There are a lot of gamers on this planet, and there are increasing numbers taking up the pursuit for their own pleasure. At one time, the gaming community was a hardened core of people who knew gaming inside out, and could pick up and play games as diverse as sports simulations, war games and more besides without much of a learning curve being required. In this day and age, with more and more people becoming gamers, is there a need for game developers to recognise the likelihood that some of the people picking up games will be complete newbies?
It is a fact that many of the first-time gamers around today will be playing browser games. In this respect, they will be people who have not bought a console, and may never have bought one in their lives (unless they have kids who are gamers). While the control system of any typical video game is pretty self-explanatory to any typical gamer, first-time players and people who are playing browser games as a way of passing the time will not understand instructions like "Up, B, duck! Crouch, now toggle weapons!" and will favor a simpler control system and tactics.
Typically, a browser game will have a more sedate control system than the typical console game, and it will therefore be easier to pick up and play. Any non-gamer who has looked at a controller for console games could legitimately wonder what all those buttons do - some of the newer consoles have controllers which seem barely less complicated than the flight deck of a Boeing aircraft, which allow the player to control such actions as driving a car, loading and firing a crossbow, and aiming a sniper rifle with absolute accuracy.
Browser games will typically involve fewer actions. With one click of the mouse, depending on the game you are playing, it is often possible to mobilise forces for an attack or defensive manoeuvre, plant a few crops or give a gift to a friend (or that friend's animated pet!). The intricacy of a console game is not usually present in browser games, although this is not to say that the games themselves are not intricate - indeed, some of the best browser games are ones which involve a great deal of strategy.
This simplicity is part of the reason that some console gamers just don't bother playing browser games, even thinking those games to be beneath them in some cases - don't underestimate the level of snobbery in console gaming! However, people who recognise that a good game is a good game will happily move between the different platforms and enjoy the game for what it is.
If you want to get into gaming, you could do worse than starting with browser games before making the move to consoles. On the other hand, there is no doubt that the types of game on a browser and those on a console are little alike - so if you fire up a console hoping to play a game along the lines of Farmville, you are likely to be horrified by what confronts you.
