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Epic: 'We're aiming for casual gamers'

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Developer plots Gears growth with mainstream-friendly approach

With just weeks until the highly anticipated release of Gears of War 2, Epic design director Clifford Bleszkinski has told MCV that the developer is targeting the casual gamer.
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casualgaming.biz

[via mcvuk.com]
SUP3R - contributor
Published: 440 days 20 hours ago | News | Xbox 360 | Industry News
 
 

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ape007 - 440 days 21 hours ago
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1 -
games like gears,gta 4,cod 4,lbp,r,ms and are both casual and hardcore

hardcore:oh am gonna finish this game on insane,kill all enemies,and enjoy every damn second,am gonna beat it on vertran and explore each inch of the game

casual:oh am gonna try to shoot you in the head,oh am in danger now,what should I do,oh enough,I've had enough with this one oh my head"leaves the game 1 mounth",oh these soldiers are cool
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Mr Bun - 440 days 19 hours ago
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1.1 - I think Gears 2 is going to be great but...
Exactly which part of "curb stomping" your enemy or using a gun with a chainsaw on the end is "casual"?
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1.2 sumfood4u | 440 days 18 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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mikeslemonade - 440 days 17 hours ago
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1.3 -
Gears 2 caters to the hardcore. It won't be a system seller for the hardcore or the casual. It caters to the person who already owns the 360.
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arika - 440 days 17 hours ago
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1.4 -
GeOW 2 aimed for casual?!! scratches head.... duh... ummmhhh ok... then laughs.. hahahaha
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arika - 440 days 16 hours ago
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1.5 - lets see
well let me see a game with lots of blood, chainsaw, cutting aliens to half, lots of guns and a whole lot of killing is supposed to be casual now or are they just saying it because they are scared for some unknown reason cough.. uhm..resistance 2... uhmm...ehem..
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s8anicslayer - 440 days 15 hours ago
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1.6 -
whatever the case,this is the only 360 game that i'm really excited about and can't wait to play.november 7th can't come soon enough.let me rephrase the only 360 exclusive game i'm really excited about.
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LastDance - 440 days 11 hours ago
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1.7 -
A game doesnt have to be like Wii Sports to be casual. Halo 3 is hardcore aswell as casual, same as GTA 4.

Doesnt mean a thing.
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Silogon - 440 days 21 hours ago
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2 -
Hey, what better way than through EA? rings true to me.
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morganfell - 440 days 20 hours ago
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3 -
Ha ha ha, look how desperate I am that I am now making Gears of Wii.
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3.1 La Chance | 440 days 20 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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nieto2 - 440 days 19 hours ago
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3.2 -
it appears that Le Chance is forgetting about Resistance 2. the only FPS that has 60p online death match, 8p online co-op campaign and a separate story for the 1p player campaign within only one game and only on one disk and with beautiful graphics.

Le Chance if you're going to combat fanboys don't try to do it with fanboy comments because what would be the point then? a fanboy calling fanboy to another fanboy?
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lowcarb - 440 days 18 hours ago
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3.3 - nieto2
If you don't quit talking up that generic azz game I'm going to be sick. I don't care how many players it has or number of discs it's on because RFOM2 looks pretty average and not even in the same league as GEars2. You go ahead and enjoy your huge game while we enjoy our huge game with better attention on overall gameplay. RFOM2 will be good for PS3 owners but I'm sorry but it's just getting way to overrated. I could see if it were on a Halo level but not even close.
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Diamondwolf - 440 days 18 hours ago
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3.4 - @La Chance
Djomblade1 said it best, I know I don't let sales dictate how much I enjoy a game, only fanboys do.......PS: nieto, that was a fanboy comment too
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morganfell - 440 days 18 hours ago
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3.5 -
Nieto,

One of the great things about RFOM2 is that the game knows what it is. The lead designer isn't in the fits of an anxiety attack because he has been one-upped every step of the way by another game the way Clifford and Gears have been given the royal smack down by Ted Price and RFOM2.

"We're hardcore!" "We're casual!" (How does badass fit in with casual?) It sounds more like "We're in the middle of an identity crisis!"

RFOM2 isn't just bigger, it's bigger and better. Remember that ridiculous tagline Gears 2 had? The "Bigger" part was the lead word and now that entire moniker has gone right out the window as 60 player MP, 8 player co-op and a 300ft tall Leviathan just took the "Bigger" right out of Clifford's hands and beat him to death with it.

Just look who is in such a fit of panic they have had to reduce themselves to attacking the other developer's game. Then look at which developer knows their product is so superior, the game a much more evolved and mind blowing experience that they are the composed and gracious one.
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Eddie20101 - 440 days 18 hours ago
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3.6 -
la chance and locarb, you are idiots. niether of you have played Resistance 2, so how would you know anything about it's gameplay. most of the people that have played it (mostly media) say in there previews it looks amazing and plays very well.
I have played Gears Of War and can say it is slightly overrated and for various reason seems to have not fallen under the same scrutiny as most games of its type. The frame rate was not very good(not unplayable but it had frame rate problems), the cut scenes were jumpy, the run and cover gameplay was a little sloppy. The only reason it was so popular and was over scored was not because it had amazing game play (it did not) it was because it was a game that finally looked next gen on the Xbox 360. I did enyoy the game, but in my oppinion it was not a AAA title. The score I would havwe given the game is 8.5 .
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pumpkinpunker - 439 days 20 hours ago
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3.7 - morganfell is the ultimate envious sony troll
You should have never bought a PS3, buddy. Can't help you there.

