I have a confession to make. I am a casual gamer, and, if I am being brutally honest, prefer solo action to anything social.
Trying to fit gaming time into my fast-paced 21st Century existence can be a struggle. The constant demands of being available 24/7 either through my smartphone or the joys of constant Internet access means that the majority of my console access is taken up by short bursts of activity. Thirty minutes here and there — occasionally I treat myself to an hour of Batman: Arkham Asylum and if there is nothing pressing in my life I can lock myself away in Grand Theft Auto for an undetermined time.
Even when I get the chance to travel with my PSP, the limited battery life means that extended play is not always possible.
But are Casual and Social Gaming taking over Nation’s collective idea of what videogaming is all about?
My gaming time is precious and important to me. The chance to pick up and play on a daily basis is what matters and I make time to enter an immersive world at least once. However while I game on a casual basis, I am not a Casual or Social Gamer.
Recently, the casual gaming market has exploded into gaming consciousness. Hugely popular social games such as Farmville, Pet Society, Bejeweled Blitz and Mafia Wars have ensured that Facebook is quickly becoming a major player in the gaming industry. Some 80 million unique users are busy tending their crops and telling their friends when they have purchased a cow in Farmville, if you would rather be a fashion superstar or create your own superhero, then there are opportunities to do this too.
In Seattle this week, 3,000 developers descended upon Casual Connect 2010 to discuss the next steps in casual gaming and how best to continue to hook the public into a genre that relies on the simplicity of pick-up-and-play games. Companies such as Blue Fang Games in Waltham, Mass. — a traditional game developer — recently introduced Zoo Kingdom onto the social networking site and already have 1.5 million monthly users. Speaking this week, COO Scott Triola said that “Its just an additional revenue stream that can be used to support the business,” adding, “The ability to create and launch a game direct to consumers in a reasonable time frame with a level of resources we can self-fund makes this very attractive to us.”
Studies have shown that an estimated 200 million users play casual games online a month (although industry estimates put that figure to nearer 400 million), most of whom would certainly not consider themselves to be “gamers” in the traditional sense of the word. Facebook’s top 200 games reported 600 million Monthly Active Users (MAU) in April (Source: Edge Magazine, July 2010) and that is certainly an impressive amount of gaming traffic. The demographic of those playing games online differs greatly from the traditional hardcore player, with a predominance of female players and individuals who like to grab ten minutes of game-time either in the office or at school. Add into that figure the amount of people who play games on either their smartphones or other mobile media devices and the possibilities for games developers are seemingly endless.
Jon Radoff of locally-based Disrupter Beam sees that as a positive development and believes that “the social game environment is an interesting space for creating new types of game narrative, meaningful decision making and real character building over time.” He says he hopes “the whole idea of only ‘gamers’ play games is going out of society.”
The appeal of these casual/social games is obvious. They have simple gameplay, can be played using a one-button mouse or cell-phone keypad, require no long term commitment, allow the player to game in short bursts and, due to the low production values are comparatively cheap to produce and distribute.
But I still find this genre of the industry to be unedifying.
For me, the casual game is a low hanging fruit, inexplicably popular and capable of being quite irritating. I have numerous friends on Facebook who play Farmville, and being constantly told about their latest acquisitions takes up space in my day. Games on the iTunes store are unsatisfying and while they may give a quick burst of gaming, the apparent lack of story development and narrative means that the brevity of the experience is a turn-off.
However I am probably a lone dissenter.
Casual gaming is here to stay, and the social gaming space will continue to be populated by simple games that do not take up to much time. For the gamer that still wants to be transported to an another world, the immersive nature of MMORPG’s such as World of Warcraft or locally-based Turbine’s Lord of the Rings will still draw the committed enthusiast. Moreover, the possibilities that exist through the online portals such as Xbox Live, Playstation Home or recently launched OnLive.com – which does boast BostInno fave title AaaaA – will ensure that the traditional gamer is not overlooked.
Who knows. maybe the people who only ever play Facebook games might decide to expand their own horizons and actually purchase a console. If that is the case, then the influence of social or casual gaming might benefit the entire industry as opposed to a single social network.
After all, the joy of gaming should not just be limited to those of us who prefer solitary pursuits.
What do you think about online Social Gaming’s rise? Is it bad for the scene for it’s non-traditional experience, or is it good for gaming because it’s getting more people involved. Let us know in the comments section below.
