Casual games are making the rounds, whether it's the special Orange Box version of Peggle or just a game of Bejeweled on your mobile phone - the simple fact is that everyone plays them.
The odd thing is though that, according to a new study reported by Reuters, although everyone plays casual games men are less likely to admit it than women and are actually a little ashamed of the fact. The study shows that although women tend to buy more of the games, play is actually split equally between gender.
The study, which was done by the Casual Games Association, suggests that men are ashamed to admit they play casual games because they want to be seen as part of the more male-dominated Hardcore market.
"We knew these guys were playing these games, but the hardcore gamer who is playing Halo with his buddies isn't going to brag that he just beat the next level of Zuma." Said Jessica Tams, MD for the CGA.
It's not all that shocking when you think about it, though as far as I've always thought hardcore gaming has been about an obsessive attitude to a game and not about the actual game you're playing. I think you can be a hardcore casual games player, if that makes any sense, you just have to approach casual games with a certain tenacity - though that relentlessness is one more commonly found aimed at non-casual games.
So, let me be the first to 'fess up. I like some casual games. True, I can't stand Peggle, but I did waste the first year of my University life mastering Bookworm Deluxe until I eventually finished the game. I bet most of you didn't even know that game actually has a true win scenario. Thankfully it does, or I might have spent the rest of my life playing it.
So, do you play casual games? Which ones and why might you be ashamed? Let us know in the forums.
The odd thing is though that, according to a new study reported by Reuters, although everyone plays casual games men are less likely to admit it than women and are actually a little ashamed of the fact. The study shows that although women tend to buy more of the games, play is actually split equally between gender.
The study, which was done by the Casual Games Association, suggests that men are ashamed to admit they play casual games because they want to be seen as part of the more male-dominated Hardcore market.
"We knew these guys were playing these games, but the hardcore gamer who is playing Halo with his buddies isn't going to brag that he just beat the next level of Zuma." Said Jessica Tams, MD for the CGA.
It's not all that shocking when you think about it, though as far as I've always thought hardcore gaming has been about an obsessive attitude to a game and not about the actual game you're playing. I think you can be a hardcore casual games player, if that makes any sense, you just have to approach casual games with a certain tenacity - though that relentlessness is one more commonly found aimed at non-casual games.
So, let me be the first to 'fess up. I like some casual games. True, I can't stand Peggle, but I did waste the first year of my University life mastering Bookworm Deluxe until I eventually finished the game. I bet most of you didn't even know that game actually has a true win scenario. Thankfully it does, or I might have spent the rest of my life playing it.
So, do you play casual games? Which ones and why might you be ashamed? Let us know in the forums.
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