CasualGaming.biz (*sigh* there’s that silly label again) has some comments from Laurent Fisher, of Nintendo Europe fame, where he outlines how his company’s strategy has basically ignored the “debate” about “casual” games, and has been doing just fine, thank you, without it.
“I don’t like the word casual. There’s a lot of meaning and interpretation of the word. For me you’re either a gamer or a non-gamer. You can spend time playing ten or twenty hours playing a Wii game or Flash game on the ”˜net. The people who play all these games are core gamers. A 50 year-old woman who only plays Brain Training? She’s still a gamer ”“ because she’s playing like a core gamer.”
I don’t like the casual label either, Laurent, my man. Like all labels, it’s used to suppress a group perceived as different from the norm (which, in this case, ironically, is exponentially bigger than the group attacking it). Personally, I can’t wait to get some hardcore gaming in on my new balance board when it arrives later this month.