On the related “casual game” topic. To some gamers it’s a dirty word, but it shouldn’t be.
I think a good definition of “casual games” as games designed for casual play as opposed to more long-term/binge play.
While party games and certain puzzle games fall into this category, I think they’re a separate thing. I think the gameplay style that best fits this style are games like Animal Crossing, Clash of Clans, and Brain Age - essentially, games that are designed for short spurts because of task limitations, but when you log out and come back later, there’s new stuff to do. This is usually on a 24 hour clock, but some games (AC and Clash of Clans included) have smaller tasks that arrive and can be completed by logging back on after a few hours: Animal Crossing has schedule changes and various timed events and resource availability based on the time of day, other games use tasks/jobs that complete in a few minutes to a few hours, and still others will have updates caused by other players (like attacks).
In short, casual games are games that are always going, most often live service, but players are only expected to be on a few minutes at a time, usually 1-4 times a day.
On AAA, this is more of a term like “blockbuster” - but I think of it as more of a development philosophy. Think the sort of games where they build a trunk and each sequel/update is a branch. The branch may be a small update, or it may be a full blown sequel: think EA Sports titles, certain wrestling franchises, and games like Assassin’s Creed. Even GTA 3, VC, and SA were all branched from the same trunk project. Add in the giant sized production teams and budgets, metadata driven design, and little wiggle room for untested creativity. I’ve heard many theories about the term “AAA” most recently something related to money bonds, but I don’t think anyone was thinking that in gaming fandom. The first time I heard the term was for major RPGs like FF7 or FF8 on Squaresoft.com (later rebranded to RPGamer) and TheGIA, and it was used as an acronym “A lot of money, A lot of resources, and A lot of time.”
Last edited by Jumpin - on 19 December 2023I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
