'F*** casual gaming,' says Rockstar boss

Rockstar Games boss Dan Houser has declared he's no fan of casual gaming - in no uncertain terms.

"F*** all this stuff about casual gaming," he told the New York Metro.

"I think people still want games that are groundbreaking. The Wii is doing something totally different, which is fantastic. We're hopefully going to prove that there's also a very big audience for people who want entertainment in another form, who think of games as being a narrative device that can challenge movies."

According to Houser, too many developers make games about the same old themes - "orcs and elves, or monsters, or space". In contrast, Rockstar prefers to make games "about something we could actually relate to. Or aspire to".

As for the issue of whether there's too much violence in GTA IV: "If you don't like any violent content in your entertainment, then I apologise because I do. And I've unfortunately been exposed to it my entire life. If we equally got rid of a lot of books that talk about violence, okay."

Houser went on to question why it seems to be okay for violent content to feature in films and TV programmes, but not games. "What you're saying is you don't like the medium because we don't have a George Clooney type sticking his face in front of the camera. There is nothing in the game you would not see in a TV show, or a movie a hundred times over, so I don't understand what the conversation is about."

For more from Houser, including some stuff about, you know, how they made the game and everything, read the full interview.