Game Stooge

EDITORIAL: Casual Games – Are they Hurting the Industry?

• Scribbled on June 26th, 2007 by Mitch Dyer
• Filed in Features, Retro

“Hardcore Gamer” is a term that will have many avid game fans rolling their eyes. Often on the internet you’ll hear or see gamers saying “God, I hate that term” in a snotty, self-righteous tone. Whether or not they like it, “Hardcore Gamer” essentially defines those people. The gamers that are really passionate, really avid about video games, talking, writing and reading about them in print or online, these are the people that are “Hardcore”.

Anyone who’s willing to delve in to the next epic RPG or the next Epic shooter, and those who put forth a large amount of effort to play a game, those are the Hardcore Gamers. Maybe you don’t fall in to the Hardcore category but you still enjoy the odd video game every now and then. You’d fall in to the “Casual” spectrum, as they say.

Casual games usually require minimal understanding and simple game mechanics. Bejeweled, Solitaire and Peggle… All of these games are simple to play, easy to learn, and don’t require a ton of effort to play. There’s no story to follow, no characters with motivations you need to worry about (although that Peggle unicorn keeps giving me those creepy stares). These Casual games usually cost less than the typical action-adventure games that many gamers enjoy, and it’s much easier to say “I can save the city any time…” and just play Zuma for six hours. While these casual games are generally inferior (on different levels) to the latest console/PC game, they are by no means any less fun.

With the advent of downloadable content (DLC) casual games are available for the mass market in an easy to obtain fashion, and in a staggering amount. Any time my dear ol’ mum wants to pick up Geometry Wars she can boot up the 360 or open up my Steam. When I come home at night from work and I’m exhausted, I want to relax, I don’t want to boot up Gears of War for some edge-of-my-seat action… I want to sit back, relax and just play something ‘Casual’; since these games are so easily at my disposal in such a large quantity, it’s hard to resist not to anyway. Anytime I want to I could dive in to the world of Oblivion, or for a lot less money I could be captivated all over again by Dig Dug, Rally X, Pac Man, Jetpac, or Prince of Persia Classic! And that’s only on X-Box Live Arcade.

With the amount of people that play these Casual Games, which are typically addictive, one can’t help but wonder if you can be a Hardcore Gamer while playing strictly Casual Games. Playing puzzle games until 2AM seems pretty Hardcore to me.

This is where things start to get messy. Casual Games bother me. I find myself playing nothing but these casual games every day, and I feel bad for my poor 60 dollar console discs that remain untouched. I consider myself a Hardcore Gamer, no doubt about it. I spend a lot of time gaming, and more time writing about games as well as talking about them, but why am I ignoring my so-called ‘Hardcore Games’ – my RPG’s are being shunned in favor of a board game that I can play anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours. These Casual Games are degrading my interest in games I once found compelling, and shattering any interest in new games I would normally be excited for. Why put myself through the agony of disciplining myself to learn and master a new retail adventure game when I can play Uno for the night instead?

Are casual games hurting the industry? While that one copy of The Darkness that goes unsold won’t be noticed, what if many gamers out there are finding the same thing I am? Technically, these casual games are taking away from retail games if this is the case. Also, as I get busier with work, big action games aren’t even an option.

Casual titles are more easily accessible and work better with my current schedule. Working mom and pop who might otherwise have had a riotous romp through Lair this summer are perfectly fine playing a round or two of Calling all Cars before work and bed. These Casual Games potentially hold the same amount of enjoyment for a sixth of the price. Maybe even less. If the Hardcore audience is compelled enough by a board or puzzle game, where’s the reason to drop sixty quid on a retail disc? I’ve been rejecting my current library in favor of these games more and more, and found myself selling these unplayed games.

These Casual Games are appearing more and more on the Nintendo DS and are pulling in any and all kinds of people. My mother who works full time as a restaurant manager and full time mom does not sleep without her religious ritual of playing Texas Hold ‘em, Nintendogs or Tetris DS. Family gaming nights are a regular thing in our house since games can be done quickly and easily. Are Casual Games hurting the industry? No, not really, but they sure are moving it in a unique direction that one could be concerned about. Gamers are continually buying rehashes of Bejeweled left right and center across every platform and it’s interesting that these games are selling a ton of “copies” while something like Shadowrun is… well, not so much.