Poll: LBP a "casual" game?

[some random guy]

I've heard (and read) many people recently calling LBP a "casual" game. How exactly?

LBP does have some "casual" aspects. It's cute and jolly, the controls are simple, it's not particularly difficult and can be played (and enjoyed) by almost anyone. This makes it seem like a completely "casual" game but calling it "casual" is disregarding the game's main selling point and the primary reason why so many people are interested in it. The level creator.

Although it's very accessible in comparison to most level creators and pretty much all level creators that are as (or more) flexible and diverse, It's still very time consuming, difficult at times and daunting at first. This is not for the "casual" gamers. Few "casual" gamers are going to want to put the time and effort required into creating a proper level. The lever creator is going to be used mainly by the "hardcore", the people willing to but some time and effort into creating a proper level. Also, the puzzles and platforming can be as difficult as the creator wants it in user created levels so it isn't necessarily and easy game and the controls are very similar to the controls in 2D Mario games which are popular among "hardcore" gamers.

It isn't a "hardcore" game either though. It appeals to both "casual" gamers and "hardcore" gamers which is a great thing. It has a very wide and varied audience. In my opinion, calling it either "casual" or "hardcore" is rather silly.

By the way, my comments on the game's level creator, controls and fun factor are primarily based on the beta.

 

[D_987]

Personally I beleive it is definatly a casual game, the level desginer is not that attractive and IMO is a bit mediocre, you don't have full control of the game like you do in SDK (yep, some people on THIS forum actually think it a better tool than an SDK)

 

[Anarchemitis]

Casual in the same way Garry's Mod can be.

 

[loudestmute]

I'm not really sure about how to answer this. I like the idea of LBP, and the whole custom level editor certainly sounds hardcore. My main problem is that all the advertising material claims this level-trading mechanic is something completely unique. Custom skate parks for the Tony Hawk games have floated around on sites like GameFAQs, and there's far too many flash programs that allow users to upload their own specialty levels.

For now, I'll say this is an interesting experiment in user-empowering game design, and play around with the demo version when destiny permits.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

LBP seems like the perfect middle-ground actually.

It's the "8-80" game.

 

[D_987]

Casual in the same way Garry's Mod can be.

If you like, yeah

 

[sackboylocke]

I think its in the middle. I got the beta and It really is amazing. Its casual in the sense that yuo can just pick it up and play, but hardcore in the sense of user content and sppendiing hours perfecting your level

is v.v.good

 

[Aid n]

I just dont see the appeal, if i have to design my own levels then i know whats coming next. I'm not really that into desiging things for other people as i see the little time i have to play games would be waisted in investing in the enjoyment of others. When i put a game in i want to jump straight into a game i can enjoy for an hour before i go to bed without searching through tides of pap to find an enjoyable level to play.

 

[Generic Hero]

Am I the only one that thinks this going to be another Spore? Anyways I'll say as casual as Spore or The Sims.

 

[huntedannoyed]

Just because it's cartoony it has to be casual? No! Is Super Mario casual? Platformers are not casual games, the only thing that they have in common with casual games is their ability for newcomers to grasp the control schemes. But if you are too hardcore to give this game a chance, then thats your problem... isn't it?

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Just because it's cartoony it has to be casual? No! Is Super Mario casual? Platformers are not casual games, the only thing that they have in common with casual games is their ability for newcomers to grasp the control schemes. But if you are too hardcore to give this game a chance, then thats your problem... isn't it?

You speak the truth, my friend. Having returned from the horrific wastelands of the Youtube comments section I find that far too many people who consider themselves 'hardcore gamers' think Little Big Planet is 'garbage for faggots'. Naturally these are the same people who think the original Halo is an old game, whereas the actual hardcore gamers can recognise the fact that gaming was pretty much born from simplistic games with cartoony graphics.

I just dont see the appeal, if i have to design my own levels then i know whats coming next. I'm not really that into desiging things for other people as i see the little time i have to play games would be waisted in investing in the enjoyment of others. When i put a game in i want to jump straight into a game i can enjoy for an hour before i go to bed without searching through tides of pap to find an enjoyable level to play.

You can play other people's levels through a system of ratings which should make the best ones come to the top for instant access; at least, that's the idea.

 

[Imitation Saccharin]

LBP does have some "casual" aspects. It's cute and jolly, the controls are simple, it's not particularly difficult and can be played (and enjoyed) by almost anyone. This makes it seem like a completely "casual" game but calling it "casual" is disregarding the game's main selling point and the primary reason why so many people are interested in it. The level creator.

No, it's still a casual game. You've just come to associate "casual" with "bad" and are trying to rationalize a game you believe is in violation of that association.

Not very well, I might add.

 

[Lukeje]

I'd say that its 'casual' in that you play it 'casually'. It doesn't strike me as a game thats main enjoyment comes from blasting through the single-player campaign. Instead, it seems far more a game that you would play, build a few levels, then leave and keep coming back to in a far more relaxed manner; a manner that makes it similar to SSB:B in its 'casuality'.

 

[.Ricks.]

Well i voted for "In the Middle" because in my opinion, LBP has the looks of a casual game but plays like a regular one. It definitly isn't a hardcore game in that it doesn't expand on the competitive or grind side so much as the creative side, it doesn't inspire countless hours of non-stop play. It's a game that you can pick up and play for some hours a day or even a week, it requires more than a casual gamer's skills and understanding of games a less skills than a hardcore gamer.

 

[some random guy]

No, it's still a casual game. You've just come to associate "casual" with "bad" and are trying to rationalize a game you believe is in violation of that association.

Not very well, I might add.

If I thought that "casual" equals "bad" then I wouldn't have associated it with "casual" gaming at all. My own conclusion was that it's both "casual" and "hardcore" in different ways which I also think is a good thing due to the accessibility of it for less skilled gamers and the large amount of both "casual" and "hardcore" gamers that are interested in the game because it appeals to both gaming groups. I just think that it isn't necessarily a casual game.

By the way, why exactly do you consider LittleBigPlanet to be a completely casual game?

 

[Imitation Saccharin]

If I thought that "casual" equals "bad" then I wouldn't have associated it with "casual" gaming at all.

Which is what you tried to do by creating a thread entirely to argue it is, in fact, sufficiently hardcore to weasel out of its casual game title. And thus, not technically casual.
You just kind of suck at the whole rationalizing thing.
Find a clergymen. Those guys rock at rationalizing to fit a desired outcome.

My own conclusion was that it's both "casual" and "hardcore" in different ways

Which you state makes classifying it as "casual" (why the quotes exactly?) incorrect. Thus the effect is you can avoid having a dialectic by simply nullifying one side of the arguement.

I just think that it isn't necessarily a casual game.

TRUKK NOT MUNKY!

I'm sorry, that was rude. But still. It's fucking Super Mario with the Spore-ipedia. Get off the soap box.