Last week, hundreds of thousands of people lined up for the chance to buy a PlayStation 3, lured by its dazzling visual firepower. Millions more watched the chaos on TV and then turned to their computers for a relaxing game of “Bejeweled,” “Diner Dash” or one of dozens of simple games that don’t require a Blu-ray DVD drive or Sony’s state-of-the-art cell processors.

Those millions – the great, silent majority of electronic game players – are what the industry calls “casual” gamers, and they’re becoming an influential force. Let’s face it: Most adults don’t have 60-plus hours to invest in something like “Final Fantasy XII.” But they’ll happily spend part of their lunch hour on “Tetris,” “Zuma” or an online game of hearts.

Most casual gamers find their favorites on the Internet, but video-game publishers have started to take notice. Microsoft’s Xbox Live has created a new market for elegant games like “Geometry Wars.” And casual titles like “Brain Age” and “Lumines” are thriving on portable systems.

Come to think of it, those are exactly the kinds of games we saw campers playing last week while they waited for the PS3. Guess there’s a little casual gamer inside everyone.

-“Every Extend Extra” (Buena Vista, for the PlayStation Portable, $29.99): This new title from Q Entertainment, the studio that developed “Lumines,” will remind a lot of gamer geezers of “Asteroids,” in that you have a spaceship that’s slowly being surrounded by all sorts of space junk. Here, though, the only way to destroy that junk is by self-destructing, setting off chains of explosions that obliterate everything on-screen. Some opponents can only be destroyed by starting increasingly long chains – you may need five explosions, then a dozen, then more to take down a really pesky boss. Of course, you only have a limited number of ships and a limited amount of time to pull off these strings, and many casual gamers will find the difficulty level too daunting. “EEE” does present plenty of Q’s trademark visual flair, but in this case it may be too much, with the busy graphics distracting from the task at hand. Two stars.

-“Clubhouse Games” (Nintendo, for the Nintendo DS, $34.99): “Clubhouse Games” is an anthology of 42 games that barely need any introduction. You have card games ranging from Old Maid to contract bridge; board games such as checkers, chess; and laid-back bar games like billiards and darts. Different players will undoubtedly find different games more appealing, and some of the games (like Texas hold ’em) aren’t as full-featured as software dedicated to those specific titles. The “stamp” mode, in which you play all the games in increasing order of difficulty, is a good way to learn unfamiliar games, while the “mission” mode challenges you to rack up higher scores or faster times. In all, just about anyone can pick up and play “Clubhouse Games,” making it an essential title for DS owners. Three and a half stars.

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On the Net:

-“Lumines II,” “Every Extend Extra”: http://buenavistagames.go.com/

-“Clubhouse Games”: http://www.nintendo.com/channel/ds

AP-ES-11-22-06 1240EST