My grandmother is a gamer.
In fact, it was her who initially got me into gaming. When I was about four years of age, she introduced me to Sonic The Hedgehog, and I've been gaming ever since. She likes a wide variety of genres, from platformers to puzzlers. She's liked games from Jak and Daxter through to Braid, and it's an interest that bonds us tightly.
Since she actually games properly, it has intrigued me for quite some time as to why she was so fond of certain genres. In particular, hidden object games and facebook games. The other day, I sat down and watched her play a hidden object game. At first, I didn't see the appeal. You're looking for objects; where's the fun in that? I could replicate that by throwing my car keys into the woods, smacking myself in the forehead, and running around playing Overcome Temporary Amnesia and Find Blake's Keys.
However, I soon found something that shocked me. After the hidden object style bit was over, the game switched over to something that was a lot like a traditional game. You moved about, you talked to people, and you gathered information. This was an adventure game! It just lacked the puzzles of said genre. Even more shocking to me was the writing. It was pretty darn good. The characterisation wasn't bad, and the story focused on a plot you wouldn't usually see in the normal gaming space.
Please read the rest of the article here, so I can continue my awesomeness http://plus10damage.com/blog/2013/10/17/genres-we-ignore
Interesting topic. I think the last trading card game I played was a baseball game when I was younger. I never got into more recent stuff. I can say I've tried different genres, and there were some games I don't care for, but I also found some games I really enjoyed.
I agree that it's good to leave your comfort zone every once in a while, and try something new.
I read this the other day, and really enjoyed it. I wish that I had something to add, but I currently do not.
That's ok. Sometimes it's just good to know people are reading the crap I pump out :)
I actually like a good pinball game. I used to shove quarters into the Dr. Who pinball machine down at the Jolly Rogue before it went belly up. (Jolly Rogue was a goth pirate bar. How cool is that?)
Adventure games? Haven't been much into them since Shadowgate,Maniac Mansion, and Monkey Island.
The Joylly Rogue SOUNDS AWESOME!!!!! And yeah pinball games are pretty cool.
that's awesome your grandmother is a gamer! I got my mom into Wii Fit, but that's about as close as I've gotten!
Yeah, it's crazy some of the stuff my grandma is into. She loves game of thrones and the walking dead. Then again, she isn't really old, as mum had me she was 16. She's only in her early 60's.
Every so often, I'll go and pick up a bunch of games almost at random and try them all out. I discovered how awesome Condemned was (I never play horror games), or the excitement of Fight Night Round 03 (never play boxing or sports games), or the fun of Open Season (never play kid movie liscensed games) or the beautiful environments of Cabela's African Safari (never play hunting games). Sometimes it's fun to try something out of your comfort zone, that is, when you can pull them out of the bargain bin.
Those are some great picks, two of which I've personally never tried. I discovered I love soccer games though when I tried Fifa 11.
I tried NBA 2K6 and found it to be a lot like NBA Jam in the way it plays. I almost got hooked on it.
My grandmother liked games, too. Her favorite was Deer Hunter. She also liked Solitaire and such. I know that those are considered more 'casual' games, but hey, they're still games!
Exactly. Casual games are games. Peggle was my GOTY when it came out. I class collectible card games as "casual" and Hearthstone looks to be amazing. Casual or not, games are games, and can be amazing regardless of genre.
Also, your grandmother sounds awesome :)
Blake, I attempted Yu Gi Oh, I kinda liked it but it was to involved for me. I am playing Bakugan on the DS right now which includes cards. I am a table top and pen, paper, dice gamer also. So yes I am a other type of game gamer.
This article wasn't exclusively aimed at you, or anyone in particular. The article was written to ask people who don't often step outside their comforts zones to do so, and not to dismiss games simply because of their genre.
I 'm sorry. I did not take it personal.
"Casual" games are the only ones my parents play but they've played a lot of them and some have been really good. It's a shame that gamers will ignore or even degrade such experiences just because you're not shooting aliens or whatever. And you're right: If there's a haven for the adventure genre, it's the casual space.
For me, I've tried a lot of different experiences on iOS and have found some really cool stuff. It's definitely a good thing to branch out now and then.
IOS has some great games. I personally ADORE game dev story, as well as ridiculous fishing and other titles. Card games and board games work amazingly well with the touch interface as well.
And you're right. I hate it when people dismiss casual games. Peggle is one of my favourite games EVER.
Though I do have a comfort zone when it comes to gaming (I usually favor plataforming, 3D adventure games in the vein of Zelda and racing), I also try to get into new things. For example, I like several point-and-click flash adventure games I found on the internert, I don't play a lot of shooters, but I do like the ones I had played, and i'm starting to get the mechanics of RPGs. It's always good to have variety is what i'm trying to say.
Yeah, my comfort zone lies in RPGs, 3D Action games, and shooters. So I'm not going to say i'm better than anyone lol. However, if I never branched out, some of my favourite games of all time would never have been discovered. Not a massive adventure game fan, but I ADORE the cat lady (You should totally play it!). I'm not a massive racing fan, but i adore grand turismo due to it's rpg elements.
My kids are very intrigued at the fact im such a video game feind and that I know more about whats good and whats not then there highschool and elementary freinds do lol and the versatility of what I play also intrigues them and the fact they know never touch my Xbox is well known in my house lol!!
This runs kind of parallel with the blog I wrote about Trap games. Its not something you see much of . May have been more popular in Japan and never made it s way over too. But I think its the same reason Catherin was a cult hit. It was out of the ordinary and those who took the chance to try it would see real quick this is unlike anything you have ever played before. In a nut shell it is a platformer puzzle with rpg style elements and classic Altlus production flavor. But yeah, totally feeling your point. Great peice of writing.