Maybe if less casual game developers thought like this, then casual games would be more enjoyable for *real* gamers.
EDIT: Wow, I hate this guy even more now since he implied that Lego Batman is a casual game. DUDE, LEGO BATMAN IS HARDCORE AS YOU CAN GET. Angry
And it is quite possible - take a look at the work done by Gamelab.
As for Lego Batman, maybe it spans across those categories because it's both frickin' awesome as well as carrying instant appeal for a less hardcore audience? I haven't actually played the recent Lego games yet (they're on my list) so maybe I'm crazy though. The actual gameplay doesn't require hardcore levels of skill, does it?
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Based on what I've played of Lego Star Wars (and I have played A LOT of Lego Star Wars) you are exactly right. I think the LSW games are at the pinnacle of 'everybody can play' game design.
The actual gameplay is beyond easy. It's impossible to lose. Whenever you die, you lose some money and respawn. If you don't have any money to lose, then you just respawn.
But that money is what buys you new characters, cheats, etc, plus you get rewarded for collecting and retaining a certain amount of money through the entire level. And in a few levels, it is really hard to do that. And then you have the myriad secrets contained in each level. Plus, replaying levels over and over is made much more enjoyable by the awesome co-op.
I see all this happening just the same way in Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Batman. The only thing I'm worried about is that I haven't heard confirmation of co-op in either of them, but I really don't think they would be dumb enough to remove a feature like that.
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