Sony: Casual Games Are Just "an Addictive Diversion"

[Yopaz]

Then whats this glowy ball on the end of my Playstation controler?

I believe that is what we call hypocrisy.

OT: Every time someone from Sony starts talking I feel myself disliking Sony a bit more. Downplaying the weight that is carried by casual games after one company known for making social games hit some bumps.

It's not like "hardcore" games are any different. It's all just a diversion to help us relax and enjoy ourselves for a few hours. The same could be said about books, movies, sports or any activity we do for fun. I can't see why it makes a difference in the big picture.

 

[Pandaman1911]

Uhh. Aren't all games just "an addictive diversion"?

 

[malestrithe]

The problem is that all games can be addictive.

Casual and Hardcore are just mindsets. I can pick up and play a so called core game for 15 minutes. At the same time, I can play something like Bejeweled for hours at the time. It is a mindset and nothing more.

Hell, fighting games are the definition of pick up and play casual, but they are called core games.

If you are going to try to correct me, have something more to add other then, "wow you are so wrong."

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

As opposed to core games which are what? Just diversions?

Hardcore games are not just mere diversions!

THEY ARE LIFE!

I thought as a true gamer, YOU would understand that stabbing noobs from across the room with my instant kill knife lung meant so much more than flinging a bird at a pig fort.

I am so ashamed of you.

OT: Have you guys what games are on the Sony Market place? Tons of casual games. You know what game I have found more balanced and well designed than multi million dollar AAA games? A free-to-play card game called Shadow Era.

 

[Evil Smurf]

both make money, what is the problem?

 

[edos63]

Comparing 'hardcore' to 'casual' is like comparing movies to TV. Both have their place. Saying that one is more pointless than another is a stupid argument. They are simply different and yield different experiences.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

And that's why you churn them out as fast as you can as you do not make anything else.....

 

[Baldr]

If your going to survive as a diverse game platform, your going to have to offer both, or not stay in business.

 

[Griffolion]

I agree with Sony, but I'm suspicious about the why of this statement. Sounds more like they're trying to convince themselves more than anything. I could be wrong, but that's just how this brushed with me.

 

[Seneschal]

I disagree, not because I play casual games, but because I think mainstream games became better because of them. Even the simplest smartphone minigame has been an exercise in how to better approach a bigger, more varied audience. Given that videogames have been forbidding for far too long, so I think it's encouraging that a lot of new people are pouring in. And yes, Fruit-ninja or whatever it's called is an "addictive diversion", but the fact that it can be successful has opened a lot of doors for small, independent, or F2P projects.

As for "F2P isn't the future" - I think Sony is just scared shitless that no one thing is going to be the future, and they won't be able to rake in all the dough. As for F2P, FireFall, Blacklight, Tribes Ascend, and Planetside are F2P shooters with the same, if not better, looks, features and support of $60 games. I don't see how another CoD can even be profitable with this many free competitors.

 

[sethisjimmy]

Because the PS Move was just hardcore as fuck, right?

 

[Korten12]

Because the PS Move was just hardcore as fuck, right?

You do realize he said there is a place for casual and freemium? He didn't say one was going to get rid of the other. People read the article before you post... >.>

 

[PunkRex]

Then whats this glowy ball on the end of my Playstation controler?

I believe that is what we call hypocrisy.

OT: Every time someone from Sony starts talking I feel myself disliking Sony a bit more. Downplaying the weight that is carried by casual games after one company known for making social games hit some bumps.

It's not like "hardcore" games are any different. It's all just a diversion to help us relax and enjoy ourselves for a few hours. The same could be said about books, movies, sports or any activity we do for fun. I can't see why it makes a difference in the big picture.

Well funny enough I actually don't agree with you there... the diversion thing, not the Sony are dumb thing (thats true). I get what your saying, these things are a diversion to enjoy/relax, until someone dedicates theirs lives to said diversion, then it becomes a lifestyle (to some its the most important thing in the world). Sony's statement is just disrespectful.

 

[Signa]

Most 'hardcore games' (damn I hate that phrase...) are indeed just diversions. Some aren't, and it's nice to see ones that aim to be more than that. Most casual games are just diversions. Some aren't. I played Passage last night, and I could make an argument for it counting as a casual game that delivers a meaningful experience.

As opposed to core games which are what? Just diversions?

A fulfilling experience that stays with you. I doubt I'm ever gonna meet a person who was majorly impacted in their life by Angry Birds. Unless they had a head-on collision while playing the game.

Bulletstorm is considered a 'hardcore' game. It's fun. I wouldn't say it's a fulfilling experience though. There are 'fulfilling experiences' to be found in both hardcore and casual game.

Argh...apples and oranges in both orchids. How will the 'down with the casual' crowd ever deal with that.

I'm going to borrow a point made by Jim Sterling and point out that if you're using Bulletstorm as a reason why that definition doesn't work, then you know that there is a difference between Angry Birds and Bulletstorm.

