Mike Bantick
Saturday, 10 November 2007 07:00
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Recent manoeuvring by big players in the gaming arena looks like the hard-core gamer may soon be left out in the cold. Big gaming business is turning its focus to the casual and easily accessible demographic.
One definition of a Hard-core gamer is of those that enjoy the digital representation of there favourite special subject, be it attack helicopters of the 1970’s or medieval castle construction. Over the past 25 years of electronic gaming, there have generally been niche titles for such anorak wearers to choose from.
But.
Complex simulation games – generally found on the PC platform - are on the wane, as console platforms wax. And the flavour of the moment? Simplified pick-up-and-play titles.
The rise of the Nintendo Wii, the broadening focus of the Xbox 360 with the release of the Xbox 360 Arcade, aimed at snaring some of the Wii market share, that being predominately the casual gamer.
Even Sony have somewhat succumbed to the dumb-down of gaming, reducing the capabilities of the flag-ship PlayStation 3, offering a 40GB model with no backwards compatibility. Still this is more a strategic economic shift rather than a full push for lovers of MineSweeper.
The PC, long the bastion of the complex games sporting hefty one hundred plus page manuals, maps and more, sometimes utilised just to get past the training missions. Even on the PC platform there has been an outbreak of simplitis.
Because many developers now churn resources into multiplatform titles, less development time is available for games specifically aimed at the PC. Unless you are a dedicated studio, with a cornered or niche market, such as Creative Assembly with the Total War series of strategy games, it is a big gamble.
Look at the PC game charts, dominated by Electronic Arts
The Sims and its myriad of spin off’s, games more akin to today’s social networks than the flight simulations of the past requiring a full keyboard overlay to play.
Past games such as the
Mech Warrior series have morphed into the much simpler offerings such as
Chrome Hounds and
Mech Assault, where the tribulations of heat management, location damage and ammunition choice have been put aside for quick fire one button alpha strikes.
Topically Myspace has now
announced a push into the casual game market, seeing the lucrative opportunities of quick easy time wasters. And with a ready made legion of Thralls to ensnare, the project should be a success.
In recent times, the numbers of “gamers” has swelled, including the thumb swollen category of “Hard-core”, spending many hours a week on their game of choice, honing skills that are often taken online to battle other like minded video athletes.
But the games that attract the hoards today, despite being highly sophisticated in terms of technology, graphics and audio must also be marketable. Generally developers seem to walk a fine line between using the new found technology available, giving players as sophisticated an experience as they can, whilst maintaining a level of accessibility to please the company accountants.
