Edge Arcade: The "Casual" Threat
Ian Davis
Issue date: 9/16/09 Section: The Edge
I'm a huge fan of video games, as if this column wasn't a hint. I'm a fan of many types of games, from puzzles and platforms, all the way to first-person shooters and role-playing games, and everywhere in between.
I'm also a fan of casual games. Yes, I said it. I love casual games. "Mario Party," "Animal Crossing" or "Peggle" are just as fun to me as any "Metroid" or "Dragon Warrior."
I know what some people's feelings are about casual games and casual gamers: cancer-killing gaming, end of games as they once were, etc, etc, etc. While I do not feel quite as strongly on that subject, to an extent I agree with you.
Companies like Nintendo have taken a great idea to bring whole families together and take gaming into the mainstream and run too far with it. Nintendo focuses almost all of its manpower into shoveling out game after game after game, all just to stuff its already bulging pockets.
"Mario Party" is a soulless and vapid shell of what it used to be, with each new incarnation simply rehashing and copying aspects of the older games without bringing anything new to bear.
Dozens of "Cooking Mamas" and "Science Papas" flood store shelves, promising an easy way to waste an hour for soccer moms and toddlers and a quick buck for Nintendo.
Now, I don't think that casual gaming is inherently bad. In fact, I love the idea behind it. I love gaming, and I want everyone else to play games and get as much enjoyment out of them as I do.
However, Nintendo took it too far. They abandoned all of their longtime fans, who I might say put them where they are today and left us in a desolate wasteland of "Party Babiez."
They have responded in a small amount to the clamor for more hardcore fare and have released gems like "House of the Dead," "No More Heroes" and "Madworld," but it has not been enough. The few "hardcore" games that have been released are extreme niche games. Not everyone likes on-rails shooters or brawlers.
Companies like Sony and Microsoft went through a phase of heavy casual support, but both have seem to have grown out of it. If not that, they at least still release equal amounts of casual and hardcore product, balancing a treasure trove of revenue with keeping all of their longtime fans pleased.
Many of you won't agree with me, and I do realize that I have glossed over a lot of details in my discourse. I realize that "hardcore" and "casual" are superbly nebulous terms and that they don't really define anything in particular.
Still, for ease of both writing and reading I decided to use them, to better emphasize my point. All gamers, even ones so seemingly divided as casuals and the hardcore, can and should get along.
Remember why you started playing video games? Because it was fun. If you're too busy worrying about how all the casuals are ruining your favorite franchises or how all the mean hardcore players wont let anyone play in their games, you're forgetting the one rule of gaming: sit back, relax and have a good time.
I'm also a fan of casual games. Yes, I said it. I love casual games. "Mario Party," "Animal Crossing" or "Peggle" are just as fun to me as any "Metroid" or "Dragon Warrior."
I know what some people's feelings are about casual games and casual gamers: cancer-killing gaming, end of games as they once were, etc, etc, etc. While I do not feel quite as strongly on that subject, to an extent I agree with you.
Companies like Nintendo have taken a great idea to bring whole families together and take gaming into the mainstream and run too far with it. Nintendo focuses almost all of its manpower into shoveling out game after game after game, all just to stuff its already bulging pockets.
"Mario Party" is a soulless and vapid shell of what it used to be, with each new incarnation simply rehashing and copying aspects of the older games without bringing anything new to bear.
Dozens of "Cooking Mamas" and "Science Papas" flood store shelves, promising an easy way to waste an hour for soccer moms and toddlers and a quick buck for Nintendo.
Now, I don't think that casual gaming is inherently bad. In fact, I love the idea behind it. I love gaming, and I want everyone else to play games and get as much enjoyment out of them as I do.
However, Nintendo took it too far. They abandoned all of their longtime fans, who I might say put them where they are today and left us in a desolate wasteland of "Party Babiez."
They have responded in a small amount to the clamor for more hardcore fare and have released gems like "House of the Dead," "No More Heroes" and "Madworld," but it has not been enough. The few "hardcore" games that have been released are extreme niche games. Not everyone likes on-rails shooters or brawlers.
Companies like Sony and Microsoft went through a phase of heavy casual support, but both have seem to have grown out of it. If not that, they at least still release equal amounts of casual and hardcore product, balancing a treasure trove of revenue with keeping all of their longtime fans pleased.
Many of you won't agree with me, and I do realize that I have glossed over a lot of details in my discourse. I realize that "hardcore" and "casual" are superbly nebulous terms and that they don't really define anything in particular.
Still, for ease of both writing and reading I decided to use them, to better emphasize my point. All gamers, even ones so seemingly divided as casuals and the hardcore, can and should get along.
Remember why you started playing video games? Because it was fun. If you're too busy worrying about how all the casuals are ruining your favorite franchises or how all the mean hardcore players wont let anyone play in their games, you're forgetting the one rule of gaming: sit back, relax and have a good time.
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