well I actually prefer 80-40-80

80 years old, fever of 40 C, and 80 million on the bank account

I consider my self a "hardcore gamer" in the sense that I prefer games where there's actually some progress to made. No matter whether it's a story that slowly unravels, a character that develops or just new levels which are a little different/more difficult than the previous one. I don't switch on my PS3 every day - not even every week - but still, virtual dart or bowling is not for me.

The reason why people like me have started to look into so called "casual" games is that it's actually these titles that add new gameplay and original ideas nowadays. Whatever game magazine you look at today, the headlines are always occupied by the next incarnation of yet-another-fps (now with even better graphics and more realistic blood, yadda yadda).

There used to be a time (remember the Amiga) where the most anticipated and big games were the ones that had some sort of original idea to them. But these days the game industry is taking the same path as hollywood or the music industry. No one is willing to invest money into something new because everyone's afraid that it might fail. As a consequence new ideas are only developed in the small game/"casual" marked where the financial risk is obviously limited.

Don't get me wrong, I do like great graphics etc. and I'd be willing to shell out 50 bucks for a game anytime. But now that I'm through with LBP I'm really having difficulties to find anything else that appeals to me. So if Sony and friends want to keep the hardcore game market alive, maybe it's time to start risking something again when it comes to investing in new ideas.