what's funny is that consoles have always been this way, toned down graphics and cheaper than pc games, they are after all, small pcs.
It was only recently that the term "casual" existed, right? What's interesting is that it is applied to the wii console. NObody said arcade machines "casualized" pc games... and nobody said that the NES "casualized" pc or arcade games.
The reason is because arcade graphics were way ahead of most pc games because they were specifically made for games rather than word processing and such. Home consoles were also specialized to acheive as much power as they could, since arcade games were priced at sometimes thousands, and the same with pcs, this was a great alternative.
Today's "issue" with "casual" is not a pricing thing. Sure the wii is affordable and a great value for the machinery inside it, but the price differences today are marginal. You can buy a laptop for 400$, a home computer for 300$, and even make your own arcade cabinet.
It's about the games.
