This year’s Casual Connect Seattle had a little bit of a different vibe for me. This is the first year I was able to attend Casual Connect on the opening day, so the energy was bound to be different from the start.It also snuck up on me a little, so there were a lot of last minute scheduling issues and preparations. But, I was geared up to see where everyone thought the industry was headed and hear about some great new games. When I got there and took a look around, however, I noticed that there were some things missing. Some of the bigger companies I was expecting to see weren’t there, and their presence was missed. It didn’t feel like there was a lot of news being released. I didn’t feel the excitement of new games and innovation that I had felt in the past.

Some of the excitement came back when I talked with some of the people I had come to meet. Some of that came back talking with people at the booths. I am excited to share what I learned with everyone.

The big buzz this time around had shifted almost completely to social gaming. Old favorites as well as new titles are making it to social gaming platforms and companies seem to be trying to find new ways to integrate Facebook and take advantage of the competitive aspect that social gaming affords. Being competitive at heart, this is really exciting news for me. I am looking forward to seeing what’s on the horizon as social gaming continues to come into its own.

The other thing I noticed a lot of in looking around at the sponsors was new ways to pay for all kinds of gaming. This might have been a part of what made it evident that this wasn’t a convention for consumers, but I am still curious to know how that sits with gamers (besides me). Are you interested in new ways to pay for the casual or social games that you enjoy?

Overall, I will say that I had mixed feelings about Casual Connect this year, but I had a great time and met some fun people Including our very own RachelZoe! Stay tuned for more news from Casual Connect on GamingAngels.com! I had some nice talks with PopCap, I-Play, Mumbo-Jumbo, Fantage, and a new company called Greenopolis. Those stories and interviews are to come this week here at GamingAngels.com!