The entrance of the casual gamer has shifted the market dramatically giving unbridled hope to publishers of really cashing in on a new source of income. Just crunching the numbers, hardcore gamers are a small percentage of the possibility of getting other people to play. If you can get just one other person beside a hardcore gamer, get that person interested enough by changing the play mechanic just to “snatch” them in. Then possibilities lie where that alone could be the difference between 40 million and 400 million.

The result of this though (and this is just my personal opinion) is that all of a sudden the focus of gaming shifts and it turns into wanting more of the casual market in the gaming scene. Now I’m not saying I have something against them but look at the basics. Casual gamers are coming into the gaming space not because it’s a favourite past time, but because of a certain attribute or “gimmick” that levels the playing field. Also they are called casual gamers for a reason; it means gaming is not that high on their entertainment package, they’d probably much rather spend their dollar on clothing, a car, jewellery, hairdo etc. Game publishers however filled with greed from this new found money tree, made requests of developers to either convert games or build games with these “gimmicks” in mind to further try and entice said casual person into the world of gaming. Not to say that you don’t have your innovators who do some really fantastic things, but these developments take time and money hungry publishers see time as the killer to making money. So in the end developers go for the quick fix, the “fitness games, the party games all retooling the same mechanics so as to push out products fast enough for casual gamers to eat it up. All that keeps happening though is designs and ideas that are repeated, over and over and over again, and what happens to a person who is pulled in with a “gimmick” and shown  the same game play mechanics and experiences in different packaging? They get bored, and the fad is over.

When they get bored your newfound “money well” runs dry and you now are clamouring for ways to keep them interested as your market share begins to shrink. That’s what is happening to gaming as we speak. Gaming exploded with the advent of the Wii and its new approach of simple and interactive play mechanics, it drew the casual audience in and made them take notice and want to try it out. Let’s say gaming was at a size of say 25% with its regular audience and then with the casual market getting involved grew to 85% in the space of a year. That’s some serious growth and opened publishers eyes to the legitimacy of gaming as an industry as revenue figures tripled.

Now the shoreline is receding, the wave is dropping back to its standard, and casual gamers in an economy that cannot afford them too many luxuries are switching their efforts to other means of entertainment. Analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities shared this comment about poor casual game sales for October:

"The more mass market titles did not perform as well, with the music genre demonstrating the overall weakness we've seen all year. Total music game sales in October (including the newly-launched DJ Hero) totalled only $46 million, compared to $121 million a year ago. The decline in music genre sales was responsible for 60% of the year-over-year sales decline in October."

So what happened between last year and this year? Nothing really, nothing than the initial market that bought the game has now gotten bored with it and has moved on. The only people who probably brought the tally up to $46 million for this year are probably those still truly interested in the product. Those that just casually played it have moved on to the next “thing”.

The industry is not finished with them yet though as new inventions are on the horizon to bring them back in the game and bring the high tide back in again. Things like “project Natal”, the Playstation wand and quite possibly a new DS system or Nintendo Wii will be the instruments used to entice casual deserters back to the fold.

Has the industry learned from their first wave of the casual market? Only time will time if they will actually convert them to hardcore or if they will remain forever studying the strange and fickle beast. One thing I would like them to take into account is this, what drives an industry is innovation, my hat goes off to the Wii in terms of what it has done for gaming, and it really has changed the gaming landscape. What I hate is the industry has now turned that innovation into a poor formula and is copy and pasting things, rushing them out to make a buck, and not really sitting down and doing something extraordinary with it. In turn boring who they have initially enticed with mediocre entertainment and now they are reaping their just rewards. Let’s see what next year brings as that is the year when “innovation” should be in full swing again, not a bad time to be a gamer.

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Hey guys I'm back again with more dancehall dances as videogame titles. Nice to see so many people enjoyed the last 5, so now I present you with my Final 5 set of games, so let's get on with the festivities shall we?

Game title – Signal the plane – genre – Motion game

The best motion game ever raves magazine “Sick BAD” the name says it all! For Signal the plane, because that’s what you do. You play as an air traffic controller using your wii remote to signal planes to land and take off to get as many passengers to or from their destination. Signal the plane, fun for everyone! American visas not included.

Game Title – Gangsta rock – main character Timeless - genre – action adventure/open world

Timeless is a hustler trying to make his way in the world and do what needs to be done to get up out of the slum and be a real “gangsta” in Jamrock. Join him on his Journey as you tour the mean streets of Kingston going from nothing to something. Gangsta rock features an open world system, where you are free to tackle missions in any order you see fit. Burn and sell illegal dvds, run robot taxis, or dee jay about crap that isn’t true to who you are! Do it all in Gangsta rock…become a Legend!

Game Title – Tek Way uself – main character Ravers Clavers – genre – action

Ravers Clavers is a mystic who has lost his body, evil spirits have stolen it to use as a vessel for the return of their evil master Badmind! Ravers is not powerless though as with this out of body experience he has gained abilities, in particular a shape shifting gun called “Vegas” and he wants his body back! Take control of Ravers in the action packed game and pull off crazy gun combos as you can shape shift your gun Vegas into different forms, machine gun, shotgun, sniper rifle, cannon as you mow your way through demons to get back what was rightfully yours! TEK WEH YUSELF!

