Casual Connect - Resources for the game industry

NYC Minna Mingle!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Minna Mingle in NYC
13 May 2008

Casual Connect Seattle
23 - 25 July 2008

Casual Connect Kyiv
22 - 24 October 2008

Casual Connect Europe in Hamburg
Winter 2009

Content Proposals for Seattle 2008
are due May 2nd!

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CASUAL GAMES DEFINED

Developed for the general public and families, casual games are non-violent video games that are fun and easy to learn and play. Available on PC and Macintosh computers, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, Wii and even mobile phones. Popular classic casual games include Mahjong, Bejeweled, Tetris and Solitaire recent hits include Mystery Case Files, Diner Dash and Wii Sports.

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RESEARCH

Casual Games Market Report 2007 Overview and primer for those new to the industry and for vetrans to use as educational material for employees, partners and investors.

ARTICLES

Game Design is Like Cooking
Andy Megowan discusses a development process that lets the games themselves be the driver of story and themes.

The Realities of Running an Independent Game Studio
First hand accounts from Gamelab, Unknown Worlds and Sprout Games on running, shipping and selling.

The Long Tail
Learning to sell less of more. Tony Leamer wonders if there isn't something better than merchandizing with the Top 10.

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LECTURES

Putting The Brand into Interactive
ppt & audio (134 MB) Brand experience is more than integrating a logo and a little (tm) symbol.

Casual Characters
ppt & audio (77 MB) Connect the consumer to your game with compelling character development.

Brainstorming
ppt & audio (41 MB) Ever wonder how your "brilliance" and "guidance" maybe stifling your team's creativity?

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RECENT FEATURES & NEWS

PlayPhone Deals With Sony BMG

Jack Black, Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake might be on your cellphone thanks to a deal between Playphone and Sony BMG.

Flowplay Launches New Game Portal

Seattle based company Flowplay has announced to the Casual Game Association that the company’s online destination site, ourworld.com, is now live and open to the public.

NPD Numbers for PC Games: March 23 - March 29

EA brings out it much anticipated expansion pack for Command and Conquer 3 and steals the top spot this week.

Crime Fighting in a Casual Game

Fighting crime now goes casual with Games2Gaze's newest game, CrimeCity.

PopCap Hires Rotholtz as the New VP of Marketing

PopCap Games has announced that as of today, Ben Rotholtz will hold the newly-created position of vice president of marketing.

NPD Numbers for PC Games: March 16 - March 22

Two big casual games hit the top ten this week: Cake Mania and Diner Dash 2.

Outspark Brings Community Tools to Developers

Outspark, an online community gaming company, has announced that they will be offering casual game developers a platform to bring their content to Outspark's community.

Euro Payments Available at XIHA Games

Europeans have more choice in purchasing their casual games as XIHA Games announces that it will adds bank transfers to their payment options.

QQ Games Grows in the Chinese Casual Space

Looking at how well the industry is doing in South Korea, we're seeing that China is starting to explode in the casual space.

3D iPhone Gaming Through Unity Technologies

Game development tools for the iPhone are in demand and Unity Technologies has announced that their 3D game development tool is now compatible with Apple's newest handheld.

Casual Fun By Managing Your Own Hotel

Realore Studios has announced the release of its newest game, which is about hotel management and becoming a family hero.

Come On Down, You're the Next Contestant On...

Ludia, a Montreal interactive entertainment company, announced the release of the The Price is Right.

Deal or No Deal Coming to Your Mobile Phone

Endemol USA, the makers of hit game shows Big Brother, Fear Factor, and Who wants to be a Millionaire, has now announced a deal with I-play to bring Deal or no Deal to the US mobile market.

NPD Numbers for PC Games: March 9 - March 15

Sims, MMORPGs and Call of Duty grab top spots this past week.

New Demo Released For Dangerous High School Girls

Mousechief announced the release of a new demo for their newest game, Dangerous High School Girls.

Bella Sora Picks Up Emmy Winning Art Director Phil Trumbo

The man behind the art direction for the games Spiderman 2, The Sims 2 and Lego Star Wars series has joined Hidden City Games as their new Art Director for Interactive Entertainment.

Russian Mobile Market Gets Superscape Games

Alawar NewEdge Mobile and Superscape agree to a distribution and collaboration deal for 3D mobile games into the Russian gaming market.

User Generated Games Come to The Mobile Phone

Playyoo, a mobile casual community site, has introduced itself to the public with the ability for gamers to create their own games for their mobile device.

Women Are Playing Casual Games

Forbes has just released an article that discusses the casual game industry and how it differs from other parts of the video game industry.

NPD Numbers for PC Games: March 2 - March 8

Casual games take a back seat as the new Sims 2 expansion pack takes top spot.

