CES: Women, young and old, rule MSN games
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Jan 6th 2006 at 7:35PM }
Microsoft's Chris Early, Studio Manager of MS Casual
Games, was eager to show-off how his company is prepared to accommodate the female gamers that comprise two-thirds of
the online MSN Games population. In fact, 48% of those women are over the age of 35. So that's what the soccer moms do
in-between matches...To help drive addiction, Microsoft has built-in a Badge system, similar to the Xbox 360's Achievements. No more guilt. Now you can feel proud that you've wasted the day in order to reach Level 10. MS has also made moves to build a community around casual game addiction--you don't have to be alone anymore. Fire up MSN Messenger and play with a friend. According to MS, that's what all of the teenage and young adult girls are doing these days. Compete, collaborate, it's your choice. The only feature we thought this web of enslavement lacked was cross-platform integration. If I can play the same game on my PC, cell phone, and Xbox 360, why can't I have one profile that compiles my progress? In time...
Aside: Microsoft is really pushing this Hexic game, forcing us to watch demonstrations on the PC, a mobile phone, and the Xbox 360. Is anyone out there getting hooked on this one?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
thomas_h @ Jan 6th 2006 9:06PM
Hexic's ok, but geometry wars is the best.
Zach @ Jan 6th 2006 10:11PM
Hexic's pretty fun in a relaxing sort of way. It's a good game to play after getting your ass handed to you in repeatedly in DOA 4. Geometry Wars is still the best Live Arcade game though. I'm sure I'll be playing it till the end of the console's life cycle.
Leah @ Jan 6th 2006 10:43PM
Hexic is pretty fun and addicting, just like the majority of arcade games on XBOX live. I play this more than Geometry Wars.
Dan Choi @ Jan 7th 2006 12:26AM
Hexic gets fun once you get into the swing of things... and you develop a sort of puzzle rhythm (or Zone of Ultimate Concentration). It's a little less intense than Geometry Wars, of course, which can be good or bad depending on your personal tastes.
Ed @ Jan 7th 2006 2:59AM
Hexic is awesome on a convertible notebook (one w/ tablet functionality). I've wasted hours of my life playing that damn game..
jennie @ Jan 7th 2006 10:44AM
I really got into Hexic the first few days I had a 360, but then I started dreaming about hexagons and forced myself to stop, and go back to something less addictive (WoW). Given my complete hamfistedness at Geometry Wars, I definitely prefer Hexic :)
gameminded.com @ Jan 23rd 2006 5:31PM
I guess socces-moms are doing a lot more during the day. they are casualgames, skillgames -active! Recent result do point out that this target audience is not only growing but also spending more and more.
See http://www.gameminded.com or http://casualgames.web-log.nl or http://casualgames.web-log.nl
gameminded.com @ Jan 23rd 2006 5:32PM
I guess socces-moms are doing a lot more during the day. they are casualgames, skillgames -active! Recent result do point out that this target audience is not only growing but also spending more and more.
See http://www.gameminded.com or http://casualgames.web-log.nl or http://casualgames.web-log.nl
gameminded.com @ Jan 23rd 2006 5:34PM
I guess socces-moms are doing a lot more during the day. they are casualgames, skillgames -active! Recent result do point out that this target audience is not only growing but also spending more and more.
See http://www.gameminded.com or http://casualgames.web-log.nl or http://casualgames.web-log.nl