Sony's PS3 strategy this Christmas is to 'go big on family-friendly titles'

[AaronSOLDIER]

So Sly 4, R&C QForce, LBP Karting are casual now? Well they must be because I fail to see what other casual games other than Wonderbook they are bringing for them to have "Gone Casual".

[Sub-stance1]

Agreed. Sony has finally given in and is going after the casual market this xmas holiday. And I think the reason Sony has their core games like TLOU not coming out till 2013 is because they dont want to have to go up against Halo 4 and COD this holiday season.

yea, this could be the final holiday battle from the two this gen. Sony should of done this years ago.....or at least they are finally admitting it now.

[mynd]

So Sly 4, R&C QForce, LBP Karting are casual now? Well they must be because I fail to see what other casual games other than Wonderbook they are bringing for them to have "Gone Casual".

<smacks forehead>

Who the hell are you talking to?

[AaronSOLDIER]

All of you

According to some, if a game is rated E or is a platformer its casual.

[mynd]

All of you

According to some, if a game is rated E or is a platformer its casual.

Yup, that would apply to all those that also label Dance Central, Disney Kinect, Star Wars Kinect as casual.
To all those that labeled Micorosft as chasing the casual crowd for the past couple of years.

Shoe meet other foot.

[AaronSOLDIER]

Those are casual party games though, in the same boat as Singstar, Buzz etc.

[Nitey]

So this is what gaming has come to..

[Sub-stance1]

So this is what gaming has come to..

You are late to the party. Its always been about one thing and we all know what that is.

[Nitey]

I'm always late to the party, baby!

[mynd]

Those are casual party games though, in the same boat as Singstar, Buzz etc.

Dance Central can be played as a party game, just like Playstation All Star Battle Royal could be played in a party situaiton.
Doesnt make it a casual game.
If you think Kinect Disney or Kinect Star wars is casual, then you havent played them.

I also suspect you havent played Dance Central to see just how hardcore it can be.
Sure you can walk into it and give it a go at a party, but you can also spend hours learning the moves step by step through tutorials.

[AaronSOLDIER]

Dance Central can be played as a party game, just like Playstation All Star Battle Royal could be played in a party situaiton.
Doesnt make it a casual game.
If you think Kinect Disney or Kinect Star wars is casual, then you havent played them.

I also suspect you havent played Dance Central to see just how hardcore it can be.
Sure you can walk into it and give it a go at a party, but you can also spend hours learning the moves step by step through tutorials.

Yeah and I bet half the people knocking the upcoming platformers by Sony have played any of the previous entries to judge it fairly either.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

Sony knows how to make casual games that core gamers actually care about.

[mynd]

Yeah and I bet half the people knocking the upcoming platformers by Sony have played any of the previous entries to judge it fairly either.

I havent seen anyone knocking them?
I've seen a few not interested, but I mean I'm not interested in Dance Central either.

[Soldier 95B]

Nothing wrong with adding more casual focus. Gamers are gamers, casual and core.

[Cuguy]

Sony knows how to make casual games that core gamers actually care about.

What does this even mean?

[Old Man Gamer]

What does this even mean?

It's an obvious dig at (an)other console(s). Most likely the 360 based on past posts I have read.

I can't believe the competitiveness that some see between consoles.

[Cuguy]

It's an obvious dig at (an)other console(s). Most likely the 360 based on past posts I have read.

I can't believe the competitiveness that some see between consoles.

Oh I know.. :P I just want an explanation how somehow Sony's CASUAL titles, are MORE casual than others LOL

I mean, there must be reasons other than just a half failed jab at the 360/pc casual genre titles.

[Soldier 95B]

All the systems are getting good and bad casual games this holiday. 3rd party, 1st party. It's no different than any other holiday, other then maybe a bit more "focus" on pushing casual when the core titles are still in development.

[davin_g]

I don't know what people are arguing about. Fact is games like these can sell very very well and are fun basically for any age. Just look at the LEGO franchises....Batman etc....they are top of the chart sellers. TBH Sony could have rolled these games out sooner but they realize that Nintendo had a cheaper console focused purely on these gamers. Not until the PS3 became family friendly PRICED did it make a lot of sense to start focusing on the "E" rated category.

I think they did wait a bit too long on this....I think Microsoft had it right starting on this a year or so ago but they also had a huge price advantage with the cheap basic arcade 360 that people decided was price friendly. This gen Sony has just been a step behind. Released later, psn developed late, many services and features, and a lot of their AAA games came late (MGS, GT, GOW etc). Thus they have been playing catch up all along. Now...what they have given us was lots of quality gaming and services once they got them out and they did win the format war with HDDVD so they did achieve a lot of thier priorities but no doubt they have been flatfooted most of this gen. I hope next gen they get off to a better start. That said...combine the super-slim, huge price cuts that most have mentioned with it, and these games and a huge catelog of classics.....I think the PS3 is in better shape to close out this gen then the 360. We will continue to see support of heavy AAA titles just like they did with PS2 and releasing GOW2 at its end and they will market this console to all buyers...and all countries opening up markets that Microsoft never focuses on because they have the market channels from the PS2. PS3 is long from dead and the games will continue to get broader and sometimes even better.

[AaronSOLDIER]

Sly Cooper and Ratchet & Clank aren't casual.

[Old Man Gamer]

Sly Cooper and Ratchet & Clank aren't casual.

I agree. I don't think the Lego series of games is either.

[Cuguy]

I agree. I don't think the Lego series of games is either.

I would class them as family friendly, casual consumer games. NOT casual games per se.

[Sir_Scud]

I was never one to really put tags on games (core, casual, etc). But when people referred to casual games, I always thought it was stuff like Bejeweled, Angry Birds, Farmville, etc.

[mynd]

I was never one to really put tags on games (core, casual, etc). But when people referred to casual games, I always thought it was stuff like Bejeweled, Angry Birds, Farmville, etc.

Yup.
Games specifically targeted at short burst playing periods, hell farmville is entirely designed around you having sweet fanny adam to do for large periods.

As I said in another thread, family games is more about the tone of content than anything else.
Just because you would let 9 year old Johnny play it doesn't make it casual.

Sony focusing on shifting the tone of their content from the more extreme end to a more family orientated has nothing to do with casual gaming.

It's going to mean it might appeal to casual gamers, but that comes with opening you content to a wider range of people.

[radgamer420]

Sony knows how to make casual games that core gamers actually care about.

Wow. Talk about spinning something. That makes zero sense. So Sony's casual titles miraculously become core titles suddenly becoming less casual titles than MS casual titles. Neat trick. lol