Friday, August 04, 2006

Will Casual Games Dominate teh Market!!!?!?!?!!

Okay, this sort of comment produces a stabbing pain into my eyes. Even though it's usually written with correct grammar and only one character of punctuation, it feels like a fifteen year old has totally failed to understand a basic fact of how the world works.

In Ye Old Times, when video gaming was just a cute young thing that wasn't quite old enough to legally to take home, casual games dominated the market.

Yeah and verily, it was so. Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, even Street Fighter Two Turbo Alpha Final Two Power-Up Super Universe Edition... all are casual games. Well, as casual as spades, bridge, and crosswords.

As time went on, our little gaming industry began to mature, and her tastes got more complex. RPGs and adventure games were invented, partially due to our sudden success in taking her home with us, partially because they were simply more rarified delights - fish eggs and moldy cheese that only a gourmet would like.

Even "casual" games became less casual. Hell, a first person shooter takes twenty or thirty hours to complete these days.

Now...

Now she has a daughter.

There is a new girl on the block, introducing herself to people the old girl never even met! She's just a kid - still speaks in a squeeky voice about unicorns - but someday, she'll grow up. And her tastes will mature. And the things which are "casual" today will grow to be quite complex as the new market matures.

"Will teh casual gamez take oevr?!?!?!!?!"

Yeah. Duh. It's a new market: there's no experience there to build complexity off of.

But in ten years...

1 comment:

Duncan M said...

It's a little like asking if games will take over the gaming market. Well, yes. But only if they continue to grow and get better. Which they will, because there are people of passion behind them trying new things.

Blogger Word of the Day: dnvotem