Before the onslaught of new titles that came out recently, I’d been busying myself with Arcade titles.

I don’t know if there’s some kind of Facebook quiz out there that suggests I’m a raging limp-wrist for doing so, but in my defence these games are fucking great.

Shadow Complex tells the story of an everyday guy (that conveniently has a military background) that gradually turns into a power-suited, super-shotgun wielding, grenade flinging, kung-fu fighting mean motherfucker of God. Sure, it’s hefty at 1200 MS points, but I’m vaporising soldiers, for fuck’s sake. I can think of activities that are far less rewarding.

Then there’s Ikaruga, which is turning my hair grey. It’s like the game itself is mocking me, laughing at my pitiful attempts to dodge bullets and change polarities in time, flooding the screen with energy beams and tiny bullets, and crushing me with moving platforms. It’s one of the few games that I actually have to focus and try to connect with the game, and feel my eyes gradually dry out as a result.

I suppose since we’re here, we may as well as throw Geometry Wars 2 in the mix. For a game that blinds me with pretty lights, thousands of particles and floods of enemies, it’s still just as addictive as the day I purchased it. I recently played versus mode with a couple of other SOGC admins, and hilarity ensued as we stole geoms from each other, bated each other into enemies, and cheated death as many times as we could to try and take first place. It’s going to take me a while before I start making an appearance on my leaderboards, though…

Speaking of multiplayer, Rocket Riot and Castle Crashers are regular titles that appear on our games rotation among the admins. I think the appeal with these games is that while they are co-operative titles on the surface, there is still a sense of rivalry and every-man-for-themselves. I couldn’t count the number of times I’ve copped a rocket in the face from someone else’s wild firing in Rocket Riot, or how often I had to fight other players for scraps of gold in Castle Crashers. There is a cruel irony in the description “co-op”.

So yes - all in all, I’m rather pleased with the state of the “casual” games market. The calibre and quality of these games is well above expectations. The barriers to entry are fairly low, which means that anyone with patience, persistence and a good idea can follow through and potentially make millions.

And it’s refreshing to take a break from games that take themselves a little too seriously. I find it tiring to be continually inundated with ads and marketing campaigns, trying to convince me that this fourth sequel is so much better than the previous three. It’s nice to open up Steam and see a new title featured on the front page, with some simple artwork and a low price.

Hell, I haven’t even talked about PC and PS3 casual titles.