Following the Ubidays 2007 event, which came to a close yesterday in Paris, Ubisoft has officially announced its expansion into the casual games market.
The new games line-up will include many titles for the incredibly popular Nintendo DS, such as Horsez and other extensions of the Petz line that previously appeared on the Gameboy Advance, as well as a new 'My Coach' line of games.
“The timing is right for us to leverage our creativity and to open up the video games market to new consumers who will be attracted by content that can help them learn, grow and feel better in an entertaining way.” Said Yves Guillemot, the CEO of Ubisoft who is enthusiastic about the new initiative into the growing casual games market.
A major part of the Ubidays event was focused on the 'Games for everyone' motto, using games like Jam Sessions, a guitar playing game that cleverly uses the DS touch screen to simulate an actual guitar, to open games up to those who would not normally be interested in computer games. These include the very young, very old or teenage girls who, despite the marketing attempts of some (I.E. Nintendo making Pink DS's), have remained a minority in the gaming community.
The My Coach line will comprise a series of titles that teach a variety of skills, such as My Word Coach which will teach grammar and vocabulary skills. The My Life Coach will attempt to give players guidance on how to lead healthy lifestyles and alert them to risks they may be exposing themselves to. Both games will be available before Christmas of this year.
Of course, many aren't happy with the recent expansion of the casual games market - seeing it as a trade off between quality and appeal. Personally, we were very disappointed when the Sin: Episodes series was prematurely cancelled when the company was bought out and made to focus on the casual games market. At the end of the day, if someone plays a game for 20 hours or 2 hours, Ubisoft still get the money when they purchased it.
Will Ubisoft be able to bring more gamers into the fold, and do we want to crowd the scene much more anyway? Let us know what you think in the forums.
The new games line-up will include many titles for the incredibly popular Nintendo DS, such as Horsez and other extensions of the Petz line that previously appeared on the Gameboy Advance, as well as a new 'My Coach' line of games.
“The timing is right for us to leverage our creativity and to open up the video games market to new consumers who will be attracted by content that can help them learn, grow and feel better in an entertaining way.” Said Yves Guillemot, the CEO of Ubisoft who is enthusiastic about the new initiative into the growing casual games market.
A major part of the Ubidays event was focused on the 'Games for everyone' motto, using games like Jam Sessions, a guitar playing game that cleverly uses the DS touch screen to simulate an actual guitar, to open games up to those who would not normally be interested in computer games. These include the very young, very old or teenage girls who, despite the marketing attempts of some (I.E. Nintendo making Pink DS's), have remained a minority in the gaming community.
The My Coach line will comprise a series of titles that teach a variety of skills, such as My Word Coach which will teach grammar and vocabulary skills. The My Life Coach will attempt to give players guidance on how to lead healthy lifestyles and alert them to risks they may be exposing themselves to. Both games will be available before Christmas of this year.
Of course, many aren't happy with the recent expansion of the casual games market - seeing it as a trade off between quality and appeal. Personally, we were very disappointed when the Sin: Episodes series was prematurely cancelled when the company was bought out and made to focus on the casual games market. At the end of the day, if someone plays a game for 20 hours or 2 hours, Ubisoft still get the money when they purchased it.
Will Ubisoft be able to bring more gamers into the fold, and do we want to crowd the scene much more anyway? Let us know what you think in the forums.
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