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"Casual" Is No Way To Label Games, Argues Casual Developer
Denver, 7:14 AM
Fri Dec 4
57 posts in the last 24 hours
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"Casual" Is No Way To Label Games, Argues Casual Developer |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
07/15/09
"Let's make this super hardcore game for the super hardcore crowd. Let's not include anything that can be interpreted as a "mini-game"...Sure, the pacing of the game will be terribly monogonous, but fuck it! Hardcore gamers don't want to do puzzles or stop and think for two seconds."
"Let's make this awesome casual game that housewives will buy. We'll make so much money! All we need to do is 'borrow' some already-popular game mechanic and throw "party" in the title. Sure, it may end up being a fantastic, must-play game for anyone--but housewives is where the money is at...So fuck it!"
07/15/09
Now, if he thinks there are people that think less of casual games... well, that's another issue, but there's nothing he can do about that. If some people just don't like those games, well that's the way it is, just as there are some people who don't like hardcore games. There's space for all tastes :-)
07/15/09
-Guitar Hero
-World of Warcraft
-The Sims
-Plants vs. Zombies
07/15/09
Guitar Hero: Casual - It was designed for the mass market, not a niche group. Everyone wants to be a rockstar, and this will appeal to everyone because they get to play a roll that many people wish they could be. Just because some people pour their every waking hour into it doesn't make it hardcore, just means it's one of the more addicting casual games.
World of Warcraft: Both - It tries to cater to people who are serious about gaming and the people who don't care or have time to play every night. But, it isn't both at the same time, you are either hardcore or you are casual. Mostly.
The Sims: Casual - It isn't a game where you have to play 24/7 and once again, it was made to market to the general masses. This wasn't made to be marketed to people who prefer games like God of War and Halo.
Plants vs. Zombies: - Haven't played it. it seems like your typical "flash schmup" where you just kill waves. Maybe I'm totally wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's something you would play for a while and then go back to play for the heck of it.
Basically, casual is anything that is relatively simple in is construction, mostly made to get lots of users from people who don't generally play video games on a regular basis and who can't really handle fast-paced, quick-thinking, fast-finger games. But, since some "flash" games can have those characteristics, it also includes games that you don't usually stay up till 3am playing. This also includes shovelware; the casual masses gravitate towards them.
Hardcore is basically the total opposite of all that. I also think it means that it services only a small niche in the sense of hardcore people don't mind playing Peggle or Sim City, but going the opposite direction isn't as popular.
07/15/09
to add to that,
I "casually" played Halo all the time when I was an undergrad. uh oh, better relabel that franchise, huh? =P
07/15/09
As he said: a game is a game is a game. Doesn't matter if it's "casual" or "hardcore" or whatever lies in between.
Only thing that matters is if it's fun to play.
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That's very much the old way of approaching the games industry, and by far the more romantic. Nowadays, it's also a lot more about looking at a target audience, or prefferably a bit of both: selecting to work in a genre you enjoy.
Just catering to people "like me" or that "like what I like" can be very limiting, but I won't deny that it makes the games better, in principle, if you make what you like.
07/15/09
The credit crisis has exacerbated this problem. Before, credit was so easy if you were a fledgling game maker, movie maker, musician, you could get the money to make your idea. Now the only people that have money are the big guys and they will only invest in a "sure" thing.
07/15/09
It's like someone saying "man, I'm such a hardcore moviegoer I go to the movies every 3 days" -"Yeah but you mostly watch comedy movies, so you're more of a casual moviegoer."
Makes no sense.
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07/15/09
Games not labelled casual usually require alot of time on the users part to make progress, conversely, a casual game can be picked up and played in short blasts with little to no commitment or time.
Its the perfect term for describing exactly what these games are. "Casual"
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07/15/09
Casual is a far better label than so many others it could've got. I think there's no reason to complain here except that they have to find a reason to complain.
