Yet Another Reason For Game Developers To Further Tone Down Their Games

[Codiekitty]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3620518.stm

Video games makers must try harder to attract people who only occasionally play, a gaming conference in London has been told.
The millions of people across Europe who play games for a few hours a week are largely ignored by the games industry, said Sean Dromgoole of research firm GameVision Europe.

He was speaking at the European Games Network (EGN) trade show in London.

It was one of several gaming events that were held in the city this week.

Short stint

The games industry is waking up to the fact that it needs to broaden its appeal if it is to become a mainstream form of entertainment to challenge film and music.

In the UK, people are buying and playing more games, spending about £20m ($36m) a week on them.

Many of these are considered hardcore or dedicated gamers, with the UK having the lowest number of what are described as casual gamers.

According to GameVision, there are just under 24 million people in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain who play video games.

But a third of these are considered to be casual gamers, who play for less than 11 hours a week, according to GameVision research.

And a large number of them actually play for less than four hours a week.

Mr Dromgoole told delegates at the EGN conference that it was important to look at ways of enticing these people to buy and play more games.

"There are loads and loads of casuals," said Mr Dromgoole. "It is worth chasing them. They are our new frontier."

Currently these players account for 11% of the $30bn spent annually worldwide on games, adding up to a sizeable potential source of revenue.

The games industry needed to learn how to tap into this lucrative market, Mr Dromgoole told delegates.

"We are in competition with all the other forms of entertainment. We need to make it easy for them to come to us."

Nice and easy

In its research, GameVision found there were big differences between the types of games that casuals liked compared to dedicated gamers.

The most popular games are Tetris and big recognisable titles like Fifa and Harry Potter.

"Casual gamers are big on brands that have come from outside the industry as it is something they know a little about, like a game based on a film or book," said Mr Dromgoole.

A recent report by research firm Screen Digest estimated that casual gaming was worth £270m in the UK in 2003.

Many of the people considered casual gamers are women, who are often deterred by the exclusive nature of many games.

"We need to make them comfortable," Mr Dromgoole told the EGN conference.

"We need to find a way of telling them that this is going to be fun."

Don't we have enough liscenced crap?


Where are these lemmings going? The Super Nintendo Super Shire! Hop in line and follow them there!

[Sabrilocke]

Originally posted by CodieKitty:
Don't we have enough liscenced crap?

Why, yes, we do! Unless they're talking about games released in that area or .... whatever.

[c_jks]

You know, i'm sick of overhearing all the muscle-head jocks say, "Dude, come over and play Madden/NBA Street/Tony Hawk!" I was beaten up by guys like them for playing video games when I was younger, so i'd like it if video games became more underground. If gamers - hardcore gamers - were more of a rare breed, that would be great. Unfortunately, video games are the "cool thing" now. Businesses who, five years ago, had no interest in video games, are buying up companies for sale. Ahem, video game historians: Does this sound familiar? Think...early 80's, maybe? Let's review: The Great Depression of video games that was caused, in part, by people seeing money in video games and messing it all up. Many, many bad games were created, flooded the market, and video games were viewed as a fad for a few years.

So, if all that's true about history repeating itself, let me ask a question: Video games now make as much or almost as much as the Hollywood Box office, and mainstream franchises pull more and more people in all the time: Madden, ESPN NFL, GTA, etc. Do you think that history will repeat itself, and all the mainstream exposure will kill the gaming industry again? Or will all turn for the better, and the line between mainstream and hardcore be blurred?

[King Andre]

YOU CANNOT DISS MY MADDEN!

Madden is the only TRUE sports game, and probably the longest running franchise,

It's been out since what? 91? 92?

Either way, what I'm trying to say is, well I don't know, I just had to defend Madden, sorry....

[Swordmaster Link]

^ ...

[Sim Kid]

Sol some European gamers play for less then 11 hours a week?

Is that why game companies *Cough*NINTENDO*Cough* deprive them of some of their best games? *cough*EARTHBOUND*cough* *awaits anti-Earthbound remark by CK*

And I actually thought that was because some european countries like Germany have REALLY high Education standards. I mean-My uncle and Aunt had to go to school when it was still dark out and come back when it was dark out! (Of course it MAY have changed since then)

[Tub-O-Troopa]

So basically they're saying we need more Spongebob. ****ing morons.

