What is a casual gamer? (mini-rant)

[Jack]

I've played Jump Superstars, and it's nothing amazing. It's a sub-par Super Smash Bros clone, with anime characters thrown in. Without the Dragonball connection, people wouldn't take notice of it. Likewise, FIFA isn't anything special. It's come on in leaps and bounds in recent versions though, probably because of Pro Evo becoming more popular. It's gone from being terrible to average.

 

And what exactly sucks about the charts? The games you don't like are in it? Other people in "having different tastes to you" shocker. Of course if you're going to put a obscure game up against Harry Potter, people are going to pick up the Harry Potter game. People see the name and recognise it, so they buy it. You see a Zelda game, you recognise it, you buy it. Same thing.

 

It's funny you should mention Ico, because Shadow of the Collosus sold really, really well. It went into the charts at number one, and even though it's just as shit as Ico is, I'm amazed it sold as much as it did. There's clearly room for both big-budget tie-ins and obscure quirky games, so I don't know what people are upset about. Without the big-budget games, there wouldn't be the budgets for more adventurous projects. I'm willing to bet (read: hoping) that Michel Ancel did the King Kong game so he could fund Beyond Good & Evil 2.

[mcj metroid]

Here's the most recent top 10 all format chart I could find, for June 11-17:

 

http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6152931.html?sid=6152931

 

1: 2006 FIFA World Cup

2: Hitman: Blood Money

3: Tomb Raider: Legend

4: Dr Kawashima's Brain Training

5: Pro Evolution Soccer 5

6: Sensible Soccer 2006

7: MotoGP 06

8: Animal Crossing: Wild World

9: Championship Manager 2006

10: Football Manager 2006

 

Look at that! Two quirky DS games in there. In the all-format chart nonetheless. Brain Training is outselling Sensible Soccer, an established property. And other than the football games featuring licences for real player names, I don't see a lot of "tie-in rubbish" in there. All of these games started off as games, not as films or books.

 

 

 

I really don't. Enlighten me.

 

 

 

And "hardcores" buy brands they recognise. Mario. Metroid. Final Fantasy. These are all brands, you know. I bet you recognise all of them.

why are u arguing with me?a casual is a gamer who will buy games based on brands outside gaming like flming and music(bulletproof ughhh).yes i know metroid and mario are brands but does a typical casual say OMG A NEW MARIo or OMG A NEW FIFA.

 

the simple difference is u live in europe(i take it)jump superstars is not available so u must go to great legths to get it making u a hardcore gamer,becasue u MUST play this game..

i dont claim to be an expert on this.Its actually hard to explain

 

I've played Jump Superstars, and it's nothing amazing. It's a sub-par Super Smash Bros clone, with anime characters thrown in. Without the Dragonball connection, people wouldn't take notice of it. Likewise, FIFA isn't anything special. It's come on in leaps and bounds in recent versions though, probably because of Pro Evo becoming more popular. It's gone from being terrible to average.

 

And what exactly sucks about the charts? The games you don't like are in it? Other people in "having different tastes to you" shocker. Of course if you're going to put a obscure game up against Harry Potter, people are going to pick up the Harry Potter game. People see the name and recognise it, so they buy it. You see a Zelda game, you recognise it, you buy it. Same thing.

 

It's funny you should mention Ico, because Shadow of the Collosus sold really, really well. It went into the charts at number one, and even though it's just as shit as Ico is, I'm amazed it sold as much as it did. There's clearly room for both big-budget tie-ins and obscure quirky games, so I don't know what people are upset about. Without the big-budget games, there wouldn't be the budgets for more adventurous projects. I'm willing to bet (read: hoping) that Michel Ancel did the King Kong game so he could fund Beyond Good & Evil 2.

why are u being such as ass about something u know.The fact that u are on a nintendo site indicates to me did u dont like these games.I never met a nintendo fan who loves fifa and mario.........

look at the uk charts.Polluted by film games etc(not so much at the moment but wait till christams)

does it not bother u that fifa is our best selling game EVERY single year?it pisses me off anyway when Pro evo is better.

[Jack]

why are u arguing with me?a casual is a gamer who will buy games based on brands outside gaming like flming and music(bulletproof ughhh).yes i know metroid and mario are brands but does a typical casual say OMG A NEW MARIo or OMG A NEW FIFA.

