hardcore and casual

[archy12]

there's been something on my mind for a while and it's been driving me nuts: what makes a gamer a gamer?

the reason i'm confused over this is because whenever i read comments on some gaming site, people always argue about casual and hardcore games. because i'm a wii owner (nintendo's "sheep" ), i question myself on what is hardcore or casual.

sure, the answer is pure logic: games shouldn't be defined in categories as long as everyone plays it and enjoys it. but for some reason there are still people that totally tear a game apart for not appealing to the individual.

what's your take on this?

[viruszero]

As far as I understand it... The differences between a hardcore and casual gamer are thus:

A casual gamer is someone who doesn't spend any amount of time playing games. They're typically more interested in pick up and play games. They may or may not buy as many games as a hardcore gamer as a result. (Because they don't spend as time playing games, they don't need to buy as many.) These guys are in it merely for some quick thrills.
This is where Nintendo's latest console fits, it is all about the casual gamer... Note the abundance of minigame collections and lack of superb exclusive titles. I mean there are only 3-6 good exclusive Rev games: Super Mario Galaxy, SSBB, and Metroid Prime 3. (Twilight princess does not count because it was on the GC as well as Rev.)


A hardcore gamer is someone who spends quite a bit of time playing games, they oft buy more games and will go through them trying to get that 100% completion. (This isn't always the case though, sometimes they will just beat it and be done with it.)
This shouldn't be confused with fanboy however. A hardcore gamer typically looks for and cares about the story and what is going on. The hardcore gamer is one who wants to be immersed in the game and almost have it so they forget they are playing a game.
These are the gamers who likely own multiple systems of the current generation.


And for completion sake - A fanboy is someone who follows a single company/system/game series without question or thought. They are utterly oblivious to the flaws something may have, and when these flaws are revealed they can get quite agitated. They are oft easily provoked when you are talking of their favourite thing, so much so that merely saying "yeah, it was ok..." will have them at your throat with a knife.

(Ofcourse fan and fanboy are again different. A fan is just someone who likes a series, but will accept if there are flaws and that things do need work. Fans conversely tend to be much more critical on a series than others.)


Back to the casual gamer issue, casual gamers may have driven Nintendo's sucess for now, but the issue arises that because most of the target is casual gamers, eventually the casual gamers won't be buying as many games and the market will slow. The true sucess of a system relies on the hardcore gamers. (Because in the end, the hardcore gamer is the one who wants to see more and better games produced. The casual gamer doesn't really care that much since they don't play games that much.)

[Chaos Tank]

In my opinion, a casual gamer is someone who enjoys playing video games but isn't concerned with mastering it. The hardcore gamer looks online for strategies, plays the game religiously and is far more concerned with winning, getting the highest score or beating others who play it.

[archy12]

would it make me hardcore if i play a game and try to unlock and discover everything the game has to offer? i think it's only common sense that a player tries to fully play a game and master it because of its money's worth.

does anyone find the word "hardcore gamer" to be excessive?

[viruszero]

Excessive? No, I think excessive would be saying: "That gamer who has to clear every challenge in the game to beat it." or something along those lines everytime you wanted to say Hardcore. (All the hardcore means here is that you have more than a passing interest in games. )

But most of us here would likely fall into the Hardcore category. (I am only guessing on this though...) But I mean for myself, I might not log alot of hours in games per week. But when I do get to play, I can go for 10-12 hours at a time...

The casual gamers are typically those who buy the Rev and maybe the Rev's fitness game and/or rockband. Then they might not even consider buying another game for 3 or so months.

[Chaos Tank]

Yeah, I'm not trying to say a casual gamer won't complete a game, try to get 100% and unlock everything it has to offer. But its the hardcore gamer who'll come back to it, memorize where everything was and do a speed run.

Or in the case of Nintendo for example, just about everyone who owns their console has played Smash Bros. The casual gamer will play that with friends with all items on, laughing when a random bomb appears and wipes someone out. The hardcore gamer or tourney tards like me, will log onto youtube and watch combo videos of our favorite characters, we will memorize how much damage each of the throws does and when to use them. Most will play without items, though this doesn't make you hardcore, I know lots of people who are hardcore Smashers that like items. But there's another example for you.