Are most of them making money? Probably. Are most of them still making out 'games' that people with less time can enjoy? 'seems like it'
Unless they want to be labelled something like "not so engaging games but can be played any free moment as it isn't super-competitive but makes you feel it is" then they're good for now.
Stop whining and go make the games. Oh wait I see where you're going - the site mentions they are a digital toy factory. Uhm yeah crappy toys that some buy spoilt kids to make them shut up is what you want to relate to gaming then please no - that's a bad rep.
07/15/09
So what, you're saying that a game that isn't competitive isn't engaging? Seems like a strange claim to make. The problem is exactly as has been stated, casual and hardcore aren't mutually exclusive categories. I don't think it makes sense to cast casual games in this super negative light just because they require less time to play. Often I would just as soon pick up a Sam and Max or a Sims 2 rather than yet another brainless cookie-cutter shooter, but what I crave is variety, and a game to show me something I haven't seen before.
I would suggest that there are good games and there are bad games, causal or not and that instead of "whining" about how the games "you" play are better than "everyone else's" just "play" the games you like. Personally I don't have six hours a day to devote to sitting in front of my console shooting the same enemies over and over, so something I can pick up and play any free moment is a bit of a nice change.
07/15/09
I've played a lot of puzzle games, our education systems work towards us having to do puzzles and honestly these games do come to people of average intelligence as not extremely competitive.
There are plenty of games that don't require you to shoot that are extremely competitive. But you don't find them as casual. There are very few casual 'fighting' games, there are very few 'casual' adventure games that are engaging.
One of the older principles of game design is to give a reward for something that is absolutely challenging. So since most people lack the time, they invent two tiers of challenges now.
Also I never complained about one game being better than the other but whining about labels is pointless. It's just because the developers themselves tier and classify themselves as people who develop for a platform and people who develop for 'timewasters'.
I don't think a vast majority of adults have time to game for 6 hours, but when they do they would ilke a challenge. At least people who have been playing for a while do. Despite the fact that as we do age our skills are a bit less sharp.
The real issue is casual gaming is treated like casual sex. There's that implication if you look around. It's not the casualness that needs to be looked into in this case but the experience. Once people look beyond that it's fine. But honestly wasting time and energy (like I myself have done right now) to say label me different because I don't think you're enjoying our products the way we think you should as an experience doesn't sound right either.
A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet to quote shakespeare but if it stinks you can tell it from a mile away or atleast through word of mouth.
07/15/09
Somehow asshole publishers out there are capable of funding horrible bargain bin Wii game shovelware and selling them for $50 a pop. I love the Wii, but it has been milked and raped by horrible 3rd party crap that should have truck nutsacks hung in front of their shelving space. If there's a bad hardcore game, its failure might remain more isolated, but I get the feeling that casual games share the bad wrap as the number of bad games rises to an extreme due to cheap development costs.
So market positioning is important and it's probably easier to be at one of the extremes than it is to be stuck in the middle somewhere unless you have the funding to market yourself out of that hell hole. Look, we're a strategic ultra-conservative cartoon virtual table top card game with hardcore elements, and there's zombies! We're awesome!#$% Our commercial even shows us jumping in a vat of colored plastic balls that are ON FIRE!
Guess you just have to be careful what kind of game you dream up and the price bracket you have in mind, because simple labels are far too convenient for digital distribution and retail to give up. Maybe it will be different some day.
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Casual games are like pack ramen, cookies, cereal, or PB&J. Easy to make and/or buy and a quick reward.
It isn't like making a steak and deciding on seasonings, cooking style, side dishes, sauces, etc.
That doesn't mean you can't enjoy casual games, it's just different and easier.
07/15/09
Sadly the area of casualness is going to get the heaviest pollution of crap, since they're simpler and made in greater numbers.
(looks at The Office game) ... Why do you exist!!! *crys*
So instead of complaining about the labels, take a lesson from PopCap.