Lots of times, people look down on casual games as if they’re a lesser animal. Peggle could never be as good as World of Warcraft. Bejeweled can’t hold a candle to Killzone 2. But I find that sometimes I’m not in the mood to play the in-depth games. There are times when I’d rather play Bookworm Adventures than Street Fighter 4. Either because I’ve only got 15 minutes, or because I’m just feeling more lighthearted about what I want to play.

Casual games have certainly found themselves a place not only with casual gamers, but also with those of us who tend to play more hardcore games. Sometimes you just want a break. That’s why I purchased the PS3 version of Zuma. That’s why I enjoy popping over to Fairway Solitaire or Hexxagon when I’ve got ten minutes to kill. Even games like Plants vs Zombies or Pixeljunk Monsters have a somewhat casual feel to them when I’m not struggling to get an achievement or trophy.

Popcap is currently one of the biggest and highest profile of casual games manufacturers. With games like Peggle, Bejeweled, Zuma, and this year’s big hit Plants vs Zombies, I’ve been thinking about how well their games would work on the Wii, which has a traditionally casual crowd of players. Either as discs or as downloadable WiiWare titles, games like Peggle and Zuma would work perfectly on the Wii.