WEBVTT - TechStuff Plays Games Casually 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.960 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:08.960 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:17.560 tex stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hey kids, 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:20.400 welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polatin. I'm 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:23.160 an editor in how stuff Works dot Com. Sitting across 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:25.919 for me as usual, although he's not juggling this time 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:28.960 his senior writer, Jonathan Strickland. In the last years of 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:31.120 the seventeenth century, there was to be found among the 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:33.840 fops and fools of the London coffee houses one rangy 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.159 gangling flitch called Ebenezer Cook, more ambitious than talented, and 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:39.920 yet more talented than prudent, who, like his friends and Volley, 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:42.520 all of whom we're supposed to be educating at Oxford 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:44.800 at Cambridge, had found the sound of mother English more 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.159 fun to gain than her since to labor over, and so, 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:49.599 rather than applying himself to the pains of scholarship, had 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:51.879 learned the knack of versifying and ground out choirs of 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.040 couplets after the fashion of the day. A froth with 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:57.320 joves and Jupiter's acclang with jarring rhymes and sting taught 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:01.279 with similar stretched to the snapping point. Well, I think 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.080 this is the first time where the quote took up 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:07.840 two thirds of the podcast and we're done today. We 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:12.640 are going to talk about casual games, yes, um, which 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:15.200 is funny because you know, you know, I grew up 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:20.399 with um grandparents and parents who like doing things like 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:24.319 crossword puzzles and uh, you know, word search and stuff 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.000 like that. And as a kid, I used to love 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:28.960 those and I thought, I'm sure I'm probably the only 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:32.959 one of my friends who really enjoys doing these puzzles 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:36.760 and games and things. You know. I As I got older, 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:41.319 I started to uh and especially when video games became 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:45.400 sophisticated enough where they were they were common, um, started 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:49.240 playing things like the Majong tile games and Solitaire and 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:52.080 stuff like that. And still I thought, you know, I'm 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.800 a big weenie because I'm not playing uh call of Duty, 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:00.680 um duty. Um, good grief. I should have just gone 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:03.440 with Halo. And even that, even then, if I had 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:05.600 gone with Halo, all the all the hard core gamers 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:09.440 all there be like Halo. Come on. Editors, note, we're 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:11.920 recording this is the flip side of the day that 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:15.520 we record the nuclear weapons podcasts, which on which we 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:19.959 were pretty sober. So the fact that we're talking about gaming. Uh, 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:22.520 and the fact that we're very very stayed in the 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:25.400 first podcast, probably we're probably gonna be a little goofy 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.959 full of beans anyway. Um No, as it turns out, 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:34.200 I'm hardly alone. Um. Casual gaming is especially now that 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:39.000 there are platforms available like Facebook where millions and millions 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:44.360 of people come together to play socially. Um, casual gaming 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:48.320 is huge. So let's start to define some stuff, shall we. 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:53.680 So in general, we tend to break up games into 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:56.880 one of two very broad categories, each of which has 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:00.360 subcategories within it. Yes, and this has done I would 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:04.640 say primarily for marketing purposes. I know people who play 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.200 all these kinds of games and and and don't like 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.560 being put into a box. Sure, so it's more it's 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:14.639 more for a marketing There's a spectrum of games out there, 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:17.120 and and most people I would say, fall in the 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:19.560 middle of the spectrum, and that they like some games 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:22.120 from one category and other games from another. There may 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:25.040 be a few who they only like a couple of 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.760 games that fall into one and then all the rest 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.880 are in the other category. And then there might be 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.720 a few extremists out there who believe that the game 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.880 type of games they play are the only ones worth playing. Well, 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:41.720 you know, there's that kind of person on pretty much everything. 