Casual gaming - is it a myth?

Excellent article at Eurogamer.

Personally, I think there's no such thing as casual or hardcore gaming - I'm a fan of stuff like Galaxian, which due to it's difficulty would be classed as hardcore, but accessibility-wise it's more casual. I suppose it's how you define the term.

So-called 'hardcore' gamers get my goat. Games should be for everyone. Even my nan!

I love Wii Sports, Wii Play and now Guitar Hero, as I'm basically a hiscore gamer - I'll spend forever trying to improve my scores, which I think comes down to being brought up on 80s arcade games.

IMO they're not casual at all - they may be accessible in that they're easy to play, but they take ages to master (GH3 in particular - I'm getting mauled on that at the mo).

I'd rather not have the endless raft of rubbish minigames that have followed Wii Sports, but I really think gaming is in a golden age - never before have we had such diversity.

The bottom line is that games should be fun. Whether you're swinging a tennis racquet or ordering a tank battalion to outflank your enemy, if you're having fun that's all that matters.

Bye for now,

Stephen

BSF Bolts