Page 1 of Forget Saddam and Osama, CASUAL GAMERS are the new face of EVIL

Casual gamers are the new face of EVIL. They live and walk among us and, worst of all, because of their sheer numbers they are dragging our beloved games industry down the low-quality road of Hollywood movies and vomit-inducing chart music (casual gamers are also the same "people" that watch Hollywood crap like any Arnie film of the last decade you care to mention or listen to mass market tosh like Madonna`s new album - HELLO DEAR JUDAS!!!).

The casual gamer is the new PLAGUE. He`s an ignorant marketing-victim that unfortunately has more money than sense. He helped to build the Army Men franchise, he brought Tony Hawks up to its fourth instalment (last time I checked), he`s the guy that keeps buying crap platform, rally and "stealth-em-up" (i.e. HIDE AND SEEK) games. He wouldn`t touch games like FF VIII or the original Shadowman with a stick. They`re just TOO DEEP and INVOLVING for him.

Yes, the games industry has grown significantly thanks to the legions of the casual but game-quality has nose-dived. Thanks to the marketing-victimised casual gamer Devil May Cry gets all the sales and hype while the infinitely superior Gungrave doesn`t even make it to the top-20 chart. Thanks to the casual gamer, the Dreamcast died a horrible death while being years ahead of its time. You see, when the DC came out, the casual gamer didn`t want to play 128-bit 60Hz games, he preferred sticking to his bordered, mass-market-friendly, PSOne franchises. 3-year old DC Code Veronica still looks and plays better than Gamecube Zero. DC SoulCalibur still looks and plays better than any PS2, Xbox, or Deadcube 3D fighter. The DC Shenmue games still look better than anything on next-gen consoles. And DC Jet Set Radio still remains one of the most innovative, fresh, enjoyable experiences ever.

But hey, the casual gamer doesn`t care about quality and originality, he`s just an ignorant victim of the marketing juggernaut! Just give him the latest crap movie tie-in game (Harry Potter, Rugrats, James Bond, rush me the sick-bucket) and he`s a happy little focker™.

In short, casual gamers are the SARS of video-games, a deadly virus killing our beloved pastime and sadly those funny little face masks don`t seem to be working either. So, should casual gamers get stoned to death or burn at the stake or even better get stoned while slowly burning? Choices, choices…

Hmm, interesting... you bemoan the death of the Dreamcast, yet slag off the GC as the "Deadcube"?

I`m a "casual gamer" in that I don`t have the time to play as much as I`d like to, but I don`t buy just any old tat - and I bought a `cube, so surely should be hailed as a saviour and not as poisonous scum ;-)

Do see your point though, there is an awful lot of tat out there - but a lot of it is aimed at kids. Perhaps we should ban kids from owning consoles, thereby forcing developers to make better titles for a more discerning audience? But then what happens to such classics as Monkey Ball... and most kids like "adult" games anyway... ahhh shucks I have no good ideas.

Ive been gaming for about 15 years now, i play what i enjoy, and dont play what i dont like.

I cant play as often as i did when i was younger - too many other commitments, but still hate playing a s***e game, and if i do happen to buy one, i take it back!!!

Casual gamers are not the scum, the games companies that release the s***e are scum, the big doller movie houses that want more money through mass entertainment that decide a certain game should be a certain way for fear of alienating the fan base (Harry Potter - pointless quidditch!!!).

Hey ho, ive got a cube and with Zelda just delivered, my other commitments are taking a back seat.... Not good!!!

I also am a "casual gamer" simply cos i havn`t the time to play as much as i`d like, i own a dreamcast gamecube & an x-box and apart from mario`s mansion (came free thank god) i don`t own a crap game ? i also think that resident evil zero (& the resi remake) are better than code veronica don`t get me wrong, code veronica is good game just not great.
as for the final fantasy games i can`t comment as although i played & enjoyed many of the sega fantasy/adventure games i never realy took to FF but i`m not shallow enough to slag the other 80% of people that don`t like the same games as me


unless you don`t like halo, then all bets are off

Who the hell is this "Master Bruce" and why does he HATE casual gamers soo much?

Personally I consider myself a casual gamer. I own a PC (yeah its state of the art, GF4 etc..), a Gamecube & PS2. I usually buy around 1 game a month which I usually make sure is worth the money.

Now I always make sure that when I buy a game I consider the facts;

1) Gameplay
2) Story

&

3) **VERY IMPORTANT** How long the thing is gonna take to complete

Now this Master Bruce seems to suggest that ALL casual gamers take point 3 very seriously and only go for games that can be completed very quickly or don`t take any effort at all!

