There is a great article over at MSNBC about casual games and the realization it is a growing market. Many big companies have gotten into the casual game market by creating divisions inside their company for casual games. The developers that have been in the industry feel it takes a unique programmer to program casual games and not just anyone can jump in and do it.

Casual games are much different to program than “hardcore” games. The release cycles for casual games are small around the 6 month time frame. A release cycle for hardcore games is more in the two year time frame. It can be hard for developers to adjust to this way of programming.

“The economy gives you a certain set of constraints that are required to think of games as bite-sized entertainment,” says Daniel Bernstein, founder of Sandlot Games. “The creation of a game for the casual market is very different than creating a game for the hardcore market.”

So it would seem that it takes a special someone to program casual games. Not anyone can just jump in and do it. At least that is what the developers already in the casual market think. They are probably right.

Thanks MSNBC