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Casual games consuming 'me time'
According to a survey commissioned by MSN Games, Americans are stressed out and starved for their 'me time,' with more than half of the adult population squeezing in less than an hour of daily downtime. Microsoft, with a thumbs-up from Stress Institute founder Dr. Kathleen Hall, is encouraging the over-worked to join millions of others who spend their fleeting moments of free time playing casual games. "Taking a break to solve a brain-teasing puzzle or take on a fun vocabulary challenge on MSN Games is a perfect way to clear your mind of the clutter and stress that can pile up during the day," diagnosed Dr. Hall.But does playing a game actually "clear" your mind, or just distract it? Even worse, what happens when you can't solve the brain-teaser -- does the stress continue to accumulate? Perhaps if you've got only 20 minutes a day to yourself, you should spend less time playing, and more time examining your lifestyle. Take a walk. Decide if a life devoid of 'me time' is actually making you happy. See that guy in the picture? He's just about to take back his 'me time' ... wait for it ... wait for it...
Wii Warm Up: So, Zorro
Yeah, we saw this one coming -- a Zorro game for the Wii. We can see it. The Wii remote is made for sword-fighting, and slashing the iconic "Z" with the controller is something we should all probably do once. But a whole game? We're skeptical ... and more so when it comes to the philosophy behind it. According to the developers, Pronto Games, they're trying to cram something for everyone into a small package; they want something "instantly engaging" with "challenges for casual gamers but with an interest level that will attract hard core gamers, too." While it sounds good on paper, it seems as though they're more interested in trying to please everyone than they are in just producing a good game. What's your take on this coming title?
Games for every day in Touchmaster ad
Why, it seems like we were just talking about Touchmaster DS, and now we've got all sorts of advertisement goodness! Well, some goodness, at least -- it's not the best DS ad we've ever seen, but it does do a good job of communicating what the games is and why you should buy it this summer, but in a Pepsi challenge, we'd probably take this one. Check out the video after the jump and let us know what you think.
Vista security too tight on casual games, claims WildTangent
DirectX creator Alex St. John says Windows Vista "breaks" casual games. The WildTangent CEO recently described the arduous process of patching his company's network of games to ensure Vista compatibility. The effort reportedly took a year of working closely with "nearly every major casual game developer.""Parents who choose to use Vista's parental controls are likely to accidentally block access to hundreds of very popular family friendly games that happen not to have ESRB ratings," explained St. John. Casual game networks hosted by Yahoo, AOL, RealArcade, and even Microsoft (MSN Games) could all be affected, according to St. John. Microsoft has yet to comment on the allegations.It should be noted that WildTangent's software is often denoted as spyware by antispyware applications. While the software is generally regarded as harmless, it's often installed without express consent (and remains self-updating); WildTangent also reserves the right to collect personal information for use in tuning its products.
Casual gaming, hardcore competition with Touchmaster
If you've ever spent any time hanging out in bars (something we would never, ever do -- did we mention never ever?), then it's likely you've stumbled across Midway's touch screen games at some point. Now, in a marriage of gaming goodness that seems so obvious in retrospect that we're surprised it took them so long, Midway is bringing a collection of some of their best touch screen games to the DS. Entitled Touchmaster DS, the game will include 23 different games from the arcade machines, including trivia, card games, and puzzlers. Sounds pretty average for a collection of casual games ... but there's a twist. Touchmaster DS will use the Nintendo WiFi connection to interface with Midway's own scoring system, so player rankings will be compared with those of people all over the world. Players will also be able to participate in tournaments.Midway expects to release the game later this year.
Blocking business targets gaming at the workplace
Sophos PLC is in the business of security. For years the company has designed software to protect business networks from viruses and spyware. But a recent survey determined a need to extend security concerns to another productivity inhibitor: games. And so, a January upgrade to Sophos's application will quietly erect a wall, blocking mischievous employees from their secret workplace obsessions, like The Sims 2, Need For Speed Carbon, and Guild Wars: Nightfall.Of course, blocking games does more than just thwart slackerdom, it protects networks against malware (often hidden in game installations); programs that could potentially compromise a business's security. We're all for playing it safe too -- just keep an ear out for big boss as you sneak some Portable Ops in under the desk.[Via VH1 Game Break]
MumboJumbo brings mass-market games to the PSP [Update 1]
Have you ever played LUXOR? I haven't, but according to Pocket Gamer, over 40 million people have! Yikes! I guess casual gamers really ARE an important demographic for companies to target. Well, it looks like two casual games are coming to hardcore PSP owners: Luxor: Wrath of Set and Platypus. Luxor is one of those marble games, akin to DS's Magnetica. Platypus looks to mesh the shooting action of Gradius with the classic look of Clayfighter.Both games are coming to the US in November for the "mass-market" price of $30.[Update 1: Yes, made a boo-boo on the names. And Platypus is a weird word to spell.]
