CASUALNESS
Whether in your living room, your friend’s house, on your cell phone, at a bar, at an office party, in a retirement home, or on a cruise ship, it is likely you have come into contact with games such as Wii Sports (Nintendo EAD, 2006), Rock Band (Harmonix Music Systems, 2007), Guitar Hero (Harmonix Music Systems, 2005), Dance Central (Harmonix Music Systems, 2010), Angry Birds (Rovio Entertainment, 2009), or Farm-Ville (Zynga, 2009). These games are referred to as casual games, that is, games that do not require a long-time commitment, use complex buttons on a controller, or even require an underlying understanding of how to play a video game.
“Casualness” signals a number of ways we might understand how we play and who plays; how the industry has evolved and reconfigured; how games have become prominent socials arenas, and how the effects of gaming on our health and well-being are investigated by social scientists. The meaning of “casualness,” or “casual,” is twofold, referring to a particular genre of video game as well as a method of gameplay. “Casual games” is a term coined and used by the video game industry and game players, often defined in opposition to “hardcore” games. In A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players, Jesper Juul (2010) traces the history of casual video games, and argues that new, casual video games are broadening the spectrum of game players as video games gain widespread acceptance. Juul explains:
[T]his was not about video games becoming cool, but about video games becoming normal. Normal because these new games were not asking players to readjust their busy schedules. Normal because one did not have to spend hours to get anywhere in a game. Normal because the games fit the social contexts in which people were already spending their time, normal because these new games could fulfill the role of a board game, or any party game.
(2010, p. 1)
This essay explores the topic of “casualness” through historical, industrial, media effects, and ethnographic perspectives. Game studies are a recent area of inquiry when compared to the decades of work in media studies, which investigate media texts in film, radio, and television. The academic examination of the casual game/gaming phenomenon is a relatively new and emergent subfield in the discipline of game studies. Though not exhaustive, this essay reviews the academic literature on casual video game studies, primary scholars, and theories within the casual video game studies realm, and argues that the discourse surrounding casualness offers productive starting points for understanding how the gaming industry, the identity and sociality of players, and the spaces of play have transformed in the past three decades.
In the past, we saw kids in arcades playing short, fast games for a quarter and socializing with their friends. One might also expect to find people playing video games alone at home (often with the false, archaic stereotype of the teenage, male gamer), and playing only for extensive time periods; however, this is no longer the case. The Electronic Software Association’s (ESA) “2012 Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry” reveals what has been evident to game scholars and those in the industry, but still remains unknown to much of the general public: the average game player is now 30 years old, 47 percent of all gamers are female, and the video game that had the second most sales per unit in 2012 was a casual game, Just Dance 3 (Ubisoft Paris, 2011). The ESA (2012) also found that gamers tend to spend more than half of their gaming time playing with others: “Sixty-two percent of gamers play games with others, either inperson or online. Seventy-eight percent of these gamers play with others at least one hour per week. Thirty-three percent of gamers play social games” (2012, “Industry Facts” section). As evidenced in my personal conversations with industry professionals from companies that produce video games categorized as casual, such as Harmonix Music Systems and Nintendo, these games are marketed to and played by a broad audience; that is, players of all ages, men and women. But let’s not forget that the average gamer was not always 30, and that his or her kids are also playing games. Furthermore, the increase in casual games correlates with an increase in the number of women video game players (ESA, 2012).
Casual Games
“The secret is out: everyone loves casual games. No matter age, gender or nationality, casual games are finding their way to the most ubiquitous platforms from the PC to iPhone to Facebook” (Casual Games Association, 2012a, “About” section). This is how the Casual Games Association, dedicated solely to the casual game industry (with the specific focus on games produced for the mobile phone and Internet browser platforms) publicized its lucrative activities. Indeed, these types of games have a large and diverse audience, reaching over 200 million people each month (Casual Game Association, 2012b, “FAQ” section).
