"Mario" creator and Nintendo's senior managing director Shigeru Miyamoto said the company should start solely catering to the gaming community's serious gamers, Game Spot reported.
According to the developer, passive gamers are not worth pursuing because of their unreceptive attitude towards advanced titles. For Miyamoto, these types of gamers only want to be entertained, not challenged by what they are playing.
"[These are] the sort of people who, for example, might want to watch a movie," he said. "Their attitude is, 'Okay, I am the customer. You are supposed to entertain me.'"
"It's kind of a passive attitude they're taking, and to me it' kind of a pathetic thing," Miyamoto added. "They do not know how interesting it is if you move one step further and try to challenge yourself [with more advanced games]."
Miyamoto explained that the release of the Nintendo DS and Wii consoles were the company's attempt to expand its reach and gain the attention and support of casual gamers, according to Computer and Video Games.
The first Wii console model sold over 100 million units. This is primarily due to the console's appeal to non-serious gamers who were attracted by its physically-interactive games.
For its successor, however, the Wii U, Nintendo only managed to sell 7 million units.
Miyamoto attributed the decreasing popularity of Nintendo's consoles to the rise of tablets and smartphones. But instead of lamenting about Nintendo's defeat, the director sees this as an opportunity for the company to focus on more important matters, Siliconera reported.
Since people are more inclined to playing games on their personal gadgets, Nintendo doesn't have to worry about releasing new products and services to attract casual gamers.
Instead, the company can devote its time and resources to service the core gaming community.
"In the days of DS and Wii, Nintendo tried its best to expand the gaming population," he said. "Fortunately, because of the spread of smart devices, people take games for granted now."
"It's a good thing for us, because we do not have to worry about making games something that are relevant to general people's daily lives," he added.