News
‘Most casual games are rubbish’
Neil Long Apr 11 2008, 12:21pm
Comments (5)
Codemasters Online boss hits out at casual games bandwagon after Mumbo Jumbo deal
Codemasters Online’s vice president David Solari has hit out at the number of developers rushing out casual games after signing a deal to bring a range of Mumbo Jumbo titles to retail.
The deal kicks off with ten new games set for release on April 25th on the Funsta label – and the new line-up will boast the kind of quality not seen in the majority of current casual titles on the market, said Solari.
“These kinds of games have done fantastically well in retailers like Wal-Mart and we thought it would be a great chance to do the same in Europe. At the end of the day it has to be the right products and the right quality – and Mumbo Jumbo has a range of very, very strong casual titles”.
The Codemasters Online vice president was also critical of most of the casual titles currently on the market:
“Everybody seems to think making a casual games is easy and a lot of people have jumped on that bandwagon. But there’s a real skill to it – you can’t just take a programmer from Gears of War and tell him to make another Luxor.”
“I think for every good casual game out there there’s probably ten not very good casual games and obviously we want to be involved in the ones that are good.”
The full Funsta line-up for the PC includes Luxor 2, 7 Wonders II, Poker Superstars II, Slingo Quest and Gemsweeper, retailing for £9.99 each.
The Funsta range will be for consoles too, with LUXOR Pharoah’s Challenge, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World and Platypus all available on the PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS and Wii. The Funsta games set for consoles will be available for £19.99 each.
Comments
“Just being helpful”
Posted by: Jane - Apr 11, 3:53pm
Here are the Metacritics of those non rubbish Mumbo Jumbo games. http://www.metacri...&y=10
9. Sony PSP: 7 Wonders of the Ancient World (2007) 51
MumboJumbo
10. Playstation 2: Luxor: Pharaoh's Challenge (2007) 53
MumboJumbo
11. Nintendo DS: 7 Wonders of the Ancient World (2007) 58
MumboJumbo
12. Sony PSP: Platypus (2006) 59
MumboJumbo
13. Sony PSP: Luxor: Wrath of Set (2006) 60
MumboJumbo
14. Xbox 360: Luxor 2 (2007) 70
MumboJumbo
15. Nintendo DS: Super Collapse! 3 (2007) 71
MumboJumbo
“Re: Just being helpful”
Posted by: beemoh - Apr 11, 5:51pm
"I think for every good casual game out there there’s probably ten not very good casual games"
...so a bit like for every one good 'proper' game, there's ten crap ones. Well done, David! (Although suggesting that as many as one in ten casual games is good might be a little optimistic... :D)
“Re: Just being helpful”
Posted by: kristian - Apr 11, 11:28pm
Casual games litter the shelves at most game stores now, only those in the know who have looked into the game by way of reviews, previews editorials and comments have a chance of buying a good game. i like simple titles say hexic, columns, wii tennis because its a fun blast...for a bit. most casual titles have such a limited fun factor and actual gameplay lifespan you wonder why you paid out for it in the firstplace.
- From a formerly hardcore player.
“Re: Just being helpful”
Posted by: Onehunglow - Apr 12, 11:07pm
Its funny how publishers are turning what once were decent games into casual rubbish. Sim Cities has headed down this path, as has many other games.
Mind you, how many Bejwelled clones are there now? 1 million?
“Re: Just being helpful”
Posted by: FX - Apr 14, 11:33am
I remember these types of games in the 80s/90s classed as Shareware/Freeware games on PC. why purchase them on consoles when most are free online as flash games in many forms