What to look for in a video game

I'm going to use the word that everyone hates to use; casual gaming.

Their the mutants of the gaming community, everyone has their own opinion on the matter, but one thing is clear, they are making money, Microsoft money.

Sure it can be said that casual gaming diluted the "hardcore" sector of the video games industry, and that no more "hardcore" titles aimed at the "hardcore" gamers, but for the minimal amount of work they make the maximum profits. Take a look at Peggle, everyone played it at least once, and to a certain extent enjoyed the experience, even the "hardcore" at heart played it when their WoW servers were down.

So if you have any gripes about casual gamers, just do what I do, snub your nose at them, and refuse to classify them as a proper gamer, but welcome their willingness to share the experience that is called "gaming".

I would like to point your attention to Mr. Mullet here. Go on, play it, it's OK, I'll be waiting for you here.

You done? OK. Did you have any major gripes with it? No. Wow, that must be shocking since most AAA titles must all have had at least one flaw that you could fault them for.

Now why could that be? Is it the sheer simplicity of the "casual" game, the simple and intuitive visual aids, the minimal amount of information that is needed in order for you to play the game?
Well there are many games like these, back in the days when "AI" just used to be an enemy who could only go from right to left hand side of the screen, or follow a loop of pre-set commands that
could be figured out with a little bit of persistence?

Now don't forget old school games weren't just more simplistic, they were also mind-numbing painfully hard. They didn't hold your hand, and give you encouraging words when u failed to make the double-twist-triple-tuck-cyclone-of-doom onto the boss' LEFT arse cheek when you should have aimed for the RIGHT one.

And that my friends is why I love old school games.

Not that the current AAA titles are doing anything wrong, its just that their trying to mimic real life too much. Trying to copy all the rules of society, physics and metaphysics and what-have-you-nots, which is the major contributing factor to why the latest Alone in the Dark flopped, it just tried to be too many things, and tried to break the uncanny valley.

There is a reason why we even have "Gamer Logic", when we play a game, WE go into THEIR world and follow THEIR rules. When a game has figured out gamer logic properly, the gamer will feel that their just not playing the game, but rather experience the game.

Which must explain why I felt like growing a mullet and get a new partner after playing Mr. Mullet.