The Casual Divide

Does a game about running a diner make your hair stand on end? How about a frenetic babysitting game? Erin Bell has a few words for those who thumb their noses at casual games and the gamers who play them.

I'm not sure it's a paradigm shift as much as it is a re-realization of what has always been true. We forget that it wasn't so long ago that most successful games revolved around fluffy characters. However, with the rise of the internet, games were increasingly marketed to the most vocal of gamers (the joystiq/ign/insert generic site here) set. I am fairly certain that the gaming community has always been broader than this advertising-driven segment.

Great article! I love these games, they're the whole reason I have a DS. To me it's just an electronic version of the puzzle books you can buy from the grocery store magazing rack. I wouldn't dare to play a "hardcore" game on it.

I also like the fact that these games introduce a whole new demographic to video games, and anything that interests the older, less understanding, video games are the root of all evil sector can only mean good things for the rest of us.

Harcore Gamers like games that are different. For example, i loved Bonnie's Book Store, a match / word search game created by one of the former leads from PopTop.

I think gamers that don't play certain games are missing out. Hinterland is also a great example.