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:43.160 If you don't drive the car and a kind of 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.119 car I drive, then you stink, right. So anyway, those 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:49.160 two types of games I'm trying so hard to just 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:53.240 get to my point here, sorry, is the hardcore games 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:57.200 and the casual games. Now, hardcore games, when we talk 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.360 about that, what we're really talking about is the level 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:05.680 of complexity of the gameplay itself, all right, the how 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:09.720 deep that game goes, how much time you need to 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.840 dedicate to really play that game at a decent level, 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:17.160 and whether or not you can just pick up and 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:21.400 drop off in that game casually throughout the day. The 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:24.080 hardcore game, a really hardcore game, is one of those 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:26.480 things where you're gonna have to dedicate a good amount 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:30.200 of time each playing session, where you're not interrupting in anyway, 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:32.680 and that it's not just pick up and play, and 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:36.080 that the controls themselves are really really complex and there's 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:40.680 a there's a learning curve to really getting to know them. Uh. 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:44.480 A good example of this is a typical first person 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:48.360 shooter on say the the Xbox three sixty that uses 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:51.400 the controller to its full extent, because let's let's think 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:55.240 about the controller for a second. Okay, so the Xbox controller. 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:58.320 You've got the two thumbsticks, both of which can also 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:02.119 click in to act as a button. You've got four 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:07.000 shoulder buttons to trigger buttons into bumper buttons. You've got 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.760 the four buttons that are that are in a diamond 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.880 pattern on the on the right side where your right 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:16.480 thumb can touch them. And you've got a direction pad 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.480 as well. Plus you've got the start in back buttons, 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:22.200 which in some games also plays a part. So you've 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.240 got all these different buttons, all these different that potentially 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.640 could make a game incredibly complex and intimidating for someone 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:30.760 to learn if they're just picking up gaming for the 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:38.160 first time. Now, let's contrast that with casual games. Casual 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:42.120 games have simple gameplay. It does not mean that the 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:44.960 game itself is easy. It just means that the game 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.680 mechanics are simple. So it could be a puzzle game 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:52.120 that actually is pretty complex, but the the the way 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.680 you play the puzzle game is easy, then you've got 0:05:55.880 --> 0:05:58.520 uh usually will allow you to play the game in 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:02.760 just really short bursts so whenever you have time to play, 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:07.000 you can just log on or you know, access it. 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:09.920 However you're accessing this game, play a little bit, and 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:12.200 then you can pop right back out and you're fine. 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:16.520 You don't have to dedicate a lot of time to it. Uh, 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:20.960 there's usually a way where you very quickly progress through 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:24.800 the game, or you very quickly unlock other elements in 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:29.200 the game. And a lot of them also have a 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.880 method where they let you try the game in some 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:36.839 format before you purchase it, or they will support the 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:40.760 game with advertising, so that you know. They might have 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:43.120 two different versions of the same game, right, they have 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:46.360 one that has ads, so every so often you are 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:48.920 subjected to an ad while you play this game. And 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:50.839 then they might have a paid version where if you 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.240 buy it, you no longer have ads in your game. 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.680 So that that's Those are the typical attributes you would 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:02.240 find in a casual game. Um, although we tend to 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:05.840 say the hardcore games are more often found on consoles 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:09.000 and are dedicated computer games, and we tend to see 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:14.840 casual games and things like mobile platforms and social uh, 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:18.600 social network platforms, that's not always a case. There's not 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.080 a there's not a true division in platforms. After all, 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:25.920 the Nintendo we in a way, is really a It's 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.920 known mostly for its casual games, or at least that 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:32.280 that was really how Nintendo promoted the WEE early on. 