5 ms·

I have a hard time believing that casual games are "the future" and that high end gaming isn't going to continue being a major force. We're really going to liv

by GavinB 15y ago

I have a hard time believing that casual games are "the future" and that high end gaming isn't going to continue being a major force. We're really going to live in a future with incredible technology and not have amazing total-immersion environments? Casual games are reaching an untapped audience via iOS and facebook, but there are hundreds of millions of people who want the most advanced games that are available. Are we really going to be too lazy to put down the ipad and walk down the hall to the holodeck?

bluedanieru 15y ago
I think it's that casual gaming is a rapidly growing niche and the gold rush is still on. So it gets all the press and the inevitable conclusion that there must be something that it will replace, which is true in the sense that people have a finite amount of time to do things, but how many gamers do you know who are playing little other than Angry Birds or whatever the hell else these days? Portable gaming might be a different bag though. Those are largely regarded as time-wasters anyway, and some of the titles you see on Wii-Ware and DSi are also available on App Store and Android Market (e.g. And Yet It Moves), so clearly someone sees an intersection there. I regard portable gaming consoles as mainly for kids personally, and I don't think there is direct competition but time will tell.
- fiblye 15y ago
  >I regard portable gaming consoles as mainly for kids personally I strongly disagree. Consoles these days are mainly about pushing polygons and being a cinematic experience. Handheld games (as in DS and PSP) usually allow developers to be a bit more creative while still offering an experience similar to what we've come to expect on console and PC games: hours of content with things like plot and heaps of content to motivate us to keep playing. When you buy an iOS game, you can expect maybe 20 levels at 3 minutes each or 100 levels at 30 seconds each. There's no real reason to complete these games, and you'll probably only beat them because you have nothing better to do. DS and PSP games are probably best described as "toilet games". That is, they're for when you have loads of time to waste and there's no rush to finish up. You want to keep playing these games, whereas iOS games are for when you want whatever you're waiting for to start. If anything, the indie game market on PC is comparable to the current handheld market. They're full games that aren't meant to dethrone the big budget games, but they're instead a good way to tide you over until the next big release, with maybe a few spectacular titles in between. iOS and Android games are more like flash games, and while they're extremely popular today, I expect the market to decline without fully collapsing. People will always want to play these little time-wasters, but they'll stick with what's familiar and not actively search for anything new.
  - bluedanieru 15y ago
    I suspect you're right about the basic nature of iOS and Android, but only half-right about portable consoles at least historically. Portable consoles have also filled the 'nothing better to do' niche in the past (Tetris was hugely successful on Gameboy) and this is where I expect they'll face stiff competition from iOS and Android. We'll just see less crap on portable consoles, and the players that put out quality titles won't be affected a great deal.

by GavinB 15y ago

bluedanieru 15y ago

I think it's that casual gaming is a rapidly growing niche and the gold rush is still on. So it gets all the press and the inevitable conclusion that there must be something that it will replace, which is true in the sense that people have a finite amount of time to do things, but how many gamers do you know who are playing little other than Angry Birds or whatever the hell else these days? Portable gaming might be a different bag though. Those are largely regarded as time-wasters anyway, and some of the titles you see on Wii-Ware and DSi are also available on App Store and Android Market (e.g. And Yet It Moves), so clearly someone sees an intersection there. I regard portable gaming consoles as mainly for kids personally, and I don't think there is direct competition but time will tell.

fiblye 15y ago
>I regard portable gaming consoles as mainly for kids personally I strongly disagree. Consoles these days are mainly about pushing polygons and being a cinematic experience. Handheld games (as in DS and PSP) usually allow developers to be a bit more creative while still offering an experience similar to what we've come to expect on console and PC games: hours of content with things like plot and heaps of content to motivate us to keep playing. When you buy an iOS game, you can expect maybe 20 levels at 3 minutes each or 100 levels at 30 seconds each. There's no real reason to complete these games, and you'll probably only beat them because you have nothing better to do. DS and PSP games are probably best described as "toilet games". That is, they're for when you have loads of time to waste and there's no rush to finish up. You want to keep playing these games, whereas iOS games are for when you want whatever you're waiting for to start. If anything, the indie game market on PC is comparable to the current handheld market. They're full games that aren't meant to dethrone the big budget games, but they're instead a good way to tide you over until the next big release, with maybe a few spectacular titles in between. iOS and Android games are more like flash games, and while they're extremely popular today, I expect the market to decline without fully collapsing. People will always want to play these little time-wasters, but they'll stick with what's familiar and not actively search for anything new.
- bluedanieru 15y ago
  I suspect you're right about the basic nature of iOS and Android, but only half-right about portable consoles at least historically. Portable consoles have also filled the 'nothing better to do' niche in the past (Tetris was hugely successful on Gameboy) and this is where I expect they'll face stiff competition from iOS and Android. We'll just see less crap on portable consoles, and the players that put out quality titles won't be affected a great deal.