October was a dismal month for the gaming industry, with sales down 19%. However, industry analyst Jesse Divnich doesn’t think you, the core gamer, are to blame. Rather, it’s those dang casual gamers who are pulling the market down. As Divnich says, “We believe it will take the introduction of some new style of gameplay or peripheral before we see a resurgence in the casual and non-traditional markets, which is why we strongly believe that Nintendo may launch a successor to the Nintendo DS in late 2010. Additionally, we believe the Project Natal will create a resurgence in excitement for motion based gaming, not just among the core market, but casual and non-traditional gamers as well.”

So, according to the business expert, innovation is what the casual gamer is after. Will Nintendo and Natal deliver? And who’s to say they’re the only ones who can innovate? Will something from Sony, or a fourth party, bring a new gaming device to the table that will have all of us jumping at the bit? And why am I asking so many questions in a row?