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Aug 22 / Ozymandias

[Update] Speaking on PAX Panel Next Weekend: Is Casual Killing Core Games?

[Update - Nicholas Puleo, Editor-in-Chief of Evil Avatar and founder of Co-Optimus.com has kindly agreed to step in and join the panel. Thanks Nick!]

Just wanted to let you all know that Rob and I will be participating on a panel at PAX next weekend. The topic is whether Casual Game influences are "killing" Core Games, and we’ve been able to get some great panelists together for the event. They include Mark Deloura (who previously managed Sony’s developer relations for Playstation and PSP), Jane Pinkard (of GameGirlAdvance fame), and of course everyone’s favorite actor-geek Wil Wheaton (aka Wesley from ST:TNG and the guy who did the PAX keynote last year.) N’Gai Croal of Newsweek/Level Up fame was also planning to join us, but unfortunately can’t make it due to a conflict.

The panel will occur on Saturday, August 30th from 6:00 to 7:00 PM in the Raven Theater.

Panel description:

Is Casual Killing Core Games?

Are you annoyed because casual gamers and casual gaming mechanics are killing your favorite games?  Are you too busy playing Puzzle Quest to care?  Do you think casual gaming is finally culling the herd of outdated gaming sacred cows?  Come and watch industry insiders, top press, and celebrities debate whether casual should be feared or embraced.

Moderator: Rob Gruhl, Senior Platform Strategist, Microsoft Game Platform Strategy Team

Panel Speakers:

  • N’Gai Croal, Newsweek Technology Writer and Blogger of Level Up (sadly no!)
  • Mark Deloura, CTO Greenleaf and ex Sony Devrel
  • Jane Pinkard, GameGirlAdvance and Bizdev Foundation 9
  • Wil Wheaton, Professional Geek, Actor, and Voice-over Artist… AKA the guy who did the keynote last year. ;)
  • Andre Vrignaud, Senior Platform Strategist, Microsoft Game Platform Strategy Team

Should be a good time – hope to see any of you who might be at PAX!

Related posts:

  1. Consolidation begins in Casual Games Sector: MTV acquires Atom
  2. Update: Is Intel killing PC gaming?
  3. Asynchronous Games: Future of Casual Gaming?
  4. The Schizophrenic Passive/Aggressive Face of Casual Connect
  5. At Seattle Casual Games Conference this Week

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  • Rafoca

    Yeah, I think that in this gen, casual games are killing core games and I am pretty upset with that for a long time already!

    Most of the casual games and concept I don´t like.

    My biggest fear is MS realeasing a motion sensor controller and forcing us to use in our games. As long as it is optional, I wouldn´t care.

    On the other hand what makes me pretty happy in this gen is how cooperative play are evolving to games we never imagined to play with a friend before (red alert 3, fable 2, crackdown…)

  • wideawakewesley

    You should ask Jeff Cannata from The Totally Rad Show to step in for N’Gai. I know he’s going to be there, so it should be pretty easy to set up with him. I think he’d be able to offer a lot of great views on the subject.

    http://www.revision3.com/trs

  • http://www.beltonmo.net Porktree

    Ah, c’mon, I’m tired of this circle-jerk.  I think the whole casual vs core is mainly a manufactured debate, for self-referential game pundits to give them something to talk about. I don’t see a cage match going on here.

  • Roland

    Rafoca said:

    "On the other hand what makes me pretty happy in this gen is how cooperative play are evolving to games we never imagined to play with a friend before (red alert 3, fable 2, crackdown…)"

    Now if only every game that lends itself to co-op gameplay would actually use it and not limit it to 2 players. Battlefield Bad Company would’ve been more than awesome with 4 players but instead it had no co-op, Gears of War could’ve used more than 2 players just like Rainbow Six Vegas 2′s limitation to 2 was a slap in the face.

    Developers saying it’d make the games too easy or whatever is just a bad excuse. Rainbow Six Vegas had 4 player co-op and while it made the game easier, it was so much fun. And they can always rack up the difficulty exponentially to the number of players.

    As for casual games killing so-called (hard)core games: I doubt it. There will be new twists on core games coming from casual games, which will bring much needed novelties to shooters and racers.

    In the end, there’s a market for both casual games and core games alike, and as long as core games don’t get simplified (on all difficulties) to make them more casual gamer-oriented it’s fine by me.

  • http://treytable.blogspot.com TreyTable

    Is casual killing core? Not that I have noticed. But somebody should explain what type of core this "core" is. Is Tetris a casual or core game? I think it depends on skill of the player. I play Tetris, so does my mom. We both enjoy the game, even though my skills are far better than hers, but you’d never see her playing Unreal Tournament III.

    The real problem is the developers of most of the "new casual" are just cranking out crap. Look at the shovelware on the Wii, and then some of its best sellers are tech demos, including Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and Wii Play.

  • Rafoca

    Roland, I agree with you.

    It is a bad excuse about 4 players co-op makint it too easy. But what if I want to play with 3 more friends, even if it is easier? Also, they can make it harder, just see how Halo 3 did it… you set for legendary and invite your friends and it is a hell of a fun :D

    Co-op feature is something decisive to make me buy a game. I rarely buy a game that not features co-op mode in the main campaign.

    Let´s hope now they allow for more than 2 players only. I am fine with 4 people :D

  • Roland

    I’m absolutely with you on that Rafoca. It’s not anything that’ll stop me from buying if a game doesn’t have co-op, but 4-player co-op in an enjoyable game makes it a sure buy :)

  • Xwar

    Nah, it’s terrible controls combined with poor camera, timed and escort missions calibrated on the beta testers’ best records, unskippable cutscenes and lack of free save that’s killing core games.

    If anything, the belief so many seem to have that giving the middle finger to core gamers in favor of an audience that is by definition unfaithful is going to kill *companies*. By the droves.