In order to understand the prevalence and success of casual games, it is necessary to unpack the various types of casual games, the platforms they are produced for, their components, and the types of experiences they facilitate. According to Juul, there are two, overarching trends of casual games: mimetic interface games, such as Wii Sports, and downloadable games, such as Bejewelled (PopCap Games, 2001), which do not require the player to mimic the on screen action (2010, p. 5, p. 103).
Juul (2010) discusses the physical player space that is emphasized by casual, mimetic interface games. The term “mimetic” is used to define the type of games that require the player to mimic the actions being displayed on the screen (Juul, 2010, p. 5). He claims:
Where traditional hardcore games focus on creating worlds, on 3-D space, and downloadable casual games focus on the experience of manipulating tangible objects on screen space, mimetic interface games emphasize the events in player space. Mimetic interface games encourage us to imagine that the game guitar is an actual guitar that we play on, and the Wii controller is an actual tennis racquet we swing to hit the ball.
(Juul, 2010, pp. 103–107)
It is the physical player space that significantly constitutes play of console-based casual games such as Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Wii Sports, as you might find at office parties or gatherings in your home (Juul, 2010, p. 114).
Similarly, others emphasize the centrality of casual game play as shared, social experiences that often occur in the living room. In Codename Revolution: The Nintendo Wii Platform (2012), Steven E. Jones and George K. Thiruvathukal combine their textual studies and computer science backgrounds in their book, which solely focuses on the Nintendo Wii platform. To Jones and Thiruvathukal:
It’s [the Wii is] designed around the notion that gameplay ideally happens in a shared space where social interactions, at least potential ones, are at the heart of the experience. Rather than being designed to maximize the immersive graphics of the virtual battlefield, kingdom, dungeon, or city in which the game takes place, the Wii’s somatic and mimetic network of controller objects were expressly made with the physical living room in mind.
(2012, p. 19)
In order to understand the prevalence of casual games, it is also important to distinguish between the platforms for which casual games are produced. Casual games are produced for traditional home consoles, as well as mobile phone and Internet browser platforms. You might imagine a time when you or a neighbor played Angry Birds for five minutes while waiting for class to start, or checking the progress of the crops on your farm in FarmVille while catching up with a friend on Facebook chat. The short, fast-paced, downloadable game Angry Birds requires the player to use the smart phone touchscreen to employ its simple controls. Although some downloadable games and console games have similar mimetic interfaces, in Angry Birds, players use a touchscreen, rather than a controller, in order to manage the slingshot that sends birds towards the pigs. Similarly, FarmVille is casual and non-mimetic, as it does not require a substantial time commitment and has simple controls, although unlike mimetic games, the player clicks the computer mouse in order to accomplish in-game tasks, such as fertilizing crops, buying supplies, and giving gifts, rather than mimicking the on-screen action. Indeed, many casual games, both mimetic and downloadable, are considered social games, as they facilitate simultaneous game play among multiple players. For example, the casual video game Rock Band is a social game because there can be a number of people playing different instruments in the band in the same room. A number of players in one room can form their own “band,” playing drums, bass, guitar, or singing on the microphone. Social network games, such as FarmVille or Mafia Wars (Zynga, 2009) on Facebook, also have widespread popularity and offer a means for increased sociality among gamers as well as people who would not otherwise play video games. In FarmVille, for example, players can share gifts with fellow “farmers” and better their farm by befriending more players. Rather than competing against each other, this game requires co-operation and altruism in order to level up.
Another important component of casual video games is that they are usually nonviolent. For instance, in Wii Sports, you can play tennis, basketball, and bowling matches with “cute” characters, or Miis. This is distinct from games categorized as “hardcore,” such as Gears of War (Epic Games, 2006) or Call of Duty (Infinity Ward, 2003), where players engage in violent military battles. The nonviolent component of casual games is often utilized as a marketing strategy for companies producing these games, as advertisements and commercials depict casual games as entertainment suitable for the whole family. For example, in early Nintendo Wii commercials, the nuclear family of Mom, Dad, and two children was depicted as enjoying playing Wii Sports together. Whereas there has been consistent concern in media effects research for the potential detriment of violent gameplay on producing violent behavior, casual video games offer something different—marketed as “safe,” family-friendly entertainment products.
