Nintendo’s increasing commitment to casual gamers is plain, and now Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto has said that future games from the company will have a stronger focus on fun and immediacy, and will steer clear of being overly difficult. Forthcoming Wii platformer Super Mario Galaxy, explained Miyamoto to Japanese magazine Famitsu, would typify this new approach.

"While there are indeed games designed for core and casual markets, core users are also enjoying casual gaming," said the man behind Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda. "It is very hard to tune the difficulty just for the core market. Even for us, we would still have difficulty finding the right balance. But I think the future is games that are not difficult and yet very fun to play.

"What I mean is that there is no point in making a difficulty level the fun factor of a game," he continued. "We are making Super Mario Galaxy as a new and fun experience which aims at providing a very appealing, convincing and - before all - fun experience. If we managed to do so, then I’m sure even the core gamers will find it appealing."

Since launching last year, Nintendo’s DS handheld and Wii home console have both been a spectacular hit with consumers, introducing hordes of non-gamers to the joy of videogames, often for the first time. And if Miyamoto’s words are anything to go by, that won’t be stopping anytime soon.

Super Mario Galaxy is set for a November release in all western regions, and take it from this writer: having played it at E3, it’s shaping up to be flippin’ brilliant, difficult or not.