Wow. If you missed Casual Connect Seattle in July you really blew it. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but the sessions there were really inspiring, both because of what they told us about our industry and
because of what they signaled about our organization. Let me just put it this way: This is a great association to be a part of. One of my favorite sessions at the conference was Jamie Monberg’s “Bringing Brand to Interactive”. It really made me think—and subsequently realize that as an
industry we really need to focus more on innovation—on bringing new ideas and professional execution to our products. To be clear, I believe that the standard genres of casual games are healthy and likely to continue for some time to come, providing our customers a foundational
level of comfort and familiarity— orientation on which they depend. Even so, if we look back in time (as Juan Gril will help you do in this edition of Casual Connect) we can see that many new kinds of games have appeared over the years, gently reshaping the casual games landscape while growing rather than alienating our base of enthusiasts.
With all of that in mind, we are devoting this entire issue to innovation. You’ll find brainstorming help, tips on fostering organizational creativity, and other sources of inspiration. Our goal here isn’t merely to get you to read—we’re also hoping to get you to think about familiar things in new
and interesting ways. While we are not here to tell you what the next cool thing is going to be (that would ruin the surprise), we’re sort of thinking that maybe you will be the one to come up
with it. And if we can help you do that, all the better.
Sincerely,
Jessica Tams
