Acclaim founder: Casual games don’t alienate the core

Acclaim Entertainment founder Greg Fischbach, now vice chairman of the Board of Directors of Yoostar Entertainment, has stated that casual games do not alienate hardcore gamers.

Likening the gaming industry to other media, he described the schism that can exist between hardcore and casual gamers, explaining: “You know, some people like classical music, and some people like rock and roll, and some people like country. I don’t think one alienates the other one.”

In response to whether he thought casual gaming was a fad he stated: “No, I think casual gaming is really cool. I don’t put them in different camps, I put them as, like, one large industry and some people like to play casual games and do not like to play hardcore games. You know, hardcore gamers will play casual games, but casual gamers won’t play hardcore games.

“Nintendo was able to recognise it when they introduced the Wii and gave it a very simple control mechanic. When we went from the keyboard to the mouse and casual games actually exploded a few years ago, we changed the dynamic of what was going on so we actually opened a category to a lot more people. Because most people don’t like to use L, and B, and C, and D, or the cursor.”

Additionally, he went on to say: “I don’t think hardcore gamers are too elitist. I think hardcore gamers are avid fans. And they like a particular kind of product. They like Call of Duty, and they like things that have more of an edge. They love first person shooters, they love Madden Football, they love to rock.”