Wait, there's no blood?

Casual games. Love 'em or hate 'em, they are everywhere now. Gamers far and wide bemoan their rise as the end of gaming as we know it. An easy target for this hate would be the Nintendo Wii and its endless supply of 'non-game' compilations, as the message boards have labeled them. I'm not going to address those grievences here - my question is this: Is it so wrong to enjoy a casual game now and again, between all the shooting, fighting, and racing games?

I think not.

Cute and non-threatening Scene It! for Xbox 360

For Christmas I got Scene It! Box Office Smash for Xbox 360. My sister wanted to buy it after playing the demo. When she found out it came with four big button controllers she wanted it even more (I assume the simple nature of the controller appealed to her). We played a few matches together and it was fun, but I knew with a full group it would be even better. I wanted to put Scene It! in front of some hardcore gamer friends of mine and see what they thought.

Right after Christmas, I took Scene It! over to my friend's house where about six people, including myself, regularly play sports/fighting/FPS games against each other. When they spotted Scene It! and the giant button controllers, all they could do was laugh. They didn't take me seriously when I suggested we play it first. Everyone laughed at the controllers and questioned my sanity, all the way through selecting avatars and beginning the first set of questions.

Two hours and several highly competitive rounds later, my friends were geniuenly shocked they had that much fun with a simple trivia game using a giant, goofy controller trying to be the first one to buzz in. Lots of laughs and taunting took place that night and no one ever fired a gun or threw a fireball. At the end of the night, my friends were actually glad I had made them play Scene It!, as it really changed the mood and was a big change from just playing fighting and shooting games.

My most played game of '08 - Rock Band 2

During Christmas week, I took the opportunity to pick up the Guitar Hero 3 Les Paul for $20 at now liquidated Circuit City to fill out my equipment needs in Rock Band 2. I only owned the Rock Band set of instruments, which meant one mic, one guitar and a set of drums. Unless someone brought their own guitar, we'd always have to take turns which often left someone getting bored before the rest of the group. I decided to reintroduce my friends to Rock Band and play with a full band. To quote Borat,"Great success!".

With no one left out, we ended up playing for around three hours, much longer than previous times when someone had to sit-out. Getting everyone in on the action at the same time proved to make it much more enjoyable for all of us. A couple friends that absolutely suck at guitar and drums were assigned singing duties, which led to many animal noises being used to activate overdrive. It's safe to say a good time was had by all.

When you're able to get all of your friends involved and playing at the same time, casual games can quickly earn a spot in the rotation. I've found that my hardcore gamer friends, who can be highly skeptical of anything cute and colorful with no blood or guns, discover that they can have fun playing an E-rated game and still hold onto their masculinity.