I wouldn't worry about any of it, though. We already have THQ and EA to satisfy all of our retarded media-based gamer needs. As for mainstream stuff like Madden taking over, if the idiots want to appeal to the female crowd, they aren't going to go about it by churning out sports games. Instead, we'll see a gross amount of TV based or cute games, at a quality level only they or 4 year olds could appreciate. And the sales of those abominations are always going to pale in comparison to those of the games our crowd likes to play.

[ September 09, 2004, 02:11 AM: Message edited by: O Foul Master of the Abyss ]

[Vinny]

Originally posted by Trap Muzik:
Madden is the only TRUE sports game

I didn't know that FIFA and NHL were fake.

It's been out since what? 91? 92?

... And?

To be honest, I've become a casual gamer now. In fact, I'm less than that, even. I hardly ever play video games (I haven't touched the PS2 for about 2 months), and I haven't gotten any new games since April, and that one was a birthday present. The routine goes: I get a new game every so often, I play it regularly for about two or three weeks, get bored of it after I've beaten it once or twice, and then never play it again. Besides, I'd rather invest my money into music than video games. Video games are just too expensive for me to bother saving up that long. A CD costs about 1/3 as much as a video game.

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[King Andre]

I didn't know that FIFA and NHL were fake.

Sorry, I meant football game, got caught up in my rant. What I actually mean by that is:
It's the only one that has lasted so long, and been so great all these years. I mean, everytime some information on a new one is announced, my cousins, brothers and I can't wait to see what new features it has.

....and?

See above

And I'm just like you on the issue, I've become like Vinny, less than a casual gamer, in fact, now I only play Madden, with my family (Damon, CJ, Bros. etc), and every now and then, I get a new game wear it out, or just get stuck, and never come back to it, for let's say months, nearly years from then. Also like Vinny, I've invested into other things, besides family gifts, and needs, I get clothes mainly, but secondly CD's.

As a matter of fact, I can't really even say I was a "gamer" so to speak. I never really cared, just give me Mario, Racing, Sports, or Some famous Ninten Franchise, and I'd play it.

N64, was really the only system I played and completed more than 80% of my games on.

[ September 09, 2004, 03:50 PM: Message edited by: Trap Muzik ]

[Sim Kid]

Originally posted by O Foul Master of the Abyss:
So basically they're saying we need more Spongebob.

Please don't give me any more images of yet another Hylidide-quality Spongebob game. Thank you.

[Sabrilocke]

Originally posted by O Foul Master of the Abyss:
So basically they're saying we need more Spongebob.

*shudder*

[Swordmaster Link]

^ Ditto.

[Heroine of the Dragon]

I know a couple gal-gamers who buy games based off movies and books. They won't even consider expanding... sad really.

[JoeTheSnifit]

Originally posted by Deaf, Dumb, and Blind:
You know, i'm sick of overhearing all the muscle-head jocks say, "Dude, come over and play Madden/NBA Street/Tony Hawk!" I was beaten up by guys like them for playing video games when I was younger, so i'd like it if video games became more underground. If gamers - hardcore gamers - were more of a rare breed, that would be great. Unfortunately, video games are the "cool thing" now. Businesses who, five years ago, had no interest in video games, are buying up companies for sale. Ahem, video game historians: Does this sound familiar? Think...early 80's, maybe? Let's review: The Great Depression of video games that was caused, in part, by people seeing money in video games and messing it all up. Many, many bad games were created, flooded the market, and video games were viewed as a fad for a few years.

So, if all that's true about history repeating itself, let me ask a question: Video games now make as much or almost as much as the Hollywood Box office, and mainstream franchises pull more and more people in all the time: Madden, ESPN NFL, GTA, etc. Do you think that history will repeat itself, and all the mainstream exposure will kill the gaming industry again? Or will all turn for the better, and the line between mainstream and hardcore be blurred?

Thank you for saving me the trouble of typing that.