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PopCap On Casual Gaming

Posted by Zonk on from the they-would-know dept.

Gamasutra has an article on the ever-burgeoning market for casual gamers, with commentary by the people who know the most about it. James Gwertzman is the Director of Business Development at PopCap Games, and he talks about the business side of the non-hardcore market. From the article: "One, of course, is to raise the quality bar - but there are risks there. No one wants to go the path of traditional $30 million games. And second, we are continuing to try to maintain our high level of reputation. Making clones of existing games isn't as profitable as it used to be. We're trying hard to continue innovating."

13 comments

  1. So.... (FP?) by Headcase88 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Did they hire the guy who made Fishy, was it just a coincidence that both of their games involve having a fish that eats smaller things, or was someone at Popcap one of the 2 million views of the game?

    --
    "When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
  2. Zuma by lightblade · · Score: 1

    I've always been a fan of Zuma.

    1. Re:Zuma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clone of Puzz-Loop (Neo Geo arcade game from the mid-90's).

    2. Re:Zuma by Danse · · Score: 1

      I've always been a fan of Zuma.

      I actually prefer Luxor to Zuma. It just feels like it's more polished and plays smoother.

      --
      It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
  3. Casual? Not for long by owlman17 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe at first. There's nothing casual about playing Bejeweled 5-6 hours (or more) a day, everyday, to get to the top. I ought to know. Heh.

  4. PopCap Games are ADDICTING! by stpitner · · Score: 1

    I have to force myself not to go to popcap.com and play the games. They are so incredibly addicting and a ton of fun. It will be nice to see Zuma 2 when that's done.

    One game that my wife and I play a lot is Typer Shark. It's really been a good aide in getting our typing speeds up. It's a fun way to do it too! She creams me every time with her 85-90+ wpm lol. I can't top 75 unless I'm having a really good day.

    I hope that PopCap is able to continue to make great games. I'd love to see some PopCap stuff become available to the Playstation market, but I don't know if that will happen or not.

    1. Re:PopCap Games are ADDICTING! by DeafByBeheading · · Score: 1

      Damn right. I indulged in Bookworm for the first time in months, spent most of an evening with it, and almost got to 700,000 points before I had the good sense to quit. They're a little *too* addictive.

      --
      Telltale Games: Bone, Sam and Max
  5. On PopCap Support by vbrtrmn · · Score: 0, Troll

    I had to roll my eyes, when I saw this article.

    I emailed PopCap "Technical Support" about 2 years ago, when I tried to install several of their demo games on my mother's computer. The games wouldn't work properly, due to the firewall. I emailed their "Technical Support", who told me to I had to disable my firewall and turn off my anti-virus programs; to use their games. F that company!

    --
    it's a sig, wtf?
    1. Re:On PopCap Support by MindStalker · · Score: 1

      I know this is a troll but I've run many popcap games behind firewalls and WITH antivirus programs. Yes their tech support is pretty low end, thats because most of their games just work, and as you probably didn't purchase a copy they arn't under any obligation to help you anyways. Either way try them again, 2 years was a long time ago and yes they did have to work out some bugs in their early programs.

  6. Pricing by duncangough · · Score: 2, Informative

    There's a big thread about Casual Game pricing on the Casual Games mailing list that's well worth a read:

    http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/casual_games/2 005-December/000570.html

    The whole $20 price point seems pretty fixed but I don't know how long for. As a gamer, I hope it becomes more dynamic. As a developer, I'm not so sure.

    For anyone wanting to get into Casual Games, as a developer or as a gamer, there are worse places to start that then review of 2005 on GameTunnel:

    http://www.gametunnel.com/

    And, of course, to be a part of the Casual Games blogosphere you could do worse than help me out with CasualGameDev.com:

    http://www.casualgamedev.com/

    --
    Suttree, a weblog about casual games development
    1. Re:Pricing by nb+caffeine · · Score: 1

      I buy used xbox titles for $20 or less. As a (somtimes) indie game developer, I want to release my games below that price point. Maybe i have low self esteem and dont think my games are worth that, but I also know that I don't really want to pay that either. So, I decided to sell em cheap and keep my dayjob (that also keeps the game deving fun)

      --

      "Something's wrong with you...and I hope we never do meet again." - Deftones When Girls Telephone Boys
  7. Not all indie games are clones by snuf23 · · Score: 1

    Not a popcap game, but one of my favorites is Oasis. While it is essentially a puzzle game, the use of the Egyptian setting and the exploration, empire building flavor make it a lot more interesting than countless click on colored blocks puzzle games.
    I don't think it's a clone of other games, although I could be wrong.

    --
    Sometimes my arms bend back.