If you ask a hardcore gamer what makes a casual gamer different, he or she may simply reply, "The competition." Competitive gamers yearn for the thrill of combat. You sit down on your couch, dim the lights, power on your system of choice, put on your headset and the world around you comes to a crashing halt. The adrenaline begins to course through your veins, as you get ready to 'fight the good fight.' You can use your mic or your keypad as your instrument of trash talking against competitors. But, don't think that gamers are afraid of getting in your face. The Internet just made competition convenient. Give a gamer the chance and he or she will take the fight right to your door. Internet play is just practice, tournament gaming is we're the real adrenaline takes over. I still remember going to the Nintendo World Championships in 1990 and competing in the Pods area right next to Biz Markie. Sure, I loved his music, but even as a kid I was ready to show him who was boss. This wasn't personal. It was business. Presumably, this kind of adrenaline you just can't find playing a casual game.

In the past decade, three kinds of game genres have dominated the world of tournament gaming: First Person Shooters (FPS), Fighting Games, and Sports (primarily being Madden). While all three of these genres are naturally competitive, two of them are naturally violent. Fighting games make you feel like you're out there in the street or in the ring, giving your opponent a well deserved thrashing. FPS titles are team-based games of killing. People actually have tryouts to be on their team. I can't tell you how many times a random gamer would send me an invite to "audition" for their Call of Duty or Halo team. Sports games put you right out there on the field, making you feel as though you're personally responsible for making your favorite team great. But, these games are just as testosterone infused as fighting or FPS games. I've had teenagers laugh me off the field of Madden with some of the most profane language I've ever heard. I doubt you'd find someone with such a potty-mouth playing a nice wholesome game of Bejeweled.

However, I wonder, can casual gaming ignite a new era of tournament gaming, one where we need not imagine ourselves horribly hurting our opponent? Before next gen consoles made online-console gaming so seamless, numerous Internet Cafes would be the hub for gaming tournaments. 2006 kicked off the Championship Gaming Invitational, North America's first attempt at sports-style pro gaming. At the forefront of competition was Battlefield a PC game, optimized for LAN (local area network) gameplay. That's right, the computer, not the console, were homes for tournament gaming. Keep in mind, casual gaming isn't just iPhone app based, it also exists through sites like Pogo.com, Playsega.com, CharacterArcade.com and Zynga apps on Facebook. All these games bring with it the excitement of score based competition through leaderboards. Often these sites will hold competitions where gamers can compete for swag. So, why not do it in person?

When the Nintendo World Championships kicked off in 1990, gamers weren't playing games where people had to horribly maim each other to win. Neither, did we have to study a set of complex controls, like in Madden, to compete. Instead, we collected 50 rings in Mario, played through a custom Rad Racer circuit, and then scored as much as we could in Tetris. Even if you weren't the best, you could still enjoy it without fearing the dreaded no-scope. Gamers competed against a time limit and a scoring minimum, which were just as intense as laying waste to a Halo clan.

So, why not start a casual gaming renaissance? Give casual gamers a chance to meet up and compete for bragging rights, without the violence. Instead of Mario, we can play Flo on the Go: Diner Dash. Instead of Rad Racer, we can play Sudoku or Ninja Mahjong and of course no casual gaming tournament would be complete without a riveting game of Bejeweled. Of course, for any of this to happen the casual gaming industry would have to get the support of publishers. Casual gaming publishers would have to team up to share the cost of the endeavor, thereby negating their financial overhead and qualms over trying something new. The tournament could be used as a means of showing off new apps, while luring hardcore gamers into the addictive space of the casual.

Casual gamers like competition just as much as hardcore gamers; there's just not enough time to learn the complex controls. However, if there was one day out the year where casual gamers had the opportunity to meet up and play games, I'm sure they would be delighted to do so.