I was speaking with a friend the other day and we got into an argument. From his point of view, casual gaming was a waste of time because the games were "awful, cheaply produced and never cost more than ten dollars." This, frankly, is not even a little bit true. However, I could see his point. It seems today that casual gaming has become synonymous with budget gaming and that's something that really does need to stop.

I'm the first to admit that many casual games are designed for an audience with a budget in mind. You'll find many casual games available online for less than $10 if you go through services like Big Fish Games. Some of these games are hidden gems that will stretch your precious dollar to the maximum limit... but most of them are nothing but a total waste of money. A popular myth in casual gaming is that most all casual games are the same, no matter what you pay. A Bejeweled clone is still Bejeweled and thus will give you the same satisfaction no matter what form it's in. This is completely false. Here's an example. PopCap's Plants Vs. Zombies, one of the finest casual gaming experiences of all time, costs $19.95 through their website. While Plants vs Zombies really has no comparative experience, Diner Dash 5: Boom! is a popular time and resource management game that costs $6.99.

While both games are arguably excellent casual experiences, Diner Dash 5 does very little to add to the original Diner Dash formula. It doesn't break the bank on originality and the formula does get old rather quickly. There is only one mode of play and when you're done with the game, there's very little left to do, which is fine for what you're paying for. However, if you're an avid casual gamer and you really enjoy Diner Dash 5, you can expect to spend maybe 5 to 7 hours on this game before you decide to move on.

Plants Vs. Zombies, on the other hand, may have a large price tag, but it contains an extremely robust single player campaign, unlockable bonuses, four different modes of play, a good number of challenges, and the option to replay the single player campaign at a harder difficulty level. Altogether, if you enjoy the game, you'll probably spend about 18 to 23 hours on this game before you decide to move on.

The thing is, you do get what you pay for. Those are only two examples, but the real tragedy is that casual gamers continually shoot themselves in the foot by putting a budget on a gaming experience. Super Mario Galaxy 2, which came out this past week, has a $50 price tag, but for that $50, you're getting unparalleled Mario graphics, multiple playthroughs with different characters, a host of different worlds and a gaming experience unlike any other. If Galaxy 2 is still too hardcore for you, why not take a look at Puzzle Quest 2, coming out on June 22.

Puzzle Quest 2 has a $29.99 price tag and will be available for XBox Live Arcade and Nintendo DS. It's the sequel to the critically acclaimed Puzzle Quest, which took the Bejeweled formula and turned it into a serious battle system for a role-playing game. Puzzle Quest takes Bejeweled and makes it a system not only for battle, but for most anything in the game — crafting new items, learning new spells — and uses only the Bejeweled board for it. This game can entertain even the most casual of gamers for about 20 hours, usually more if they're into it. Bejeweled 2, on the other hand really only lasts until you're sick of it, as there are really not too many modes of play to spice up the game.

Limiting yourself to a budget as a casual gamer does make sense, but it's a foolish idea. By only spending less than ten dollars on every game, you get five somewhat mediochre games instead of getting an unparalleled gaming experience for an extended period of time. While that may be understandable (and nobody understands the need for a budget more than I do), I urge casual gamers to forego their next five seemingly unexpensive games and save for a larger, more robust gaming experience that will last a much longer, much more enjoyable, amount of time. It's not something that you'll regret and it will help you build up a library of games to recommend and cherish, rather than ones that you play once and cast aside.