NPD Numbers for PC Games in February 2008

The only casual game on the list, Diner Dash, drops to number 11 in the top 20 list.

PopCap Deals With Southeast Asian Mobile Carrier

After news of a joint partnership with Nokia to put games onto their SNAP mobile platform last month, Popcap Games has now announced a partnership with Acme Games.

Meez Anounces API for Casual Games

Meez, an online social entertainment network that fuses avatars, casual gaming and a virtual economy, has announced the launch of its distributed gaming service and related API platform for game developers.

Newest Battlefield Goes Free With Micro-transactions

With game piracy hurting the PC gaming business, Electronic Arts has announced a shift in payment models with the newest Battlefield series.

NPD Numbers for PC Games: February 24 - March 1

Big Fish Games grabs the tenth spot with their latest Mystery Case Files game.

PlayFirst Awards $30,000 to Six Independent Game Companies

Playfirst has announced it has given $30,000 to six different game companies through its 2007 Developer Dash funding program.

PopCap Releases Casual Hits Onto Playstation 2

PopCap Games has announced they are releasing two of their biggest selling games onto the Playstation 2.

PlayFirst releases Ice Cream Craze

Playfirst has announced the release of Ice Cream Craze, a time management game that allows the player to become the owner of their own ice cream parlor.

Games Based on Movies Growing Once Again

On the news that THQ lost the pitch for “Toy Story 3” to an in-house pitch by Disney Interactive Studios, The Wall Street Journal has released an article about the issues that are encountered by video games based on movies.

Nexon Releases Beta for Free MMORPG

The US division of Nexon has released their open beta for their free MMORPG, Mabinogi.

Gamestop Gives Casual Games a Go

Next Generation reports that Gamestop has decided to be more active in the casual game business after larger sales in casual games for the Nintendo DS and Wii.

News Around the World with Skillpod Media

South African company Skillpod Media has announced a large amount of online casual game announcements that cross over companies all over the world.

I-play Releases Hidden Object Game on Mobile Analyst Happy Over Ubisoft's Casual Game Sales

With the increase of game sales for the Nintendo DS and the game Assassin's Creed this past year, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter believes Ubisoft will be making an estimated $1.5 billion this fiscal year.

TV Game Shows Coming Online

Bob Saget and Howie Mandel may be coming to a computer screen near you with the US division of Endemol creating a casual game division for the web.

Top Selling PC Games for Febuary 17 - 23

Casual game publisher Encore makes the top 10 with first person shooters, The Sims and World of Warcraft grabbing the rest of the slots.

I-play Releases Hidden Object Game on Mobile

Mobile publisher I-play, owned by parent company Oberon Media, presents Paparazzi Snapshot!, one of it’s latest mobile offerings.

Best Mobile Game Goes Too “Best Mobile Game” Goes Too…

At the 13th Annual Global Mobile Awards ceremony, at the Global Mobile Congress in Barcelona, the award for “Best Mobile Game” went to both Glu Mobile’s “My Hangman” and Cellufun’s “Call of the Pharaoh”.

PlayJam Reacquired by Founder

One of the largest iTV games channel in the world, PlayJam, has been reacquired by its founder's company General Entertainment & Technology Corporation.

Jagex Creates Subscription Based Gaming Site

After the success of RuneScape, British developer Jagex has decided to enter the casual space with their new website, FunOrb.com.

NPD Numbers for PC Games in January 2008

Diner Dash hits the sixth spot on the top PC games in January.

NPD Numbers for PC Games: February 10 - 16

Bejeweled 2 grabs the number 10 spot for PC game sales.

Apaja Grows Into Latvia and Hungary

Finnish gaming site playray.com has now opened its services to Latvia and Hungary according to the sites owner, Apaja Online Entertainment.

Seattle PC Gaming Company Interested in Casual

Supreme Commander and Dungeon Siege game developer Gas Powered Games has announced that it will start to target casual game players at a recent lunch discussion at GDC.

PopCap and Nokia Join for Multiplayer Fun

Nokia and Popcap have announced an agreement that will allow PopCap games onto Nokia's SNAP mobile platform.

Arkadium: 1,000 Games by 2010

When you have a game library of over 200 games, multiple company clients and a best selling toy, what would be your next big goal?

NPD Numbers for Console Games in January 2008

Call for Duty 4 tops the list with guitar controllers scoring big.

RealNetworks Acquires Trymedia for $4 million

Seattle based company RealNetworks has announced the acquisition of Trymedia, a casual game syndicator owned by Macrovision.

One-third of Casual Gamers Play Mobile Games

I-play, a mobile entertainment company, revealed that 38 percent of casual gamers play mobile phone games and 66 percent play games on a daily basis.

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