Casual shift 'most important thing happening in the gaming industry'

His comments came in a profile put together by UK Sunday newspaper The Observer.

In the piece Wright - who devised The Sims, itself regularly pointed to helping grow the games playing demographic to female gamers who traditionally had no times for games - calls casual gaming "probably the most important thing happening in the gaming industry. We're seeing that with the Nintendo Wii. That pressure to start serving the whole market rather than this little section."

And the growth is not just the rise of female gamers interested in The Sims. He said: "That's a big part, but also the intergenerational market. Families. With Wii, you see kids, parents and even grandparents playing together."

In all, said Wright, games were a useful way to aid teaching and tease a thirst for knowledge amongst gamers.

"Computer games and simulations are much more powerful [as an aid] to motivate than to teach. I'd rather have a game that got a person interested in the subject than tried to put a lot of facts into their head. It's not a matter of sugarcoating education. Education when done right is inherently fun. There shouldn't be a difference between the two. Our culture has disconnected the ideas of education and fun – and if anything, I'm trying to reconnect those two things."