Mainstream to the casuals:

Is this how COD became huge?

The Call of Duty franchise has become a dominant force to be rockened with.  With record breaking opening sales, there is no doubt that Modern Warfare 3 will become an instant hit. Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops even hold the top spots on the PS3 and 360 in sales terms. 

One might believe (which I did) that this franchise was strong among frequent players and as we refer to 'hardcore' gamers.  I was surpised to the responses I got from my classmates about this video game franchise.

One of my friends, Daniel, is a fan of shooting games and he plans on joining the army, seems like a perfect match. When I asked him if he would continue to buy a new Call of Duty annually he smiled and responded 'yeah why wouldn't I?'.  

Just Dance is also a popular series that is mentioned during school or via facebook. I asked the same people who play Just Dance if they have played call of duty and their reaction told it all. They had an eccentric joy talking about it.  Most of them said that they play along side their siblings and are active during online play. It was a surprise to learn that a huge percentage of females play Call of Duty. This is a demographic segment that is stereotypically not seen being active in violent video game play.

The universal response goes to show that Call of Duty reaches beyond core gamers, it reaches out to an audience that usually are not active in online console gaming or shooting games at all.

Take notes video game developers and companies (Nintendo), you can attract the casuals despite having a mature oriented game. You also need hype and a huge marketing push :)

Your thoughts?

Um...duh? I thought everyone knew that Call of Duty was a huge casual game. I do hope the guy aspiring to join the army knows that real life is absolutely nothing like CoD.

You mean mainstream.

He knows that. He wanted me to play paint ball and this other shooting game (with small ball size bullets). I told him thatI only played water guns lol

Same,
      both. 

Mainstream and casual arent the same. Tons of casual games dont became mainstream at all. COD is very very popular, that's all. 

Reasons CoD is fun:

1.  Splitscreen options and now splitscreen online.  Casuals play games in splitscreen but professionals play games in online SPLITSCREEN MODE. For example, I bought a 3D DS and while the technology is amazing it's not in splitscreen and so I'm looking for the next 4-D DS with splitscreen modes which enable a player to digitally enter the screen where they can visit relatives and friends. I'm on board with this technology. Also, I'm looking for the 5D mode where you can digitally enter the splitscreen with norton antivirus mode so that your identity isn't stolen and you don't bring criminals in with you. I believe I could fly but now you can not only fly but ride the splitscreen carpet over to your grandma's house! Hence, this is the reason this is the last space shuttle mission because this splitscreen technology is already made possible. Therefore, I give props to Nintendo and Atari for creating a system for this type of interface and being the pioneers for this kind of technology.

2. First learn first one first!

I didn't say they were the same (even if I put same lol), I tried to imply that yes its mainstream but its also fueled by the casuals. I want to know how it got popular to begin with. All I can remember is MW2 being huge.

The original Modern Warfare is where everything exploded with attention. They had a huge marketing campaign and there was hype of epic proportions for that game. It also has huge production values and every call of duty since has had insanely over-the-top fighting and stories. (I literally felt like a super-hero playing through Black Ops).

It has fun arcade-y multiplayer too that's really simple to get into and is all about running around and shooting each other with little teamwork and strategy. It's easy entertainment to eat up. There are definitely skilled people in teams who can band together and wreck everyone else, but the basic premise of the multiplayer allows for people to play it in a very casual, pick-up-and-play way. It's much more friendly to people who don't play video games often and that's what they like so much about it.

Of course the COD franchise is a casual-friendly franchise. I'm not just talking about mainstream,  I know the difference. COD is a very pick-up-and-play experience even for beginning gamers. There's an endless amount of aim assist features, perks, and kill streaks to make a 10 year old kid  whose never played a video game in their life into a top 3 badass in a deathmatch. It's still a blast though and that's why its become more mainstream and more casual-friendly as years go on. It's not a bad thing at all but its one of those franchises that can appeal to anyone.