Mobile Entertainment

CASUAL CONNECT: 'Innovate, don't iterate' says Microsoft casual boss

Michael French in Amsterdam Feb 7 2008, 12:00pm

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Designers of casual games must stop copying each other and look to new ideas, says Chris Early.

Chris Early, the general manager of Microsoft Casual Games, this morning warned the casual games industry - mobile, console and PC alike - of indulging in too much imitation of well-worn concepts and challenged its designers to start thinking about how the field can introduce new concepts.

In his keynote at Casual Connect Europe West, Early gave attendees a tour of current trends in the games industry, concluding: "The one thing you shouldn't do is iterate. Don't copy. Go a step further than iterating. Think about how we as an industry will take the things from the real world and use them to change our industry."

Early singled out six trends or games that were proof of ways both casual games, and the wider games industry, can push itself to come up with new concepts or ways of delivering concepts that can engage players:

I) Virtual pet Webkinz was his first example. The toy line features animal plushes sold in toy stores - each comes with a code used in an online Webkinz world which gives young players virtual pets and credits to look after them. The key to its success was the way it created a casual game with a physical real world crossover, and gave value to the meta game in the form of an actual possession kids own.

II) Facebook and Myspace, meanwhile had "plenty going on that which is recognisable as a game, and others barely recognisable". Users compare details with friends, the way players compare stats in online games - but the likes of Scrabulous and Vampires have introduced asynchronous play. "Players don't have to be be on at the same time but can still play together," said Early. The pyramid structure of the latter - which asks people to build a vampire army by 'biting' people on their friends list - also introduces a pyramid structure and persistent data, and leaderboards.

III) Third example Puzzle Quest, Early said was a great example of something which takes a well-worn idea - in this instance the 'match 3' mechanic seen in the likes of Bejewelled - "and wraps things around it". The RPG structure means that playing the puzzle game "has value, because it moves along the story or the player's character evolves". This "moves the meta game to a value system" he said, pointing out that playing a minigame was a 'miniwin' every time for the player as it offers progression.

IV) Meanwhile Kart Racer, said Early, subverts the MMO structure. "When you think of MMOs they are built for people who have lots of time and money. But people with good jobs and busy family lives, and money to spend, can't lose 40 hours a week playing an MMO - so those online games have alienated those with the most money to spend." Kart Rider, which lets players enter a virtual world of kart racing, changes this model, said Early and "is one of the first not to [do what typical MMOs do]" by breaking the process down by providing shorter sessions and making money through microtransactions.