There's no denying the impact casual gaming has had on the industry in the last three years. Between the iPhone and iPod Touch, which are now both on Apple's third generation models, to the introduction of the Nintendo's motion-controlled console, Wii, to a surge in music games that encourage party play; it seems that more people are playing video games than ever before. More importantly, the revolution of casual gaming has created new ways to play. But the question now is what kind of staying power will that crowd hold, and how will it affect the rest of the industry.

I've always been more of a hardcore gamer. I generally mess around with browser-based games and pick up on the most acclaimed casual releases around, but I would cite the likes of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Shadow Complex as some of my favorite games of the year. I'm no stranger to being called a nerd, and I'm generally comfortable with the role, but have always wished more people would share in the experience of gaming.

Grouping games into two large categories, casual and hardcore, has always seemed to me a bit unfair to the games, on both sides of the spectrum. So I tend to use the terms "hardcore" and "casual" to define the gamer, rather than the game. In this respect, I cite myself as a hardcore gamer because I'm someone who sets time aside to game, like one might sit down for hours to read a book or go to a movie theater. It is an activity, an event unto itself as far as I'm concerned. Casual gamers, conversely, are those who game when there is nothing else to do, when it is strictly a social activity or there's time to kill.

Maybe someone is skimming the USA Network site and simply stumbles over to Character Arcade, for instance. She's got nothing else to do for the next 20 minutes, so she might try a couple of the browser games. Why not? They're quick and easy to learn. And this doesn't speak negatively, in any way, on the games or that approach to playing them. It's just a different way of looking at things.

I started more thinking about this division recently. I run a gaming and comics site called Pads & Panels, and we had a staff meeting to discuss our top games of the year. Most of our choices fell into the realm of what many consider hardcore, but a few of us made a very strong push for PopCap's incredible Plants vs. Zombies, a tower-defense game. There was one strong protestor among us, whose initial reaction was, "But it's a casual game." To which I replied, "So?"

He went on to explain the very difference in hardcore and casual ideology I just expressed, about how the games are played. Yes, he tried Plants vs. Zombies before our meeting, knowing the push was coming. He liked it. He even said he might purchase it at some point, but explained that he could only see himself really playing it on a mobile or handheld device while killing time somewhere. And though I disagreed with him about the merits of the game and our push for it remained strong, it got me thinking. Most casual gamers are a very different breed than the hardcore crowd, and with the surge of the casual gaming market, those ideologies are starting to come together in more ways than ever before, but I have to wonder how long that will last, and if the two sides will ever truly find a common ground.

When the Nintendo Wii was announced, I was as excited as anyone to get my hands on the console's innovative motion controls - not only for the Wii Sports game included in the box, but for how the controls would ultimately change the way I'd play traditional series like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. Like many people, I couldn't get one right away with a demand that exceeded supply for nearly two years after its release in 2006. But my friend bought one, and his basement quickly became more of a gathering place than ever.

We became acquainted with the new controls and laid the ground rules so that a Wii Remote didn't go flying through the television or scratch the low ceiling. And there were two very immediate things I noticed in these first gaming sessions. While certain games, like the Smackdown vs. Raw series, always got us in the same room, generally speaking the Xbox 360 had us in our own rooms and playing online. For the first time in awhile, we were regularly gathering in the same room around this gaming experience. Even more interesting was the fact that both of his parents not only came downstairs to play with us, but actually suggested nights of gaming.

My buddy's father had always taken an interest in games we played - always stopping behind the couch to watch a new game for five minutes, ask what it was we were doing, nodding half-knowingly, half in confusion, and then leaving the room. But with the Wii it seemed his parents couldn't get enough of bowling on Wii Sports, and for the first time someone who would never have previously picked up the controller with us was doing so.

The same thing happened at home after spending a long winter night in line to get my own Wii. My mom wrapped the safety strap of the Wii Remote around her wrist and grabbed a gaming controller for the first time in her life. She couldn't believe she was bowling, golfing and playing tennis in her own living room. After years of gaming being something for my generation, it was weird to have my mother interested in playing a game, instead of just observing and misunderstanding the medium. But at the same time it was clearly bringing more people to gaming and giving them a better understanding of what it's all about.

Similarly, the evolution of the music/rhythm genre into the likes of Rock Band created a comparable ideology of group play - getting a bunch of friends together in the same room to enjoy a gaming experience. Since their introduction, games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have found themselves moving into trendy bars as a replacement or supplement to karaoke, and used in gaming tournaments at libraries. So there is no doubt they have breached a mainstream audience. And all of a sudden with The Beatles: Rock Band, the parents have found themselves playing once again.

Back at my buddy's house, his mom actively sought the game, and even made a deal with him that if he went out and purchased The Beatles: Rock Band right away, she would pay for the full album downloads (Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, etc) as they are released. With the harmonized vocals, we had nights where at least six people were playing, some under 20 years old, and others over 50. An age range spanning more than 30 years! For the former, it was another Rock Band game, expertly made. And for the latter it was a new way to experience the songs they grew up listening to.

Again, back on the home front my mom could only watch us play for so long before remembering the days of The Beatles performing on the Ed Sullivan Show. This time she was picking up a guitar controller, and within a day she went from being a total noob, to beating songs on easy and then moving onto medium.

And the stories like these go on and on. My girlfriend has found a place in gaming though simulation titles like Animal Crossing on the GameCube, to fun mini-game collections on the DS like Cooking Mama. The mobile gaming market has blazed a number of new trails. I recommended to two co-workers with iPhones - one a moderate gamer and the other someone who would never have anything to do with a modern console - that they spend $1 to download PopCap's Peggle app. I guaranteed they would not regret it. One of them went home and played for more than three hours that night, looking to beat it. He has since started downloading the likes of Wolfenstein and Sonic the Hedgehog, reliving his childhood gaming days. The other guy is still taking 40-minute bathroom breaks to play Peggle.

But it is hard not to wonder through the excitement of these new ways to play, of these new people being brought into the world I've known for so long, if there is a staying power to any of it. Sure, recent innovations have made my mother a "gamer" for the first time, but is there any chance that she'll try anything outside of The Beatles game? Unlikely. Yes, we all enjoyed Wii Sports, but after that excitement grew stale, the parents went back to doing whatever they do when we're shooting things online. And maybe my colleague is reminiscing via iPhone apps, but he'll probably never try many of the new games on his own, and picking up a hardcore gaming console is still out of the question.

So gaming to them remains a distraction, rather than an event unto itself. It remains something to kill a little time in between the other things in life, rather than an art form. But since when is that such a bad thing? There are plenty of good books, films and albums created simply for the purpose of entertainment, for the purpose of killing some time between the pressures of life.

The successes of casual gaming may be fleeting, but they are a start in a new direction. We may never convince our parents that games are a valid form of entertainment, but whether they realize (or admit) it or not, they've found some enjoyment in the medium. My colleague may never join a game of Spec Ops with me, but it is good to know he's found a fun challenge in a well-made casual title. And at the end of the day, whether it's casual or hardcore gaming, we're all having a good time. And what's more important than that?