Casual games are often situated, as it was said earlier, in contrast to “hardcore” games, or “core” games, by those in the industry as well as by video game players. It is not universally accepted that these terms should be put in opposition; however, it provides a convenient way of defining what casual games and game play is and is not. According a design lead at Harmonix Music Systems, the makers of Dance Central and Rock Band:
I’m not a fan of the terms “casual” and “hardcore” although I am the first to admit that I am one to throw them around from time to time. Our [Harmonix’s] games serve a wide variety of gamer types. Some players buy the games just to play on the weekends with friends while others are “hardcore” in every sense of the word … They buy our steady stream of DLC [downloadable content], post videos of themselves performing routines online, produce a steady stream of Deviantart and digitally insert themselves into our gameworld. Our players make the same kinds of the deep personal connections you see in “hardcore” titles.
(Harmonix design lead, personal communication, July 2, 2012)
His response speaks to the ubiquity of these terms in industry rhetoric, though he simultaneously argues that the terms may not be the most useful way of defining what a game is or how to make sense of game play experience. For him, rather than focus on these two terms as binaries, it is more important to focus on the “deep personal connection” people have when they play a game.
The Casual Games Association (2012b) offers a useful analogy, relating casual and hardcore games to particular movies. They claim that “core” games are created for “core” players, who expect high-end graphics and technology, and elaborate plot lines, whereas casual games are created solely for fun, quick, and easily accessible play:
Think of Atari and games such as Pacman [sic] [Namco, 1980], Space Invaders [Taito Corporation, 1978], Frogger [Konami, 1981], and Donkey Kong [Nintendo, 1981]. Casual games have maintained the fun, simplicity, boundless creativity that characterizes arcade-style games. On the other hand, enthusiast games also termed “[hard] core”, such as Grand Theft Auto [DMA Design, Tarantula Studios, Visual Sciences, 1997], DOOM [id Software, 1993], and Mortal Kombat [Midway Games, 1992], have been developed using high-end technology that appeals more to younger audiences. Using movies as an analogy, casual games would be Friends [David Crane and Marta Kauffman, 1994–2004] or ER [Michael Crichton, 1994–2009], and enthusiast games would be Reservoir Dogs [Quentin Tarantino, 1992] or Silence of the Lambs [Jonathan Demme, 1991].
(Casual Games Association, 2012b)
This analogy demonstrates the way the industry often simplifies and dichotomizes these two genres of games. The industry sees casual games as analogous to TV and hardcore games analogous to movies, revealing the industry’s many ideological assumptions about popular entertainment and serious drama. Further, the problem with this dichotomy is it fails to acknowledge the overlaps in gameplay style and players of casual games. Do casual games, such as Rock Band and Just Dance, only facilitate casual play, or can casual games be played hardcore?
Casual Gameplay
I currently define myself as casual player of casual games, though am the first to admit that I have played games that are typically characterized as casual games in a “hardcore” way. I recall spending six hours playing Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix Music Systems, 2006) the day I purchased the game, intent on beating as many songs as possible on the hardest difficulty, “expert.” Eventually my hands became sore and the notes started blurring on the screen—what one would expect of any long gameplay session.
This is one of the distinctions of casual games from games deemed hardcore. Whereas hardcore game access is limited to new gamers and requires a significant time commitment to acquire the skills needed to progress through a game, casual games can be played casually or hardcore. As Juul states:
This explains the seeming paradox of the casual players making non-casual time commitments: a casual game is sufficiently flexible to be played with a hardcore time commitment, but a hardcore game is too inflexible to be played with a casual time commitment.