Game title – Hoola Hoop – main character Diamond – genre – action

Diamond is a bounty hunter who works for one thing MONEY-O! Hired to do a job Diamond is double crossed and she wants to know why. Armed with her magical Hoola Hoop given to her by the great mage Unicorn (who put the hoola hoop inna di girl dem arms) she sets out on her course to settle the score! Pull off crazy melee attacks with your Hoola Hoop as it has the ability to attack with different elemental abilities! Also use Diamonds signature screwface attack to wipe enemies off the screen with one blow! Hoola Hoop is the new action game that will set the standard on action for your MONEY-O!

Game Title – Gully Creepa –main character Ice - genre – shooter

Gully Creepas is an elite squad that has been charged with a rescue mission, you play sergeant Ice and endeavour on a mission that will test the mettle of your worth. Your squad was sent in on a suicide mission and are attacked by a race known as the “wackies” and wiped out, save except for you. Take revenge for your squad and complete the mission and show these wackies what it means to mess with a Gully Creepa! All new environmental damage effects blow up objects to help in battle, or bust your special Gully Creepa move to slow down time and give you the tactical advantage in battle. Online multiplayer also available.

And that is about it I'd say, thanks for taking the time to partake in my idleness and I hope you enjoyed this Satirical romp through our dancehall dances, I know there are tons more dances out there and tons more possibilities. Who knows if you guys like it this much I may make this an ongoing article. Who knows, but for now this is it...so I hope that whenever you hear about or see a dance you'll now think about it's possibilities as a game title. lol. later guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk6Xl73ER-M

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Now bear with me for just a second as I had this idle thought, it came to me the other day when I noticed the frequency in which all these dances are coming out, sorta reminded me of the videogame industry churning out game after game with consumers barely being able to catch up and get to play everything. Just how it seems to be with dances as well, once you get one down 5 more pop up that you had no idea existed and you get left behind doing something that is registered as stale. So I went down a list of danehall dance moves that I felt were influential to the whole dancing scene and that fit quite nicely into a gaming scenario if mixed with the right kind of idle mind. So without further adieu here we go with the first 5 games:

Game Title – Dutty Wine – main character “Dutty” genre action adventure.

Dutty lives in a city called “Passa Passa” where life is good, until one day a new company called MatterHorn comes in and introduces an intoxicating wine that drives the citizens of Passa Passa crazy. The wine is apart of an evil scheme by Matterhorn to control the citizens. Now it’s up to Dutty to get to the bottom of it and stop the power hungry company from destroying society. Dutty has a wide array of attacks her main attack is her hair whip which she can use to climb, grapple, slam and attack rapidly. Get ready for action, get ready for head spinning, get ready for DUTTY WINE!

Game title – Transport –genre racing

Welcome to the racing world of Transport! Racing at its best and craziest. New to the racing genre Transport gives you the largest selection of crazy drivers to be, and their aim…to get to their destination ontime based on their specific roles. Taxis have super agility and can bob and weave through traffic easily or pick a police car who can burn through stop lights with their siren ability, or female drivers who can bump traffic out of the way, or the favourites Gas station at Matildas corner drivers who have the nitrous ability! The excitement never stops with TRANSPORT!

Game Title – Let mi loose – Strategy

Let mi loose is a strategy game where you play a prisoner in General Penitentiary whose trying to get out! Utilize many different traits and level up your character accordingly to better your chances of getting out. Increase your bribe ability to make better friends with the guards…or how about your merchant ability, which allows you to sell, weed and cigarettes to boost your acceptance level. Get ratings and get out in this all new game LET MI LOOSE!

Game Title – Power Cut – Fighting

The arcade smash Power cut is coming home to a console near you! In a world of fighting these fighters are ranked the best! Power cut is one of the best weapon based fighter out there with realistic limb removing physics, based in some of Jamaica’s top locals it’s fighting like you’ve never seen before! Hack and Slash rivals in locations like Papine, Half Way Tree, Stony Hill and more! Get to the top and face the boss…”BOBBY!”

Game Tiltle – Shelly Belly – main character Shelly – genre – Puzzle game

Move over Tetris! Here comes the puzzle game to rule your life! Shelly Belly! In Shelly Belly you help guide the random forms of food to Shelly’s awaiting stomach but it won’t be simple as Shelly only eats certain foods with certain ingredients for instance the Chicken has to be Jerked with the right amount of pimento. For if the foods aren’t seasoned correctly then…Shelly brings it back up and your food stack gets higher. Avoid your stack getting too high as it will be game over if there is no room to manuver the food to be seasoned. SHELLY BELLY puzzle games just got tasty!

This is where I'll leave it off join me next time as I go down the remaining 5 and remember this is all in fun don't take it too serious, remember it's just dancing...and games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKZG1EsAxVk

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