Discussion Main / CasualVideogame

Is the Shoot 'Em Up really an example of a casual game genre? Maybe a lot of them are simplistic in terms of controls, but games like Gradius and R-Type are not really played by the general "casual gamer", at least not today.

Are casual video games a good or a bad thing for gaming in general? I mean, on one hand, they can be a gateway drug for new gamers, introducing them to a whole new world of video games. However, games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope are pretty much all that many people play, lowering the standard for games in general. Why make a high-budget sprawling open-world game when you can be perfectly successful with something cheap and easy to make, like Fruit Ninja or Doodle Jump? So, what do you all think? Are casual video games helpful to gaming or the death of the industry?