Casual game

A casual game is a video game targeted at or used by a mass audience of casual gamers. Casual games can have any type of gameplay, and fit in any genre. They are typically distinguished by their simple rules and lack of commitment required in contrast to more complex hardcore games.[1] They require no long-term time commitment or special skills to play, and there are comparatively low production and distribution costs for the producer.

Casual games are typically played on a personal computer online in web browsers, although they now are starting to become popular on game consoles and mobile phones as well. Casual gamers are typically older than traditional computer gamers,[2] and more often female,[3] with over 74% of casual gamers being female.[4]

Overview

Most casual games have similar basic features:

The word "casual" indicates that the games are produced for the casual consumer, who comes across the game and can get into gameplay almost immediately. Every month, an estimated 200 million consumers play casual games online,[4] many of whom do not normally regard themselves as gamers, or fans of video games.

If sold at retail casual games may have low prices to encourage impulse purchases, with colorful packaging and point of purchase sales displays.[5] Others are usually free on-line or free to download and try (but may provide a revenue by in-game advertising). Commercial studios create downloadable games, primarily available on the PC. These games are typically addictive and are limited trials to encourage casual gamers to buy a permanent "deluxe" version for a small price (typically $20 or less).[7] They usually have more intensive graphics and sound. Recently, 100% free "full licensed versions" of casual games have become available through advertising.

Indie game developers often create free games for online play. These games have a wide range of gameplay styles, can be played on almost any computer, and are often written to be played from within a web browser, using Flash, or at one point Shockwave. They are more limited in the scope of action, graphics and sound than downloadable games since they are played through the browser. However, many of these developers have pushed the technological envelope in what is possible through the browser – often creating full 3D games, 2 player capabilities, save games and other advanced features.

History

Namco's arcade game Pac-Man (1980), which debuted during the golden age of video arcade games, is considered to be the first "casual game".[8] It is estimated to have been played more than ten billion times during the 20th century,[9][10] making it the highest-grossing video game of all time.[11]

In 1989, Nintendo's Game Boy was released with Tetris as a free pack-in game. Tetris on the Game Boy proved immensely popular, and is credited with making Nintendo's fledgling portable gaming system a success.[12]

Microsoft's Solitaire (1990), which came free with Microsoft Windows, is widely considered the first successful "casual game" on a computer, with more than 400 million people having played the game since its inception.[13] Subsequent versions of Windows included Minesweeper, and once Microsoft discovered the popularity of Solitaire, the company added FreeCell and Spider Solitaire. The company advertised its very popular Microsoft Entertainment Packs for casual gaming on office computers. Other casual games of the era included Sierra On-Line's Hoyle's Official Book of Games and Crazy Nick's Software Picks, Villa Crespo's The Coffee Break Series, and Epyx's Chip's Challenge.[5]

Casual games moved online in 1996 with the debut of sites such as Gamesville and Uproar which offered multiplayer, HTML-based games in genres such as bingo, cards, puzzles, and trivia. These games required a constant server connection to keep players in sync, and did not include chat or avatars.

The advent of Flash created a boom in web-based games, encouraging designers to create simple games that could be played to completion in one short sitting. One of the most prominent casual games, Bejeweled, started out as a Flash game. Flash games commonly use per-user LSO files as a mean of saving game states.

Casual games received another boost when cell phones with large color displays became the norm because, like Adobe Flash before them, the cell phones had limited capabilities ideally suited to short, simple games.

The arrival of the iPod in the casual gaming market[14] made more powerful games widely available in a portable format. PopCap Games provided Peggle on Apple's music player and it was an instant success.

Despite casual games being around for some years the concept has only recently gained popularity with the release of Nintendo's Wii video game console. The simplicity of the Wii controller interface has opened up the gaming market to an untapped demographic who were unwilling to invest the time in learning or intimidated by the typical gamepad input device. This opportunity has seen a number of publishers attempt to design games that appeal to the relatively low skill level of these new players. 2006 saw a growing market of console-based casual games, such as Carnival Games and Wii Play. The precursor to this previously unnamed market trend can be seen in games like Crazy Frog Racer, Shrek: Super Party, Spice World, Buzz!: The Music Quiz, and Singstar. The casual game LittleBigPlanet is also a popular title on the PlayStation 3 in which players have the power to customize huge aspects of the game, while the gameplay itself is relatively simple.

