War Memorial in Washington Heights.
Rockstar Games' vice president, Dan Houser, has been talking to New York magazine about, well, you know what he's been talking about.
In what was bound to be a lengthier interview than the one printed, Houser (a Brit in New York) is introduced with the following hard man line, "Yeah, fuck all this stuff about casual gaming."
However, as a man with a deep interest in the industry (and a magazine which is not one to kick potential advertisers) this statement is followed up with, "I think people still want games that are groundbreaking. The Wii is doing something totally different, which is fantastic."
No mention then of games like SingStar or Guitar Hero...
Moving on and we are provided with the kind of insight that could stop any police federation PR person from piling into the 'violent video games are bad for our staff" line.
Houser mentions the research process for GTA IV, stating, "We'd have cops who used to work the beat driving us around Washington Heights, and saying it used to be great because it was really different then and you could shoot people all the time."
Nice... full interview here.
In what was bound to be a lengthier interview than the one printed, Houser (a Brit in New York) is introduced with the following hard man line, "Yeah, fuck all this stuff about casual gaming."
However, as a man with a deep interest in the industry (and a magazine which is not one to kick potential advertisers) this statement is followed up with, "I think people still want games that are groundbreaking. The Wii is doing something totally different, which is fantastic."
No mention then of games like SingStar or Guitar Hero...
Moving on and we are provided with the kind of insight that could stop any police federation PR person from piling into the 'violent video games are bad for our staff" line.
Houser mentions the research process for GTA IV, stating, "We'd have cops who used to work the beat driving us around Washington Heights, and saying it used to be great because it was really different then and you could shoot people all the time."
Nice... full interview here.
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Comments
David Armstrong 2 May 2008 16:10
1/4
I think people misunderstand casual gaming, It's not just family friendly, cartoony, educational games. It's anything which is bought by a market outside of the regular gaming audience.
It could, then, be argued that GTA is itself a casual game. It is not primarily bought by 'gamers' (as in the geeky wannabe hacker we all know and love) but mainly, at least in my area, by the casual 'popular' and 'chav' crowd. This is because, over the course of its life it has been portrayed so much as summing up gaming (mainly in a negative way) by the media. This leads to people wanting it to get a feel for gaming, as well as because it is marketed as being a 'cool' game.
The reason it is not seen as casual is not just because of it's controversial hardcore content, but because if spawned a whole generation of gamers, something new casual franchise are trying to, and probably will, achieve.
It could, then, be argued that GTA is itself a casual game. It is not primarily bought by 'gamers' (as in the geeky wannabe hacker we all know and love) but mainly, at least in my area, by the casual 'popular' and 'chav' crowd. This is because, over the course of its life it has been portrayed so much as summing up gaming (mainly in a negative way) by the media. This leads to people wanting it to get a feel for gaming, as well as because it is marketed as being a 'cool' game.
The reason it is not seen as casual is not just because of it's controversial hardcore content, but because if spawned a whole generation of gamers, something new casual franchise are trying to, and probably will, achieve.
realvictory 5 May 2008 11:26
2/4
Pff...I remember when games went from being proper games to being "modern" games, which is completely analogous. Games used to be real games - then they faded out, to be replaced with every game having a man running around with a gun; every game has to be a sandbox game; every game has to be violent, etc.
Now they're complaining about people wanting games to go back to how they were - well f**k hardcore games. It has no solid definition, it's just marketing. So piss off. Why can't people just shut their faces, pretending they know it all, and get on with playing the games? It's games, it's inherently un-serious! Get over it.
Anything that tries doing something new should be praised; anything that doesn't should be thrown in the bin.
Anyone who thinks the definition of a game is "a character running around a level" is a complete t**t - there are infinite definitions, and I don't personally want limits on what type of game I play. I want there to be one of every type of game available for me to play, and I don't need to be, and I'm fed up with being, told what kind of games I want to play.
Definitions are being put into peoples' heads all the time, and people aren't even questioning them. They're thinking and doing whatever they're told. Maybe the reason these people play games so much in the first place is because they lack the creativity to find new things to do to fill up their time?
Now they're complaining about people wanting games to go back to how they were - well f**k hardcore games. It has no solid definition, it's just marketing. So piss off. Why can't people just shut their faces, pretending they know it all, and get on with playing the games? It's games, it's inherently un-serious! Get over it.
Anything that tries doing something new should be praised; anything that doesn't should be thrown in the bin.
Anyone who thinks the definition of a game is "a character running around a level" is a complete t**t - there are infinite definitions, and I don't personally want limits on what type of game I play. I want there to be one of every type of game available for me to play, and I don't need to be, and I'm fed up with being, told what kind of games I want to play.
Definitions are being put into peoples' heads all the time, and people aren't even questioning them. They're thinking and doing whatever they're told. Maybe the reason these people play games so much in the first place is because they lack the creativity to find new things to do to fill up their time?
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Tim Newman 5 May 2008 22:29
3/4
Two of the best forum posts I've read in ages. Totally agree with these statements. Stop putting gamers and games into 'boxes', enjoy playing what you want when you want.
Horatio 6 May 2008 12:50
4/4
Tim Newman wrote:
Two of the best forum posts I've read in ages. Totally agree with these statements. Stop putting gamers and games into 'boxes', enjoy playing what you want when you want.
Two of the best forum posts ever? Really? Whilst the post from David Armstrong has some merit, the words pouring out of the fingers of realvictory are utter garbage.
To be honest, I think Houser's comments have been taken out of the context anyway. And gamers and games ARE in boxes, the media (and gamers) might not get the correct wording, but different game styles attract different demographics DO exist - it might be relative to a persons own opinion, but there really is a different between the hardcore and casual gamer and another line between the hardcore and casual game, and the two don't necessarily correlate.
I agree though, a gamer should just play what they want - but I think that happens anyway, so a mute point surely? Does anyone out there NOT buy a game because they think that as a player, they are too hardcore or casual to play it?