Sony exec hails Nintendo as ‘the kings’ of the casual gamer market

By: Musa Afridi

  |   October 2nd, 2012   |  

Uncategorized

However, he believes that will change this holiday season with Wonderbook and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale set to take over the Wii’s market share as Sony release their lowest priced console yet, though some aren’t buying it.

Sony still seems a couple of months away from announcing the PlayStation 4 and is still laying a great emphasis on the PlayStation 3. While the console has sold to pretty much every core gamer who ever wanted to own the console, as well as attracting interest from Xbox 360 owners, the manufacturer seems to be targeting a new market segment as well.

As is the case with any product that has reached maturity, something new is added to the product or it is rebranded for a newer audience. While the PlayStation 3 brand remains what it is, Sony seem to want to add an extra dimension to the console by making it the casual gaming console for 2012-2013.

Fergal Gara, the Managing Director of PlayStation UK, gave credit where it was due and acknowledged that, “If you look at the casual market overall in the last few years, there’s no doubt that the kings of that market has been Nintendo.”

The Wii sold in the millions and nearly every household had one as it was the only console custom built to provide an innovative, family friendly, casual gaming experience. However, the sales of the consoles have declined over the years and Sony seem to have noticed that and want to exploit the console’s fall from grace by taking over that particular market.

Gara continued, “If you look at the upcoming Christmas market, the Wii will be selling in very low volumes – it’s on its way out – and the Wii U will arrive, but it will bring in a relatively small number of early adopter consumers.”

So what does that mean for PlayStation? Well, according to Gara, Sony’s plans on releasing a number of casual, family friendly title to take advantage of the Wii shaped hole left in the market.

“We see ourselves well positioned for the casual market who won’t buy Wii U on day one. it was a casual market breakthrough, but we think we’ve got a casual market breakthrough as well with Wonderbook and the lowest priced PS3 yet.”

Wonderbook and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale are the two main titles that Sony will have on the frontline of its casual gamer market. How well the publisher performs with those two titles remains to be seen but there seems to be a genuine push for the products as a number of bundles pairing up software and hardware have been announced for release this holiday season.

But what about the readers; will Sony be successful in taking over Wii’s territory or will the Wii U prevent that from happening? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.