The exact definition doesn't matter, because there's always going to be exceptions that cross those lines, no matter where you set them. I've never played Bulletstorm, but from what I understand about it, it's the very "definition" of both hardcore and casual. It's hardcore because it borrows heavily from the gameplay mechanics of other hardcore games, and "casual" gamers wouldn't be interested in it because of having a drawn-out campaign that isn't pick-up-and-play like Bejeweled. However, it suffers greatly from being too casual because mass appeal is important to game companies now, and what we are left with is just another homogenous mess of a product that no one likes.

It's basically why I don't like modern games now, but that's a rant for another time.

 

[Yopaz]

Well funny enough I actually don't agree with you there... the diversion thing, not the Sony are dumb thing (thats true). I get what your saying, these things are a diversion to enjoy/relax, until someone dedicates theirs lives to said diversion, then it becomes a lifestyle (to some its the most important thing in the world). Sony's statement is just disrespectful.

I guess you make a fair point there. Seeing we have people competing in games on a professional level some of them could be compared to athletes in actual sports and go beyond a simple diversion. There's also the jobs that follows, reviewing, sales or market analysts. However for the most case I wouldn't say it goes beyond a diversion. Games are a lot of things, but above all, they are a great way to stimulate the mind. A diversion, but in no way would I say that's a bad thing.

 

[mfeff]

Just like Sony to talk out of both sides of it's mouth. PlanetSide 2 and Dust 514 are very casual games. PlanetSide 2 being the biggest offender which is specifically being designed around a coffee grinder skinner box mentality.

 

[Robert Ewing]

Well, I've been saying this for years. And so has a lot of people. Glad to see someone's getting paid to say it.

 

[TwentyPercentCooler]

Most 'hardcore games' (damn I hate that phrase...) are indeed just diversions. Some aren't, and it's nice to see ones that aim to be more than that. Most casual games are just diversions. Some aren't. I played Passage last night, and I could make an argument for it counting as a casual game that delivers a meaningful experience.

As opposed to core games which are what? Just diversions?

A fulfilling experience that stays with you. I doubt I'm ever gonna meet a person who was majorly impacted in their life by Angry Birds. Unless they had a head-on collision while playing the game.

Bulletstorm is considered a 'hardcore' game. It's fun. I wouldn't say it's a fulfilling experience though. There are 'fulfilling experiences' to be found in both hardcore and casual game.

Argh...apples and oranges in both orchids. How will the 'down with the casual' crowd ever deal with that.

I'm going to borrow a point made by Jim Sterling and point out that if you're using Bulletstorm as a reason why that definition doesn't work, then you know that there is a difference between Angry Birds and Bulletstorm.

The exact definition doesn't matter, because there's always going to be exceptions that cross those lines, no matter where you set them. I've never played Bulletstorm, but from what I understand about it, it's the very "definition" of both hardcore and casual. It's hardcore because it borrows heavily from the gameplay mechanics of other hardcore games, and "casual" gamers wouldn't be interested in it because of having a drawn-out campaign that isn't pick-up-and-play like Bejeweled. However, it suffers greatly from being too casual because mass appeal is important to game companies now, and what we are left with is just another homogenous mess of a product that no one likes.

It's basically why I don't like modern games now, but that's a rant for another time.

Hey, I actually liked Bulletstorm, if only because I have a soft spot for any media that's so obviously taking the piss out of itself.

OT: I don't believe in the sincerity of anything that comes from a Sony exec, but I think the basic premise is correct. Making "games" that exist only to screw people out of as much money as possible is a pretty terrible business model, as Zynga has so aptly demonstrated. Eventually, people are going to smell a rat. I don't rant and rage at the very thought of "casual" games, but just like non-casual games, to be truly successful and enjoyed, they have to have the same level of care and enjoyment injected into their development as anything else. Anything so obviously churned out of a soulless corporate machine is going to be soulless as well.

 

[Signa]

Hey, I actually liked Bulletstorm, if only because I have a soft spot for any media that's so obviously taking the piss out of itself.

Like I said, I haven't played it, but I got it for $5 on Steam, so I'll get around to it and form my own opinion eventually. I too like it when games are self aware, and I laughed my ass off at that one video that was making fun of the CoD series.

 

[FantomOmega]

If your going to survive as a diverse game platform, your going to have to offer both, or not stay in business.

Agreed, Casual gamers are the easiest to attract since they know next to nothing about game quality to scrutinize it with (graphics, frame-rate, game balancing, in-game physics, storyline etc.) and as long as the game is "fun" they will flock to it BUT they are the most fickle and could stop playing the game (not even completing it even) to move to something else.

Hardcore (sigh that word again) gamers brings in steady revenue (if the game is good) and is the backbone of the Core gaming community and Casual gaming can bring in more profit but it is never certain if it will last long beyond a handful of games like if some new game came out and replace Angry Birds in hype (replace birds with cats) and the casual gamers will hail it the second coming of Christ even if the only thing that changed if that felines are being flung at things and cry "meow"!

Nintendo's current issue with Wii can attest to that, they have a HUGE install base but no software being bought at the rate that it should (compared to the PS2) and the Wii U purpose is to rectify that WHILE keeping the causal audience