I disagree, casuals should always be taken into account, but not the way they are now. There's too much focus these days on appealing to casual gamers and people who are bad at video games, rather then easing them into the game so that they are driven to improve and enjoy the game on the same level as the rest of us.
agreed.
But there is a **** ton more money in the casual market right now, or at least in 06 till around 09. Its a fickle group though, which makes me think that if the casual market loses interest, gaming could have a crash. Maybe not 1983 bad, but still pretty bad. Hell, gaming sales are down across the board in 2011 aside from a few elite titles released in november (skyrim, CoD for example) that terrorized, and i am pretty sure they are still down in these first 2 and a half months of 2012.
Gaming exploded around 2005/2006 due to the current gen taking off. It was the first gen that had significant online play and marketplaces (for consoles), and marketed to casuals (mainly the wii). These created untapped markets. But just like all untapped markets, you also create a period of boom and drop (possibly bust) imo. See the .com bubble around 2000/2001. We are starting to see a decline in sales.
Mobile phones and aps are the wild card in all this. I think they are the future of the casual market, as they are cheaper and more convenient. Console gaming (and possibly handhelds) could go back into a more niche community, assuming the companies create more consoles.
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Pride. Passion. Excellence. Metal_DK
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