Now we are in this new, different, more general market will it become even more seasonal? The good thing about hardcore fanboys is that they bought and played games all year round.

Presumably Nintendo are expecting system sellers like Wii Fit to keep things going. It will be interesting to see if they succeed.

Bruce, it may seem a strange concept to get your head round, but non 'hardcore gamer' people buy things at other times of the year too.

It's largely the games publishers that decide when to make their games available, and holiday seasons have always been a good time to release games - usually because that's when the 'hardcore gamers' mums go out to buy them the next version of Metal Gear Solid / Grand Theft Auto / Gran Turismo - or whatever it is that 'hardcore gamers' sit in their rooms playing.

With any luck, in the coming years the various prejudices of playing video games, at whatever level, will simply fade away.