No, not so that we can lord our elitism over the loathsome “casuals.” Heck, you may
even be a casual gamer, and that’s completely fine. I have plenty of casual gamer
friends, and I respect them as people even if they don’t spend as many hours frantically
trying to frag random strangers as I do. Consider this, though (warning: theoretical
rhetoric ahead): Casual gamers are most likely to play games that have big marketing
campaigns, right? Games like Modern Warfare and Mass Effect.
Uh-oh.
I have nothing against either Modern Warfare nor Mass Effect. I think both are fantastic
games. Our problem occurs when people that have little experience and investment in
games invest in companies that turn around and treat people with more investment in
games (such as me and possibly you) like crap. “But Cheetah, didn’t you just indirectly
say you support Activision, a company that clearly fails to respect the average gamer,
by enjoying Modern Warfare?” Yes, I did. I must admit that as of right now, Activision is
teetering on the edge between “I’ll buy their games on sale” and “total boycott.” I won’t
name names, as other experienced gamers can identify at least one of the companies
that helped inspire this article.
Here’s what needs to happen. Instead of hardcore/experienced gamers insulting
and trashing other people based on their (admittedly uneducated – I’m not being
condescending, just observing) choice of purchases, it’s the gaming community’s job
to show casual gamers that there are developers and publishers that will give them
more and respect them more than the companies that we don’t like. In theory, this is
the easiest way for me and you to influence the gaming economy and support good
developers and publishers even after we’ve bought their game and gifted it to a friend or
two.
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