[manasecret]

I have to agree with BaB here, the hardcore term is pretty dumb. It means a million different things to a million different people, usually shunted to mean "I'm a true gamer; those people are not." If you don't like a game, you don't like a game.

For example, for you Combine, all you have to say is you prefer M rated violent games. That's it. The hardcore term just muddles up what you're saying, and ends up meaning nothing.

As for the 20 best-selling Wii titles that Moogle posted, I see what you're saying that you want depth and longevity in a game. First, I'd argue more games in that list do have longevity, but that's not my point. My point is that there are plenty of games with depth and longevity that are not in the top-20 best-selling list that you conveniently ignored. Need I list them? I think BaB has over and over, and I think everyone knows them, but they tend to ignore them when it comes to these arguments.

In your case, I think your rant boils down to two things -- neither of which is that Nintendo stopped making games for the "hardcore" gamer. Looking at your choice of BlazBlue and L4D1, I think simply, 1. You're mad that you feel Smash was dumbed down, and, 2. Your tastes have moved on since Nintendo never made games like L4D1.