AfterDawn: News

Casual gamers forgotten by games industry

A gaming conference in London has been told that they need to start making more games for "casual gamers". The makers up until now have been focusing mainly on big gamers but have forgotten those who only like to play a few hours out of every week. The gaming markets are growing fast with people in the UK spending about £20 million a week on games. These people are considered hardcore or dedicated gamers as the UK has a very low number of what are described as casual gamers. In the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain there are approximately 24 million gamers.

If you look at the average most popular games these days, you will notice they are very long and very complicated for people who aren’t used to gaming. Other features like online play that seem to attract the hardcore gamers would be even harder for the casual gamer to enjoy, as they would be playing against the "professionals". Sean Dromgoole of research firm GameVision Europe says it’s very important that the industry try to find ways to entice these casual gamers to buy more games. These casual gamers account for 11% of the $30bn spent annually worldwide on games.



Source:
BBC News

Written by: James Delahunty @ 4 Sep 2004 11:14

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• 6 comments

• ogryzek

  Alleluia !
  
  Right on the target. In my busy day I do not have time to dedicate a couple of hours to 'hardcore' gaming habit. All I can afford is maybe a 30min chunk here and another 15min chunk there.
  
  So far I have been collecting some older arcade / side-scrolling games, and some Solitaire / Tetris type games. Those let me jump in and out without getting 'invested emotionally'.
  
  MAME emulators running older games are an option here, however I would love to see updated (with newer graphics and soundtrack) versions of old classics.

  4.9.2004 12:20 #1

• Toiletman

  Sadly, most casual gamers are the ones making "WTFLOLOBBQQ plzzzzzz!11!1!1!" posts on any forum they join, and sadly, they fail to appreciate the greatness of games. (e.g. They'll look at Half Life 2 and say "meh") Which isn't very surprising, considering they ARE casual gamers.

  4.9.2004 20:22 #2

• ogryzek

  And how does that relate to the issue at hand ?...

  5.9.2004 06:33 #3

• marioxb

  It seems I used to play games a lot more. Now all I seem to do is buy many games and they just sit there on the shelf never being played.

  5.9.2004 11:02 #4

• Toiletman

  Marioxb, try actually playing them. I have a friend who doesn't like actually playing games, but he has tons of them. One day I went over and we played a game despite moaning, and he actually really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun.
  
  You could say I converted him back into the world of gaming XD... Whether that's good or bad, I don't know!
  Quote: ogryzek said: And how does that relate to the issue at hand ?... How does THAT relate to the issue at hand.
  

  Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.

  6.9.2004 08:31 #5

• strcruzer

  Us casual gamers don't have the time to invest like the hardcore ones do. There is life outside of the house you know! Kids and other activities are a bit more important. I still like to play a game now and again but don't have hours at a time to do it.
  
  A buddy of mine is a Hardcore gamer and he spends hours at a time sitting in front of his TV just playing his games and doesn't seem to ever want to go out or even read a book. This is my perspective of course so I am not one to waste my time (hours at a time) playing very involved games.
  
  Thats the point.

  8.9.2004 09:26 #6