Casual games are often computer simulations of traditional games such as chess, checkers, pinball, poker, sudoku, solitaire, and mahjong.

In 2008, social network games began gaining mainstream popularity following the release of Happy Farm in China.[15] Influenced by the Japanese RPG series Story of Seasons,[16][17][18] Happy Farm attracted 23 million daily active users in China.[19][20] It soon inspired many clones such as Sunshine Farm, Happy Farmer, Happy Fishpond, Happy Pig Farm,[16][21] and Facebook games such as FarmVille, Farm Town, Country Story, Barn Buddy, Sunshine Ranch, Happy Harvest, Jungle Extreme, and Farm Villain.[18][22] The most popular social network game is FarmVille, which has over 70 million active users worldwide.[15] Other popular social network games include YoVille, Mob Wars, Mafia Wars, and FrontierVille.

Genres

There is no precise classification of casual genres in the modern gaming industry. That can be explained by the easy ideas that form the basis for each game as well as a great amount of genre mixes existing in this field. According to Big Fish Games, one of the leading casual game developers and distributors,[23] and Gamezebo, one of the most popular casual game review sites,[24] there are seven popular genres in casual games:

Distribution

The Internet is the primary distribution channel for casual games. Most casual games are either downloaded as limited-time trials or delivered as Flash or ActiveX objects embedded in a web page. The evaluation copy of a casual game may limit the amount of play time, number of levels, or game sessions. Often more advanced features are not available. Some websites, such as Pogo.com, create casual games as a web-only experience first, then follow up with more advanced versions as "downloadable" games.

The ease of signing up to affiliate gaming portals has flooded the internet with such sites. These portals typically rank the games by popularity and sales. Games with strong sales typically lead to sequels and knock-offs. Games that do not convert are quickly buried.

Additionally, iPod[25] games are made available via the iTunes Store and can be purchased as you would a music track, casual games for the iPhone and iPod Touch are also distributed in this way.

In addition to online portals, casual games are increasingly available at major retailers, particularly Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy. The success of Bejeweled at retail, where it sold over 100,000 copies in the U.S., has made retailers much more open to carrying casual games rather than value priced core games (such as first-person shooters, strategy games, etc.). As another example of the increasing success of casual games in retail, Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst was reported to be the third-best selling PC game in the United States for the week ending with Black Friday in 2007.

Casual games are also ported to mobile phones. Some mobile casual games allow players to meet and compete against each other.