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.080 It was the idea, this was the game console for anyone, 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.520 even someone who had never really gotten into video games, 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:43.960 because the motion controller gave you the opportunity to play 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:45.960 games in a way that was supposed to be really 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:49.400 intuitive and really simple. So there's that simple gameplay we 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:52.320 were talking about. Even if the games themselves were pretty complex, 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:56.080 the the barrier to entry in the game was supposed 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:00.400 to be really low. So that's the general difference. Most 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:03.160 games fall somewhere between the two. There's there there are 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:05.200 a few games that you could probably argue, okay, this 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:08.840 is like the example of a hardcore game versus the 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:11.040 example of a casual game, And then there are a 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.520 lot of games that you know, you might say, well, 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.480 it has these attributes from a casual game, but you 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:18.480 can't just log in and log off because if you do, 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:20.480 you're gonna lose your progress. And you know, let's say 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:23.360 plants versus zombies. Yes, that's a good example. Plans versus 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:27.720 Zombies is a fun game. Uh, it's it's relatively simple, 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:33.960 it's got some great animations and great uh gameplay to it. Uh, 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:37.360 and it's it's still it's not too difficult for someone 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.000 who even isn't really big into video games to get 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.760 into it. My wife loves Plants Versus Zombies, but she's 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:46.439 not a video game person. However, that being said, it's 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:47.760 also the kind of game that if you're in the 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:49.679 middle of the level and you jump out of it, 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:51.920 depending on what platform you're in, you may lose your 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.160 progress and have to start over. Yes, there's a zombie 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:58.040 on your lawn. Well, I'll just have to go and 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:01.719 get one of those pe shooters. Then I hope I 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:05.400 have enough sunflowers to generate the sun. I also play 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.320 a lot of Plans Versus on my phone and on 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.200 my computer and in the browser. And you know, yeah, 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.520 I'm one of those gamers that I like both camps. 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:16.800 I like hardcore games and I like casual games. Yeah. Yeah, 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:21.360 me too. Um yeah, I was thinking Tetris. I mean 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:25.040 there's fantastic example of a casual game. Ye yep. And 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:29.640 and a lot of people find themselves unable to get 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:34.280 the little falling um you know, the little tetraminos the 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.360 head when they used to play that so often that 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.040 when I would close my eyes at night, I would 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:43.360 see the blocks in my sleep. Later those became the 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:46.120 jewels from Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:50.400 Do Do Do Do Do Do Do do do do. Um. 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.600 You know, in contrast, you might have something like, um, 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:58.480 uh the role playing games. Vast numbers of role playing 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:02.040 games that could be uh, Dungeon Crawlers or shoot them 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:06.040 ups or the first person series or uh, you know, 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:11.120 the the Never Winter Nights type games walters Gate. Um. 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:15.679 I would think that the Civilization series very complex. Even 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:19.280 Sport could be considered a hardcore game because you spend 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:25.880 hours building up your your species first four um, although 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:29.520 very few people play it, I think in comparison, um, 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:31.960 and yeah, they're there. You know, there's there's stuff that 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.440 falls in between. UM. I think there are some some 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:38.480 of the Facebook type games now where the play on 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:42.920 the level as you're working on the level is pretty easy, 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:45.280 but then you know it's one in a series of 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:47.480 things that you have to do to accomplish a larger goal. 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.880 There's sort of hybrid games. Um. But yeah, as it 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:54.800 turns out, well, I mean casual games sort of had 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:59.440 this reputation for being sort of a feminine thing. I 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:02.000 know a lot of statistics I've read sort of say 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:06.960 that excuse more toward women gamers. That spells the myth 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:10.040 that women don't play games like the There was one 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:12.680 statistic I saw, and unfortunately I don't have the source 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:15.800 with me. So guys, when you hear me quote the statistic, 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:19.000 remember any percent of all statistics that are quoted are 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:22.480 made up on the spot. But no, there was a 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.400 statistic I saw that suggested that I think it was 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:32.080 sent of the purchases of casual games were women, So 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.480 whenever anyone was you know, if you were to look 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.600 at