(2010, p. 10)
For example, at a bar holding Rock Band nights, a player may decide to perform (play) only one song in front of the crowd. Though only one song was played, the completion of one song signals the end of the player’s turn, and does not necessitate more time dedication to gameplay; this becomes particularly evident when a “no fail” mode can be turned on, as any player can complete an entire song no matter how well they play. However, full “bands” of Rock Band players competing in a national competition have to be committed, spending countless hours preparing for competitions, and documenting their efforts on YouTube (Miller, 2012, p. 4).
Research Trends Regarding Casual Gaming
The research on casual games and casualness remains a new and developing area within game studies. As you will have noticed throughout this essay, the research drawn up only goes back to 2009. Juul’s A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players (2010) remains a seminal overview for those studying casual games, as it traces the rise of casual games and gaming, as he terms, the “casual revolution,” from historical and industrial perspectives (2010, p. 2). Likewise, Jones and Thiruvathukal’s Codename Revolution: The Nintendo Wii Platform provides an insightful companion to Juul’s book, as it specifically explores the Wii console as the “revolutionary” factor in the “casual revolution”—from historical, industrial, technical, and textual analytic vantage points (2012, pp. 2–3).
Much research on casual games addresses the health potential of casual games/gameplay, such as on the benefits of playing movement-based, mimetic games for elderly people’s mobility. Coming from a social scientific perspective, these studies frequently use survey and experimental methodologies to research the effects of casual video gameplay on people’s health. Studies have also investigated other health benefits of playing movement-based, casual games on people’s weight, mood, and well-being. Overall, these studies provide mixed findings as to the efficacy of this type of game/gameplay on people’s health. In what follows, I provide key exemplars of research that focus on casual games and health in the media effects tradition, in order to show that there is yet to be a consensus regarding the health benefits of these games.
Two studies find casual video games to be a significant contributor to health improvement among game players. In “The Effectiveness of Casual Video Games in Improving Mood and Decreasing Stress” by Carmen V. Russoniello, Kevin O’Brien, and Jennifer M. Parks (2009), casual video games were utilized in an experiment measuring the effectiveness of these games for reducing stress levels and heart rate. In the study, they selected three casual video games to test whether players would demonstrate reduced stress levels: Bejeweled 2 (PopCap Games, 2009), Bookworm Adventures (PopCap Games, 2006), and Peggle (PopCap Games, 2007). Similarly, another study found positive results in regard to casual video game play’s effectiveness on acute cognitive benefits, specifically concentration, focus, and affective states (Gao & Mandryk, 2012, “Discussion” section, paragraph 4). Solely focusing on what they term “exergames,” such as those created for the Kinect for Xbox 360 (Microsoft, 2010), in “The Acute Cognitive Benefits of Casual Exergame Play,” Yue Gao and Regan L. Mandryk (2012) found significant improvements in participants’ cognitive functions as well affective states from playing ten minutes of an “exergame” over a sedentary casual game.
Does this mean people should play casual video games if they want to improve their health? An alternate study in 2012 the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics would argue, no, if you are hoping for your child to become more physically active. Also taking a social scientific approach to the study of video games, Tom Baranowski et al.’s “Impact of an Active Video Game on Healthy Children’s Physical Activity” (2012) found no significant results in healthy children’s activity levels upon playing an active, casual video game on the Wii console versus playing an inactive, casual video game in safe versus unsafe neighborhoods (p. e636). In this 13-week experiment, participants were monitored by accelerometers in order to assess changes in physical activity. According to their study: “These results provide no reason to believe that simply acquiring an active video game under naturalistic circumstances provides a public health benefit to children” (Baranowski et al., 2012, p. e636). Unlike the two aforementioned studies that found significant health benefits from playing casual video games, this study found no significant results, maintaining that children will not become more active when an active video game is introduced, independent of neighborhood safety.
Concurrently, other studies have examined the impact of “exergames” on physical activity do find these games to have a positive impact on children’s activity level after gameplay. For example, Perron et al.’s “Do Exergames Allow Children to Achieve Physical Activity Intensity Commensurate with National Guidelines?” (2011) found children playing EA Sports Active (EA Canada, 2009) “elicited a higher exercise intensity” than Wii Fit, and that both games achieved a sufficient intensity for the national guidelines for children’s exercise (pp. 231–232). Overall, these studies demonstrate the mixed results of the impact of casual video game play on people’s health.
