Rockstar’s Dan Houser doesn’t like casual games

It seems that Rockstar’s own Vice President of Creativity, Dan Houser, has something to say about the recent boom in casual gaming. Before you ask, no, he actually appreciates what the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS are doing – but as far as casual games are concerned, you might as well color him unimpressed. Check out what Dan said in the full article and see what it means to you.

Casual gaming has definitely seen a recent boom this generation, what with the casual-friendly Nintendo DS and the equally-accommodating Wii. And while many a games development firm has cashed in on this recent phenomenon, it seems that some are still not ready to embrace this particular market.

Rockstar’s Vice President of Creativity Dan Houser said in a recent interview that he’s not much of a fan of casual gaming.

In an interview with the New York magazine, Dan Houser praised the Nintendo Wii for doing something different for a change. At the same time, however, he explained that Rockstar has pretty high goals for its games – that is, to compete with movies as a narrative device and be about something that people can actually relate or aspire to. His statement, verbatim:

F*** all this stuff about casual gaming. I think people still want games that are groundbreaking. The Wii is doing something totally different, which is fantastic. We’re hopefully going to prove that there’s also a very big audience for people who want entertainment in another form, who think of games as being a narrative device that can challenge movies. 

Very strong words from Rockstar indeed. Does that mean we won’t be seeing casual games from one of the most innovative and most daring game developing firms of this generation? Only time will tell. Updates as we get them!