all the purchases of the casual games across the market, 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:43.920 of those consumers were female. Um. But again I don't 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:46.520 have that source in front of me, so take that 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:49.040 with a grain of salt. Guys. Yeah, yeah, Well, the 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:53.199 it's it's roughly fifty fifty according to a study that 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:59.080 I found, Um for MSN games. Um, it's so it's 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:01.400 you know, not not the same. It's not just for 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:04.160 breakfast anymore. They used to say about orange juice, and 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:06.840 I think it's, uh, depending on the game, it it 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:11.200 defies category, It defies trying to put it in a 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:14.440 little box. There you go, Uh, well, so you know 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:18.320 they're they're definitely kinds that are easy to categorize. Like 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:23.080 The Jeweled is clearly a puzzle game, right match three game. 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:25.520 If you will see that these are these subdivisions at Jonathan, 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:29.959 the subcategories of subcategories, because within casual games you can 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.079 have puzzle games, and within puzzle games you have different 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:35.960 subcategories of that. Um, but you've got other kind of 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.720 you know, games that are are out for both the 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:44.320 computer and consoles uh, and and online social networks, things 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:47.520 like you know, the Farmvills, the City Bills, the Frontiervills, 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:52.040 Mafia Wars. Uh. These are all considered casual games because 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:54.040 again there are games that you can just pop PLoP 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:59.080 into at any time. Now, I would say that traditionally 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:03.320 speaking like if you're going with the very stereotypical hardcore gamer, yes, 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:07.920 there is a stigma against casual games. Some hardcore gamers 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:10.240 might say that casual games are not real games because 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.760 they don't have that level of complexity that they prefer 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:16.560 when in their gaming experience. And I can totally understand that. 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:18.840 I mean there's there is something to say like, well, 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:22.280 I don't get as much enjoyment out of that, because, uh, 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.160 this other game requires this level of skill that I've 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.320 I've developed over time, and I feel like this is 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:30.920 more rewarding. That's fine. I mean there are other people 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:33.200 are going to find casual games far more rewarding than 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:35.079 the level of frustration they would have they're trying to 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:37.280 pick up a hardcore game. The thing I would tell 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.439 hardcore gamers is you might think that casual games are 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:45.560 not really truly games. Tell that to the billionaires who 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:51.760 made their fortunes through casual games. I mean billions of dollars. 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:55.760 This is a huge industry, especially because, like Chris was saying, 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.199 you know, using Facebook as a platform brilliant. As soon 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.480 as Facebook opened up that a p I and allowed 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:05.840 people to create applications or Facebook to exist on top 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:10.840 of Facebook, the gaming market exploded. Because if you've already 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:16.040 got a potential audience of more than eight hundred million people, 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.600 it's a no brainer. Yeah, well, you might be surprised 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.560 then to find out, I'll surprise you. I bet it will. 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:28.320 Actually um. The the CEO of New Zoo, Peter Warman, 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:30.480 was quoted in an article I read where he was 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:35.880 saying that somewhere between seventy six to of casual gamers 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:41.040 play outside of Facebook. So of all those people who 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:45.440 are playing Farmville and other games on Facebook, that's only 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:49.440 a small fraction of the entire casual gaming audience. Well. 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:51.760 I have a membership to pogo dot com. I don't 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:53.800 use it as often as I use some of the 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:57.320 other sites. But uh, yeah, some some game companies have 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:00.800 made their games available. I've seen games on on all 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.760 sorts of different sites that I didn't realize had them. Um, 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.520 like the Majong Dimensions game. I've seen it on multiple 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.800 different sites that weren't when I consider traditional gaming sites, 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:12.840 but they they added as a sort of bonus to uh, 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.400 to keep you there. Um. On the other hand, there 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.760 are places like uh, you know, they develop their own stuff, 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:23.760 like for example, Cartoon Network UM has games built around 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:26.880 all their properties and it's specifically there or for uh 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.080 you know some of the kids show game sites. Um, 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:34.040 you know they do that for for those properties as well, 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:37.160 So it's not just you know, the Bejewels of the world. 