A prevailing attitude in this day and age is that the casual ship has sailed. The Wii was a blip. Smartphones will rule the day. Why would they buy a console when they have a smartphone? Etcetera.
But I don't think that's exactly true. I think dem casuals are still a huge, untapped market that is eager to jump back into console gaming. The problem is that the console manufacturers have either ignored them or simply pandered to them with the same ol' games (treating dem casuals as if they're second-rate customers).
As gamers, we have a very complicated framework in our minds that we use to classify games. Such-and-such game is a FPS/RPG hybrid made by such-and-such developer, coming out for such-and-such console, with such-and-such multiplayer capabilities. We obsess over numbers and graphics and comparisons.
Dem casuals? Not so much. Dem casuals think in terms of "features".
Now, when you hear that word - features - maybe you think "Oh! Okay. So you mean like Xbox Kinect and Snap, right? You mean Playstation Now, right? You mean the Wii-U tablet, right?"
WRONG! You're thinking like a gamer, not like dem casuals. Casual gamers think in far broader terms. For instance, some highly-desirable "features" of videogames that casuals seem to like are as follows:
- easy to pick up, with little/no b.s. getting in the way
- convenient to play whenever you want
- easy to socialize while playing this game
It's easy to see how games like Flappy Bird and Angry Birds and Words With Friends and Candy Crush become so popular with dem casuals, even though these games - mechanically - have almost nothing in common. They're not by the same developer, either. That's because dem casuals aren't looking for certain brands or certain mechanics. They're looking for features. They want their games to perform a "job". Words With Friends performs the exact same job as Candy Crush: they're both social, they're both quick to pick up and play, they're both portable and convenient to play when you want. On the same note, notice how many of last-gen's highest-selling games also had those same features listed above.
Wii Sports was very easy to pick up, with very quick load screens, no b.s. cutscenes or introductions, no installation times, no need to "Connect to the Server", no need to log in with your online profile, etc. Wii Sports was certainly a social game as well.
That's the thing. It's not so much that dem casuals have moved on and they'll never buy consoles again. They simply want a console that provides the "Features" (and again, I'm using "features" from their perspective, not the perspective of a hardcore gamer) that they want. The problem is, console manufacturers are not giving them these features.
Under this assumption, it's pretty clear why - for example - the Wii flourished but the Wii-U bombed with dem casuals. They didn't care about the brand name. They cared about the features. To them, Wii-U had way more b.s. than they were willing to deal with, not to mention that the tablet was a crappier version of the iPad they already owned. What "feature" does the Wii-U offer that a tablet does not? None? Exactly. So that's why they continue to crush their candies and flap their birds (or I guess now it's "Swimmy Fish" or something like that) on their tablets instead.
While it is hard to quantify, I think that if a console can recapture that same mindset of the Wii, then we'll have another casual boom in the console market. For instance, now that the Wii has faded away, there's a huge gap in the arena of "local multiplayer". That's another huge feature that dem casuals enjoy but most games do not offer a compelling local experience. And no, I'm not strictly talking about a game that just so happens to include couch co-op. I'm talking about a game that generates the same sort of buzz and excitement as Wii Sports or Rock Band, the sort of game you're not embarrassed to play with a group of your friends.
You can't have a true Rock Band experience on your smartphone, can you? You don't get the full effect of Wii Sports bowling on your tablet, playing with a room packed full of family and friends, all glued to the TV, do you? Of course not! And that's my point. Consoles need to re-think about how they can offer these sort of features to the casual audience in order to entice them back into the market.
Nintendo has recently talked about returning to their "Quality of Life" line of games, and I think that is brilliant, not just for Nintendo's sake but for the game industry as a whole. Let's get dem casuals back on consoles instead of letting the smartphone market swallow them whole. The way to get casuals into gaming isn't to add a controller attachment to their iPad or to put Call of Duty clones on their smartphones. NO! The way to get them into gaming is to offer the sort of games they like on consoles.
And see, that's the thing. Casuals are labelled as these really fickle, annoying, picky gamers who run from one thing to another, but that really isn't the case. Heck, casuals bought Wii Sports for $250. Let that sink in. Us gamers? We might buy a console at launch but we often buy a few games with our console, too. Casuals spent $250 to get one game: Wii Sports. Right now, a lot of casuals are shelling out simply to get Minecraft on their TV, so they're buying 360s and only playing Minecraft. Dem casuals will obviously shell out the cash if they see something they like. The issue is providing it to them.
I'm not saying I want the game industry to "go casual". I like my beefier games. However, variety is good and a big gaming market is good, too. Instead of writing off "dem casuals" as a lost cause that will never buy consoles again, perhaps console manufacturers could take a look at what got that audience to buy consoles in the first place.
Announcing the 10th Generation of Pokémon; Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves launches in 2027 worldwide. Starters also revealed!
Looks decent but I’ll wait for more info, Pokemon has this thing where the reveal looks super promising but they always fumble at release
The starters are a tad disappointing, the chonky dog looks adorable and probably my main pick so far but the other two are basically Rowlett and Sobble 2.0.
I was going to say here we go again with this dance from Game Freak, but it looks like they actually put some effort into this release in terms of the presentation from what I see in this trailer.
They still need to figure out how to get voice acting in the game. It is strange they struggle with this even though they have an Anime that is running for about 20 years now with a voice cast right there.
There’s no doubt that Tales of Berseria Remastered lives up to its billing and delivers the definitive version of one of Bandai Namco’s best role-playing games. Featuring a beautifully constructed story full of emotional twists and turns, Berseria has aged well and deserves to be revisited. Newcomers and veterans alike will enjoy the new quality-of-life upgrades to this incredible game.
Gamigo plans to relaunch the classic MMORPG Medieval as part of its MMO comeback strategy. Rift remains listed in the publisher’s active portfolio.
I think the majority of casuals are more than likely not going to buy a console. They're just not gamers, they are casual gamers and more than likely will only game to pass the time. Hence why they are mainly on mobile/tablet type of games.
This is why mobile gaming is so popular. The mobile device is such an integral part of their lives. It's pretty much their whole life.
The Wii, imo, was a fluke. A passing fad that had a great gimmick. Nintendo bombarded ads of twenty yo hipsters of all races playing together in a inner city loft having a great platonic good time. Casuals ate that up, but once that wore out they dropped it and went back to tablets.
Games like Rockband, Guitar Hero or even Lips might be able to bring back some casuals but I doubt we will ever see the mass numbers like we saw with the Wii.
Nintendo needs to focus on bringing back gamers to their console. Because they lost them and the casuals too.
The casuals will buy whatever is in fashion and the good thing is the PS4 - which is a traditional console has generated significant hype, so I'm confident that the PS4 and perhaps even the XB1 can claw back lost ground from smartphones.
Casuals are still on consoles, that's why COD is still selling so well.
Can someone actually tell me the definition of a "casual" is? And a "gamer" for that matter? I really don't know...