Study supports Nintendo's casual gamer opinions
It seems Nintendo's opinions on older folks wanting to play games may not totally be without merit. While chances are should you shove a DS in front of your grandparent's face and demand they play, you'd only receive a puzzled look before said grandparent went back to their game of bridge, this new study shows that it's likely your grandparent already owns the DS and game, and is playing bridge online.This new study, conducted by PopCap Games, shows that 66% of the estimated 150 million consumers that play casual games are over the age of 50. The study shows that these new breed of casual gamers enjoy playing titles daily for a mental workout, stress relief, and even pain distraction. We know shouting "brew" at our DS at the top of our lungs is a painful distraction all its own.[Via Joystiq]
GuildWatch: Shameless self promotion
Sorry GuildWatch is running a little late this evening-- my guild, Gothic Bunnies on Thunderhorn-H (see above) came *this* close to finishing off Rajaxx this evening (we're casual, you hardcore raiders-- no comments from the peanut gallery, please). The good news is that while sites like NotAddicted give you theoretical guild drama, we've got the real thing-- and we're even making some ourselves.If you want your guild (or tips about a guild you know) to show up here on Tuesdays, drop us a line at wowguildwatch@gmail.com. You're the ones out there fighting, downing, and recruiting-- we just want to report it. This week's GW is... well, you know the rest.
Categorizing gamers, from hardcore to casual
It's always been extremely convenient to categorize the wide spectrum of gamers into the two distinct, warring camps of "hardcore" and "casual" (especially for journalists, who love condensing difficult ideas into single words) . But that dichotomy isn't too useful for accurately describing most gamers, who fall somewhere in between the guys from Penny Arcade and your grandpa who played Tetris that one time. Enter Parks Associates, a market research firm that recently issued a report on online gamers that divides them into six distinct groups based on their time and motivational commitments. Parks' categories include: "Power gamers" who spend the most money on games. "Social gamers" who use games mainly to socialize (duh!) "Leisure gamers" who spend lots of time playing mainly challenging, casual titles. "Dormant gamers" who like playing games but just don't have the time. "Incidental gamers" who play games because there's nothing better to do. "Occasional gamers," who will occasionally play a puzzle, word, or board game. This division isn't perfect (where's the space for people who buy one game and play it exclusively for months?) but it's definitely an interesting new way to think about and discuss the incredibly wide array of people who play. What kind of gamer are you?
RealArcade head talks casual game growth
You'd think a company that gives away 700,000 game demos a day would be on the forefront of gamers' minds. Yet most hardcore gamers probably don't consider RealArcade when they think of major players in the industry.Casual games site Gamezebo has an interview with RealNetworks Senior VP for Games Michael Schutzler where he talks about the future of the casual games. Among the more interesting points: Research shows casual game players use the games as an "essential part of their sanity management." RealNetworks has developed a super-secret model that can predict how well a new casual game will do in its first week. Schutzler says mobile games won't succeed until they are easier to share and have a real killer app. The full interview has more details on RealArcade's plans for multiplayer, Xbox Live Arcade and in-game advertising.
Rob Pardo and the Success of Warcraft
Joi Ito has a post up about Rob Pardo and the success of World of Warcraft as a casual game. And, while a lot of people (myself included) believe the game stops being so "casual" when players hit level 60, the experience up to that point is much more casual and accessible than in other games of this nature. And even at level 60, the raiding experience can be casual as well - if you can find, or build, the right type of guild.
PC impressions: Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Disney's upcoming MMO Pirates of the Caribbean Online is aimed at the teen and casual market, enticing fans of the films to try a new genre. As such, it's a very stylised representation of a pirate world, with fast-paced action that's easy to jump into for a few minutes. The story runs parallel to the films, with sub-plots revolving around the main characters that fans know and love.The aim of the game is to sculpt a career as a pirate, building up notoriety that takes into account skills like sword fighting, captaining ships and playing cards. With a group of players, you can crew a ship, with every player taking a particular role -- from firing cannons to piloting the ship. Disney isn't aiming for historical accuracy, so moving a ship is much like driving a car -- it even has a reverse gear.
