Casual games get bad reviews, no one cares

I don't think it's that casual gamers don't care about reviews,but more that they don't over analyze and pick apart video games like the hardcore gamers do (unless the game is unplayable with bugs/glitches/ect).

I also think casual gamers are simple people. They see something and they play it. They don't look into vert deep. Video Games aren't their passion. You can sell them stupid games.

casual gamers just buy games on an impulse, but more infrequently. they just pick a title they like the sound of and get it the next time they see it. they don't check reviews beforehand

i'm sure they dont care for reviews, or bother to find them cause ya know...they're casual gamers. I hope they dont buy this POS though

http://wii.ign.com/articles/839/839922p1.html

There's not really any point in checking reviews for the casual gamer because they're buying cheaper games over long periods of time and if they don't like them they know they can make their money back one way or another. Casual gamers count for a lot more people then it seems, and that's one reason casual games make it to the top.
I think its mostly kids. There are a lot of kids in this world and they buy stuff off a whim because even if it gets a bad review it doesn't effect them, they usually like it anyway.
But I don't think casual gamers should be looked upon badly because I'm assuming they have other more interesting hobbies then gaming. Someone who wants to keep another hobby going isn't going to look for a game that takes 20+ hours to tackle, they want something that brings them instant "entertainment" such as party games and games that are just simple.

No. She's right; Casual gamers DON'T care about reviews-- they care about marketing. It's why fucking idiots walk into GameStop and buy copies of the Transformers game.

Trying to say that it's not a matter of "one size fits all" is a euphemism for "lots of people will buy shitty movie-license games and perhaps even like them. Forever. No matter what." Just like how shitty pop music sells well, and shitty horror movies warrant sequels.

What she's not saying, however, is that reviews DO have a huge influence on the 'hardcore' demographic. For example, we all know that Kane & Lynch is a piece of shit. =) The videogame industry for now, but decreasingly, is made up of lots of people like us. We buy games; we matter.

Sure, Halo 3, for example, may have sold well even if it got terrible reviews, due to its media hype-storm, but what made Halo 1 a success? Us, the hardcore demographic, listening to reviews proclaiming it for what it was: a good game. We're the foundation of gaming.

What she's saying, is that she wants a world where people will eat shit and like it because a commercial said so, and where the review, loudly proclaiming that shit by any other name is still shit, goes unnoticed. To hell with this bitch, and "Casual" EA.

Even though I'm a little more hardcore than the casual crowd, what I appreciate the most about casual gamers is that they're honest: they will like a game if the game is good.

They do not care if it has this extra technical function added, or if the game has this or that more than its prequel: if it's good, they'll love it. If not, then they'll dump it.



They are probably the most honest gamers ever. And we need that for our generation.

"...while critically drubbed dreck like Carnival Games and Cars flies to the top of the charts."

Cars is not a bad game it's actually decent especially for a game that's licensed. I've played it with my sons it's a simplified version of Forrza. The Xbox, PS2 and GC versions all scored 70 on meta critic.

Actually, I am going to stick up for the 'Casual'. Mainly because I do consider that I (kind of) fall under that category.

I do look at Metacritic, but not at the average games review, and instead at the users review. And I often look at Amazon's customers reviews too. They are more likely to tell me whether I am going to enjoy a game or not.

It doesn't matter to me that a game has a deep and complex fighting system, that it has 40 hours gameplay, and that it has realistic blood spatters. I want games that are simple to get into to, so that my wife can join as well. I want games that I can come back to and play over and over, rather than games which I will eventually stop playing because I haven't got a clue what to do with that red key which may or may not open a blue door in which I can level up in order to fight a boss which will allow me to watch a two hour cut scene. Or something.

I love games such as Endless Ocean, Tiger Wolf Wii or RE: UC. I don't have a gamertag and I don't care about my gaming 'cred', I just want something I can play for an hour, leave for two weeks if life gets in the way, and then pick up and still have fun on my own or with friends.

Occasionally I will try and play one of those games which critics rave about. The most recent being Bioshock. But every time, the same thing happens: I can see and understand why people would enjoy those games, I can enjoy to a certain extent the design and some of the overall approach, but still, it feels more like a chore to play than anything else.

I know I won't get much sympathy around here for admitting than I prefer playing drunken bouts of Mario Party or have my whole family, from 10 to 61, play Wii Sports or Carnival Games, than spend countless hours online 'fragging' squeaky voiced teenagers.

There used to be a time when I could sink hours and hours into adventure games and the likes, but this time has gone. I am just glad that some companies such as Nintendo have tried to target me, even at the risk of alienating a lot of 'hardcore' (or whatever they call themselves) gamers.

I just wish that game reviews would take that into account, and stop reviewing 'casual' (or, as I prefer to call them, 'inclusive') games from a 'hardcore' point of view.

Sometimes I fear the worst for this industry. The corporate shit heads at EA aren't exactly being reserved about the fact that they know they can rape the ignorant majority. Low budget, low quality and big return. Coupled with the fact that the Wii is selling like crazy, and Nintendo has no regard for quality when it comes to approving 3rd party games... we are well on our way to shovelware hell. It wouldn't be as bad if the word casual actually meant "casual". Instead it means "non-gamer", and thus the "win button" philosophy is born.

