Simple games. Casual games. Coffee-break games. Internet games. Addictinggames. You can call them whatever you like but one thing is certain - contrary to their name, they are a growing big business.
While 2008 was the year of the big outbreak of casual games, the market has grown significantly since then and is causing a lot of change in the industry. More and more companies are allowing ordinary people to make their games through tools like Microsoft's XNA Creators Studio or various phone apps. With releases of such incredible hits as World of Goo, Plants vs. Zombies, Braid and many others, more and more developers are concentrating on simple, addictive and innovative gameplay instead of multi-million productions.
At first, casual games were usually associated with simple flash based puzzle games that can be tackled during a 15minute coffee break at work, but that has changed dramatically with before-mentioned Plants vs. Zombies and others like it.
Naturally, as the time goes on, the similarities between the casual games and the mainstream productions are beginning to disappear as the gamers become more sophisticated and expect a lot more out of their casual games. Yes, there is still a huge difference between a 10-megabyte casual game and what hits the shelves for $60 a pop but the more content packed-casual games emerge, they might eventually compare to their big time cousins.
Casual games have been hitting the market fiercely. You can find them on just about any platform; whether its on your cell phone, lap top, ipod, computer or gaming devices, the creators of these casual games are getting their product to people any way possible. There are even casual gaming hosts on our favorite social networks like facebook, twitter, etc. Games such as farm town, Mafia Wars may not use the same amount of technology as the new games that hit the shelf in stores, but they are just as popular.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nulimit when he says that causal and mainstream game production are slowly integrating with each other. Gamers are expecting more out of games as the technology level increases.
I agree, the gap between casual and hardcore gamers is smaller than most think, and it's getting smaller as more "casual" games are getting more indepth.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of stereotypes that hardcore gamers believe about casual ones, such as only playing for short amounts of time and preferring easy games which aren't true. Casual players play games can play for long periods of time, but the nature of the games allow them to be interrupted frequently, which is convenient for most people. And when playing games that are too easy, players just get bored with the content. The two groups of gamers are closer than most think.
I think that it is interesting to notice that you have really seen an explosion of casual gaming in this country sense 2008 when we started into the current recession.
ReplyDeleteI think these games offer a great value to consumers by being cheap and easy to play over and over again. Look at casual games like Bejeweled. Its a multi-million copy selling casual game because it is simple to play but you never really reach "the end" of a game. You just restart and try for a better score.
I think people have just realized that they no longer have to be scared by the price and complexity of games to be a gamer. Games have now once again came full circle to what they originally were, cheap easy games that anyone could pick up, play and enjoy.
I believe there are some fine lines as programmers try to develop a game; I do agree that the lines between casual and hardcore gameplay has been less clear than it used to be, but I still do believe those two games target different users and goals.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, I wouldn't call Ultima series as nothing close to casual games; whereas I would rather not say Tetris is a casual game.
Obviously the line has been (as the author mentioned) more of a delusion this days, and along with combination of mainstream media at some point the line will be more of a illusion, but at the same time I do believe some games would actually target the 'real-hardcore' gamers, since those will actually generate profits as well.
Casual Games Can be both fun and entertaining . I often find myself on sites such as addictinggames.com frequently. These casual games are very easily accessed and can be stopped at any time. You can practically play them anywhere. I am also a big fan of casual games such as gutair hero, because i enjoy the thrill of beating a high score. Also causal games never really get old and theres no end to them. Also most causal games are very entertaining when you may have a group of people over, they are also good time wasters. Theres no real commitment involved in playing a casual game
ReplyDeleteI think that Benjamin raises a excellent observation about the steady increase of casual gaming during the recession, people want games that are cheap and easy and also something to keep them busy.
Casual Games Can be both fun and entertaining . I often find myself on sites such as addictinggames.com frequently. These casual games are very easily accessed and can be stopped at any time. You can practically play them anywhere. I am also a big fan of casual games such as gutair hero, because i enjoy the thrill of beating a high score. Also causal games never really get old and theres no end to them. Also most causal games are very entertaining when you may have a group of people over, they are also good time wasters. Theres no real commitment involved in playing a casual game
ReplyDeleteI think that Benjamin raises a excellent observation about the steady increase of casual gaming during the recession, people want games that are cheap and easy and also something to keep them busy.
