Farmville reached 65 million users in November, so something major is happening. Video games continue to reach a broader audience and be available in more places.
… but social games do seem to have gelled into some distinct genres. From Virtual Shackles:
Category: a casual revolution
The High Def Illusion
I continue to feel that the focus on High-Definition graphics in some newer consoles (PS3/360) is a little misguided for a simple reason: Many people cannot tell the difference between standard and high definition. Anecdotally, I have seen video game designers with 360 consoles running in standard definition, and I find that few viewers can accurately tell whether a given console or television channel is in high-def or not.
In the paper The emperor’s clothes in high resolution: An experimental study of the framing effect and the diffusion of HDTV, a group of Dutch researchers demonstrate that users will experience a standard definition signal as being of higher quality if they are told that it is high definition. Hence the idea of high definition will apparently override the quality of the television signal itself.
I also discuss the role of graphics and high definition in A Casual Revolution, noting that while graphical quality matters, and while all consoles will eventually be high-def, technical graphical quality just doesn’t translate directly into improved user experience…
Speaking at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz November 18
I am giving a talk November 18 at the Institute for Film and Dramaturgy at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität in Mainz.
Title: Stories that Games Tell: The Future of Time and Narratives in Video Games
The talk will bridge my earlier work on games and narratives with my more recent work on casual games.
November 18, 19:00-21:00. Hörsaal der Filmwissenschaft, Medienhaus – Wallstraße 11, 55122 Mainz.
Speaking on A Casual Revolution November 9 at 5pm
I am speaking about A Casual Revolution this Monday at GAMBIT at MIT:
11/9/09: Jesper Juul leads A Casual Revolution
A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players
Monday, November 9, 2009
5-6 PM at the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab
Spending the winter of 2006-07 in New York City, I was beginning to lose count of the times I had heard the same story: somebody had taken the new Nintendo Wii video game system home to parents, grandparents, partner, none of whom had ever expressed any interest whatsoever in video games, and these non-players of video games had been enthralled by the physical activity of the simple sports games, had enjoyed themselves, and had even asked that the video game be brought along for the next gathering. What was going on?
Jesper Juul chronicles the rise of the casual games: puzzle games, the Nintendo Wii, and music games. These are video games that reach beyond the traditional video game audience; games that redefine what a video game can be, and who can be a video game player.
A Casual Revolution is out!
A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players has just been published by MIT Press.
A Casual Revolution is my take on what is happening with video games right now:
- Why is the Nintendo Wii more successful than the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3?
- Why is the audience for video games expanding?
- Who plays Bejeweled, and why?
- What is a casual player? What is casual game design?
- Are casual games a return to the arcade game, or are they something new?
- How did Solitaire become one of the most popular video games?
- What is the secret behind the success of Guitar Hero and Rock Band?
- Why is Parcheesi/Ludo a social game? Why is Animal Crossing?
- Does the rise of casual games mean the downfall of hardcore games?
- … and more.
A Casual Revolution is a 256-page book about what is important: The joy of the casual video games that we play during a work break, on phones, with the family, or with friends at a late-night party.
The book includes 100 illustrations as well as interviews with game players and developers.
Get A Casual Revolution from your neighborhood bookstore or from your favorite online retailer.
The book’s companion website is: http://www.jesperjuul.net/casualrevolution/
The official MIT Press page: http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11844
Thanks to everybody who made this book possible!
-Jesper
My Upcoming Book: A Casual Revolution
Update November 2009: A Casual Revolution is now out. Read more on the book’s web page: http://www.jesperjuul.net/casualrevolution/
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Announcing my next book, A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players.
Set for release in November 2009, A Casual Revolution is my take on what is happening with video games right now:
- Why is the Nintendo Wii more successful than the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3?
- Why and how is the market for video games expanding?
- Who plays Bejeweled, and why?
- What is a casual player? Do casual players even exist?
- What is casual game design?
- Are casual games a throwback to the arcade game, or are they something new?
- How did Solitaire become one of the most popular video games?
- What is the secret behind the success of Guitar Hero and Rock Band?
- Why is Parcheesi a social game? Why is Animal Crossing?
- Does the rise of casual games mean the downfall of the hardcore game?
- … and much more.
I will post more information about the book as we near the publication date!
Official description
The enormous popularity of the Nintendo Wii, Guitar Hero, and smaller games like Bejeweled or Zuma has turned the stereotype of the obsessed young male gamer on its head. Players of these casual games are not required to possess an intimate knowledge of video game history or to devote weeks or months to play. At the same time, many players of casual games show a dedication and skill that is anything but casual. In A Casual Revolution, Jesper Juul describes this as a reinvention of video games, and of our image of video game players, and explores what this tells us about the players, the games, and their interaction.
With this reinvention of video games, the game industry reconnects with a general audience. Many of today’s casual game players once enjoyed Pac-Man, Tetris, and other early games, only to drop out when video games became more time consuming and complex. For a long time, video games asked players to structure their lives to fit the demands of a game; with casual games, it is the game that is designed to fit into the lives of players. These flexible games make it possible for everyone to be a video game player.
Juul shows that it is only by understanding what a game requires of players, what players bring to a game, how the game industry works, and how video games have developed historically that we can understand what makes video games fun and why we choose to play (or not to play) them.
Endorsements
- “An indispensible read for anyone interested or working in the field of video games. Jesper Juul makes sense of the shifting terrain of video game audiences and proves to be one of the finest minds in video games. A ground-breaking book!”
–Sean Baptiste, Manager of Community Development, Harmonix Music Systems
- “A Casual Revolution is a hard look at the unique characteristics of games outside of the hardcore. Juul pushes past the prejudice that casual games are somehow lesser experiences and presents a multifaceted view of ‘casualness,’ casual players and the non-trivial role of these deeply engaging games in our social and cultural lives.”
–Tracy Fullerton, Director, USC Game Innovation Lab, USC School of Cinematic Arts, Interactive Media Division
- “A thoughtful examination of casual gaming. I wouldn’t be surprised to find this book sitting on the shelves of game developers, marketers, and scholars. Juul has combined player ethnography, developer interviews, and informed analysis to produce an exemplary piece of game research.”
–Chaim Gingold, Designer, Spore Creature Creator
Links
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