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"Casual Gaming"

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  • 25-06-2008 9:52am
    #1
    Maximilian
    Legal Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 5,400 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Discuss.

    I'm reading all over the place that this is the future of gaming blah blah. In other words, games companies seem to be telling me what games I want to play. Eh..no. In fact, I just want to play an endless succession of Thief & System Shock games but I digress.

    Am I missing something? I smell a rat with all of this.


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    #2
    tman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,339 ✭✭✭✭tman


    They seem to be dumbing sequels down a hell of a lot these days, and lowering the difficulties quite a bit... There will always be a few niche games aimed at the more hardcore gamer, but the future definitely seems to be rosier for the casual gamers:(


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    #3
    Stephen
    Registered Users Posts: 18,484 ✭✭✭✭Stephen


    casual games are of course far cheaper to develop than your usual graphics-porn 3d uber shooter, so i can see publishers pushing them more and more,


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    #4
    Silverfish
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 16,696 Mod ✭✭✭✭Silverfish


    Maximilian wrote: »
    games companies seem to be telling me what games I want to play. Eh..no.

    Ho ho, I've had that for years. Horrible, isn't it.


    Yeah, agreed. It does seem to be heading that way. While it's a gateway for a few people into ...eh, less casual gaming, it does severely limit anyone who isn't a casual gamer.

    However, I suppose the majority of people who buy xbox 360's / ps3's etc are employed, and will game in their spare time, which trust me, isn't a lot :/
    So that's going to be their target market.


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    #5
    johnny_ultimate
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 29,460 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    What I don't like about the whole 'casual gaming' thing is the simplistic nature of the things. While some of them have great gameplay mechanics that can appeal to more experienced gamers - WarioWare, Mario Kart, Guitar Hero / Rock Band - alot of the imitators are just too simplistic - **** like Battle of the Bands springs to mind.

    Also don't like the rise of periphirals the new waves of games are bringing. Balance boards, endless instruments etc... You've still got to love a traditional joypad / keyboard and mouse. The Wiimote is great in many cases, but many games are just tagging on features that don't work fully.

    I think there'll always be a place for the more involved games, but I just think its a shame that people are falling for the simplistic games being shovelled out. Many people now just associate gaming with Brain Training and the like, and will never get to experience the wide variety of other games available.


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    #6
    Blisterman
    Registered Users Posts: 7,457 ✭✭✭Blisterman


    Well, to be honest, in many ways its a return to how games used to be.

    Pac Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, Marble Madness, Galaga, GTA 1 and 2.
    Games anyone could pick up and play for an hour or so, and didn't have to dedicate weeks of their lives to completing it.


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    #7
    L31mr0d
    Registered Users Posts: 8,067 ✭✭✭L31mr0d


    I'm starting to fall into this camp. I still haven't got passed the second island on GTA IV but i've completed/mastered every casual game i've downloaded off PSN (i.e Super Stardust HD, Dark Mist, Monsters, Super Puzzle Fighter II, LocoRoco Cocoreccho... etc)

    They're just easier to pick up and play and are great games to wind down with. I still play the serious games but only when i've got a few hours free, but in the morning before I go to work or if I have a free hour in the evening i'd rather play one of the more casual games. The PSN store has a load of these great little games.


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    #8
    S.I.R
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,837 ✭✭✭S.I.R


    tman wrote: »
    They seem to be dumbing sequels down a hell of a lot these days, and lowering the difficulties quite a bit... There will always be a few niche games aimed at the more hardcore gamer, but the future definitely seems to be rosier for the casual gamers:(

    i disagree, the hard games are MMo ones, we are so advanced a gamer now that what would be difficult say two years ago back when we only had the ps2 aswell as the pc and such but now theres plenty of difficult games.... we evolved too quick imo.


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    #9
    Pyr0
    Registered Users Posts: 5,967 ✭✭✭Pyr0


    Well what would be described as a serious game ?


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    #10
    K.O.Kiki
    Registered Users Posts: 18,707 ✭✭✭✭K.O.Kiki


    Pyr0 wrote: »
    Well what would be described as a serious game ?
    Don't ask that question, you'll overload their fragile little minds! :D


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    #11
    thelordofcheese
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,368 ✭✭✭thelordofcheese


    I think casual gaming is bloody great. Not every game need to be the kind of thing that you need to invest ages in order to get anywhere in it.

    I like them even more because of the delicious whine that comes from people who have imagined a future full of fun games that can be picked up and played and judged it to be a terrible thing. Usually the same people who are convinced that consoles are the work of the devil and are actively trying to kill PC gaming and loot it's corpse.


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