A lot of us make fun of casual gaming. We chuckle at the girl on the bus intently brushing her Nintendogs. We tsk-tsk at the friend who, when we see him signed onto Xbox Live, is playing Bejeweled instead of GTA. Industry folks, however, don’t see those gamers the same way you and I do, and instead some of them are making a concerted effort to impress these people and bring them into the fold.

Ubisoft is one of those outfits. Long considered a publisher with a soft spot for the more casual players among us, they have developed a fairly complex strategy for wooing this elusive audience. They also believe this population is beginning to demand more, and they won’t be satisfied with what’s been offered before. Says Pauline Jacquey of Ubisoft’s Games for Everyone, "as they play and more competitors emerge, you have to rethink the way you do the games. The casual audience is becoming more demanding, for sure, and we need to make sure we’re proving more than what they’re anticipating." Jacquey goes on to mention how young girls have particularly become a tough audience because now they are used to games that are made just for them, and are demanding more of the same.

Like it or not, casual gaming is here to stay, and it seems like Ubisoft is going to be leading the charge to continue drawing in new legions of gamers. But with enhanced graphics, gameplay, and overall production quality, is it possible that the previously shunned casual gaming market will become acceptable to mainstream and hardcore gamers? Probably not, but its fun to dream.