OK so since there's like 4 nearly identical replies to my post I'll quote just one bit and piece which is stated more than once and reply to it directed at all those who made similar points.
Fishyash said:
You must have enjoyed them mustn't you? THAT is the reason why people play games, because they enjoy them. There should be no other reason.
That is the reason a 5-year-old would give. You're sorta taking the entire argument that the question is based on out of it and are just responding to the title anyways.
People like to waste time. You would be lying if you said you never did that. There is something everyone does that they are not devoted to that they enjoy every now and then. I don't want to spend ALL of my free time on gaming/music, maybe I could be better off, but I know for sure that tending to something you're in to will cause you to burn out if you do it too much when you're not enjoying it.
Wasting time is something I hate. I have something I love thus wasting time is time I could be partaking in that but am not, which is a huge shame. If you know how to handle yourself you never burn out. If you truly love your item of fascination you'll never get tired of it cause there will always be new sides of it to discover and improved ways of you to experience it.
Passions never get dull or monotonous, they're always more compelling with each new day, the more you know the more you want to know and it's always a growing model. That's how it is to have an actual passion, that's what people lack and that's what I'm getting from anyone who makes points about being bored by or needing a break from one's passion.
You never get bored, you never need a break, you're always in tune with it and are always deriving comparatively unsurpassed meaning from it.
Where are you getting this from? Nobody is casual about everything. This thread is about casual gaming, so this is unrelated, unless you think 'casual gamers' are casual about everything, which is untrue.
It's the way of the times, too many people do lots of things without passion or deep love for them, just to blend in and pass the time, gaming is one of them. I think it's an undisciplined way of being that leads to meaninglessness when set next to having a driven and focused life.
Yes, they should do it so that they enjoy it. I don't spend all my spare time on my favourite things.
And the best way to enjoy something is to be intricately familiar and highly interested in everything about it. It is impossible to achieve that for multiple fields due to life constraints though (unless you're a millionaire hobbyist) thus my view on the subject.
Who the hell are you to tell people what to do. If they enjoy something but are not obsessed with it why shouldnt they still do it. I enjoy playing games but I dont take the seriously and I sure as hell dont play them for 30 hours a week. Does that mean that im not allowed to do something I enjoy just because I do it for fun?
Huh? I'm not telling people what to do, I'm just trying to make sense of what they do. Obsession is negative, I never talked about anything negative here, you should try and discern negative and positive traits of words before making such charged posts. Nobody "prohibited" you from doing anything, we're just having a philosophical discussion. Calm down.
By taking a hobby and attempting to limit who gets to use it (which by your aost shows you hope for that) you are saying these people aren't good enough for you and your medium of entertainment. But how do you know if you truly like something if you don't dabble? Also, what is wrong with being half-assed in two or three different hobbies? My dad loves video games. He is obsessed with Starcraft and Warcraft, but he will not play ladder matches because he isn't good enough, he is not allowed to play games anymore cause he isn't core enough?
Now, hyperbole time:
Do you like beer? I really enjoy beer, I enjoy it so much that I am a part of a brewing club and design my own recipes. But you only enjoy Bud Light (assumption), you don't know what true beer tastes like so you shouldn't enjoy that crap beer or any beer along with it.
Do you like music? But do you know about Trent Reznor's side project with his wife (How to Destroy Angels) or ever seen Girl Talk live? NO?(assumption) So you shouldn't listen to music anymore because you truly aren't that big of a fan of it.
Do you like Star Wars? Of course you do, everyone likes Star Wars (exaggeration). But you didn't know that in the original film Alderon explodes a few frames before the laser from the Death Star hits it so it isn't just a super powered laser but a tachyon beam (assumption, but I know a guy who actually did this to prove it and doubt anyone else knows or cares), so you can no longer watch Star Wars or any other sci-fi movie.
I would rather be a casual who enjoys Chime, LittleBigPlanet, and attempting to complete a perfect Yes Man run on New Vegas and enjoy a past time than someone who looks down on other people because they are not enjoying the games the right way.
Furthermore, a lot of casual games are stepping stones to more advanced games. I gave someone who played Farmville religiously a go at Civ V and she loved it. It scratched her resource managing itch better than that Facebook app. I had a party in my dorm room and had 8 people (2 core, 3 casual, and 3 self proclaimed non-gamers) where all we did was drink and play Wario Ware, and those 3 that said they didn't like games came back later and joined in multiplayer Halo after we explained rules and how to work the controls. Think of it as a gateway drug, you just need competent pushers.
I agree with the gateway nature of games, which is why I would never brand kids or absolute non-gamers as casuals. They just need someone to show them and let them decide for themselves.
What you're missing here is the fact that minutia or experience is NOT what I'm going for here. I'm not being an elitist, branding people who don't have enough information or knowledge casuals. I'm just examining attitudes about it.
If you're genuinely passionate about something it doesn't MATTER how much actual knowledge you have about it, if you just have the drive and love for the medium that's enough to make you superior to people who just pass by, even if they happen to know more stuff about the item than you.
Being passionate is about deriving meaning in the highest form possible from something, not about being the best trivia pursuit winner on it or having every lunchbox and phone card of it out there.
ersona series and a few others for games suited for a "broader audience" such as mobile gaming (cellphones, iphones, etc) . Mind you this is happening in Japan, not sure of its affect anywhere else.
