INTERVIEW: Easy as MTV | Casual games news | CasualGaming.biz. PopCap, Microsoft, Reps Join IGDA Casual Committee. Officials from the International Game Developers Association have announced the appointment of new members to its Casual Games Special Interest Group committee, including representatives from Microsoft Casual, PopCap and Sandlot. The new members include Microsoft Casual business manager Cherie Lutz, Sandlot marketing VP Jared Nieuwenhuis, former PopCap general manager Dave Rohrl and current PopCap director Rex Sikora.
The IGDA says the casual group "aims to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and ideas among developers to better create and market casual games," and "promote initiatives on behalf of developers that encourage the growth of the entire casual games space. " Said IGDA Casual Games SIG chairperson Jason Akel, "We're very pleased to have such seasoned professionals join the Steering Committee to help lead these important initiatives. CC - Games > The Space Game. Jay is Games - Flash and Casual Game reviews, walkthroughs, room. Google unveils its game plan | Casual games | News by Casualgami. King.com independently certified as a ‘skill site’ | Casual game.
Kathy Vrabeck on casual’s future | Casual games news | CasualGam. News - casualgaming.biz. Study Finds Casual Games Still Beating YouTube, MySpace. According to a new report by Parks Associates, gaming is still champion of online activities, with 34 percent of adult users playing games weekly compared to 29 percent using sites like YouTube and 19 percent using social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.
The study found 79 percent growth in online gamers over last year, compared with 46 percent growth in social networking, though video streaming site use was up the highest at 123 percent, which Parks says "could pose a significant challenge to the gaming industry in capturing the online leisure time of Internet users. " Parks analyst James Kuai warns that the casual gaming industry "cannot rest on its laurels. In order to counter the growing competition from other online activities, the industry needs to continue to grow its fan base and find ways to better monetize its existing audience.
" He added, though, that "gaming also has business advantages. Free games, downloads, reviews, ratings, casual games blog - log.