Sorry that Resistance 2 looks like a generic Halo wanna-be and will probably get reviews in the 70's. I watched the most recent trailer and got flashbacks of Haze.

Must suck to pay twice as much for half as good.

In fact, that should be the new PS3 motto, "Pay twice as much, play half as good...beyond."
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badz149 - 440 days 20 hours ago
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4 - so...
are we expecting the likes of Gears of Cart or something like Unreal Tennis sometime in the future?
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morganfell - 440 days 20 hours ago
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4.1 -
No we are looking at Gear Sports. You rotate yours hips to toss grenades.
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juuken - 440 days 18 hours ago
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4.2 - morgan
*laughs and falls off her chair*
That was funny, seriously it was.
*wipes tears from eyes*
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badz149 - 440 days 13 hours ago
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4.3 - lol morgan
good 1 over there and I nearly fall off my chair! +bubbles
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pumpkinpunker - 439 days 20 hours ago
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4.4 - there there, morganfell.
Maybe if you save up enough nickels from your paper route then you can buy a real gaming system until then you can always pretend that Resistance 2 isn't going to flop. Ever thought of getting a second job as a Wal-Mart greeter?

I called flop on Haze before it came out and I'm calling flop on Resistance 2. We've just seen too much stuff that looks generic and that Halo has already done better. Sony is trying so hard to release a Halo-killer but they just don't realize they're destined to fail over and over again if they insist on imitating.
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King Me - 440 days 20 hours ago
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5 - yeah.....
I can TOTALLY see my aunt dropping wiisports to chainsaw locusts :|
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Djomblade1 - 440 days 19 hours ago
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6 - @Lachance
Real gamers dont care about sales.

Also, casual gaming is what is ruining the market today for original gamers.
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cheapndirty - 440 days 19 hours ago
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7 - All riight!
Now I can look forward to Gears of Puzzle Quest and Unreal Crossword puzzles.
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NMC2007 - 440 days 19 hours ago
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8 - *smacks forehead*
*and walks away*
I wonder how this gen would be as far as games are concerned, if the Wii never got as popular as it did.
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Fishy Fingers - 440 days 19 hours ago
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9 -
Ha, I think it's more that Epic realise that there are a lot of new demographics to exploit financially and they want their games to appeal to more of them, not through dropping the gore and guns for bubbles and pretty colours, simply by making it more accessible.

It's hard to believe when your a "gamer" but to a lot of people playing something as "hardcore" as Gears can be very intimidating.
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kingme71 - 440 days 19 hours ago
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10 -
Not sure what Epic is thinking. A casual game does not equal a hardcore game that is easy. A casual game is a different beast altogher. Gears is the epitome of a hardcore game and has very little appeal to those not into that scene even if you dumb down the enemies and set it to wussy level.

Dance with who brung ya and for Epic that is hardcore shooters.

Besides, didn't CliffyB recently make statements along the lines of Epic is hardcore and that's what they do. Something about rainbows and unicorns are not going to be coming out of his arse. I may have a word or two wrong there ;)
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FantasyStar - 440 days 19 hours ago
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11 - Casual =/= Hardcore
It's that simple. Epic starts making casual games, I look somewhere else. You know? Seriously, **** the Wii. It's bastardizing our gaming ways.
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FURY__UNLEASHED - 440 days 16 hours ago
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11.1 -
Cliff BleSHITski is such a tool
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FURY__UNLEASHED - 440 days 16 hours ago
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11.2 -
With just weeks until the highly anticipated..."

Just weeks away?

The game doesn't come out for over a month!
Over 5 weeks away!

Next are they gonna say "Just months away from FFXII" even though it's years away?
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Thrusting Duffman - 440 days 19 hours ago
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12 -
My wife is a casual gamer but I doubt she will want to play this with me :(
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Delive - 440 days 19 hours ago
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13 - Here comes a T for Teen rating.
I don't see how Gears can be Casual.
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FanBoyismShouldDie - 440 days 11 hours ago
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13.1 -
well i remember at e3 cliff said that they had options to turn off swearing and blood, thus making the game very unenjoyable and casual...sort of..., i guess you still shoot locusts and that, unless they turn bullets into bubbles, and blood into rainbows,lol, and to everybody arguing about res2 and geow2 both r gonna be awesome and i feel bad for people who for some unknown reason can't enjoy everything
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The Kingslayer - 440 days 19 hours ago
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14 - People need to stop
What in the world is casual gaming? I mean really? It's one of the best scams for the mainstream gaming public, and you know what I love it.

