I try not to use the terms like 'hardcore' and 'casual' gamer - All it seems to do is provoke the casuals.
As far as the developers believing they can fool us, well, it is happening all the time! Gamers may say they hate dumbing down of a game, but in reality they (the casuals), lap up many a product which has been. As long as said product has sufficient hype, high production values, and don't forget shiny graphics.
So many popular titles are, or are getting dumbed down over time, but the majority of people, and reviewers are loving it! If you think the average gamer wants real challenge on a myriad of levels you are fooling yourself. What they want is a quick 'fun' fix that is easy to get into. Something they can pickup and play for a few minutes and still get entertained and not have to work hard at figuring something out. It makes sense since most people that play games do so to relax, and given the nature of western society it is a natural course. The thing is those few vestiges of hard won gaming are getting harder and harder to find for the few that enjoy them.
And casuals have the largest buying power, so yeah, gamers themselves are guilty.
Oh and my previous post was more in response to people always saying console is dumbed down. The games themselves are designed to be quite often, but it need not be the case. Console does not necessarily have to equated to dumbing down. Gaming on ALL platforms are getting the same treatment, and not just for the sake of the consoles.
After all that negatively I guess I better put a few things into perspective:
Gaming is not all going south. Even these 'dumbed downed' games are still fun, they are designed to be. They are excellent games in that regard, certainly.




