What are your opinions on looking Casual or Hardcore?

I wanted to ask a gaming community what they thought about this.. Not too long ago me and my friend were playing Little Big Planet, and invited his brother in law to join in, but he didn't want to if he couldn't sign in as a guest because he didn't want it to show up in his trophies that he was playing a "casual" game. Needless to say, he had fun playing with us.

So what say you gamers, will you not play a game for fear of looking "casual"?

Personally, there are times where I have more fun playing this:

Than something like this:

And sometimes it's the opposite.

I don't care what people see me playing. And I play games like Wii sports Resort and Wii fit as well as games like Ninja Gaiden and Fire Emblem.

The term "hardcore" has been watered down so much through the decades it doesn't mean a thing anymore. Nowadays, games are just games to me whether I'm playing ARMA 2 on the PC or SSB: B on the Wii. If people call me casual, I don't care.

A lot of the stuff which passes for "hardcore" today were casual stuff in my day. Oh well. Those days are long gone. I just go with the flow, motion-gaming and all.

I'm more concerned about the sheer number of hours my Raptr account shows for Rumble Roses XX and DOA Extreme.

:D

That's crazy. Iown Little Big Planet. It's a fun game. Wii Fit, Wii Sports Resort, etc are also fun. I alsoown the Ultimate edition of God of War 3, Devil May Cry 4, Prototype, etc. If a game's fun, I'll play it. If someone scrolls through all these games, and stops at Little Big Planet and labels me casual then so be it.

I'm more concerned about the sheer number of hours my Raptr account shows for Rumble Roses XX and DOA Extreme.

:D

juliankennedy23

I honestly don't care. I play games for fun. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yeah, I play casual games to keep uber-games from getting stale.

I like playing Bejewelled 2 Deluxe.

If you play Windows solitaire, then you play casual.

There are websites that sell only casual games.

Honestly, I hate the terms. Calling yourself hardcore tells me nothing since you are denying yourself games that you automatically consider "casual".

I like sports games above all else. Good online community, great matchmaking, and fun to play with friends. Sports games to me are still the benchmark for local multiplayer. But how many sports games are considered "hardcore"? None? But I enjoy them and always have. I have played them in tournaments in college and done well. Does that mean that I can be "hardcore" in a "casual" environment? Ridiculous.

I have never played a game that I didn't want to play. I'm not an FPS fan, but I have played Gears of War (it was a gift and I really didn't like it), the Modern Warfare games, and the Halo series, though I finish those games months after they come out because I take my time with them and play only when I feel like it. Whereas I am in my sixth season of NCAA football, eight season of College Hoops 2K8, and if EA's NHL series didn't keep making ultra worthwhile improvements I would probably be somewhere in the fourth or fifth season of my Be A Pro there.

I don't see why people need to ruffle their feathers and try to make it seem like they are better / more importantthan someone else in gaming. We are all gamers here and should just have fun with whatever game we want to play. If you play something different that's great, I'm going to play NBA 2K11 and Pokemon. :)

I just play whatever I like.

[QUOTE="juliankennedy23"]

I'm more concerned about the sheer number of hours my Raptr account shows for Rumble Roses XX and DOA Extreme.

:D

Allicrombie

It's funny that a game you play casually once a twice a month can gather more hours than some shooter you marathon and trade back in.

I'm hardcore by nature. these conundrums never occur to me.

In my personal experience with gamers in high school I feel like the term "hardcore" is just a made up word in gaming used as an excuse to only play FPSs and bash the Wii.

Thank you for all the constructive discussion!

I'm a casual gamer i play games for fun.

Casual, Hardcore--there really is no differenct these days.

Well I don't call games casual or hardcore, but I do believe that you can play games in a hardcore or casual fashion that only gamers with lots of experience and knowledge in gaming can.

I don't define hardcore by which game, or for how many hours per week someone plays. I think that's stupid because someone who has never been gaming before suddenly plays NSMBW for 8 hours a day for a week and I wouldn't call them hardcore.

I'm not saying that a hardcore gamer has to be incredibly skilled or so, it's a playstyle. I can play some Wii Party causually with friends and other times I would be playing MKWii trying to get gold on each tournament which requires you to master mechanics that a casual gamer might not even know about like shortcuts or the minor boost you get by performing stunts.

I like the term core gamers more because the term hardcore means different things depending on who you ask so I don't like using it. Like for example Metroid: Other M is a core game since it only sold 500k and the Metroid series is regarded very highly amongst, just that, core gamers. MKWii is more of a bridge title i.e. it has the depth core gamers want while at the same time being accessible to anyone. Like I said, there are no casual games, but the thing is Wii Music isn't played by what I call core gamers thus in a way you could say it is more targeted to the casual gamers because it just doesn't have that hidden depth core gamers wants.

I think it's important to distinguish gamers who follow the industry, have lots of experience and knowlegde from the 7-year old girl who only owns a DS with NSMB and Nintendogs. Not in a negative sense though, I don't see anything wrong with the latter it's just a distinction because I don't want to be associated with people who think gaming is just jumping around in Mario or something, it's way more serious to me. But I guess that mentality is slowly dying but when I was a kid the perception of gaming was something that you kill of 30 mins of your time, fool around on some levels and go on with your life but to me it's a serious passion.

Like I've said before: If you need to distinguish yourself as "hardcore" or "casual" based on what games you play, and limit what type of games you play just to seem badass to other people, then all I can say to you is this.

Please work on your insecurity issues.