 

the simple difference is u live in europe(i take it)jump superstars is not available so u must go to great legths to get it making u a hardcore gamer,becasue u MUST play this game..

i dont claim to be an expert on this.Its actually hard to explain

 

I do live in Europe, yes. Specifically, Durham. Pop in for a cuppa if you like.

 

If casuals buy games based on films and music, does that mean that GoldenEye and Donkey Konga are games for casuals?

 

I don't think it's particularly difficult to get Japanese games either. The DS is totally region free, so ordering a game from Play-Asia or Lik-Sang isn't any more difficult from ordering from Amazon or Play. Of course, you've got to go to places like GameFAQs to get translation guides and such, so there's that extra element of effort there. I don't think playing Japanese games means you should say you're better than other people though.

 

why are u being such as ass about something u know.The fact that u are on a nintendo site indicates to me did u dont like these games.I never met a nintendo fan who loves fifa and mario.........

look at the uk charts.Polluted by film games etc(not so much at the moment but wait till christams)

does it not bother u that fifa is our best selling game EVERY single year?it pisses me off anyway when Pro evo is better.

 

It doesn't bother me that FIFA is the best selling game. I'm not interested in football, so it doesn't affect me. I also didn't know you can't be a Nintendo fan if you like both FIFA and Mario. Where's that written down? Can you not be a PlayStation fan if you like Mario games?

[Hero-of-Time]

And what exactly sucks about the charts? The games you don't like are in it? Other people in "having different tastes to you" shocker. Of course if you're going to put a obscure game up against Harry Potter, people are going to pick up the Harry Potter game. People see the name and recognise it, so they buy it. You see a Zelda game, you recognise it, you buy it. Same thing.

 

 

True to a certain extent, what it does prove is that the UK is made up of the casual side of gaming. If the same happened in Japan I wager that the obscure title would come out on top. Like you said its just a matter of tastes and this country clearly doesnt have any

 

I do see your point in people buy what they recognise but that is the problem. Parents will go in a games shop and look for a game for their kid but instead of doing a bit research they will go grab the nearset tie-in title which always happens and ends up going top of the charts when most of the time they are shoddy games. Case in point was a few years back when Who Wants To Be A Millionaire just destroyed everything in its path despite being a very poor game.

 

Anyways I have said my bit and wont visit this topic anymore as it seems to be turing into someform of argument rather than a disussion.

[Mikey]

I'm an educated casual gamer. Meaning, I don't complete games 100%, I don't play them for hours and hours over and over like when I was a kid, but I still know which are the best games to buy.

[Zero Seven]

I'm an educated casual gamer. Meaning, I don't complete games 100%, I don't play them for hours and hours over and over like when I was a kid, but I still know which are the best games to buy.

 

Exactly like me man as im very educated in videogaming myself but when I was a kid i wasnt happy until i had my games completed 100%, Now for example, there is NO way you would find me trying to beat RE DS under 3 hours for the rocket launcher or such... but if i was a kid again id really be interested in doing that, I just dont play games for as long as I used to.

 

I actually read the videogames news every day from multiple sites (Revo-Europe is the best tho ) to a point where i read about games more than I play them at the moment but I think that is also due to the fact im waiting for the Wii to come out.

 

Ive never met a Nintendo fan in Belfast that doesnt know his stuff tho, everyone ive met that is really into Nintendo games has some sort of in-depth knowlage of Nintendo.

 

Most of my friends are casual gamers in the sense that they only hear if a game is good if someone says so (hear say) and dont know anything about sequels to any specific game until it hits the stores.

 

They know nothing about sales figures, which company or console makes the most profit dispite how well or badly it sells, like what Babooo said "A casual gamer is someone who enjoys videogames but doesnt follow the videogame industry" and as for my casual gaming friends... they couldnt even tell ya who made their favourite game unless they had the game case with them.

 

My friends are also lured in by advertising... its scary how one advert can make my friends say "wow! that game is amazing! im gonna get it!" with no knowlage weather that game is all graphics and crap gameplay or weather it was downright rushed.

 

Its also funny how I lent my friend Metroid Zero mission, He got a GBA ages ago as a present but he didnt buy games for it, only bought games for his playstation and overnight playing Metroid, He suddenly became a Nintendo fan at heart and he has been asking about how far along Metroid Prime 3 for the Wii is and asked me for the Timeline of the Metroid Story. He's even has been taking it to work with him and everything.. its a real shame that he couldnt get to play Super Metroid because as good as M: ZM is.. its nothing compared to Super Metroid.