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:41.240 Well yeah, and then you see the game's really hitting 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.280 their stride with the smartphone revolution as well as because 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:48.720 one smartphones became a thing. Yeah, tablets as well. I 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.920 think more smartphones even than tablets, mostly because I think 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:55.480 of the average consumer. If the average consumer also happens 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.960 to have a smartphone, and the average consumer is running 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:02.120 into situation sens where he or she has a little 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:05.400 time on their hands waiting for stuff like you're in 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:08.560 line for the movie theater and the lines really long 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:10.440 for tickets and the people in front of you are 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.680 just now deciding what they want to see. Then you 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:15.720 know you've got some time to kill, so opening up 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.120 a an app on your phone and playing a little 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:21.400 Angry Birds is might just seem like the perfect thing 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:25.160 they'll do to occupy yourself while you're waiting to play this, 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.960 as opposed to, you know, occupying yourself by trying to 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:30.000 convince yourself not to stab the person in front of you. 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.320 And they're particularly useful the d M v UM. You know, 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.760 there's so many different doctor's offices. I mean, any situation 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:40.320 where you are not doing something. However, I will say 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:48.840 this people, if you play these social games, please don't 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:53.120 do it in the restroom, and if you do, please 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:57.240 mute your phone because I thought I thought you were 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:01.120 not well anonymous for sitting in the stall next to me, 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:05.000 because I did not know that pigs made that noise 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:08.960 when they were impacted by Angry Birds. And now that 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.359 I know that, I'm fine. I mean, okay, I mean granted, 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:12.919 I still I'm a little skeeved out that you were 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:17.800 playing the game. Yea um, but yeah, no, the that's 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:20.960 that's one of the hallmarks of the casual games though, right, 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:24.080 is that it's really accessible and that you can play 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:26.480 it at any time. And that's one of the really 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.520 attractive things about them. Yeah. And and and this is 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:31.560 what makes it so brilliant for people like ro Vio, 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.800 the publisher of Angry Birds, the PopCap series. It's plants, 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:43.480 plants versus zombies, bejeweled uh ing um. And and this 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.080 is what all of them and many many others have 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:49.359 done so effectively. Half Brick also, I would throw in 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:53.800 this camp that does fruit Ninja. They have hit the 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:57.640 sweet spot because okay, they've they've made their games available 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:01.320 on Actually they came from different directions. Um Rovio and 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.760 half Brick came from the smaller uh, the the cell 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:08.439 phone camp, smartphone camp. They made their applications available on 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:12.439 on tablets, and then they started moving into Google Plus 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:18.120 and Facebook. Um Zynga and Popcat came from computers and 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:22.159 websites and started moving their apps over to tablets and smartphones. 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:25.600 And now all of these guys are available on all 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:30.480 these platforms. So you you're eating your breakfast in the morning, uh, 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:32.439 you know, you're getting ready to the kids ready for school, 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.600 and you get in five minutes worth of gaming activity 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:38.439 before you you leave the house. You're waiting on the bus. 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:42.600 You get on your smartphone and play for another five minutes. Um, 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:44.920 you take a break at lunchtime, get on the tablet 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:47.800 and play for another five minutes. And and it just 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:49.879 goes on like this. You can do this. You're waiting 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:51.760 for your co host to find a quote from a 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:57.240 novel and guilty as charged, I have done that, um, 0:18:57.400 --> 0:18:59.960 and and this is really And then they go off 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:04.320 and do uh crazy stuff like having plushies made. I 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:07.480 cannot tell you how many stores I have seen angry 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:10.840 birds in. Heck, I saw the board game when it 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:16.679 first came out. Ye, I see, yes, ten maybe waiting 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:19.600 on on the kid after school, I see kids walking 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:23.520 out with angry bird t shirts on UM. The Fruit 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:26.200 Ninja of Hulks at half Brick are coming out with 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:33.080 pleshy fruit and and sense a. UM absolutely look it 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:34.719 up if you don't believe me. So the thing is, 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:38.600 UM they've been able to expand the platforms to make 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:42.080 them available more places, and they're they're cashing in on 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:46.919 the interest around these properties. So this has become a 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.600 way for them to to uh, you know, sustain their operations, 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:55.200 to market themselves and UM make a lot of money. 