Uno theme decks on the way
I had a quick chat with Joshua Howard of Microsoft Casual Games, project manager for Uno, Totem Balls and Lumines, not to mention the revised in-box games (think Solitaire, FreeCell) that will be included with Windows Vista. According to man behind the wild cards, downloadable theme decks are headed to XBLM, starting with a replica of the 35th Anniversary deck that Mattel is selling in stores. Most of the theme decks will be based on first party MS titles like Kameo and will cost you a few MS points, although the possibility exists for sponsored editions. You don't have to own a theme deck to see it when you're playing a friend who does. Josh talked up Mattel's enthusiasm for Xbox Live Arcade, which bodes well for future possibilities involving their trademarks. The gamercard pictures you see in the screenshot above are where the video chat windows will go when the 360 camera is released. Apparently, getting the space to re-size properly was a real pain in the ass. By the way, if you want to go mano y mano with the Uno dude, Josh's gamertag is rather low key: joshuah.
Carnival of Gamers celebrates first anniversary
It's that time of month again -- the Carnival of Gamers has made its fourteenth stop, coincidentally marking its first anniversary (there were two last June). This regular collection of game writing from around the blogosphere is a delightful way to get some alternate opinions aired and always seems to be worth the reading time.This month's edition covers casual vs hardcore gaming; the Wii; violence and politics; modern MMO issues; and a few other juicy topics from co-op gaming to the ESRB. There's plenty of thought-provoking material in true Carnival style.See also:Carnival of Gamers gets n3rfedCarnival of Gamers rolls on to Virgin WorldsCarnival of Gamers gathers under Slashdot's tent
Google's Da Vinci Code: two weeks in
The Da Vinci Code web-based game from Google is on its fifteenth day of twenty-four, and we've had time to figure out quite what the game is all about. It's effectively a serialised puzzle game, with daily challenges which increase in difficulty as time wears on. What's more interesting is the sheer weight of Google's cross-promotion. For example, a link to the game appears on standard search results, and the game itself plugs into Google's personalised homepage service. While the logic-based puzzles are straightforward, follow-on questions require some searching, promoting Google's more obscure services such as SMS translation.With the entire Google machine behind it, this game could become very popular indeed -- this seems like a lightweight experiment to test the model, but we wouldn't be surprised if more 'casual' games come out of Google in future.
Pong gets its MMO groove on
Billed as "massively multiplayer Pong", this Flash interpretation of the all-time classic falls more into the "collaborative" than the "MMO" category. You are randomly assigned to a side--red or blue--and have to work with other players to play an otherwise normal game of Pong.Interestingly, the game is difficult to sabotage, thanks to the presence of other players and the clear, universal common goal. Bow down to the hive mind, mortals.[Thanks, Tim]
Curing MMORPG inertia
As MMOs become more accessible, casual players who have little contiguous time to play can run into a form of player inertia. The effort required to reach the next level is too great; levelling up is too far away to justify a week of plugging away for an hour a day. This inertia inevitably causes players to stop playing altogether, and to leave the game.This soapbox column at Gamasutra addresses the problem with an idea based around "dynamic lifestyle adjustment". Why should your characters freeze when you log off? Instead, let them do some low-level adventuring without your intervention -- a small trickle of experience gain which, if you're offline for long enough, will help push you towards that next milestone.It's an interesting idea; MMOs, for the most part, follow similar templates along the lines of "experience and skills are only gained when players log in and work for them". While some differ, none take it to quite this extreme, and it would be interesting to see a game take this idea and aim itself squarely at the casual market.
Age old debate?
Casual vs. Hardcore, Raider vs. Solo, etc etc. If you have been combing through the forums daily with me, I am sure you see the same threads about how blizzard is ignoring the soloing population of Warcraft. Well, Blizzard is silent no longer; they have released a small statement in the forums to address everyone making the comments. To summarize for you, they are working on it! Development and testing takes time, based on the number of developers they have. Blizzard is also still experimenting with ways to fix problems such as rewarding questing at level 60 or stat progression for non-raiders. I am sure we each have in-depth opinions on how they can fix it, so feel free to drop them here once the comment system is back up. You can also post your comments to blizzard in this new thread.
