Ready Up

Define Casual?

So we’re currently going through the massively competitive Next-Gen Console Wars at the moment. Featuring the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii all pitted up against each other in a who-can-sell-fastest race. There’s a number of factors which decide why a certain console may sell a few more or why the other may not. A clear example being the PS3’s built in Blu-Ray device, supposedly being one of the key reasons the PS3 is selling.

But the factor I’m talking about is the appeal to casual gamers, people that drift in and out of gaming a few days a week. The people that depend on a simple numeric score in a newspaper or their favourite magazine, a high score in that is enough for them to head out to their nearest high street and purchase a new £40 game.

So this certain factor is a big influence in the console wars, and we all know which is considered the most casual console… Nintendo’s Wii! Even just the fact it’s made by Nintendo-the same developers of the DS with casual games such as Nintendogs available, makes it an even more casual console. The Wii stocks plenty of bright, colourful games for any young kids, or perhaps even some adults too. Now with Wii Fit launched and every store fighting to get a new batch in for all the exercise-hungry families with Wiis, the console has taken another step towards the casual market. Sony have also had some casual games on the PS2, so the PS3 was probably a casual gamer’s next choice. Singstar being a particularly appealing game, even more so when it was released on the PS3. But then again, if you look into the 360’s range of games, you find just about as many casual games in there as the PS3’s selection.

So why is the PS3 considered casual then? Apparently the 360 is viewed as more of a competitive gamer’s console, yet the PS3 isn’t. But then we have Microsoft’s surprising move, the new avatars for the 360 Dashboard. These cute little Mii-like avatars will be customisable to try and capture your personality as best as it can, therefore looking to push the 360 towards the casual market a bit more. Yet still even after this, the 360 will probably remain seen as a competitive gamer’s console, why? Because of previous consoles maybe? Who didn’t have a PS2, it stocked loads of casual games and movie tie-ins. Xbox is another matter, I rarely saw an Xbox when I was little, only one person I knew had one.

So is this all about the past then? People are basing a new console on what it’s predecessor was like?

Posted

in

,

by

Paige

Tags:

Comments

5 responses to “Define Casual?”

  1. Kat avatar
    Kat

    I guess I really need to reconsider defining myself as a “casual” gamer, now that this term is constantly getting thrown around so much nowadays. I certainly don’t fit into this “Wii Fit/Sports and Singstar are the entire reasons I would buy an otherwise really expensive piece of equipment” criteria, in any case.

    …yeah that’s all I’ve got.

  2. Zanveth avatar
    Zanveth

    I’d have thought the PS3 would have been seen the less casual due to its price tag?

    The Wii is obviously the most casual on the market, very cheap price, easy to pick up and play lots of games that fall into that easy to play category.

    I’d personally find the Xbox actually quite casual already. You can easily pick up an Arcade SKU quite cheap and there’s tons of quality on the Live Arcade, as well as box products to keep any casuals entertained.

    “So is this all about the past then? People are basing a new console on what its predecessor was like?”

    I think sometimes it comes down to brand loyalty, something which seems to be very strong in the gaming world, it’s as almost as if they are sports fans cheering on their own team.

  3. Paige avatar
    Paige

    Yeah most magazines and sites etc seem to believe the PS3 is more casual :S

  4. Aerithscar avatar
    Aerithscar

    I can see why the PS3 is seen as casual, and thats the Blu-Ray drive. Allot of people bought a PS3 at first because it was a cheap way to get HD Quality video’s, now it’s also got a fair few game’s too increasing it to the casual gamer. By casual im refering to people around there 20’s who would prefer to play GTA and UT a couple of nights a week as opposed to Mario and Cooking Mama.

  5. Michael avatar
    Michael

    I think it’s the games that define the console – Xbox 360 (the American machine) is mostly FPSs and racers and is seen as the hardcore gamer’s choice. It’s pretty much only an attempt to court the Wii’s audience that is leading to this casual thing, no? And RPGs, especially Japanese ones? That’s an attempt to attract the Japanese market; a happy accident is that it broadens the audience of Western RPG gamers and draws them from Sony and the PS2. Which, of course, had something for everyone – naturally, after ten years of it being around.

Leave a Reply