by [name redacted]
Gabe Zichermann of rmbr.com spoke with ebullience and verve of the chutzpah that has to some extent defined the casual game industry since Bejeweled sprung from the void in 2001. Zichermann implied that, on a level, the whole idea of a casual gamer is more of a “media meme†than anything real. He attributes the myth of casual game market to a mixture of somewhat mundane factors.
by [name redacted]
Last Day of Work’s Arthur K Humphrey spoke extensively, if rapidly, of what he sees as the false and destructive conceptual divide between casual and mainstream games. Casual games are supposed to be accessible, and mainstream games are supposed to be deep. Games that are deep yet accessible are thrust into one or the other camp largely on the basis of their presentation.
Humphrey’s solution, in part: “in-between†games. His definition is “a game that takes the depth and qualities of a core game and brings it into a place where casual gamers can appreciate it.â€
by [name redacted]
Baer started off by leaping back to the late ‘30s, the time before “electronics†was a noun. Back then, it was all about radio. Radio enthusiasts were radio hobbyists, and radios were simpler to build than a model Gundam. They were also a cultural phenomenon. Baer showed off an advertisement that read “Big Money in Radio – become a Radio Serviceman!†“Hey,†the young Baer realized. “I think this could be me.†So he spent the next few years dangling off roofs, installing wires through people’s windows.