Casual gamer

Further information: Gamer § Casual gamer

A casual gamer is a type of video game player whose time or interest in playing games is limited compared with a hardcore gamer. Casual gamers can conceivably consist of any people who show more than a passing interest in video games; therefore, it is difficult to categorize them as a group. For this reason, games which attempt to appeal to the casual player tend to strive for simple rules and ease of game play, the goal being to present a pick-up-and-play experience that people from almost any age group or skill level could enjoy.[7][26][27][28][29] Casual gaming demographics also vary greatly from those of traditional computer games, as the typical casual gamer is older and more predominantly female,[30][31] with over 74% of those purchasing casual games being women.[32]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Boyes, Emma (Feb 18, 2008). "GDC '08: Are casual games the future?". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
  2. ↑ Govan, Paul (2008-01-23). "Older Family Gaming Market". Game People. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  3. ↑ Wolverton, Troy (2007-08-23). "Women driving 'casual game' boom". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
  4. 1 2 "Casual Games Market Report 2007". Casual Games Association. 2007-10-29.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Welcome To Gaming Lite". Computer Gaming World. September 1992. p. 74. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Casual Gamers Need Shorter Games - A Study". Game People. 2007-10-29.
  7. 1 2 Boyes, Emma, GDC '08: Are casual games the future?, GameSpot, Feb 18, 2008, Accessed May 3, 2008
  8. ↑ Kohler, Chris (May 21, 2010). "Q&A: Pac-Man Creator Reflects on 30 Years of Dot-Eating". Wired. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  9. ↑ Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond, ABC-CLIO, p. 73, ISBN 0-313-33868-X, retrieved April 10, 2011, It would go on to become arguably the most famous video game of all time, with the arcade game alone taking in more than a billion dollars, and one study estimated that it had been played more than 10 billion times during the twentieth century.
  10. ↑ Chris Morris (May 10, 2005). "Pac Man turns 25: A pizza dinner yields a cultural phenomenon – and millions of dollars in quarters". CNN. Retrieved April 23, 2011. In the late 1990s, Twin Galaxies, which tracks video game world record scores, visited used game auctions and counted how many times the average Pac Man machine had been played. Based on those findings and the total number of machines that were manufactured, the organization said it believed the game had been played more than 10 billion times in the 20th century.
  11. ↑ Steve L. Kent (2001), The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world, Prima, p. 143, ISBN 0-7615-3643-4, retrieved May 1, 2011, Despite the success of his game, Iwatani never received much attention. Rumors emerged that the unknown creator of Pac-Man had left the industry when he received only a $3500 bonus for creating the highest-grossing video game of all time.
  12. ↑ "Tetris' Maker Has His "A" Game". 23 November 2005. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  13. ↑ "Casual Gaming Worth $2.25 Billion, and Growing Fast". 29 October 2007. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  14. ↑ "iPod Breaks Into Casual Gaming". Game People. 10 March 2003. Retrieved 2006-10-03.
  15. 1 2 Kohler, Chris (December 24, 2009). "14. Happy Farm (2008)". The 15 Most Influential Games of the Decade. Wired. p. 2. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  16. 1 2 "China's growing addiction: online farming games |". Techgearx.com. 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  17. ↑ Nutt, Christian (October 11, 2009). "GDC China: Chinese Indie Game Trends and Opportunities". Gamasutra. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  18. 1 2 Kohler, Chris (May 19, 2010). "Farm Wars: How Facebook Games Harvest Big Bucks". Wired. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  19. ↑ "外媒關注開心農場：中國擁有最多「在線農民」 - 大洋新聞". Game.dayoo.com. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  20. ↑ "China's Social Gaming Landscape: What's Coming Next". Readwriteweb.com. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  21. ↑ Elliott Ng (2009-10-29). "China’s growing addiction: online farming games". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  22. ↑ "Facebook》到開心農場歡呼收割". China Times. 2009-09-01. Retrieved 12 September 2011. (Translation)
  23. ↑ Big Fish Games (2002-03-01). "Casual Game Genres on Big Fish Games". Big Fish Games. Retrieved 2002-03-01.
  24. ↑ Gamezebo staff (2006-03-01). "Casual Game Genres on Gamezebo". Gamezebo. Retrieved 2006-03-01.
  25. ↑ "iPod Apple distributes games via iTunes". GameIndustryBiz. 10 March 2003. Retrieved 2006-10-03.
  26. ↑ Magrino, Tom, GameStop: Casual gamers spurring hardcore holiday sales, GameSpot, Sep 11, 2007, Accessed 3 May 2008
  27. ↑ Surette, Tim Funsta.com to target casual gamers, GameSpot, Aug 11, 2005, Accessed May 3, 2008
  28. ↑ Surette, Tim, Casual gamer gets serious prize, GameSpot, Sep 12, 2006, Accessed May 3, 2008
  29. ↑ Thorsen, Tor, Microsoft rolling out Xbox Live Arcade, GameSpot May 11, 2004, Accessed May 3, 2008
  30. ↑ Wolverton, Troy (2007-08-23). "Women driving 'casual game' boom". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
  31. ↑ Tams, Jessica. Gamer Demographics, Emarketer, April 13, 2007, Accessed May 3, 2008
  32. ↑ ."Casual Games Market Report 2007". Casual Games Association. 2007-10-29.


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