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Nintendo Europe Marketing Director: "There is no casual gaming"

Posted May 15, 2008 at 7:26AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: PS3, Wii, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PC Gaming Tags: apple news, Laurent Fischer, Nintendo Europe

Ever since the term "casual gaming" was coined, there has been a lot of talk regarding how it would be the evolution of gaming. Some even going so far as praising casual gaming as the method video games will be opened up to the masses.

The European senior marketing director of one of the perceived leaders in this movement, Nintendo, may have something to say about that.

Laurent Fischer pointed out that "There is no casual gaming. There is just a different way to play." Pretty strange coming from someone who works for a company that produce games some individuals would call casual.

He explained that even those who play flash games on a regular basis (yes, I'm talking to you too) and fifty-years old who only play Brain Training but do so on a regular basis are not casual gamers but core gamers. He explained further:

I don't like this word casual so much. Because people consider that casual needs to be something easy. If you're good at any game you can play at a high difficulty level. Take Tetris. There is incredible gameplay, it's very simple, very easy to understand, but it's also very different. I think a game can be a light enough to enjoy and for all gamers to become a core gamer on it.

He makes a very interesting point since there are people who do play "simple" games much more than an average gamer would spend on more complicated titles such as Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) or Halo 3. This is not to say that they are more "hard-core" but that they are as much a gamer as everyone else.

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This coming from a guy that works for a company that asks on the Nintendo Channel when recommending a game if the games has a more "casual" or "hardcore" mood!???

Ha, Nintendo even agrees there is a different. This whole argument that the difference doesn't exist is just utter BS. Games either need a great deal of strategy that a non-gamer can't just simply pick up and play well, and then there are games that have no true depth or need of skill that gamers can't stand to play them or just play them to pass time.

# Maybe a misunderstandin g — Rental_Ninja 2008-05-15 10:28

In his quote He doesn't really say anything about gaming or gamers. He only mentions games themselves. So I think what he is saying is that no game is more or less casual then any other. Its the player that defines whether it will be played casually or hardcore.There is always gonna people people who play games hardcore and others who play more casually, but those are the people, not the games themselves. People play Tetris for hours upon hours upon hours to get the high score. Then there are people who play Grand Theft Auto and try to find all the jumps, collectible thingies, etc. Games that are labeled casual are only casual to the mainstream of gamers. I'm sure though, that there are people out there playing Wii Sports, and WarioWare till their knuckles are blue and their muscles are sore. Are they considered casual gamers simply on the game they chose to invest their hours in? I think not. They are as hardcore as the rest of us.

# wow. — NarooN 2008-05-15 10:37

That guy = fails.

Hardcore play isn't the same as casual play. That's as simple as it is.

# . — FreePlay 2008-05-15 11:06

"So I think what he is saying is that no game is more or less casual then any other."

Really? So Galaxy Wars isn't any more casual than GTA 4?

# I agree with Rental_Ninja — Billie 2008-05-15 12:56

I think that's the point that this dude was trying to get at, but didn't say it quite right. I mean a hardcore gamer could spend 40 hours beating the crap out of Tetris, and GTA, or a casual gamer can spend 15 minutes at a time on Tetris an GTA. I mean I've seen plenty of "casual gamers" play GTA, and plenty of "hardcore gamers" play Tetris.

I honestly don't think that there are "casual/hardcore" games, but there are "causal/hardcore" gamers. And as for FreePlay, I wouldn't say that Galaxy Wars is more causal than GTA4, it's just not as deep of a game. Some would argue that GTA is more casual that Final Fantasy, but then again, GTA just isn't as deep in it's RPG story telling elements as Final Fantasy.

As for Carnival games, it isn't a casual game, it's just crap. But hey, some people like to play crap, there's nothing wrong with that.

# definition may be off — Ron Overdrive 2008-05-15 16:29

To me and most other people I know, the difference between "core" and "casual" gamers has been defined by how much they play not by what games they play. Example: I consider myself a casual gamer because I don't play games every day. Few times a week at most actually and never for hours on end. Depending on what I feel like I spend anywhere from 1 - 10 hours a week playing video games. I own Halo 3, GTA4, Burnout Paradise, Final Fantasy VII: Core Crises, etc etc. None of these I think qualify by his definition of "casual' games.

These are my classifications of gamers:

Casual - Plays video games occasionally for entertainment. Usually with friends.

Soft Core - Plays video games regularly for entertainment. Possibly with Friends.

Hard Core - Plays video games extremely often, possibly specializing in one or two games and enter LAN tournaments. May or may not have a life.

"Cat P!ss (Wo)Men" - Video games are their life, you're lucky if they stop to bathe (thus the name).

# I agree.. — Kingofdaberbz 2008-05-15 18:03

I agree with him there really isn't much difference. We're all core gamers. Though some gamers prefer games that's more difficult than the others. I describe it more as low and high.

Here's a link it's very interesting.

http://malstrom.50webs.com/birdman.html

# . — Torch 2008-05-16 00:29

If you feel gay playing it, its casual. Namely Mario and all the other Nintendo exclusive bull*****.

# disagree strongly — dark420bishop 2008-05-16 22:42

what a douchebag. to say there are no casual games is retarded. anyone who can't see the difference between Brain Age and the typical epic Final Fantasy game doesn't deserve to be the senior director of anything.

# . — FreePlay 2008-05-17 02:09

'I've seen plenty of "casual gamers" play GTA, and plenty of "hardcore gamers" play Tetris.'

Except that GTA is, by nature, an intensive game. It's not a game you can play and be done with repeatedly in 15 minute bursts, like Tetris, Dr. Mario, Galaxy Wars, Puzzle Bobble, etc.

Saying there is no casual gaming is like saying there are no short films.

# its the gamer, not the game — qpalzm 2008-05-17 05:58

GTA could be an intensive game, and you need to spend lots of hours in order to complete it or find out most of its secrets. BUT, I have a friend who play GTA just for relieving stress. He seldom play the mission, he more often play the taxi / ambulance mission, stealing cars and try to race throughout the town without crashing, hitting pedestrians, and all those minor things that won't make you progress through the game. So is my friend considered a hardcore gamer just because he plays GTA?

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Nintendo Europe Marketing Director: "There is no casual gaming"

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