Are the Wii's "casual" games hurting gaming?

No.

The hardcore Nintendo faithful buy the games that Nintendo makes. Metroid, Zelda, Mario etc...

The casuals buy the 3rd party minigames and other casual games.

The difference between the Wii and Gamecube is that the GameCube had the games for the hardcore, and not the casual. The Wii has both.

Casual gamers are the mainstream not the hardcore gamers. Without casual games, the industry would be dead. In the beginning, the old arcade games like Pac-Man or Donkey Kong werecasual games and they were masterpiece.

Casual games are not supposed to hurt gaming. They are there for increasing the gaming. They help the industry.Also, don't confuse casual to non-gamers games. Non-gamers prefer to play on Nintendogs or Brain Age.

No. If anything, it's reinvigorating it. I have played games for 30 years now. Back in the days of yore, you could solve a game in 5 to 15 minutes. Now days, they make games that take 20 to 120 hours to complete (or more even!). Personally, I'm tired of playing games where they want you to invest weeks of your life. I enjoy games where I can sit down, play it, feel like I accomplished something and walk away. In addition, I love the Virtual Console and the XBox Live Arcade as there are new side scrollers coming out. Video games lost a lot of their life when 2D gave way to 3D. I enjoy side scrollers, always have, always will and it's good to see new 2D side scroller games coming out once again. Kudo's to Nintendo for bringing fun back to gaming.

No. If anything, it's reinvigorating it. I have played games for 30 years now. Back in the days of yore, you could solve a game in 5 to 15 minutes. Now days, they make games that take 20 to 120 hours to complete (or more even!). Personally, I'm tired of playing games where they want you to invest weeks of your life. I enjoy games where I can sit down, play it, feel like I accomplished something and walk away. In addition, I love the Virtual Console and the XBox Live Arcade as there are new side scrollers coming out. Video games lost a lot of their life when 2D gave way to 3D. I enjoy side scrollers, always have, always will and it's good to see new 2D side scroller games coming out once again. Kudo's to Nintendo for bringing fun back to gaming.

valdarez

As Jeff said a while ago:
"The release of games like Cooking Mama on the Wii doesn't stop the production of any other games, so stop complaining"

So pretty much, no. Sure, there are lots of 'casual' games, but thats not going to slow down the release of games like Zelda or Metroid.
hazbazz

Indeed. As long as you keep buying the games you like there will still be a market for them, however small. If people take that philosophy en masse then there is no problem (and indeed, most people simply buy what they like!)

Not reading the post, just the topic, this post should be in system wars. gooflee

[QUOTE="valdarez"]

No. If anything, it's reinvigorating it. I have played games for 30 years now. Back in the days of yore, you could solve a game in 5 to 15 minutes. Now days, they make games that take 20 to 120 hours to complete (or more even!). Personally, I'm tired of playing games where they want you to invest weeks of your life. I enjoy games where I can sit down, play it, feel like I accomplished something and walk away. In addition, I love the Virtual Console and the XBox Live Arcade as there are new side scrollers coming out. Video games lost a lot of their life when 2D gave way to 3D. I enjoy side scrollers, always have, always will and it's good to see new 2D side scroller games coming out once again. Kudo's to Nintendo for bringing fun back to gaming.

hazbazz

I've heard this quite a bit recently, but are the Wii's "casual" games hurting gaming overall? I'm not sure if the people saying this are just Wii-haters, so I wanted to see how the Wii owners felt about this topic. There are those that are saying that because the Wii is appealing to traditional non-gamers the hardcore gamers are suffering. Since Nintendo is selling Wiis like crazy, and many people are buying the various mini-game compilations, or other pick up and play type games, Nintendo (and the third parties) are not focusing on the deeper games that are aimed at the traditional gamer (or "hardcore" gamer). What do you think?funky_muzic

how many casual games are out on the computer??? alot. but you don't see it stopping hardcore computer games anytime soon do ya?

No.

The hardcore Nintendo faithful buy the games that Nintendo makes. Metroid, Zelda, Mario etc...

The casuals buy the 3rd party minigames and other casual games.

The difference between the Wii and Gamecube is that the GameCube had the games for the hardcore, and not the casual. The Wii has both.

hiho24

lol at ur sig

Casual games arent hurting gaming, but minigame compilations and half-assed ports areLProjektST

Normally casual gamers only play half-assed ports and minigame collections.

not all casual gamers play half-assed ports and minigames! i have zelda and cod 3, mario striker which i dont think are minigames and that. altho i think i would be a core game if i had the timefrosty_shark

No, infact, they are killing the old trite and ringing in a new age.

Some gamers are just fearing change, but we should embrace the casual games, they can improve our lives and make the world a better place.

You could improve your Speech and Sentence Structure (i sure as hell need to, i cant wait for "my word coach"), or learn how to Listen better......................In addtion to guns and blood that is.

No, infact, they are killing the old trite and ringing in a new age.

Some gamers are just fearing change, but we should embrace the casual games, they can improve our lives and make the world a better place.

You could improve your Speech and Sentence Structure (i sure as hell need to, i cant wait for "my word coach"), or learn how to Listen better......................In addtion to guns and blood that is.

quetzalcoatl45

Think about it... a game called 'Border Control', where you have to infilitrate the Mexican smuggling ring in order to stop shipments of drugs, illegal aliens, what have you... they tell you some basic spanish sayings before each level. Then, during the level, you watch/play the game, and are required to choose a response when posed with a question. If you choose wrong, then your cover is busted!

Heck.. you could do that with James bond... for pretty much every language out there. That would be a VERY fun way to learn another language.

No. If anything, it's reinvigorating it. I have played games for 30 years now. Back in the days of yore, you could solve a game in 5 to 15 minutes. Now days, they make games that take 20 to 120 hours to complete (or more even!). Personally, I'm tired of playing games where they want you to invest weeks of your life. I enjoy games where I can sit down, play it, feel like I accomplished something and walk away. In addition, I love the Virtual Console and the XBox Live Arcade as there are new side scrollers coming out. Video games lost a lot of their life when 2D gave way to 3D. I enjoy side scrollers, always have, always will and it's good to see new 2D side scroller games coming out once again. Kudo's to Nintendo for bringing fun back to gaming.

valdarez

Thanks for everyone's insight. I agree and I don't think the rise of the "casual genre" is hurting gaming at all. In fact, the 2 games that I play most on my Wii right now are Zelda and Wii Sports (with a little Excite Truck thrown in). I know that if I play Zelda, I'll probably have to play for at least an hour, especially in a temple. Wii Sports is quick enough that I can play it for just 5 minutes (bowl a quick game or try to top my "Returning Balls" score of 92!)

As an older gamer, now that I have a wife and kids, I don't have as much time to play games. If I have to fit in my gaming in 5-15 minute spurts, then that's what I do, and in that way, these casual games cater to me too, even though I'm a hardcore gamer at heart.

No, infact, they are killing the old trite and ringing in a new age.

Some gamers are just fearing change, but we should embrace the casual games, they can improve our lives and make the world a better place.

You could improve your Speech and Sentence Structure (i sure as hell need to, i cant wait for "my word coach"), or learn how to Listen better......................In addtion to guns and blood that is.

quetzalcoatl45

Ideally, there'd be a balance between the two, so that the casual gamers will have games to play, and we the core crowd have our games too.  Right now it FEELS like the balance is tipped in the casual game's favor, but I think given time we'll hit a better balance by the holiday season.