Wednesday, October 10, 2007
By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER
Without question, Halo 3 is the most high-profile title in the electronic gaming industry. More than 2 million players have purchased copies of the Xbox 360 game since its release two weeks ago, and eye-catching advertisements are still playing on television.But what about the rest of us? What if you don't need the high-definition graphics, don't like the shoot-'em-up game play, and don't have the time to spend hours doing thumb athletics on a video-game console?
Welcome to the world of casual gaming. Instead of a meticulous re-creation of the space combat experience, you have an easy-to-learn, often colorful game that downloads onto your computer in a matter of minutes. Instead of the helmeted, armor-clad Master Chief of the Halo series, you might play a hairstylist named Sally (Sally's Salon) or a cake baker named Jill (Cake Mania). And instead of skipping meals to play hours on end, you can fit satisfying play into five minutes.
Simple skills required
You may be familiar with traditional time-wasting software titles such as solitaire and Minesweeper. But the rise of post-dot-com culture has produced popular new titles like Bejeweled, Slingo and Diner Dash. Most are based on a simple skill like puzzle-solving, multitask clicking or finding hidden objects. Some are free online games, which are supported by advertising, and others are downloaded games, which usually charge a fee (typically about $20) after a free 60-minute trial.
"They're very easy to learn, but they're difficult to master," said 31-year-old casual gamer Don Keizer of Hackensack, a fifth-grade schoolteacher who uses the games to relax from a busy day.
An estimated 150 million people around the globe are playing casual games, more than the number of people who own video-gaming consoles (like Microsoft's Xbox 360 or Nintendo's Wii). According to the Casual Gaming Association, the North American online casual market is expected to reach $690 million in 2008, with worldwide revenue of more than $1.5 billion.
Who are these casual gamers? Most don't conform to your typical image.
In fact, major casual gaming companies count women as their primary customers – up to 75 percent of players of their games are females. The great majority of players are age 35 and older. And Popcap, the company that created the popular match-three game Bejeweled, estimated in a recent survey that about 40 percent of all players are white collar, with about a fourth of those playing games during work "for a break."
"Most people who engage in casual games don't even look at themselves as gamers," said Eric Lamendola, spokesman for Hackensack-based Slingo. The game company's flagship game is a mix of bingo and a slot machine. "They just think they're somebody who likes to play Slingo."
Digital stress busters
For some, casual games can help while away downtime at work; for others, the titles help waste the time work is supposed to consume. In many cases, the games serve as digital stress busters."As human beings, we cannot think of two competing forces at the same time," said Dr. Carl Arinoldo, a Long Island psychologist. "So when a person is thinking about something that is fun and good, the stressful things that are bothering her don't have time to get in. It shuts the door, and gives the person a minivacation."
Some experts, like Cresskill native and author of "Productive Procrastination" Kerul Kassel, say that casual gaming doesn't really give you a mental break.
"Most of us don't take enough breaks," said Kassel. "But solitaire, Free Cell and other games don't give us the downtime and physical break that really refreshes." She suggested getting up and walking around the room, stretching, getting a drink of water or having a brief chat with a co-worker instead.
Casual gamers like Keizer beg to differ. "Even the games that are frenetic and fast-paced can be relaxing," he said. Compared with console games, "casual games really give me a sense of Zen."
Chasing that mental peace, Keizer has become an avid surfer of casual gaming blogs and Web sites. He buys about 12 games a month at about $20 each from his favorite gaming companies (15 to 20 minutes of a free trial are enough for him to decide whether the game is worthy of purchase).
It's because of customers like Keizer that the casual gaming industry has grown by leaps and bounds. And things look to get bigger. In a move earlier this year that excited many casual game developers, gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) created a separate casual gaming division. "EA put a clear stake in the ground to show that there is a market out there," said spokeswoman Trudy Muller.
With so many ways to waste your time, what's a casual gamer to do? The answer, says Keizer, is to know your limit.
"Sometimes you'll be playing and you'll realize, holy cow! All these hours have passed," he said. "But I realize I have friends and other things to tend to..."
E-mail: shih@northjersey.com
Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
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