Well if thats what he calls a "CASUAL GAMER" then hes WRONG! Casual gamers are very selective with their purchases. They consider all of the above points and will ONLY play games that they can comfortably manage to complete within a reasonable timescale, *AND* enjoy doing so.

If thats a casual gamer then thats me and about 10million other gamers! I think Master Bruce must be a very SAD *NERD* who seems to want to only play Final Fantasy games that take over your life and virtually *KILL* any social life he has :-)

Come on Casual Gamers, let us tell that "Master Bruce" just what we think of his 3rd World views!

HEH HEH this ones opened a can of worms

oh by the way "master bruce" this is when your`e supposed to reply

I consider myself one of these casual gamers, you see I do have other things to do and know some people I enjoy interacting with from time to time. I think I`ve grown out of the old days of old Champ Manager for hours and hours in the dark. I have a job and earn money now

i dont really think i have ever met a `casual gamer` in my life, whatever they are....

everyone has different tastes, i have friends who can tinker with Gran Turismo 3, friends who can play the Sims til its frightening, Champ Manager fiends...and then me who loves Icewind Dale 2 and any decent 2d fighter....

seriously i dont know what a casual gamer is....i know plenty of s***e is released but i think this is lapped up by young kids who dont know any better....i cant imagine an 8 yr old sitting thru FFX or sussing out just frame moves in VF 4 Evo...i blame the parents and marketing plays a part, average joe rarely imports a Winning 11 6 FE when he watches a tv program and reads an official mag giving Fifa 10/10, i think its marketing anyway not bad taste...its just the state of play now, consoles are available, more and more people get into games, hence there is a bigger market that can be exploited...

Gungrave was duff as well, shoot shoot shoot dive shoot....plenty more technique involved in Devil May Cry...though GG had the cool anime cutscenes for eyecandy

Hmmm, the forums seem to be overrun by the casual. I feel a bit like Jill in the mansion being surrounded by the hordes of the casual undead. Anyhoo, glad to see the ESTEEMED SCAPEGOAT, i.e. T.G.C.M.O.O.T. rearing his ugly, casual head. Now, before rightly slagging him off, I`d like to point out he`s a bitter little focker. Master Bruce kept beating his times at Screamer back in 95, Sega Rally in 97, FIFA in 99, Marvel Vs Capcom 2 in 2000 and god knows he`s p***ing his panties at the thought of me crushing his sell-out Chelsea at PES2 right now.

But all you casual zombie fellas got one thing wrong. What makes a gamer CASUAL is not how many hours per week he spends playing. I really don`t care if you spend 3 or 30 hours playing. What makes a gamer CASUAL is his choice of games and his attitude towards them.

T.G.C.M.O.O.T. says he only buys one good game per month. Like fock he does! He buys more than that and what all his purchases have in common is their LOW-QUALITY. This is the same guy that played Silent Hill 2 for TWO MONTHS and he still couldn`t finish it (even though it takes about 12 hours to complete). It was TOO SCARY and INVOLVING for him. He quickly run back to the safety of his Colin McBoring and Gran Boredom 3 mass-market friendly racing games.

And he doesn`t give a rat`s ass about the story of a game. He wouldn`t know a good story if it bit him on the leg. He actually thought The Scorpion King made a great movie (…). His idea of a deep, involving storyline is, SHOCK-HORROR, Mario Sunshine. Please don`t mention the likes of Flashback, FF VIII or Silent Hill to him. The thought of great stories and characterisation OFFENDS him.

T.G.C.M.O.O.T. spends many hours per week playing games and he`s been playing them ever since he was a little focker. So it`s not the amount of time you put in, it`s the kind of games you play. Thanks to casual gamers, utter crap like Harry Potter, Turok Evolution, Scooby Doo, Rayman etc make it to the top of OPS2`s sales charts and thanks to casual gamers PAL FFX had horrendous borders cause having a second DVD of worthless extras was more important to the casual than having a 60Hz option. And all the idiotic mags that cater to the needs of the casual didn`t say a word about FFX being a bordered monstrosity. They didn`t want to "confuse" their ignorant readership by stating the obvious or bite the corporate hand that feeds them and provides them with their half-baked "exclusives". Of course Square is as much to blame for this insult but we`ll leave that for another time.

The bottom line is, casual gamers don`t care about great stories, characterisation, proper PAL conversions, innovation or the like. Just give them the latest bordered "hip" game and a catchy ad campaign and they`re happy little puppies. And they`re dragging the games industry down with them. That`s why games may look better than ever but don`t play as well as they used to.

So, what are we waiting for, somebody get the stake and the fire ready, PRONTO!