Music games within the casual game realm is also an area researched by game scholars, though this research tends to be conducted through ethnographic, ethnomusicological, and historical research. Much of the research on music games focuses on player authenticity, musicality, and performativity. For example, ethnomusicologist Kiri Miller explores in Playing Along: Digital Games, YouTube, and Virtual Performance (2012), the value of music games, such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero, as well as the game, Grand Theft Auto, in allowing performativity, engagement with rock music, and musicality (pp. 5–8). Specifically, Miller analyzes experiences of Rock Band and Guitar Hero play on YouTube and in public spaces. She coined the phrase, “schizophonic performance,” arguing that the greatest value of Guitar Hero and Rock Band game play is that players are engaged through performance with the musical piece (p. 15). Miller claims, “Guitar Hero and Rock Band let players put the performance back into recorded music, reanimating it with their physical engagement and adrenaline. Players become live performers of prerecorded songs, a phenomenon that I refer to as schizophonic performance” (p. 15).
Miller also documents this type of gameplay in public spaces, such as at bar nights and tournaments (2012, p. 125). She argues that though playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero are not like playing a real guitar, performing the popular, rock songs, whether in a group or by yourself, offers a unique, meaningful experience:
Playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero isn’t just like playing a real instrument, but it’s nothing at all like listening to music. The affective experience of making music is bound up with embodied performance, and these games compel bodily engagement.
(2012, p. 150)
Similar to studies discussed earlier that find positive, affective, health benefits from playing casual games, Miller’s ethnomusicological work finds that people experience positive affect when playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band (p. 150).
Conclusion
This essay has focused on “casualness” as a term that refers to a genre of video games and a way of playing games. Though the terms “casual” and “hardcore” are commonly used in opposition by the industry and players, it may not be useful to dichotomize these terms. As explained earlier, casual games can be played “hardcore” or “casually,” though “hardcore” games do not allow for “casualness.” What is the efficacy of casual games on people’s health and well-being? This question remains to be fully answered. Casual games allow for increased sociability, a broader range of players, and shifts in gameplay spaces. In sum, this essay has argued that unpacking the discourse surrounding casualness provide avenues for understanding the evolution of the industry and the ways and spaces in which people engage with gameplay.
References
Baranowski, T., Abdelsamad, D., Baranowski, J., O’Conner, T. M., Thompson, D., Barnett, A., Cerin, E., & Chen, T.-A. (2012). Impact of an active video game on healthy children’s physical activity. Pediatrics, 129(3), e636–e642.
Casual Games Association. (2012a). Casual games and industry facts. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from www.casualgamesassociation.org.
Casual Games Association. (2012b). FAQs. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from www.casualgamesassociation.org.
ESA. (2012). 2012 essential facts about the computer and video game industry. Retrieved July 10, 2012 from www.theesa.com/facts/gameplayer.asp.
Gao, Y., & Mandryk, R. L. (2012). The acute cognitive benefits of casual exergame play. In CHI ’12: Proceedings of the 30th international conference on human factors in computing systems, Austin, Texas, USA.
Jones, S. E., & Thiruvathukal, G. K. (2012). Codename revolution: the Nintendo Wii platform. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Juul, J. (2010). A casual revolution: reinventing video games and their players. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Miller, K. (2012). Playing along: digital games, YouTube, and virtual performance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Perron, R., Graham, C., Feldman, J., Moffett, R., & Hall, E. E. (2011). Do exergames allow children to achieve physical activity intensity commensurate with national guidelines?, International Journal of Exercise Science, 4(4), 257–264.
Russoniello, C. V., O’Brien, K., & Parks, J. M. (2009). The effectiveness of casual video games in improving mood and decreasing stress. Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation, 2(1), 52–66.