Casual gamers killing the market.

Casual gamers are indeed killing the market. Real handheld games get outsold by simple things like angry birds. And people buy party games over actual quality games. Where is the gaming market headed?

Casual games aren't killing the market, they're expanding it.

Fast food didn't kill the standalone restaurant market. It's the same sort of thing. It's bred new phenomena, such as food trucks that serve the market that desires fast food that doesn't suck, or restaurant-quality food on the go. Fancier restaurants have dressed down and innovated, rather than relying on old standbies. The incumbent players have to adapt, and the same goes for Nintendo and Sony. I have full confidence that at least Nintendo can continue to thrive and surprise to react to the threat that is Apple.

Casual gamers buy casual games- that's a pretty predictable outcome. Why would a casual gamer buy a "quality game" when it is unappealing to them?

The gaming industry is seeing a boom because of casual games. You're confusing 'killing the market' with a shifting consumer base. Whether this change is for better or for worse depends on where you stand on the issue.

As a fan of bigger, more traditional games, seeing such small production games getting as much attention as they do does make me roll my eyes, but this is also giving smaller games that have always deserved more credit than they got a bigger presence, and smaller developers have a better shot at success than they ever did before.

As the game industry, and technology in general grows, it will adapt like anything else, but dying is exactly what it isn't doing.

~ Blob

Looking at the way the more hardcore niches like Shoot em Ups and Fighters have made a big comeback these last few years, I don't think I agree.

I never expected to be owning five Cave games and a Qute game on an American console.  Plus with two more Treasure games this year, GREV's Strania, 5pb's Bullet Soul, and more Cave, the shoot em up niche has finally reemerged in the West.

Didn't expect Atlus to blow up like they did and release the RPG goodness a lot more frequently here either.

Smaller developers are getting much more chances on getting their games in the limelight now.

I personally like console or "hardcore" games more than some of these other games, but let's face it. The vast majority of people with the money that buy Apple products and browse around the game apps are looking for something quick and amusing to play on their coffee breaks or inside their cubicles hoping their boss doesn't catch them slacking off by blowing up green pigs with an assortment of colored birds.

Yes, these games aren't complex, and they don't have the sophistication of console games. But they're addictive, simple, and fun. I enjoy playing Angry Birds. I'm a little bit more open to creating "casual" games, but I certainly wouldn't want to toss away the more traditional, console game ideas I have. Think about it; these games aren't overly complex which = less work for developers + huge consumer base that likes these kinds of games = more cash = funding to create even better games.

At least, that's how I'd approach this situation. Maybe they'll continue to make Angry Birds 2, or whatever, but if you take advantage of this system and come out with your own "casual" game and it becomes a hit, you can gain profit and use that to fuel production towards your "hardcore" game.

Video Games are kind of founded upon the existence of casual games.  Go ahead, find me a rerelease of Pong that mass media declares is not a casual game.  Frogger?  Pac-Man?  Space Invaders?  If they were released for the first time today, everyone would call them casual, so let's see, looks like the market has been dying for the last 30-40-odd years.

Video Games are kind of founded upon the existence of casual games.  Go ahead, find me a rerelease of Pong that mass media declares is not a casual game.  Frogger?  Pac-Man?  Space Invaders?  If they were released for the first time today, everyone would call them casual, so let's see, looks like the market has been dying for the last 30-40-odd years.

Well that is different, when games were first being made, it was a lot of effort to churn out a simple arcade game. But as time progressed, that's why the arcades virtually died later on, because people preferred the quality of console games.

What makes these "quality console games" so much better than Pac-Man and the like?

What makes these "quality console games" so much better than Pac-Man and the like?

One is a simple "pick up and play" fun, and the other is usually longer in length, may contain a story, gets you engrossed in the world, filled with content, more variety of game play, has a definitive "start" and "end" quest/adventure. I too love to pick up and play simple games for quick fun, however, in no way do they deserve praise and recognition like a real game. Its just sad that people would rather sling a bird on a slingshot for many hours instead of like playing ocarina of time 3ds or super mario bros. 3.

I don't think the arcade died in the United States because those games were inferior, but rather because it was much more convenient to play video games at home.

OK I understand the whole progression thing. It is cool to have a game go from humble beginnings to fighting the big bad enemy dude. That's a hell of a lot of fun.

Just to play devil's advocate (I don't actually believe this) but what if a parent or someone where to say "It's sad that little Jimmy would rather waste his time with Super Mario Bros. 3 when he could be reading books or playing outside."? People always have their own ideas of what other people should do with their time.

I am a casual gamer. I don't play games with stories because I find a lot of the stories in games cliche and cheesey (not to say all of them are). I haven't bought a console game in three years (besides the occasional sports game). I've noticed that I can totally, completely, 100% get my fix for games with cheap casual games, or free flash/indie games.

Casual gamers also demean gaming as a whole. No casual gamer will ever see a game as anything more than a form of quick entertainment. They will never see gaming as an art, and no casual game has things like memoral characters, worlds, locations, iconic greatness. I mean compare a game like Banjo Kazooie, one of the most well crafted games ever created on the Nintendo 64, to a casual game. You dont have to be all serious and gritty to be a hardcore, and games like Banjo and Mario show that. But there is more artistic and atmosphere and charm in a game like banjo kazooie with its simplicity and fun gameplay that it blows away what any casual game would ever be.

One of the defining moments of a game is having a "start" and "finish" to the adventure, as a kid, im sure everyone asked about the ending of games, and always looked for ways to "beat" the game.

I don't think the arcade died in the United States because those games were inferior, but rather because it was much more convenient to play video games at home.

That and arcade machines weren't nearly as easy to mass produce as home consoles.

I too love to pick up and play simple games for quick fun, however, in no way do they deserve praise and recognition like a real game. Its just sad that people would rather sling a bird on a slingshot for many hours instead of like playing ocarina of time 3ds or super mario bros. 3.

Ouch, that's a bold statement to say they're not 'real games'. They might not be as substantial as retail games, but if a lot people are enjoying them it's not 'sad', it's just people enjoying something that you don't fully like.

Retail games haven't gone anywhere. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are all still doing what they've always done. If you take the developers from your 3 favorite retail games, odds are none of them have switched to making casual games. There's still going to be a new Call of Duty out every year for the next 10+ years, and a new Mario game every other year.

Casual gamers also demean gaming as a whole. No casual gamer will ever see a game as anything more than a form of quick entertainment. They will never see gaming as an art

So what? At least they're actually playing games now. Before there were such accessible casual games, the casual gamer didn't even play video games, and they didn't acknowledge them as much back then either.

Casual games aren't making people who do appreciate games make them appreciate them less, they're making people who didn't appreciate games before start appreciating them to some degree. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

~ Blob