I just hope that the purchases that hardcore gaming community and tuned-in casual gamers make, will count for something in the end. That's all we can really do to fight this turd-headed beast at this point, through our purchases and educating casuals to keep them from buying shit like Carnival Games and Alvin & The Chipmunks.

Um...no one brought this up: Name recognition.

She may well be right about online reviews, but if she's suggesting that casual gamers don't care about quality, she couldn't be more wrong.

There's a reason Nintendogs has sold a bajillion copies and Catz hasn't.

Movies are similar. A movie may perform well despite getting poor reviews, but once enough of your friends have told you that a particular movie sucks, you're going to be less likely to want to see it. And if you've played that you couldn't stand, you're unlikely to purchase the sequel.

It's nothing new though. Crappy games with a movie license or huge marketing campaign have always sold well, despite reviews. That's not the point of reviews. The point is to help those of us who DO have more than a passing interest in games to form an opinion as to whether or not a particular game is worth our time and money.

Wait, since when was Shadow of the Colossus a commercial failure? According to Wikipedia, it sold extremely well in the first few weeks, and when I bought it, it had already become a greatest hits title. Doesn't a game have to sell like a million copies or something to qualify as a greatest hit?

Granted, it probably didn't sell Zelda-good, but it certainly can't be compared to Psychonauts (which I will be getting on Xbox Live as soon as it's available).

As far as the casual gaming crowd, it's just because their new that they don't care about reviews/quality. Once they play enough versions of [insert minigame here], they'll start to recognize a good version of [insert minigame here] compared to a bad one, and start to get more critical of games.

Then you have kids who are the ones buying (or should I say, getting their parents to buy) movie-based games. It's the same problem of kids not knowing any better, but that will never change, since as these kids grow up and learn better, the next generation of kids will be out ready to buy Spider-man 6.

Though I will never get a movie game these days, or much less, a lot of games, I'm a casual gamer that looks at reviews. Although in some peoples eyes, a 7.0 for everyone else could be a 10 for me. I enjoy it. But then theres those games that seriously do suck, like that dang Catz game for the GBA. unfortunately I bought that thinking it was like the PC like the idiot I was, and brought it back to my local gamestore, warning them to be cautious to who they sell it to.

I am taking it upon myself and becoming a hero of the unaware consumer. I will stand outside my local GameStop and look at the games that ppl are buying as they walk out; if it's a crappy game, I will punch them in the face and snap the game and run for it! I AM THE CRAPPY GAMER VIGILANTE! Saving one consumer at a time...

I don't care for reviews either. Shadow of the Colossus sucks, while Mario Party 8 is a great game. If a reviewer doesn't have the guts to say that, he has no weight on my purchasing decisions. I mostly read just news and features these days, trying games out for myself and often reading only reviews of games that I have already played. I purchased Psychonauts recently, mind you, and expect it to be good. Yet I haven't read a single review of it.

The EA Casual's Marketing VP's method of gaging a given game's popularity amongst female casual gamers is repulsively sexist.

Not really bothered by this whole casual thing. Back in the day us PC fans were worried everything would get dumbed down and made simple for the console tards. Halo is essentially "Fisher Price Baby's First FPS" when you compare it to much harder games like CS or Q3 or Operation Flashpoint. Or compare Bioshock to System Shock 2. SS2 is much harder and more complex of a game.

But in retrospect it doesn't bother me like it did at the time. The industry is changing. I like a lot of what's coming out now, and my hardcore gaming habits have changed since I got married. A lot of this "casual" stuff helps open the door to the higher end gaming.

Example: My wife started out with Mario Party 8 on Wii, we just finished Gears of War coop. I like that a door has been opened to get people into gaming.

Let's face reality outside your mom's basement, without the DS and Wii the video game industry was pretty stagnant. Compare growth with and without those 2 devices. Stagnation in any industry=death.

EA proposed an audience model back in 2003. essentially, it has the "hardcore gamer" at the top who read the specialist press, "cool gamer" below them who tend to turn to their "hardcore gamer" friend for opinions on games and are likely to play the current top ten hits in gaming charts. at the bottom, is the "mass market casual gamers". they are the least game literate cluster and in general swayed by the opinions of the "cool gamer" and TV advertising. they pre-dominantly play the current top 3 hits in gaming charts.

other audience models were proposed over time (granted EA is probably outdated being 2003, i just felt it was most appropriate to present that one). in general, the hardcore gamer tends to be held in high esteem in most of the audience models i've read about because it's them who suggest games to friends. to try to nail the hardcore gamer audience, games aim to please the specialist press who for the most part, are the core source of information accessible by mostly hardcore gamers.

i feel like i should cite this information... this is from a book called "21st Century Game Design" by chris bateman & richard boon.

so using this information in simple terms... yes, most casual gamers don't look at reviews, however they'll turn to friends who happen to know people or are hardcore gamers and get their recommendation. the hardcore gamer of course, is likely to get their insight from the specialist press.

I have this co-worker who plays this shitty freeware version of Mahjong every day. Now that Lumines can be downloaded for free, I tried getting her to try it out. Unfortunately, my company blocked the site, so no download. I was so close to getting someone to play a good casual game.