Arcade Game Central

In an article on CNN’s Game Over column (Whither the gray gamer?), Chris Morris discusses how aging gamers are not being served by the video game market. “The gray gamer is a revenue stream that’s not being tapped”, the article reports, “leaving senior gamers to Web-based games, such as PopCap Games’ Bookworm.” Why is that?

“One of the biggest stumbling blocks is determining what sort of games would engage an older audience. Certainly, there are folks like Barbara St. Hilaire, a 70-year old gaming enthusiast who goes by the nickname “Old Grandma Hardcore” and plays up to 10 hours per day, but the more typical buyer is more likely to only play a few hours per week.”

Morris reports that Nintendo is planning to release two new “Brain Age” titles, targeted at gamers 35 and older, consisting of short mental brain-training challenges. The games have already sold over 1 million units in Japan.

With the aging population in the United States, the number of senior gamers will only rise, so we should certainly begin to see more video games for an older audience. The casual game market is already there, with numerous titles, including the aforementioned Bookword, that while perhaps not designed to appeal to “gray gamers”, are certainly popular with players of all ages. Many of the games on this site would fit that description.

Professor Fizzwizzle is a fun, mind-expanding puzzle game, where you take control of the diminutive genius, Professor Fizzwizzle. You must help the professor use his brains and his gadgets to solve each exciting level. Do you have what it takes to get past the Rage-Bots and bring the prof back to his lab?

Canada.com features an article (Score One For The Little Guy) about Matt Parry and Ryan Clark of Grubby Games, creator of Professor Fizzwizzle, which was released in mid-2005 and has garnered a good deal of industry recognition, including being named “Indie Game of the Month” by PC Zone magazine, winning the 2005 “Casual Game of the Year” award from Game Tunnel, and being a finalist for the 2006 IGF (Independent Games Festival) Seumas McNally Grand Prize award. GamaSutra published an interview with the developers in early January.

The game has also been reviewed by a number of sites, including:

• Bytten - Gold Star Award
• FNG Gaming News - 4/5
• Game Tunnel - 5 Stars
• Home of the Underdogs - “Top Dog” Award
• Inside Mac Games
• JayIsGames
• Nomad Gamer
• PC Magazine - 4/5 Discs
• Softpicks.net - 5 Stars

Here are the new games at Reflexive Arcade this week:

	Jewel Of Atlantis Match-3 mechanics plus breakout-style mayhem equals pure fun in this exciting new action puzzle set in the depths of Atlantis!
	Around The World Prepare yourself for a trip Around the World, through 10 cities and 100 amazing levels with this inventive block-matching puzzle game!
	Strike Ball 2 Bigger, better and more fun than the original, Strike Ball 2 is here with new features that will knock your socks off!
	Karu Stop a slithering menace from creeping his way to the surface in this entertaining twist on the color-matching action-puzzler!
	Serpengo Ka-pow! Match colored balls as you enjoy this explosive action-puzzle game! Play puzzle mode, race mode or arcade mode!
	Tradewinds Legends Trade and battle with legendary heroes in the mythical Far East as you discover a world of magic on the high seas in this strategy adventure!
	Shoot-n-Roll Follow Fatman on his next thrilling, action-packed adventure as he tackles hordes of crafty monsters and discovers magic crystals!
	Hotel Solitaire Try a different game of solitaire in each of this hotel’s 100 rooms! No reservations required so stop on in today!
	Egg vs. Chicken Which came first, the Chicken or the Egg? Find out the answer in this eggscitingly funny action puzzler as the question boils on!
	Theseus: Return of the Hero The aliens are back and are invading new territories, but they better beware! There’s a new hero in town in this raucous shooter!

GameShark has a review of Bonnie’s Bookstore, a word puzzle game developed by Phil Steinmeyer of New Crayon Games, and published by PopCap Games.

In this whimsical new game, your goal is to help fulfill a writer’s dream. Bonnie has been running her bookstore for a while, and now she wants to write her own books. Help her write updated, best-selling versions of classic children’s tales by spelling words on the 50 unique levels. Change tiles to green and wind your way through the word grid converting consonants, vanquishing vowels and evading the dreaded Writer’s Blocks. Pick up Wildcards and special bonus letters to spell extra-long words.

According to the review:

All in all Bonnie’s Bookstore is a word search game with a lot of heart - something you don’t see too often in the casual space, no matter what the genre you’re talking about. If you like word games then Bonnie’s Bookstore is a game that the whole family can try their hand at and have fun with. For $20 it’s a B-A-R-G-A-I-N.

With its friendly style and appealing game play, Bonnie’s Bookstore will appeal to the budding author in everyone!

The Escapist, an online magazine covering gaming and gamer culture, published an article from Allen Varney titled Casual Fortunes, which discusses the economics of casual games, compared to “hardcore” games, such as popular console and PC video game titles.

The American casual game market was estimated to be worth $600 million in 2004, with a $2 billion projection by 2008. This is only a small fraction of the American video game market size, expected to grow from $8.2 billion in 2004 to $15.1 billion in 2009, but the size of the market is not really the point. The point is that game designers, by working on titles that can be completed quicker, and require smaller development teams than console video games, and by controlling their own marketing, can actual earn more for their efforts.

The article mentions a few noteworthy games, game designers, casual game companies, and blogs, including Popcap Games, Dexterity, Pretty Good Solitaire, and A Shareware Life, among others.

This article is a good introduction to the casual arcade game industry, and helps to shatter the perception that all gamers are teenage boys playing Halo and Grand Theft Auto in their bedrooms. Indeed, everyone is becoming a gamer - mom and dad, kid sisters, even grandma and grandpa have joined the stereotypical teenage boy as game consumers - and they are just the market that casual games try to serve.