint will become a thing of the past, and Hardcore games as we know it will cease to exist. I have nothing against casual Gamers and casual Gaming. I just think that they ALREADY have a system, the Wii. And if they want to upgrade, and if they feel like their ready for a more Hardcore system, then they should by an Xbox or a PS3. I DO NOT think Microsoft and Sony should water down the Hardcore Games and soften up its Hardcore Gamers to make room for the Casual Crowd. All they are doing is splitting their followers in half. And that, is a really, really bad mistake. This is a sad time to be a gamer.

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jon46410

"We think we win over the Halo audience" said Fils-Aime, "with something like The Conduit, a multi-player, online, shooting experience, or Dead Space Extraction.

LOL...That is so funny. The Conduit, although looks good and I have my eyes on it, it's not even out yet and they think they got the Halo audience, very funny. Even if this game is good, or even great they need alot more great FPS games to get the Halo audience, Sony's ahead of Nintendo in that department. All 3 consoles have their good, great and the crap games. I get all 3 for the exclusives and wait for reviews and get the best version of the game that's on all 2 or 3. One thing Nitendo is better at is platformers.

The12P

I'm a hardcore gamer and I feel bad for Nintendo. They still put some good games out but they have lost touch with the core gamers who have helped get them to where they are today. Eventually they'll see the light....maybe.

wutisupmon

I don't think Nintendo has ever played Halo if they think that Conduit will bring over the Halo gamers. Can anyone imagine the Conduit in MLG?

The Conduit can't enter hardcore gamers because of the controls. As long as they use motion-sensing, they will never be accurate to the umpteenth-degree.

Swarley92

Finally someone is saying what I said when I first heard about Project Natal. "Is it fun?". It looks more like work than fun, as there are tons of people that are too lazy to even play the Wii properly. I think I will stick with the classic Playstation controller.

MetalliCube

Notice how thus far everyone here has jumped on Reggie for saying he'd like to get the Halo audience, but nobody seems to care that the Sony guy basically insults the Wii by saying gamers will "upgrade" to a PS3... GP Sony biased confirmed!

You fools should be happy that Reggie want to get the hardcore's attention.. it shows that they DO care about making games for you! But you guys are too dumb to understand that. You so called "hardcore gamers" are insane and have a very warped view of reality.

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JPThunder01

MetalliCube wrote:

Notice how thus far everyone here has jumped on Reggie for saying he'd like to get the Halo audience, but nobody seems to care that the Sony guy basically insults the Wii by saying gamers will "upgrade" to a PS3... GP Sony biased confirmed!
You fools should be happy that Reggie want to get the hardcore's attention.. it shows that they DO care about making games for you! But you guys are too dumb to understand that. You so called "hardcore gamers" are insane and have a very warped view of reality.

They're hardcore fanboys, not gamers.

Toneman

wutisupmon wrote:

I don't think Nintendo has ever played Halo if they think that Conduit will bring over the Halo gamers. Can anyone imagine the Conduit in MLG?
The Conduit can't enter hardcore gamers because of the controls. As long as they use motion-sensing, they will never be accurate to the umpteenth-degree.

You've OBVIOUSLY never played Metroid Prime 3 or Medal of Honor Heroes 2 on Wii. I can honnestly say that there are maybe 5 games on Wii since launch that use good motion controls, but FPS on Wii aren't about motion (or waggle if you prefer)... it's ALL about the IR pointer. Wii FPS controls are more accurate and more immersive than analog controls... it's the best thing to happen to the FPS genre since mouse and keyboard.

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