I agree with that "casual game is causing a lot of change in the industry". The number of people playing casual games are rapidly increasing. People who can't afford much time to play game want games that are easy, fast, simple, and fun. Moreover, The advantage of casual games is not only very simple, and addictive, but also can be played by most computers, even they don't have good graphics cards. Also it doesn't require formal installation, serial number, money and many other stuff that I used to have for ordinary games. In a word, casual games are more accessible to people.
ReplyDeleteThe more people will play the casual games, the more changes will be made in the game industry.
Casual games are becoming more "mainstream" when compared to the past decade or so. Other than the fact that these games are more interesting, this phenomenon could be the result of the recent economic downturn. Why would anybody be willing to spent 60USD for a game when they can simply pay 1~10USD for a game that's pretty fun and relaxing at the same time. Though causal games are in their own niche, it is possible that they will be competing on the same playing field with those big name games.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason I would like to add that contributed to this trend is the cost of actually playing these games. It is non-existent because any computer can play these games. On the contrary, mainstream-60USD-a-pop games needs cutting edge hardware to play without feeling like you got cheated by the supplier because you have to play everything at low settings.
I would like to reiterate what kkoo3 said: The more people choose causal games over "mainstream" games, the more changes we will be seeing in the gaming industry.
Something interesting to notice about casual games is the way in which they seem to be returning to the roots of gaming. Whereas gaming as a whole has progressed to the point where we have sprawling 3D worlds to explore and intricate stories to experience, casual gaming is continually reliving the birth of games in different forms of media. Just as games as we know them took over the television, casual games are invading webpages, cellular phones, social profiles, and more, progressively becoming more and more complex as developers learn how to more effectively program for the new platform. Cell phone games, for example, started out with simple Tetris clones and single-screen Atari-style games and have now moved on to complex adventures with advanced graphics - it's even possible to play Doom on a cell phone now. The titles marketed as "casual games" are making comparable leaps forward - our assigned Big Fish game was a complex adventure title. The hardcore games of yesterday are becoming the casual games of today.
ReplyDeleteThe important thing to note here is that the casual market is advancing faster than the hardcore market, because it has the hardcore market as a model to follow. If a hardcore game is released on a console and becomes popular, simplified versions begin popping up on various casual distribution media, clearly taking hints from the "advanced" hardcore game. Because of this speed boost, coupled with consoles like the Wii that blur the line between casual and hardcore gaming, the gap between the two is slowly but surely narrowing.
With the online world spreading, and digital copies of games becoming more popular, casual games are on the rise. Their availability on computers, iPhones, XboxLive, Playstation Network, etc. give people access to them without having to leave their home. I like that you mentioned Plants vs. Zombies because I just bought it on XBL. It was such an impulse buy because I saw it, and just because I heard it was addicting, I got it. That's a perfect example of why casual games are so successful. With most casual games becoming available through the Internet, they are more popular now more than ever.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is true that Big Fish Games has done a lot for the casual industry, Apple may have done more. In the past two years, the iPhone and iPod touch have become the best gaming platforms because it has a simple touch interface with motion control, making games similar to the one gamers were playing a few years ago much more accessible to the general public. People who were previously afraid of all the buttons on console controllers are now able to play games more intuitively anywhere with the Apple App Store. The App Store also gives a simple platform for developers to make these new games. They have cheaper production costs and cheaper prices which allows for more purchases.
ReplyDeleteIt's not surprising that so many casual games are being sold these days.
True that Casual Gaming are serious business. At library and during classes, I spend hours and hours on casual games. Often time, I visit Kongregate.com and play my favorite games. I feel like casual games are easier to access and play because they don't require users to buy or download games. Moreover, some of the casual games are extremely addictive. However, there are some negatives to casual games. Although they are very addictive, they get bored easily. Since these games' concepts are very simple, users find them not as interesting as PC games. Irregarding these negatives, casual games are still growing and becoming a serious and an important sector in gaming industry.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that casual game industry is getting bigger and bigger. Just think about how big iphone app games are becoming. Almost all iphone(including ipod touch) users have at least a game or two in their iphones. The price of these app games varies from 99 cents to even 10 dollars. However, considering how many users are buying them and it doesn't cost much to produce app games (compare to AAA games), casual game industry can be considered as a serious and huge business.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest advantages that causal games have is that the game approaches to more audience than big named games. Also, considering how lives of people are so busy compared to decades ago, the marketing tool of using "casuality" can be considered as a big weapon to attract more audience.