Six Gaming Groups - which one are you targetting?
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10704
Juuso of GameProducer.net has highlighted the results of the Gamer Market Survery 2006, which led me to read some of the information at their press release and at gamasutra. And it is, I can say most interesting reading.
It seems that the Hardcore gamer, while still definately in existence, and accounting for a third of gaming spend in the market, is not the only game buying public around. The list of gaming groups shows that Power Gamers are in fact only 11% of the group that was surveyed.
The bugoneing Casual market is most likely taken up with mostly the leisure gamers and some of the incedental and dormant gamers, but not all of those markets are being focused on by casual gamers.
When writing your game and deciding who is going to play it, think about the market that might play it. If you are thinking of focusing a casual gamer market, the dormant gamers for exmaple are people who would like to paly games but dont have time. If thats who you are interested in targetting, then ensuring that quick play is available is important.
If you are targetting social gamers, and your deciding what to spend time on, a nice 3d engine that will make your game look amazing, or an online chat / email interface, then amybe graphics aren’t king anymore!
To be honest, the results of this survey are not earth shattering. they ahven’t changed the market, but maybe they should serve as a wakeup call. most indie developers from what I’ve seen are pretty close to the hardcore market, and so they’re tastes and priorities in games development reflect that. Maybe you should do that dreaded “focus group” thing and think about what your customers want from your games.