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Overheard @ E3: Imagine laughing it up

by Justin McElroy on Jun 2nd 2009 7:00AM

Classic moment to remember from the Ubisoft press conference: As the company displayed its roster of Imagine games the crowd was so tickled by the surreality of the moment, that the chuckling got pretty bad. It was quieted fairly quickly though when one large gentleman remarked "Laugh it up, my daughter buys all this shit, and I'm the one paying for it."

If there's a better summation of the casual market, we've never heard it.

Tags: e3-2009, imagine, ubisoft

Reader Comments (27)

I don't know who is more stupid, Ubisoft or the dad.

As a parent, i can say it's Ubisofts fault, no doubt!

Why is he stupid for buying his little daughters games they enjoy?

So the dad is stupid because he buys his daughter games she likes? Wow, how enlightening of you.

Phil, you didn't like dumb crap when you were a kid? Way to type before thinking.

It's up to the father or someone in that family to raise the kid on good games. I could have easily gone down a similar path when I was a kid, but my much older brother started me out on games like FF-2 and Contra III and he's the reason why I have such great taste in games today.

It's the father's fault for not raising her on good games. Ubisoft's only trying to make money, and they wouldn't make any off this shit if people would raise their kids on good games.

I'm sorry but this conference was terrible. I didn't mind all the talking too much but then it just started to drag on about imagine and petz, what's worse is I stayed up for this. Atleast Redsteel 2 and Assassins creed 2 looked alright.

Well thats how things work....

Ubisoft is GENIUS for making games that target little girls....luckily my daughters are just 3 & 4 but in 5-6 years I'll be in the same boat as that guy.....

In the press conference they said something like:

"why would casual gamers not deserve a good developed game with features and standards that are (at the moment) only present in "hardcore" games?? That's why we are trying to bring the best possible experience to casual gamers"

If think they have a good point there. Sure, I dont play games like "Imagine..." but at least they try to make a quality product (unlike sooo many else)

What I hate is not that they are targeted towards little girls, but that they SUCK. A game like New Super Mario Bros. has an all ages appeal an is an example of excellent game design.

There's no reason a game can't be aimed at a yound demographic but still be of high quality - except that it's easier to put out garbage with a cute cover and prey on the impulse of kids - making a quick buck while giving them a crap product.

Kirby all the way

so wait, You've played all the Imagine games?

Oh my bad, you're way to hardcore to be bothered which such filth amirite?

Not all the Imagine games suck -- a few are actually kind of fun. The way you figure it out is by looking at the developer. If it's one of the French developers, run like hell -- they shovel the stuff out. If it's, for example, Spike, which is a big Japanese developer has made several good ones.

Cheap, popular games fund expensive popular games.

I don't get butt hurt by Imagine. Why should you?

Nope, haven't played them all; but I've certainly seen enough of them as I am in the specialty retail business. And they are crap, pure unadulterated crap.

So, if by 'hardcore' you mean I want to see quality, well designed software then yes.

Ass

Meant as a reply to Moptimus

Meant as a reply to Mop. wtf is w/the comment system lately?

i liked the part of the presentation because i guessed right. he asked what was one of the biggest sellers, i guessed something with a z at the end, and for fastest genre i guessed fitness

I don't mock it when it is honest and pays the bills. It is their cash cow and by their own admission has helped fund their work on Assassin's Creed and the like. It is good business, plain and simple. And this is still a business.

I have no problem w/casual games funding big budget stuff - does not mean they can't be quality though.

Ubisoft knows how to make stuff for more than just the tweens. Hell, all of those Language Coach games? I gobble them up. I'd rather buy these type of games for my daughter than many of the things other girls her age are interested in today.

I was a skeptic of the Language coach games, but when my friend loaded My Japanese Coach on his r4, he said it actually doesn't suck, save for errors like stroke order, but it shouldn't matter if you know kanji stroke order rules anyways...

I downloaded it, and although some of it was pretty stereotypical (The music and beginner words like Tsunami and stuff), it looks like its good software.

remember, shit like imagine and petz is what pays for assassin's creed and splinter cell

Word... seriously folks.

No one can afford to make an Assassin's Creed without Imagine, nor Mirrors Edge without Madden.

I fell asleep during Ubi's PC - it had to be the most boring video game PC I've ever witnessed.

Ubisoft is one of my favorite devs too so I was pretty disapointed.

Hardcore vs Casual.

This is going to be another Civil War, minus the moral implications or cultural relevance.

What I don't like about all these "games aimed at girls" reinforce negative gender roles. It is always "Imagine Teacher" or "Imagine Beauty Parlor". Why can't it be "Imagine Brain Surgeon" or "Imagine Architect"? They might as well have "Imagine Submissive Wife", "Imagine Secretary" or "Imagine Baby-Making-Machine". Thanks a lot you a-holes at Ubisoft! These games are shit for that reason, everything else is just extra.

wow you guys have such good taste in games whoa you guys should probably get together and form some sort of high games council and tell everyone what to buy

you guys could also "review" games by giving them a "score" from "1-10" or some other numerical scale then people would know how good your taste in games are

Breaking News

Overheard @ E3: Imagine laughing it up

Reader Comments (27)

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 7:07AM AnteSim said

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 7:13AM Foetoid said

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Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 7:15AM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

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Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 8:04AM OnToGloryReturns said

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Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 8:24AM ScottG13 said

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 8:44AM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 8:45AM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 8:46AM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 9:26AM jhowlett said

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 9:26AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 11:50AM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 9:31AM lokid20 said

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 10:43AM Mushrooshi said

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 9:55AM fracaso said

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