There are very few people on this website who would qualify as "hardcore." Most of the gamers here are "core" gamers; people who have substantial collections and play tons of games on tons of platforms from tons of genres. Hardcore gamers usually play one game, or games from one genre... they spend all their time mastering that game/genre, and don't care about anything else.

A "casual" gamer, to me, is someone who doesn't view gaming as a hobby, but a pastime. They see games as a means of wasting time... merely time-sinks, not a creative artistic medium. They generally play games that are massively marketed and are made to appeal to the widest audiences. Contrary to popular opinion... this includes games like Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption and God of War III, on top of games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii and DKCR.

Games don't have to be "kiddie" to be casual. Although, that doesn't stop these games from also appealing to core gamers either... since they are made to appeal to the widest audiences. The difference is on the side of the gamer, not the games. Gamers are core/casual, games are just games.

I think casual and hardcore are more terms that describe how much you know about games and whether you like to complete games or not. Someone who plays games like Wii sports, LBP, Mario, Viva Pinata etc. can be "hardcore". I doubt the "casuals" playing these games are trying to master them 100% or anything. Also I think someone who is a hardcore gamer may know alot about games that are sometimes less popular. Whether they play those games or not is another story.

What I am trying to say here, but failing to do so in a graceful manner is that you could have a "hardcore" person playing Wii sports, but in all likliehood they are also aware of many other games out there from Bioshock to Dragon Age to Borderlands etc. A casual person playing Wii sports is most likely not aware of those types of games. Anyway I'm not sure if any of this makes sense.

There are very few people on this website who would qualify as "hardcore." Most of the gamers here are "core" gamers; people who have substantial collections and play tons of games on tons of platforms from tons of genres. Hardcore gamers usually play one game, or games from one genre... they spend all their time mastering that game/genre, and don't care about anything else.

A "casual" gamer, to me, is someone who doesn't view gaming as a hobby, but a pastime. They see games as a means of wasting time... merely time-sinks, not a creative artistic medium. They generally play games that are massively marketed and are made to appeal to the widest audiences. Contrary to popular opinion... this includes games like Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption and God of War III, on top of games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii and DKCR.

Games don't have to be "kiddie" to be casual. Although, that doesn't stop these games from also appealing to core gamers either... since they are made to appeal to the widest audiences. The difference is on the side of the gamer, not the games. Gamers are core/casual, games are just games.

foxhound_fox

I think this is a pretty well worded post. Someone who plays Red Dead Redemption could be casual or core, same with someone who plays New Super Mario Bros.

I'd say a person not wanting a "casual" game showing up in their trophies makes them less "hardcore". I know everyone has their own definitions of hardcore and casual, but if one cares more about losing cool points than playing games, they're not a very hardcore gamer.

Call of Duty is almost the essense of casual. It's a game that was dummied down to appeal to a larger audience in order to sell more copies. Games like mario, with their respective play mechanics, on the other hand, have remained true to themselves since way before games became mainstream. Contrary to belief, the wii probably has more hardcore style games than both the 360 and ps3.

Not too long ago me and my friend were playing Little Big Planet, and invited his brother in law to join in, but he didn't want to if he couldn't sign in as a guest because he didn't want it to show up in his trophies that he was playing a "casual" game. Needless to say, he had fun playing with us.

WreckEm711

Are you serious? Wow. No offense meant here, but how old is he? 12? I could even see that mentality maybe reaching into the high school years for some, but Jesus.

As for your question, I honestly give more thought to my bodily functions than I do to how I'm perceived as a gamer. Which is to say, absolutely none.

I try to use the term sophisticated and unsophisticated.

I play whatever. I don't care if some people think it's childish or hardcore or whatever. I love playing games either way.Victors_Valiant

As it's been said many times in this thread, I play what I like. Gaming is something I consider to be entertaining in many different ways, and I'd like to keep it that way without worrying about whether I'm "hardcore" enough or if that game is too "casual".

okay OP...sry but imho...gow3...is casual...for me i love games casual and hardcore. im in school right now...so i dont really have alot of time for hardcore games...or at least to take the time to get good at them, but ill play a good round of starcraft 2 or street fighter when i get the chance...but for other games...i play them when i can...mostly cause i dont have to sit there and practice to be good at them lol

okay OP...sry but imho...gow3...is casual...for me i love games casual and hardcore. im in school right now...so i dont really have alot of time for hardcore games...or at least to take the time to get good at them, but ill play a good round of starcraft 2 or street fighter when i get the chance...but for other games...i play them when i can...mostly cause i dont have to sit there and practice to be good at them lol

lpjazzman220

Personally I would agree, but I figured God of War would be the best contrast to Wii Sports as far as violence went :P

Yeah I think it's silly to not give a game a chance because you think it is casual. Personally, I feel hardcore/casual has no real meaning unless you are talking about a multi-player/competitive environment.

I think your friend, TC, is a hypocrit for being afraid to have a "casual" game show up on his trophies. If he was hardcore then he would play a bunch of casual shovelware to boost his Trophy score.;)

To be honest, games like Little Big Planet and most Wii and DS games have no games that hold my interest, I'm notsaying they're bad, I'm just saying they don't appeal to me as they do to a lot of other people.

Doesnt really matter to me. I just play what I like.

I could care less if i was a "casual" or hardcore game. There isn't any difference if you ask me. Both play games because they enjoy doing so. The sooner you understand that, the sooner you will realize how stupid your question is.

I can be playing Mass Effect in one moment and jump to Wii sports resort in a blink of an eye, I will play any games that are good