I'm surprised no one has brought http://au.games.ign.com/articles/944/944826p1.html up yet.
See, like most gaming articles, they had some really good points, like the overuse of the Unreal 3 engine, sequelitis and even to a certain extend the overuse of Mario and Sonic. But they had to ruin it with the claim that casual gaming is destroying gaming.
Yes, I agree that game developers should stop making these knock offs in order to cash in on the success of "Brain Age" and "Wii Fit". But to claim that these will "kill" gaming sooner or later is being idiotic.
This has ALWAYS happened, since the beginning of gaming. When Super Mario Bros. exploded in the scene every game developer tried to create their own take on the franchise. When Street Fighter II made arcades fun again everyone was rushing out to make a 2D fighter, which created two of Capcom's rivals; Mortal Kombat and SNK's fighting series. When Sonic the Hedgehog got huge everyone was trying to create a cool furry mascot. When Mario 64 re-invented the platformer everyone followed suit. Did ANY of these kill gaming? Of course not. Why? Because people are smart enough to differentiate between a quality product and a knock off product.
True, that doesn't mean there aren't any dumb consumers out there that buy these games by the droves. But if you look at the official sales data the ones constantly selling are those that are fun, compelling and polished. People want to get their money's worth and they will go towards the best products.
Finally, casual gaming is STILL a niche part of the fanbase. Yes, there are lots of people buying these games but it will take YEARS before the "casual" domination happens, if it happens at all. If you look at the sales data you will see that both casual AND core games are selling well. One has yet to dethrone the over, so why are people crying over spilt milk that is still in the carton?
Funny enough, this list mentions things that were truly killing gaming, yet they decide to give credit to one that might not destroy gaming.
I am honestly wondering if these writers are truly writing from their hearts or are being spineless cowards and writing towards the fanbase who are the ones complaining about casual gaming.