Ubisoft's Games For Everyone executive producer Pauline Jacquey has said that its casual players are becoming more demanding in the games they play.
"When you're reaching out to somebody who plays one or two games a year, it's very easy. You don't need to follow the rules of previous markets," she told Casual Gaming.biz.
"But as they play more and competitors emerge, you have to rethink the way you do the games.
"The casual audience is becoming more demanding, for sure, and we need to make sure we're proving more than what they're anticipating."
Jacquey also states that the younger ones are becoming the most demanding: "Young girls, for instance, are now used to games that are made just for them - and have started thinking they want something better."
Yeah, they need rocket launchers and giant robots.
Yes Ubisoft, the casual audience wants something better than more 'Dogz' and a babysitting game. Oh hang on a sec, werent these the games you announced at Ubidays recently?....oh dear.
Its weird because now people percive games like Mario Kart and Zelda The Phantom Hour Glass as casual games, but I never thought that games have to be minigames to actually entice new gamers, I just thought they needed to be more accessible for them to make the games less daunting for them while giving games a fresh start for the more seasoned gamer.
just ignore all that rubbish, just because theyre are generic wii wand waving games selling millions doesnt mean we will run out of quality games any time soon
its just like music, all the plebs may swarm in there drones to buy the latest britney spears album, but i'll still be sitting here listening to architects and they have no idea what theyre missing out on
What we need is french people to STFU and get a clue on the industry.
You want to know what sells the Wii to nongamers? TRENDINESS. These are the people with Prada bags, Mercedez Benz' in the driveway. These people use the Wii for 2 things - a social conversation piece for a bit of fun after the meal at a dinner party, and to get in touch with their kids on some level, since they mostly go ignored while mommy and daddy focus on their bank account moreso than their kids.
So, if you can find a way to make Resident Evil and Metroid Prime become social buzz, you'll sell to every Wii owner out there.
Well they might say that, but didnt they just say they aren't gonna make Prince of Persia on Wii? So wheres the consistancy?
Ubi love talking about 'casual' games, but I just wish someone would ask them which game they published on Wii has sold the most. The answer is Red Steel, which is hardly a casual game at all.
i posted this on the tenchu 4 board while bemoaning the general lack of any decent 3rd party support but it's more relevant here. (i'd been wondering since ubidays why dogz and party babiez were spelled the way they are and arrived at this...)
i think i've worked out why ubisofts wii games all have a z in the title. it's a company in-joke: z series=z list games. as in the games that no-one at ubisoft wants to work on. as in last priority. as in s**t.
i think it's too late for ubisoft to salvage any credibility as far as wii gamers are concerned. this admission that even the casuals want better than they've been vomited up (maybe they're smarter than i gave them credit for) just reminds me of an old saying : this is like trying to bolt the door after the horse has long f**ked off,been shot and turned to pate.
ubisoft your name is garbage on the wii,focus on the other formats 'cos it's over. you had your chance. 'bye now.
I don't know why we gamers think that we're soo much smarter than the "casual" gamer. If you ever read some posts on gaming forums, you'll see that brains aren't a prerequisite for gaming necessarily.
Consumers in general will figure out what's fun, what's quality and what's not. Sure they'll go with what's popular, but so do gamers. If you hype a hardcore game enough, gamers will pre-order, line-up and become evangelists for the game. They'll do this even if it turns our that the game is mediocre or even if it sucks.
Ubisoft doesn't get it still. But here's hoping that they realize that even casual games need quality and features to continue to sell to even the masses. You wonder why Wii Sports is popular worldwide and sells like hotcakes in Japan? Crazy that WiiPlay is still riding in the top 20 (it offers some decent games for $10 as a value add and a freaking Wiimote). WiiFit is crack, crank and skittles all rolled in to one. Hell even I think that Nintendogs is awesome.
Why, because Nintendo puts quality in their casual games and non-games. They're not just cheap imitations of things that ARE good. They're just well done for what they are. And Nintendo still makes $$$$ hand over fist. Because eventually it's about giving the people something that makes em keep coming back. Ubisoft has been doing what they think is low risk. Throwing crap to the masses and hoping they're dumb enough to buy. In the meantime, their sales numbers are going down.
Put some quality and features into your casual games, sell em and you'll see some different results, Ubisuxz.
I don't know why we gamers think that we're soo much smarter than the "casual" gamer. If you ever read some posts on gaming forums, you'll see that brains aren't a prerequisite for gaming necessarily.
it's not about being smarter,as such. it's about being informed and not falling for any old s**te eg; ubisofts entire wii output thus far,cod map packs etc....
casuals don't check different sites/mag's to get a wider opinion on any particular game,they'll walk into the nearest woolworths,asda etc.. and pick up the first thing that catches their eye. core gamers will be aware of a title up to 2 years before the thing even debut's in playable form and will have watched said title along the way,usually having the game long-sussed in terms of quality.
let's put it another way: how many core gamers truly want dogz etc..? none. i'm certain a decent proportion of casual gamers will lap it up though because they know no better. it's no fault of theirs that they are being callously exploited because of their ignorance. look at the devs' for that one.
Okay, when I was a wee kid, I sure as s**t didn't want frikkin Barbie games. Some of my favourites were Destruction Derby and Spider-Man! I guess kids are getting dumber now...
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