It's no secret that Nintendo's success comes from the immense backing of the casual gaming market, but in her rather lively and upbeat  interview with Bitmob, Nintendo corporate affairs VP Denise Kaigler, talked about the relationship that the Nintendo has with the hardcore gamers.

Yes, the Wii makers have a relationship with the hardcore gamers, with you, believe it or not. No, we're not talking about the Nintendo of old, when the SNES pretty much dominated gaming scene. We're talking Wii and DS.

Citing Zelda, Mario Galaxy, and Smash Brothers as examples of games that did well with core gamers, Kaigler stresses that although they've pretty much made a killing with the casual market, they still had something for the core, a lot of them, in fact. At the same time, she also added that even core gamers would also enjoy going casual every now and then. Talking to her interviewer, she asks a few rhetorical questions:

How are you defining "hardcore"? Now, you define yourself as a core gamer. Do you really want to be put into a box? Do you really want someone to say, "Here's a hardcore gamer, there you go -- you do that." Or do you want to be part of a broader community that wants to have fun, that wants to be surprised, that wants to have this immersive experience in games that you can't find any place else?

Kaigler goes on to drive the point home, which I quite agree to, finding myself going for casual titles even though I'm pretty much into core gaming. Interestingly enough, she relates Nintendo's relationship with core gamers to keeping them wanting more.

We don't want your appetite to ever be satisfied, because when we satisfy you, it's time for us to go [dusts off hands], "OK! Let's go on home now!" And none of us wants to go home. So there's this sort of fun...relationship, I think, that's happening between Nintendo and the hardcore gamer -- which we enjoy and hope that the core gamer enjoys it.

Sure is an interesting way to put it. On one hand, wanting more is would a good thing since that'd translate into sales. On the other hand, not keeping the market happy enough would translate into, well, zilch. Judging by their success, Nintendo's done a good job of keeping both those hands balanced.

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On Nintendo and gamers:

• Iwata responds to Sony: Wii is out of the closet, in the center of the living room
• Wii gamers not abandoned: games for loyal Nintendo fans in development