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EA: ‘The Sims is not a casual game’
May 8th 2008 at 10:58 by Tim Ingham
The global boss of EA’s The Sims division has said that the publisher does not see the series as part of the casual gaming phenomenon.
In part of a full interview with the BBC, Nancy Smith said the title was "more of a toy than a game" and added that she wasn’t comfortable with the ‘casual’ label.
Alongside The Sims division, EA CEO John Riccitiello set up a dedicated EA Casual department last year.
The BBC asked Smith: Sims is the obvious example when we talk about the rise of casual gaming. Are you comfortable with that label?
She said: “I don't think of it as casual. We were one of the first games that started to attract a broad audience. We were one of the first games that bought in women.
They were attracted by the storytelling aspect of the Sims and interested in things like fashion and interior design that were not featured in other games.
Today we have a 55% female audience worldwide and a really broad age range from 13 to 50 years old.”
She later added: “To some degree The Sims is more of a toy than a game. People want to create characters, tell stories and explore relationships in a way that is maybe different from their real lives.”
The Sims 3 is currently due for a single-format release on PC in 2009, with an exact release date yet to be confirmed.
randolph
May 8th 2008 | 19:11
Storytelling? What storytelling?
A game you can beat through and through in less than 4 hours is casual.
"To some degree The Sims is more of a toy than a game."
Yeah, that about sums it up right there.
tbatch
May 8th 2008 | 21:38
Its hardly "beating" it though. The Sims is more of a sandbox game where you can do whatever you feel like doing.
Hardcore gamers aren't appealed to it because they don't get any objectives to complete.
Sagarat
May 10th 2008 | 11:47
"calual" games are internet flash games and minesweeper.
"Non-Casual" games are games purchaced and installed, with a specific storyline and conclusion.
Games in-between are neither "Casual" or "Non-Casual", and only need tio be defined as such by small-thinking compulsive nitwits who think marketing terms actually mean anything.
If you dont want to be a brain-dead marketing-fed zombie, stop using words like "Casual", "Hardcore", "Next-Gen", etc. like they they have any real meaning. Instead, how about just say that some game require more focused attention that others?
For example, garfield is "Casual". Moby Dick is "Hardcore", so what is star-wars novels? Is it "Semi-Caual", or "Partial Hardcore", or "Softcore". If you said yes, then you are a retard, it is light reading.
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