[casual_games] [design]Geometry Wars

[Daniel Kinney]

There seems to be a growing discrepancy in our own industry's vocabulary. I
think it's important we enumerate and agree upon a structured lexicon before
we expect to have any cohesive discussion regarding casual games, lest we
find ourselves bickering in the face of misunderstanding.

Is "casual" a design style or an audience? Is "casual" a marketing
catchphrase or a meaningful phoneme to facilitate developers? Is "casual" an
inclusive or exclusive genre - or neither?

Until we can agree upon some form of standardization among the vocabulary we
elicit, we're each speaking a thousand languages at the foot of the Tower of
Babel.

Best Regards,
Daniel Kinney


On 12/9/06, Adam Martin <adam.m.s.martin at googlemail.com> wrote:

>

> On 06/12/06, Robert Headley <Rheadley at op-games.com> wrote:

> > Retail games that sell at a bargain price due to age, do not count.

>

> So what did you mean when you said: "Casual Investment - ties in with

> commitment. The game generally does not cost much so is a good impulse

> buy."?

>

> > Geometry Wars takes very little time to learn how to play. If you can

> say it

> > takes any time at all. Its very intuitive, like many casual games.

>

> No, that's clearly not true. In reference to my first post, please do

> the googling I suggested - or, if you have, and still think that,

> please could you explain this phenomenon, because my

> (mis)understanding of the comments all over the web is in direct

> contradiction to what you say above.

>

> >  Just because it is hard, does not mean it is not a casual game. There

> are

> > many skill based casual games.

>

> This game is intentionally very hard, yet has an easy part with some

> odd unique characteristics at the beginning that serves to make the

> hard bit *even harder* than it is normally, and also serves to deny

> people the chance of playing the main game (the hard bit).

>

> It is this "denial of gameplay" that concerns me, that seems to me

> anathema to casual games. Why is that in there? Is it a mistake, a

> felicitous accident, or something very clever serving a role I've

> failed to appreciate?

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