Casual is such a dirty word.

What makes a 'casual' gaming so repulsive to 'hardcore' gamers? Is it just snobbery?
Why aren't they considered to be 'real' games? Have I used up my quotation mark quota for this post?

It's a pretty common occurrence for core gamers to curl their top lip at the mention of games like Peggle, Bookworm Adventures and more recently, the new core community whipping boy, Wii Fit . So why the disdain? What's the difference between what we call games and casual games?

Simplicity springs to mind. If a game is relatively basic in premise, does that make it casual? Let's look at a non-video game with that set of rules; Ping Pong is pretty simple and can definitely be played casually, but in it's simplicity can be found a deep complexity. There are strategies and intricate skills.

So does this apply to games as well? Can a casual game become hardcore if it is treated in a hardcore way?

With gaming's gradual integration into mainstream society, why are gamers jamming their nose in the air toward the newcomers? And they know it too.

I make no secret of my gaming enthusiasm and it came up recently with a um...regular person. We started talking about what kinds of things I played and after a little while, she coyly told me about Bloomin' Gardens a game that she had become quite obsessed with. But the way she approached it was not unlike a dog that had been kicked a lot, or someone cutting the red wire instead of the blue. There was a genuine fear that I was going to attack/berate her for liking this game.

I was all like "Ahh, have you ever seen Viva Pinata? I fucking love that shit."

I'm definitely not one to judge.

-Brother N-