Lets face it- casual gamers are developing gaming skills fast and furiously and why shouldn't they? The 21 Century is probably the most sophisticated age for gaming; it caters for everyone and shatters old ideas of games being an extension of toys for kids or systems for spotted teenage boys tied to the house due to social phobias.
Looking at where we have come from over the past 30 years or so, the nature of gaming is one created entirely from the industry itself. Games are just a means of play, and play has been around since humans danced around fires and chased each other to practice hunting skills. It just so happens that games consols and controllers were too 'complex' for Joe Bloggs to handle, which meant developers catered for the niche which was their audience- tech nerds.
It's taken all these years to finally break this one dimensional view on the target audience and games are now serving a vast diversity of people! Thus, the classic view of the 'gamer' has been blurred drastically. Instead of categorizing a person as merely a gamer, we prefer to slot them into genres too - are they a FPS/RPG/Action/Fighter fan? Do they prefer Microsoft/Nintendo/Sony hardware? Are they Hardcore or casual?
This is where, I believe, Microsoft and Sony shot themselves in the foot. They failed to see that people today care less about the technology within a system, but prefer the software available- its the games we want! Grabbing an opertunity, Nintendo (of all companies) nurtured a new market with the Wii and DS systems.
...It's kind of like supporting a band during their underground years and then, suddenly, their album is in every house in the country! The populisation of your favourite hobby can be a bitter pill to swallow, but we all have to do it some time. This week, I found myself selling numerous copies of Lego Indiana Jones, Brain, Eye and Elbow training and Fitness games to people who I would never have seen in GAME a few years back- these people were mums, older business men, sophisticated women and young girls. Of course I could still tell the occasional drug addiction joke whenever I sold a copy of WoW, but it happens far less often.
I love the idea of new people falling into gaming. However, I already see a hazard for the casual gamer. Immediatly we have compartmentalised the types of games they like or want! Even though they may feel more comfortable with a controller now than 10 years ago, the media promote games like Brain Training, Nintendogs and Sudoku. The majority of the games at the forefront of this revolution have "fad" written all over them; digestible, shallow, disposable and unremarkable in the long run.
There are so many experiences out there on a single consol and i feel disapointed when only a few experiences of a similar nature are advertised. I've yet to see an advert for Hotel Dusk, Pheonix Wright and even Trauma Centre for the DS.
We are a long way off from having Joe Bloggs engage in games as emotionally as they might with film, music or literature. However, I hope more and more people stop simply enjoying games, and start loving them. If games don't start upping the anti for these players, I can see that bubble bursting and an amazing opportunity to expand our community lost.
