casual gamers are better than you.

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as developers scrabble to conquer a market of gamers

Dictionary for "scrabble":

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1. to scratch or scrape, as with the claws or hands.
2. to grapple or struggle with or as if with the claws or hands.

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Unfortunately, as much as one may snootily sneer at these mainstream fools, one has to remember a rather stark and unpleasant fact - in more than one way, they're better than you. They might lack your history, your knowledge and your "respect" for the industry, but they deserve a place in this market as much as anybody else

1 - Tell hardcore gamers that casuals are better than them
2 - Tell hardcore gamers why they are better than casuals
3 - ???
4 - Nope, nothing.

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First of all, casual gamers are far more open to new ideas than you.

Now, I don't consider myself a casual gamer. I don't consider myself a hardcore gamer. I'm a gamer. I enjoy good games because they're good games. Like a story, movie, meal, or artwork, I understand how to pick out parts that I liked and did not and present my ideas on them.

However, casual gamers are NOT more open to new ideas than I. Casuals are notably more gullible to spend money on useless equipment, such as the Kinect. The Kinect and its games provide no depth of gameplay, which is important to a good game. It's like eating really good tasting air. Or whipped cream.

A new idea is a highly reworked battle system. A new idea is an interface not generally used. A new idea is gameplay unlike anything I've played before. These things I accept with an open and happy heart. Like the Prime series in the barrage of Halos and Call of Duties out there, it was a glimmering beacon of doing it differently, and at the same time making full use of the opportunities granted by the console.

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Core gamers cannot be counted on to support good games, but casual gamers can be counted on to support almost anything, so long as it piques their interest.

WHAT? THE? FUCK?

You CANNOT claim casuals to support good games! They support publicized games and what they hear about! They have no eye for the Underground hit! I have Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II sitting right goddamn here, and a casual gamer would have NO idea of its mastery. Worse, still, is Phantom Dust. Possibly the BEST game I've every played. Do casuals support it? Oblivion? Fallout? KOTOR? Fuck no.

The man calls Farmville to his defense, claiming it to be some sort of new and innovative something or the other. It's an RTS. No, wait, it's not Real Time. And there's no Strategy. You just plant shit, wait for it to grow, and get gratified by in-game rewards that you can give to your friends or post about how far you've gotten. Farmville makes no innovations, only exploitations.

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For me though, the biggest way in which casual gamers are superior to core gamers is with the advent of social gaming.

And somehow playing an MMORPG is antisocial?

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Core gamers seem to resist the new and distrust the unique.

I can't speak on the behalf of "core" gamers, or hardcore gamers, but the general public doesn't mesh well with things that are different. "Nerd" stuff is highly cast out (I've had someone's girlfriend react highly negatively after finding out he plays D&D), and things that are different from the way they like them (Metroid Prime controls) are looked down on.