Nongamers? Really?
(Visited 6835 times) Game talk
Jun 072007
Wired has an article titled ‘Next-Gen Multiplayer Worlds Are Built to Snare Nongamers’ that is adorned with screenshots from Tabula Rasa and Fury. I cannot think of any non-gamers I know who would jump at either of those. 🙂 They also have a pic of Whirled though it does seem to feature a zombie.
Hmm, where’s the online world that looks like a Michael’s craft store?
13 Responses to “Nongamers? Really?”
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“where’s the online world that looks like a Michael’s craft store?”
If only Etsy had avatars…
I always get a laugh out of this type of idea. Anybody remember the Honda Pacific Coast ? The motorcycle specifically designed for non-motorcyclists ? It didn’t sell. Real motorcyclists didn’t like it because it looked like a big scooter. Non-motorcyclists didn’t like it, because, get this, it was a motorcycle !
“ORLY?” said the owl.
I have to say. That’s a ridiculous article. I also know of zero non-gamers who would find those games appealing – maybe Whirled but Tabula Rasa and Fury? So they’re going after those 18-31 year old males who’ve just been waiting for the *right* game. BIG money there. Totally untapped. Genius. ::eyeroll::
What the author meant I assume is “Non MMO Gamers”
It ussually takes 30 min to and hour just to get a group in WoW. Then a few more hours to complete a dungeon. I assume he meant that these games would offer quicker access to action, and the ability to finish in less time than a typical MMO.
Yah, i saw that to and – my sentiments exactly 😀
Here’s what i’d see as a game for nongamers:
http://www.shockwave.com/content/shuffle/sis/shuffle.swf
something that completely got me and took 2 days off my life like candy from a baby 🙂 (and judging from some topics in forums i frequent – not just mine)
the funny thing is – all this little flash game needs to become a “mmo” of sorts is “PvP” and player-matching options! (and hack protection :))
people won’t consider themselves gamers while playing it, IMO 🙂
Nope, there are no such things as nongamers, just non-hardcore-gamers. 🙂
I think MMOs like WOW are for hardcore-gamers, people need to download a client bigger than 4G, and lots of time and energy to play. That’s no suitable for most people.
After Flash 9 and powerful Actionscript 3, I believe there will be more MMOs made in Flash.
[…] Nongamers? Really? […]
I am getting as tired of the perceived differences between “gamers” and “non-gamers” as I am between traditional publishers and “users” when it comes to the creation of content.
Give Wired a break, eh? They are pointing out iterations of features that will, the author thinks, appeal to folks who haven’t played exactly that type of game before. Same as how similar features in WoW pulled a few million people into that realm that didn’t ever play Everquest or Ultima.
Time will tell if that’s true. But I, for one, would be interested in a fun, PvP MMO that didn’t require me to put in 20+ hours a week for two months to get to the point where I could enjoy a bout. And I am a gamer who stopped playing WoW because of how much friggin’ time it took to get anywhere. So maybe I’m a “casual MMO” player. How’s that for a new designation?
I think the “non-gamer” meme comes from what Nintendo has done with the DS and the Wii. Nintendo stock has triped since the beginning of 2006, so suddenly it’s important to increase your market by attracting “non-gamers”. There’s a good article about it here
So, we’ve got our “non-gamer” buzzword, but Wired didn’t really match it to good examples of games that might be attractive to non-gamers. Even among the gamers I know, Tabula Rasa is fairly low on the radar. Might have something to do with the fact that it’s been talked about since, what, 2000?
Andy, I think you’re right that there’s a bigger market out there. I think Raph’s point is that Tabula Rasa isn’t a good example of something that might appeal to non-gamers.
To me, a “non-gamer” MMO is going to be something my parents (who are grandparents) would play, something like Wii Sports that attracts a wider audience.
“Gamer” like videogame (though not “game” as a noun) is a problematic and perhaps pejorative term, though I really just think it sounds goofy (the “er” syllable doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue). Really though, there is no such thing as gamers and non-gamers, everyone is a player. If you aren’t a player, you probably don’t know how to walk or read or do anything, because play is endemic to the development of the mind and brain.
So with that out of the way, the article seems to be focusing on usage patterns as implied by the design, rather than the focus of the games. For instance, a lot of males are more interested in other media but can dig some violence if only they don’t need 100hrs to invest to enjoy said violence. TR is supposedly playing with some ethical concerns, and Whirled is of course the most broadly friendly.
My point is, you shouldn’t disparrage these games for failing to target a “non-gamer” audience, because that audience never existed. They cultivated audience from various sources, though Whirled has more streams of people it can draw from than Fury. The play engenders the audience, in this case, and thats a lot better than visa versa.
Whoa there, Patrick. I’m not disparaging the games. I’m disparaging the marketing or the journalism (unsure which!).
“where’s the online world that looks like a Michael’s craft store?”
Sims Online and Second Life come to mind…
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