I love the fact that at it's root casual gaming is just a persons level of interest in any game. I can pick up the most hardcore game and casually play for fun.

Put it like this if I played Pac-man would that be a casual game? I've never been into the game, but my sister is a hardcore Pac-man fan. The category is just an easy way for people to not feel intimadated because they don't have time to play consoles. Most people have such busy lives.

Look where casual gaming lives at, on mobile. Games for people on the go in situations that constantly have them leaving the house. Yet what happens to most of these people after playing these games? They become gamers...Which at some point turns them a bit hardcore. If you are asking a friend what new game they are playing, and you are playing more than 3 games you are not casual. I'm sorry. I've seen the pattern all my life.

Us hardcore gamers should be making money off this thing, because it's easy to understand and communicate. How do you have a seminar for casual games? Its a freaking game convention period...lol
Stop Jedi mind tricking yourselves...

Be a gamer...Not a hater
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Diamondwolf - 440 days 18 hours ago
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14.1 - @King
That's the thing, people have been throwing the term casual and hardcore gaming or hell, even calling themselves "gamers" is now taken with a grain of salt. These "gamers" now a days are all behind the scene stock brokers, investors and public relation professionals.

Casual Gaming = occasionally playing and enjoying the games you play because you enjoy games

Hardcore Gaming = becoming a fanboy and blind loyalist trying to spoon feed your beliefs on how utterly awesome the company you support is awesome and always does awesome stuff no matter how crappy it is, and by being online doing the above, the hardcore gamer believes that review = everything and is worth fighting for.

This is the state of current gen gamers.
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Arius Dion - 440 days 18 hours ago
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14.2 - @King
One of the best posts I've read this week. I couldn't agree more. I've always said that I believe the "casual" vs "core" was bull$hit, and just a lame excuse for developers to prop $hit on a platter and sell it as steak. Pac-man is a great example of the futile attempt to pigeonhole gamers as a whole. As is tetris. I think the categories shouldn't be applied to the gamers that play the games, but HOW the gamers play the games. That is if we are going to apply the terms at all.

As for epic..they are a company that pushes tech. Their games are pretty average in my opinion. I liked Gears 1, I saw it as the new aged contra and the two player co-op was fun. Campaign is short, though the multiplayer gives some good replay value. I did think it was overhyped though (imo) and the controls aren't the greatest. But whats funny is epic used to $hit on the whole "casual gaming thing" and now they are aiming for it? I guess $$ does talk and considering the American economy is tanking I guess we will see some WIi support? lol.

@Diamond- Well said.
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pixelsword - 440 days 18 hours ago
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15 - WHAT?!
I've never felt the need to both vomit and laugh at the same time before.

It's funy if he's just trying to get the Casual money, because they'll get crushed by Gears 1 veterans.

It's sickening if he actually changed the game to suit Casual gamers, because I think gears is a pretty great game.
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likedamaster - 440 days 17 hours ago
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15.1 - Heh...
I remember first playing UT3 online (I played the demo before) and I just got slaughtered! At first I didn't like it so I didn't play it for a while. I decided to give it another go and... forget it, I started getting used to the guns and maps and could not put it down. Super fast-paced, first person, @ 60 fps. I was expecting achievements but was still satisfied with the gameplay. Gears messed every other game up for me, I can't play a game without thinking how well Gears looks and plays. Just like when I played God of War for the ps2. Gears was recently #3 on live for most played game and now fluctuates between 3rd & 4th with GTAIV.
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juuken - 440 days 18 hours ago
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16 -
Uh...chainsawing aliens in half and kicking the hell out of them isn't exactly casual gaming. :/
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16.1 Fux4Bux | 440 days 18 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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juuken - 440 days 17 hours ago
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16.2 -
That's your opinion.
I don't think it is.
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morganfell - 440 days 17 hours ago
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17 -
Look! It's curbstomping the entire family can enjoy! I can't wait to see elderly people exercising those hip replacements with a little boot to skull head mashing fun!

Nonsense. More desperate talk from a desperate designer.
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Cheeky Gamer - 440 days 17 hours ago
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18 - Appealing to the casual gamer?
Wicked. I know what I am getting my 6-year old brother for Christmas.
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cereal_killa - 440 days 17 hours ago
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18.1 -
Great soon we ll be hearing about your little brother chainsawing you in the middle of the night (sarcasm)
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Product - 440 days 1 hour ago
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18.2 -
I remember being 10 when Mortal Kombat came out on the genesis and i loved Sub-Zeros fatality.Is that hardcore?
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19 dirtrider | 440 days 17 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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Power_of_Black - 440 days 15 hours ago
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19.1 - Gear Thread ?
article is about Epic right ? Epic is not Gear you StOo0Pid Fanboy.

Funny to see those Fanboy not seeing that there is more out there than Micro$.
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likedamaster - 440 days 17 hours ago
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20 - I think what he said was taken out of context..
Either its true or N4G put the usual spin on it. I'll bet on the latter
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21 dirtrider | 440 days 17 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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