Hardcore gamers should embrace the industry’s newfound love affair with casual gaming.

an essay by Jeromy “Doc” Adams

If you are reading this, you are NOT a casual gamer. Casual gamers do not visit websites to read about video game news. They don’t listen to technology parody songs. They don’t participate in forums, use the term “fanboy“, or defend their consoles against insults. Casual gamers play games and do laundry. They raise their kids and try to sneak in a few minutes of Wii Sports whenever they can. But despite their general lack of awareness of the gaming world, they are the most powerful force in the industry. There has been a lot of belly-aching about the “Big Three” console makers and major game publishers renewing their efforts to make things to appeal to Casual gamers. I propose to you, the “hardcore” gamer, that this is in your best interest.

There are a lot more casual gamers in this world than there are hardcore gamers. From the bachelor bank teller who only plays Madden, to the housewife who uses her kid’s nap time to play some mindless Bejeweled-like offering, casual gamers are everywhere. Their discretionary income, as a whole, dwarfs the combined coffers of “involved” gaming enthusiasts. Most CG’s have no idea that their PS3 can play Blu-Ray discs, or that their Xbox 360 delivers HD gaming, and even if they do, many think they are getting HD on their 10-year-old 27″ TV with the Red, White, and Yellow cables. They don’t “get it”. They don’t want to. For them, games and consoles are nothing more than a toaster or a hairdryer, tools for daily existence that, instead of warming bread or drying hair, provide just the right amount of distraction and amusement for their busy lifestyle.

While games and game systems have improved drastically over the last 10 years, casual gamers have not kept up. A very real chasm has opened up between what CG’s understand, and what developers and hardware manufacturers are offering. The bigger that divide becomes, the harder it is for someone like Microsoft (for example) to justify implementing new cutting-edge technology into the Xbox 720. Hardcore gamers alone can not finance the kind of games and platforms that they are screaming for. They need the purchasing power of their cousins, the CG’s, to provide the financial incentives and adoption potential that corporations rely on to rationalize decisions that can cost them millions, even billions of dollars.

We buy a lot of crap; console accessories, games, magazines, adapters, wires, batteries, and energy drinks. We know about new games months, sometimes a year before they come out. We have huge collections of lanyards and discarded graphics cards. You and I live pretty close to the cutting edge of gaming.

But it’s common sense that the”cutting edge” must exist within a certain proximity of the interests and understanding of casual gamers. Otherwise the potential customer base for “the next big thing” will dwindle to the point where there simply aren’t enough people who are educated enough, wealthy enough, or involved enough to buy the latest console, hardware, or game.

By targeting CG’s now, with a ferocious blitz of games and devices that appeal to their understanding, developers can move the whole gaming genre forward, one step at a time. By giving CG’s what they are asking for plus “just a bit more”, something really cool happens. You see, each time that CG’s as a whole take a step forward in their understanding, our “cutting edge” advances equitably ahead of it.

Like them or not, you can thank the Nintendo Wii for a lot of great things that are happening in gaming right now. By successfully targeting CG’s with a console that delivers something that they understand, plus “just a bit more”, they have demonstrated both the enormity and reachability of the Casual Gaming market. They’ve also proven that, if properly approached, these “old dogs” really can learn new tricks.

Now EA, MS, and Sony have announced publicly their intention to position more of their products for casual consumption, in what could potentially yield a gaming renaissance.

The odds of anyone “abandoning” hardcore gamers is zilch.

While casual gamers pony up the gas money, we’re the ones driving the car. Sure, we’re going to have to endure some detours, while the major players in the industry repair the potholes left by a decade of catering to the “fast lane” of gaming technology. But before long, we’ll all be doing warp 9 on a smooth road towards a gaming utopia where pings are low, the graphics are all 1080p, and where the WSAD key scheme is replaced by cerebral implants.

Ironically, “Casual Gamers” are completely oblivious to their crucial role in the future of the industry. They just want to “play Madden” and watch Singing Bee.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on casual gamers. Our FORUMS are open 24 hours a day!

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