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:59.040 And uh a whole lot. When we're talking about a 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:02.960 whole lot, I mean they're billions for the whole industry. 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:06.920 Like Zinga when it was announcing its IPO, it would 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:09.720 have been valued at eight point nine billion with a 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:14.800 B dollars and it had generated something like one point 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:18.960 one point five billion in revenues since it started in 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:22.840 two thousand seven. Now, Zinga when it when it first 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:27.919 started was one of those companies that UM that really 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:31.040 was a big surprise to folks because the founder, Mark Pinkus, 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:35.920 he had he had been an entrepreneur previously and had 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:39.200 had some successes and some failures. Some of the failures 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:41.280 were related to the dot com crash back in two 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:45.560 thousand but once Facebook was opening up that a p I, 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:49.600 he saw the opportunity to jump in the social games space, 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:52.879 and he thought that people would really enjoy playing games 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:54.959 and being able to share that experience with their friends 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:59.439 and to build in games that would allow people to 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:02.000 help one another out in a in a virtual way. 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:03.879 And so he kind of jumped on that and he 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:08.119 hired some really smart folks, including people like Bing Gordon, 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:13.200 Owen Van that A, Mark Skags, Brian Reynolds. These guys 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:16.400 are all really smart. Some of them are a game designers, 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:21.520 some of them are great at at leveraging social networks. Uh. 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:26.919 Bing Gordon is the consigliari. That's that's his term because 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:30.639 what he what he does is he finds people that 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:34.119 would be a really good addition to Zinga's workforce. Like 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:36.040 he's kind of like one of those guys who just 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:39.800 he's fantastic and networking. As someone who does that a lot, 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:42.720 I can totally I can totally dig that I do 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:45.840 a lot of working myself. It seems to me, Yeah, 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:48.480 well it seems to me that I'm more often get 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:52.360 cool people I know opportunities with other cool people I know, 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:56.720 more than I leverage it for myself, so I gotta 0:21:56.720 --> 0:22:01.840 be more selfish anyway. It's it's yeah, almost nine billion 0:22:01.880 --> 0:22:07.439 dollars in valuation, which is pretty phenomenal. Um and uh 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:11.960 that and that it's only been around since two thousand seven. Meanwhile, 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:16.359 pop Cap, that company, I believe, Electronic Arts acquired pop Cap. 0:22:17.400 --> 0:22:20.119 So you're you're talking about these little bitty companies that 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:23.600 people would have thought of as upstarts that are become 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:27.800 that becomes such big players that the really well established 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:31.000 huge names and gaming have taken notice and they're either 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:36.280 you know, stealing themselves for direct competition or they're acquiring 0:22:36.320 --> 0:22:39.960 them um as for direct competition. That's a little tricky. 0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:42.399 Let's get back to the Nintendo we and kind of 0:22:42.400 --> 0:22:47.320 wrap this up a little bit. So consoles in general 0:22:47.960 --> 0:22:51.520 don't tend to cater to the casual market as much. 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:55.560 You can find casual games on these consoles, but the 0:22:55.600 --> 0:23:01.159 consoles themselves, one, their price point is pretty high. So 0:23:01.560 --> 0:23:04.399 that's a that can discourage a casual gamer who may 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:06.679 not want to make that level of investment in a 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:11.280 game or in a game system. To the interfaces tend 0:23:11.280 --> 0:23:14.560 to be a little more complex. So again, if you 0:23:14.760 --> 0:23:17.600 first pick up an Xbox controller and you've never used 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:20.879 one before, and you try and navigate through the menu 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:22.840 system and try and find a game that you want 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:25.120 to play, and then learn how the game itself operates 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:29.760 and try to coordinate all that. It can be really intimidating. UM. 0:23:29.880 --> 0:23:33.040 So when Nintendo decided to come out with the Wei, 0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:35.199 they were aiming at a different market. They were saying, well, 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:37.520 why don't we go for these people who would otherwise 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:39.800