[mcj metroid]

I do live in Europe, yes. Specifically, Durham. Pop in for a cuppa if you like.

 

If casuals buy games based on films and music, does that mean that GoldenEye and Donkey Konga are games for casuals?

 

I don't think it's particularly difficult to get Japanese games either. The DS is totally region free, so ordering a game from Play-Asia or Lik-Sang isn't any more difficult from ordering from Amazon or Play. Of course, you've got to go to places like GameFAQs to get translation guides and such, so there's that extra element of effort there. I don't think playing Japanese games means you should say you're better than other people though.

 

 

 

It doesn't bother me that FIFA is the best selling game. I'm not interested in football, so it doesn't affect me. I also didn't know you can't be a Nintendo fan if you like both FIFA and Mario. Where's that written down? Can you not be a PlayStation fan if you like Mario games?

 

ok ok ok fitst of all

i didnt say that u say that you re better than other people,just that u are a hardcore gamer meaning u go to more extremes to play games,u play games more .Maybe it isnt that difficult but its still more difficult than walking into a shop and picking out the game.isnt it.

 

really do u know any hardcore nintendo fan that likes fifa as much as mario?i doubt it.why?because every nintendo fan knows that pro evo is better in the first place.I know they re fans of mario and pro evo but not fifa.i know this one is strange seeing as only fifa is on nintendo consoles but its still true.

 

yes goldeneye for the casuals that so happens to be excellent.Casual games arent only licensed game.....donky konga is not a casual game.....a game with bongos.Cmon where did that come from just because it has music....its not licensed because they are not the actual songs,same with BUZZ.

 

well if it doesnt bother u that fifa is top of the charts then thats your opinion.It annoys me,i got the same feeling when i found out that war of the worlds was top of the cinema charts because its so shit

[Jack]

It's not a case of every fan "knowing" that a game is better. That's impossible, because there's no quantifier for what makes a game better. Do I know any hardcore Nintendo fans who like both Mario and FIFA? No, I don't, not personally. That doesn't mean they don't exist though. People are allowed to like games they want to, you know.

 

And if you're interested in playing Pro Evo on a Nintendo console, try looking up Winning Eleven 6 Final Evolution for the GameCube. It's meant to be very good.

[Jwizzman]

What is a hardcore gamer? IMHO that's easy

 

A hardcore gamer had finished the majority of the must-play games of the current generation.

 

Therefore a hardcore gamer has good sense in games and watches the development and changes of the industry.

 

These are a couple of games that pretty much defined gaming in a new and unique way this generation and therefore are must play games.

 

-Viewtiful Joe (NGC, PS2)

-Ikaruga (DC, NGC)

-Ninja Gaiden (Black)(Xbox)

-Final Fantasy X (PS2)

-F-zero GX (NGC)

-Resident Evil 4 (NGC, PS2)

-Halo (Xbox, PC)

-Half-Life 2 (PC, Xbox)

-Sonic (NGC, PS2, Xbox)

-Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

-Super Smash Brothers Melee (NGC)

-Metroid Prime (NGC)

 

there's also a couple of minor fators like all time greats. if you've never played a mario, zelda or final fantasy game...well you know

 

: peace:

[mcj metroid]

It's not a case of every fan "knowing" that a game is better. That's impossible, because there's no quantifier for what makes a game better. Do I know any hardcore Nintendo fans who like both Mario and FIFA? No, I don't, not personally. That doesn't mean they don't exist though. People are allowed to like games they want to, you know.

 

And if you're interested in playing Pro Evo on a Nintendo console, try looking up Winning Eleven 6 Final Evolution for the GameCube. It's meant to be very good.

nah i dont like soccer games really.

the only way u can say that a game is better is if its the same genere or near enough.for example u cant say that halo is better than metroid prime.

but i believe u can say thatcall of duty is better than medal of honour.

[Jack]

nah i dont like soccer games really.

the only way u can say that a game is better is if its the same genere or near enough.for example u cant say that halo is better than metroid prime.

but i believe u can say thatcall of duty is better than medal of honour.

You've missed the point. You can't say that Game X just "is" better than Game Y, because it's down to the individual. There's no measurable factor which makes some games better than other games. I could say Medal of Honor is better than Call of Duty - I think they're both total shit, as is pretty much every World War 2 FPS ever, but there's nothing set in stone which makes one game is better than another.

[mcj metroid]

maybe same with everything i suppose films and music.