Quote:Original post by Wavinator
Let's take a couple of examples and see if we can agree on them.
[*display list*]
You know probably one of the most interesting things about the list you just gave was that both ends of the axis are defined by certain game genres as well as game subject matter.
(CASUAL)
Puzzles, Software Toys, (primarily non-violent games)
.
.
.
FPS, RTS, TBS, (games primarily about fighting or warfare/conquest)
(HARDCORE)
From what I can see from the list and the current games industry in general, is that games that tend to be more popularly recognized as Hardcore seem to be more aggressive and information-heavy (fighting, warfare tactics, etc) to which appeal more to the male or teen audience, while game genres more popularly understood on the other end of the spectrum tend to be about subject matters not involving warfare or loads of data manipulation, which probably appeal more to the general female, younger, and family-oriented audience.
Can it really be boiled down to the subject matter and presentation alone, to which both of these are determined by demographics? For example, what if I wanted to make an RTS game that would be made to target towards Casual Players? According to what has been come up with so far, the way to do this is to make the subject matter in that RTS game be about something other than violence or aggressive conquest, or have other things in it for you to do to which are not only about violence. This is perhaps why MMORPGs are so popular with both hardcore players and casual players, with a surprising amount of female players in general.
One example of this could probably be looked at with The Sims. The Sims is an artificial life simulator, to which genre (the simulator) could have the natural potential to become more attractive to "information control junkies", but because its subject matter is about domestic life, then it becomes more casual than hardcore, or less male-oriented and more family-oriented or even school-oriented. The UI is also stylized to be more aesthetic for that purpose. The same could probably be said with Sim City, Sim Ant, Sim Tower, and etc. Simulators about empires conquering planets, then, would be more appealing to the general male demographic (and thus the more generally perceived hardcore players).
The conclusion that I am probably reaching towards here is that if you wanted to draw in the casual gamer group to your game, you'd probably have to change the subject matter so that it is more widely associable/attractive to a variety of demographics.
[Edited by - Tangireon on July 6, 2008 5:54:13 PM]