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Casual Games May Be Helping More Than Hurting
By Jonathan Stulce: 2008-02-20 12:58:38
We've all read or heard stories about how the game market is changing. Many of those stories focus on the shift in the marketplace to more casual, short session games bringing our girlfriends and wives into the media room. Whether it's been Super Mario Galaxy or MySims, the DS and Wii have successfully brought couples together around the television to enjoy a hobby that both could take interest. How this will affect the game industry in the long run is still a mystery. The current flood of titles for both devices are lacking in substance and many of us fear that this shoveling of cookie-cutter game mechanics will wind up hurting the industry as they invest in casual titles that new gamers will grow tired of due to their limited depth. I have recently reevaluated the situation, taking example from my own home, and I now think this trend might be long lasting, and not as terrible as previously conceived.My wife has never been a big gamer. Yeah, when she was younger she used to play Sonic the Hedgehog on her brother’s Sega Genesis, but like most of the women I've met, she didn't get sucked into the addictive nature an interactive world creates. Throughout our relationship, she has stood idly by as I conquered many villains, and she would lend a helping hand in solving puzzles I struggled with in Legend of Zelda or Shadow of the Colossus. Most of the time I felt that she was assisting in the quests to spend time with me rather than to see a game's finish. She sat in multiple lines with me in order to snag the newest console, even inviting her friends to wait it out with us. When the Nintendo DS launched, we actually waited it out. We didn't pick up the dual screened portable until the blue version was released. At this point, I bought one for her (It was really for me, but blue was her favorite color, so I got to swing it that way). My wife fell in love with Polarium. I don't mean she kinda played around with it while laying in bed at night, I mean she would play so much I thought we'd be buying new stylus packs every month. Sure, we picked up other games for me, but when Polarium entered our home, the atmosphere in the place changed. Then came the mini-games. A full-length game is nice, but if it came packaged with a collection of mini-games, we clocked in numerous hours challenging each other to high scores. No longer was the DS a gift that both of us could use. It was hers. That is, until the DS Lite was released. Now she has her own, glossy white game device. We would challenge each other into the wee hours of the morning, playing whatever game had multi-player support. We'd Pictochat each other from across the house, drawing hearts and little romantic scenarios and beaming them to the other. It was cute. The DS also made a few things easier in my life, such as picking out gifts. My wife doesn't wear jewelry, so I couldn't take the easy way out when holidays came around. Now it's much easier. Cooking Mama, Rub Rabbits, Puyo Puyo Pop... the list goes on and on. Then it was time for the Wii to be released. Already, a new market had been created. The DS was expected to be clobbered by the PSP, yet managed to carve a name for itself and become a money generating machine. It was a pretty big shock to most of the industry, and most of us did not expect Nintendo to do it twice. Yet, here they were, doing what Nintendo does best, ignoring their customers and instead telling the consumer what they want. We said we wanted bigger, faster, stronger, and they told us we wanted smaller, cheaper, and playful. So we waited in line for a Wii. Actually, we camped out to pick up one Wii, and then the next day went and got a pre-ordered Wii (which we sold to an online friend). Here we seem to be doing it all over again. Wii Sports, the pack-in with the console, had my wife hooked. Hooked, I tell you. We played so much tennis and bowling, my arm would need icing down before I could go to sleep. I've been playing video games for years, and here I have to tell this woman that has played little more than puzzle and mini-games over the last two years to stop, put the Wii Remote down, and let's go to sleep. Although most of her gaming activities circle around these types of games, I still play good old-fashioned games for gamers. So when Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles was released, it was a must buy for me. After all, it's a throwback to a time when arcade shooters were popular, and I wanted to reminisce. As per usual, my wife was sitting in the room, prepared to watch me play through a new game. I offered to let her in on the action, and she accepted. Boy did she accept. We've played through every mission the game provides, and have played each on numerous times. This woman whom I've adored for years, is now forcing me to play a zombie killer each night before bed. We'll be driving down the road, and she'll tell me she was just thinking about shooting the streetlights so she can get a higher score for 'objects destroyed'. She's upgraded most of her weapons, but intentionally left a few standard, so as to make the game more difficult. Just like with Wii Sports, we can't go to sleep at night without playing a few zombie killing rounds in RE:UC. I'm starting to think it was a bad idea selling that extra Wii. I'm rarely getting any time to play the games I want. Maybe the industry isn't going to suffer as bad as I thought. Maybe developers will be able to court these new gamers, but need to find the proper formula to bring them across that line dividing cheap entertainment from engrossing experiences. I still think many developers are hurting the potential for growth, and that companies like Capcom have a good reason to be upset with their performance on the Wii. Trying to get your game noticed has always been difficult, but battling for shelf space amongst titles that will sell just because they have colorful cartoons ups that challenge. After all, many of these casual gamers are stuck wondering if the only options for them are shallow games that mimic each other, or fully immersed games that are too frustrating for someone of their caliber to jump into. If my personal experience is any indication, it's completely possible to transfer the casual gamer from a short-term consumer, to a return customer with brand loyalty. "It might not happen, but it's totally possible."
RELATED: wii sports, puyo puyo pop, rub rabbits, cooking mama, Shadow of the Colossus, sonic, legend of zelda, Sega Genesis, resident evil, polarium, mysims, Super Mario Galaxy, ds, wii, editorial MAIN SITE NAVIGATION
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