big-fish-games posts

For some reason, I've been avoiding the so-called "Hidden Object" games until now. Perhaps it was out of some disbelief in the mechanic itself -- "So, all you do is look for a particular item? That's a game?" Why not just make more Where's Waldo books instead? Isn't this just a kiddie game?

However, Big Fish Games recently made Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst available for $0.99, and the bargain-game-hunter-'cause-I'm-a-broke-ass-father sprang to life within me and nabbed it just from sheer curiosity. And now I get it; three hours of gameplay straight, and I'm hooked on the Hidden Object genre. Why? Read on to find out!

Anyone who thinks that casual gaming is a small time business never told publisher Big Fish Games. The Seattle based casual games publisher announced today that it has secured an $83.3 million financing deal. The money came from several venture capital firms.

Big Fish Games plans to use their new found wealth to "to accelerate its global expansion." Founded in 2002, the company works with over 500 developers and consumers download 1 million of their titles per day, according to their press release. The company also has separate web sites in France and Spain.

As far back as gamers can remember, each game has belonged to a specific genre, and gamers who enjoy certain genres are subsequently categorized into types of players. Traditionally, the two categories have been core, or "hardcore," and casual.

According to Big Fish Games, the world's largest distributor of casual games, that sort of categorization is narrow-minded and inaccurate. Big Fish founder and chief strategy officer Paul Thelen has revealed new researching demonstrating that, due to the variety of demographics, game genres, and platforms available in the U.S., 14 distinct gamer categories exist.

The study involved surveying 3,000 individual U.S.-based gamers. Those results were matched against different demo- and psychographics, as well as an assortment of game mechanics. The resulting 14 gamer classifications were spread across 39 different genres, which certainly does call into question the time-honored "core" and "casual" archetypes.

To read more about the study and its results, surf over to the source link.