"The Future of Gaming"

The Future of PC Gaming Isn't You

Nexon's Kim also feels the market is converging. "Currently, in North America, I feel we are at a stage where many players are ready for both hardcore and casual online games," he says. "It's not just an issue of styles, but also accessibility, cost, genres and community. World of Warcraft proved the right offering with a good community can please hardcore and non-hardcore gamers at once."

"A well-designed casual game appeals to everyone," says PopCap's Gwertzman. "What it doesn't have are needlessly complex controls or user manuals that are dozens of pages long. Since I entered the casual game space, I've become appalled at games that think it's OK to ask the player to master a dozen types of key combinations in the first 20 minutes. I think that's the product of poor design! It's almost always possible to simplify the UI and make the game appeal to a wider audience."

At present, many companies are working to attract substantially larger and broader audiences through a varied spectrum of initiatives. For example, NetDevil's LEGO Universe is primarily aimed at kids and based on a cherished IP that stands for child safety, family friendliness and accessibility. Nexon has launched Audition Online in North America; in the Far East, half the title's registered users are female. The company has also established a strategic marketing partnership with MTV, and rumors continue to circulate about a virtual world for the latter's Neopets property.

WildTangent is pioneering a revolutionary business model called "sponsored sessions." It's based on the understanding that boxed games are seldom completed in a single sitting. What the company does is offer a choice. You can purchase its currency, WildCoins, which are worth about $0.25 each, and pay from one to four per play session, which lasts until you voluntarily end it, or you can opt to watch an advertisement and play for free. Because the ad selection is filtered according to user demographic data, and a game that would retail for up to $50 is broken into multiple short play sessions, it becomes affordable for advertisers to pay for them.

St. John has tremendous enthusiasm for this concept. "I believe sponsored sessions will ultimately prove out to be a major revolution in business models for gaming of all types, because now that advertisers have a consumer-friendly way of sponsoring premium play, we'll very quickly see a day when all games are available in this model, and consumers will [overwhelmingly] choose 'free' content over paid, just as they do with television."

PC gaming isn't going to explode thanks to lots of people suddenly becoming hardcore. The casual market segment is already much larger numerically, and despite this, it also possesses far greater potential for growth. It's also catching up quickly in dollar value. When we combine these factors, it's basically impossible to create a plausible scenario in which hardcore gamers represent the future of PC gaming. Like it or not, that mantle is worn by Uncle Charley, Aunt Emma and the hundreds of millions like them who own PCs but will never be mistaken for hardcore gamers.

Richard Aihoshi has been writing about games for over a decade, specializing in the RPG and massively multiplayer online world genres. When he's not playing them, he has been seen playing both online poker and assorted casual games.