Players Only Explores Casual Gaming

By Nick Mokey Published April 14, 2008

Players Only Explores Casual Gaming

As NPD’s latest study showing that 72 percent of Americans play video games demonstrates, gaming is increasingly moving out of the basement and into the living room as it becomes a more mainstream form of entertainment. On this week’s installment of Digital Trends’ own video series, Players Only, host Scott Steinberg takes a look at why casual gaming is finally beginning to take off.

Steinberg speculates that a casual gaming revolution may be on the horizon, as evidenced by the mainstream success of games from Guitar Hero to The Sims. Guests from Sony, Red Octane, and Electronic Gaming Monthly also offer up their opinions on the emerging genre, along with some of gaming’s founding fathers.

“Casual games are back with a vengeance,” says Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, who claims the first video games were actually casual, then became more violent and complex in the early 1980’s. The resurgence of such games, he says, represents a return of video games to the mass market.

The video is available for free online as part of the ongoing series, which will debut new episodes every Friday through June 6.

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Gaming

The best single-player Nintendo Switch games

Link and other characters from Tears of the Kingdom.

The Nintendo Switch has continued to dominate the video game world thanks to its portable design, along with its ability to be played on a TV. On top of that, the Switch is home to one of the best game lineups in history, ranging from multiplayer experiences to those that can be played solo, and some in between. While multiplayer and online titles have huge audiences, single-player games have been a staple of video games since the medium began -- leading to some unforgettable experiences.

With that in mind, we've decided to take a look at the best single-player games on Nintendo Switch. This list is made up of games that can be played offline, even if some have a multiplayer component or online functionality. We'll cover lots of different genres -- from RPGs to platformers and puzzle games -- so hopefully there will be a little something for everyone.

Gaming

Naughty Dog confirms its working on a new single-player game in odd apology post

Abby screaming in The Last of Us Part II

The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog has confirmed that it's working on a new single-player game in a fairly odd manner. The news came in the middle of an apologetic post explaining why the studio didn't show its upcoming Last of Us multiplayer project during this week's PlayStation Showcase.

https://twitter.com/Naughty_Dog/status/1662166716892479488

Gaming

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom isn’t the only game to check out this month

may 2023 games not zelda tears of the kingdom holding

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom comes out this Friday, May 12. And after the disappointing launch of Redfall, it might seem like the only game that matters this month. The highly anticipated sequel will have all the open-world magic of Breath of the Wild while further deepening the playful sandbox possibilities with its Fuse and Ultrahand systems. It’ll be the talk of the game industry for a while as soon as it comes out. Still, if you don’t own a Nintendo Switch or aren’t that interested in what Tears of the Kingdom has to offer, you may feel a bit left in the dust.
You shouldn’t, though, as many exciting games are still coming out this month across all platforms. Over the past couple of weeks, quite a few titles, spanning a wide variety of genres and franchises new and old, have confirmed late-May release windows. If you aren’t too busy playing through Tears of the Kingdom, keep your eye on some of these neat-looking games.
The week after TOTK
The week following Tears of the Kingdom's launch will undoubtedly be the weirdest feeling for those who aren’t playing it. Your social media feeds will likely be dominated by impressions of the game, wacky Ultrahand builds, and other neat discoveries players are making. This may activate a bit of FOMO if you aren’t playing, but alternatives are launching the week after Tears of the Kingdom.
On the exclusives front, PlayStation players will have a console and VR exclusive game called Humanity, published by the team that developed the excellent Tetris Effect. Don’t think that building Tears of the Kingdom’s contraptions to overcome obstacles is the only way to scratch that puzzle-game itch this month.
Humanity is a puzzle game where players must overcome challenges by commanding large crowds of people as a Shibu Inu dog. Yes, this game looks as weird and trippy as that premise sounds, and it will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, and PlayStation VR2 on May 16, making it the first big post-Tears of the Kingdom release.

Continuing on the puzzle game note, Cyan, the developers behind Myst, are finally releasing Firmament on May 18, so that’s a rarity fans of the classic PC and Mac games should check out.
One other game this May is also going to let players build their own vehicles and explore an open world is going to try and follow up Tears of the Kingdom: Lego 2K Drive. As its name suggests, this is a Lego racing game where players build and collect Lego vehicles and then complete challenges throughout an open-world Forza Horizon-style.