I personally think Jaeger is calling the hearse before the patient has even been declared in critical condition. There's room for both casual and hardcore gaming in today's marketplace.

We all know that casual gaming is hip, hot and "in." It's everywhere you look – on cell phones, on Facebook, on the Wii and even increasingly on the consoles that are usually associated with more traditional gaming. More and more apps are being created, and the demand for them is only going to escalate (especially as the smartphone moves more and more into the American mainstream).

But does that mean hardcore gaming is going anywhere? No way. Hardcore and casual gaming will always be able to exist side-by-side with each other the way that mainstream American television exists side-by-side with more genre-oriented stuff like anime and sci-fi (or is that SyFy?).

The gaming companies certainly aren't going to throw away a very lucrative arena. There may not be as many hardcore gamers as casual ones, but they are fiercely loyal to their favorite titles, and will follow a game through one incarnation of the franchise after another, and even onto a new platform. (Some people attribute the PS3's survival in this country to the popularity of Metal Gear Solid).

If you're going into the gaming arena and want to develop casual games, by all means, go for it. The market is expanding all the time and will continue to expand. If you have an idea for a hardcore game . . . go for it as well. There's always going to be an audience for it.

One reason the gaming industry has continued to be successful despite a recession is its diversity, and that extends to styles of games. There's always going to be room for both Tetris and Final Fantasy in today's gaming climate.

- Bonnie