Casual games cost marketing moolah, Ubisoft says
The gist of this is that Ubisoft's "Imagine" and "Petz" series are bestsellers, but that's because they spent quite a bit on marketing. Even though casual games don't cost a lot to develop, in order to reach that wider audience, you need wider marketing to reach that audience. I remember that Nintendo said that the Wii launch in North America had a $30 million marketing campaign.
Now I don't know if they spent enough to make it cost as much as the development of a big budget game, but it does show that casual doesn't always mean shovelware. Ubisoft is putting something of an investment in this market.
A flashy-first game is awesome when it comes out. A great-first game is awesome forever.
Plus, just for the hell of it: Kelly Brook at the 2008 BAFTAs
