14 DAY TRIAL // No one needs an update on how successful casual games such as Zuma and Bejeweled are. Some say that the video games market is packed full with them leaving less room for bigger titles that deserve more attention. The truth is somewhere in between as both genres (so to speak) are equally important. The thing is, some seem to have started making ripoffs of the originals, in an effort to replicate the success of those who came up with them in the first place. Apparently, originality is now being threatened be the ripoffs.
PopCap's chief creative officer Jason Kapalka states his sincere and concerned thoughts regarding this issue in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, as I found today via 1UP. As Jason has previously worked for online juggernaut Pogo.com, which was later acquired by EA to become EA Casual, Kapalka states that he's not afraid of his company's brand being threatened by the juggernauts (not only EA):
"My suspicion is that [EA is] more likely to do partnerships and acquisitions in the casual games space. Electronic Arts has sort of gone down this path before in the past with EA.com. And the lesson they learnt there was that out of all of EA.com the only thing that survived and actually made money was Pogo.com. EA can't make a game for less than a million."
"[Popcap] is happy to hear about those announcements because when EA and Ubisoft announce they are going to have casual divisions it increases the legitimacy and visibility of the whole casual field," said Jason regarding competition across the market in general. "It helps people to see that it's a real and serious form of gaming and part of the gaming business.[...] Anything that increases the exposure of the casual market is good for us all."
BUT - there's always a but - "the truth is that very few games are developed without reference to past games. There's always going to be titles that build on a previous mechanic or game. But there's a fine line between that and very bold-faced rip-offs that aren't adding anything to the game and are just trying to make a quick buck."
The interview covers of course more topics, but I think I've posted the necessary excerpts to give you an idea of how things are. Basically, this doesn't affect you, the consumer, as much as it does the ones having to produce them. Ultimately though, it may end up with the total loss of interest for casual titles. Everyone's thinking about themselves these days...