Target audience for the Wario series?

Just a Wario Fan

Just a Wario Fan

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What group of players does the Wario series have as its target audience? (The group of players to which the games are aimed.)
Personally, I think the Wario Land series has been made specifically for players from about 9-13 years of age who also enjoy the main Mario games and have an interest in playing the anti-hero / antagonist role.

As for WarioWare, I think that series too is directed at more or less the same group, but not without a fair share of gamers who like Wario but aren't too familiar with the Wario Land games and mostly know him from his role in Mario Party and/or Mario sports games. Of course, there's also a considerable Rhythm Heaven overlap.

Or do you think that the Wario games aren't really directed towards a specific group?
 
The Warioware games have gotten incredibly kid friendly since the first one. The control gimmicks and microgames are simple and intuitive enough for a kid to get down with not much reflex. I've been playing WWG with my 4 year old sister and she loves it.

The presentation is also pretty cartoony which also appeals to kids the most.

I'm curious what the demographics for the Ware games upon release actually is. Its the type of game that sounds kiddy on paper but I imagine has an older fanbase.
 
This is actually a really good fuckin' question.... I have no idea.
Perhaps it's like, something that anyone from anywhere can just stumble upon, much like Wario in his discovering many places as part of his treasure hunting excursions.
In my experience, Wario is something that I enjoy because it's weird & abstract, but at the same time still "legit", which for people like me who are practically programmed to have some serious neophobia, is very welcome. Like, I don't know-- would a WarioWare with any other MC be as enticing? I honestly don't know. You generally have to force new shit down my throat for some reason. It's like built-in hipster syndrome and I hate it, because it makes trying stuff that I may actually like extremely difficult.
So, in the end, you may be right about the "people carrying over from Mario", although, ironically, I remember having old Wario ROMs my dad got for me online and not quite understanding that Wario & Mario were really all that connected beyond superficiality.
It's honestly really hard to tell what sort of crowd it's intended for, but... y'know, I just realized that I'm really terrible at judging demographics a lot of the time anyway, outside of knowing how to make stuff user-friendly.
 
Samcrumpit said:
The Warioware games have gotten incredibly kid friendly since the first one. The control gimmicks and microgames are simple and intuitive enough for a kid to get down with not much reflex. I've been playing WWG with my 4 year old sister and she loves it.

The presentation is also pretty cartoony which also appeals to kids the most.

I'm curious what the demographics for the Ware games upon release actually is. Its the type of game that sounds kiddy on paper but I imagine has an older fanbase.
Click to expand...

Well, it's a children's series for sure. There are no mature themes, and if I'm right, none of the Wario games has a rating above E.
But I'm in no doubt that the Wario games, especially Land, have gained a secondary, more older fanbase over time. Like most of us on Wario Forums, for example.
 
message board dwellers like to dismiss ww as "niche" (a term thrown around so often it's been dilluted to the point of meaninglessness) but I think it's a series that appeals to quote-unquote casuals - and Nintendo seems to agree, as Iwata gave the first warioware as an example of a game that appealed to a non-traditional audience in an interview early in his tenure. I don't think it's a coincidence the best-selling games in the series were early titles for the Wii and DS.
 
Wario himself has been targeted more for the adult audience over in the US, at least from how Nintendo seems to aim him towards. I still have that interview done in EGM that someone at Nintendo jokingly said "we give the dick jokes to Wario," so there is this consensus for who seems to be his audience. Waluigi is more pointedly 'adult' if anything that Mario Strikers has to go off of. Over in Japan, though where Wario is far more crude and crass than what the West is accustomed towards, his manga seems to skew towards younger ages - here that would be seen as taboo.

WarioWare games in general however seem to be targeted towards everyone, but mostly older children and up. Wario Land, no idea, but going off one interview for Shake It!! (that I cannot find anymore,) someone mentioned they toned Wario's grossness down to get "a wider female audience".
 
LordRobotnik said:
Wario himself has been targeted more for the adult audience over in the US, at least from how Nintendo seems to aim him towards. I still have that interview done in EGM that someone at Nintendo jokingly said "we give the dick jokes to Wario," so there is this consensus for who seems to be his audience. Waluigi is more pointedly 'adult' if anything that Mario Strikers has to go off of. Over in Japan, though where Wario is far more crude and crass than what the West is accustomed towards, his manga seems to skew towards younger ages - here that would be seen as taboo.

WarioWare games in general however seem to be targeted towards everyone, but mostly older children and up. Wario Land, no idea, but going off one interview for Shake It!! (that I cannot find anymore,) someone mentioned they toned Wario's grossness down to get "a wider female audience".
Click to expand...
They did it because they wanted to show Wario's real self as much as they could.
 
Does THIS thing look safe to bring near children to you?

Cuckoo Condor In Its Natural Habitat.png


(Granted, it's only one ludicrously easy boss from exactly one game so far of the collective franchise, but still)
 
I'd say it is geared to people who have seen Mario, but want a bit... more.
Not as much more as Sega pushed with the Mega Drive, but more regardless.
 
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