We’ve all assumed for a long time thatNintendo’sbiggest target demographic is children and young adults. That’s a fair assumption to make, especially as the majority of its marketing is family-oriented, and a significant portion of its games are aimed at a casual audience. Nintendo has long dominated that space, with its direct competitors occasionally making a more child-friendly experience, but largely focusing on R-rated games.
However,that idea of Nintendo has shifted, slowly but dramatically, since the days of the Wii and GameCube. The Wii U began introducing more violent and mature games likeZombiU, and then the Nintendo Switch ushered in a more relaxed stance on third-party releases such asDOOMandThe Witcher 3. Yet, still, the majority ofNintendo’s first-party outputhas remained aimed almost exclusively at a younger audience. That absolutely needs to change, especially after the revelation that its audience isn’t quite what we expect.
Nintendo Isn’t Just For Children
A New Survey Proves Otherwise
A brand-new,shocking survey about Nintendoby GEM Partners - which was released via the Japanese business publicationNikkei- has revealed that, in Japan,the average player age for the majority of Nintendo’s most iconic IPs is 30. The survey revealed that bothAnimal CrossingandThe Legend of Zeldaseries had an average player age of 35. Indeed, the lowest average age was forSplatoon, which was still 27.
For context,the survey was conducted exclusively in Japan and covered 180,000 participants between the ages of 15 and 69. Naturally, that excludes the audience typically associated with Nintendo, but nevertheless points to the fact that there is a significant number of older players enjoying its games. Interestingly, of all thefamous Nintendo IPsthat the participants were surveyed on, onlyThe Legend of Zeldacould be considered a mature series, at least thanks to the recent entries.
The survey not only revealed a stark lack of mature first-party games, but also the fact thatthe ages of a significant portion of Nintendo fans are well above the expected target audience. It makes it abundantly clear that Nintendo must finally start addressing this side of its fanbase, not just with more violent and mature third-party releases, but with its own output. It is time Nintendo actually catered to those above the age of 15.
Nintendo Needs To Cater To Its Adult Audience
It Needs More Mature Games
To be absolutely clear,I’m not saying thatPokémon,Mario,Animal Crossing, or any of Nintendo’s more casual first-party releases are squarely aimed at children, nor that they can’t be enjoyed by adults. Rather, the exact opposite is true, especially as Nintendo consistently provides more challenging late-game content for adults to engage with, while children and their families can focus on the main, far easier experience.
However, unlike PlayStation and Xbox, whose primary IPs are gritty, nuanced, mature, and often violent experiences,Nintendo has little to offer its older fans.Nintendo needs more mature games, not just violent ones or shooters likeDOOMandHalo, but ones that explore meaningful themes, discuss adult topics, and reflect humanity and society in a wayAnimal Crossing,Pokémon, andMariosimply can’t.
Nintendo has already proven it can produce such games, with itsFire EmblemandXenoblade Chroniclesseries, the latter of which is a far better example of this. However, those two are Nintendo’s only more adult-focused series, and they get entries once every few years. Nintendo needs more games like these, more complex RPGs, interesting narrative-based adventures, and open-world experiences to supplement the casual experiences aimed predominantly at a broader demographic.
Now would be the perfect time to introduce more adult-oriented IPs to the world, especially considering howfew Switch 2 exclusivesthere are.Nintendo has a chance to define the Switch 2 and showcase what kind of console it will beand the games it will cater to. The Switch proved itself to be a third-party-dominated machine, something that made sense when there were no other handhelds. The Switch 2 can’t copy that same formula. Nintendo must instead fill that space with its own first-party offerings.
Nintendo Still Needs Games For Kids
It Makes Up A Huge Part Of Its Target Demographic
That being said,Nintendo obviously still needs to produce games within its established series as well as cater to younger gamerswho are assumedly its primary audience. The fact that its competitors are seriously lacking in that space means that it is up to Nintendo to provide entertaining and meaningful experiences that children can enjoy, thus introducing them to the hobby in a safe way from a young age.
Mario,Pokémon,Animal Crossing,Splatoon, and all the other more child-friendly games undeniably have an important place in the gaming zeitgeistand must continue to provide the opportunities they’ve given to younger gamers. I’m grateful that I got to grow up with the likes ofMario KartandAnimal Crossing: Wild Worldso that I could then be fully invested in the hobby by the timeXenoblade Chronicles 2andThe Last of Usrolled around.
Without child-friendly games, there wouldn’t be many adults who are interested in games in the first place. However, without adult-focused games, Nintendo is missing out on a huge portion of players. I, for one, would love to see what Nintendo and its numerous partners could do with more mature themes and complex gameplay. I sincerely hope thatNintendofinally acknowledges that, while we all love playingPokémonandAnimal Crossingno matter how old we get, we’d also love a few more adult-focused games from time to time.
