Rare changes for casual-friendly Xbox 360.
Microsoft’s ex-Nintendo development pad, Rare, is warming to the Xbox 360’s apparent add-on target demographic, the casual gamer. With this market now all the rage, things are a changin’ at the games company, and it aims to alter the way the average person thinks about games on the traditionally hardcore console.
Rare’s studio manager Mark Betteriedge spoke with GamesIndustry. “… if you ask the general public, they’ll see [the Xbox 360] as a shooter box, or a hardcore box,” he says. “It’s about changing that perception, and Microsoft is very committed to doing that, because that’s a great market to have.”
Yeah, it is a great market to have. It involves great big piles of cold, delicious cash.
Rare is quite confident in its ability to change what it sees as the public’s perception, and even goes so far as to claim its future games will surprise us. “I don’t see us fighting the same battles as everybody else, I think some of the products we’ll do going forward will surprise a lot of people, both in terms of what they are and the different styles. I think that will be good,” surmises Betteriedge.
It’s incredible to see how much the Wii has shaken up the market thanks to its veritable domination of the casual market’s money pool. Inherently, others want in, and we’re beginning to see the Xbox 360 float in that direction. Sure, it makes sense to try and expand your player base, but double-dipping is rarely (with apologies) seen as a positive thing, and particularly when the two audiences are so disparate. Even Nintendo has apologised for effectively failing its core gamers, having focused so heavily on its casual salsa.
Then again, whatever brings in the most money, right? It’ll be fascinating to see how all of this plays out.
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