What makes a gamer a hardcore gamer?

hardcore gamer- plays more videogames than most (obviously), is very knoledgable when it comes to games, and is passionate about what they do (play games)

casual gamer- plays games ocasionally, or socialy with friends, doesn't really keep up with gaming news, etc.

I've been wondering about that. What really makes someone a hardcore gamer?TheRedStrike

I consider a hardcore gamer someone that knows a lot about the industry and plays a lot of games.

Casual gamers might own one system and a couple of games, but doesn't really follow the news and trends in games.

Someone who plays games more than casually or spends a lot of time doing gaming relatred things. Probably more than 15 hours a week or so.

I dont see how knowledge and skill have anything to do with it.

In my opinion, a hardcore gamer is someone who not only plays games, but understands games and constantly tries to improve. There are many people who claim to be "hardcore", yet their knowledge of games is very limited, they play Mario Kart all day, yet still have no clue what snaking is (a basic technique), how to get certain items, and blame everything on luck. While a true hardcore gamer with Mario Kart who played alot less, would easily beat the normal gamer that just claims to be 'hardcore' because he would know all of the strategies and when to use them, what position to be in to get the certain items they need to win, and never rely or blame things on luck.

Another thing that makes a gamer true hardcore is that they play to win, (Good article on this here)
They constantly are trying to improve and win. Being a 'hardcore' gamer is a status that many claim to be, but few achieve. They claim to be one of these because of many reasons, such as owning old systems, playing 'mature' games, or spending all their time playing games instead of with friends (cause they have none). Yet very few of them are actually 'hardcore' and just use this as an excuse to have no life.

Breaking it down.

True Hardcore

• Constantly improving.
• Always playing to win.
• Large knowledge of games and how they work etc.

Fake 'hardcore'

• Is happy with how they play, don't improve.
• No/limited knowledge of games.
• Claim to be due to unrelated reasons, like playing M games.
• Very annoying.
• Often are the fanboys.

Normal Gamer/Casual Gamer

• Plays games for fun.
• Some knowledge of games.
• Improving ussually, not focussing on this.
• Not annoying.

Being hardcore has nothing to do with the amount of games one owns or plays, it is about the mindset the person has behind the games he/she plays.

I seriously dont see how can anyone think being ultra knowledgeable has to do with being hardcore, or "playing to win", or whatever.

Take this hypothetical situation:

A 60+ year old retired Art Director of a graphic design firm likes to pass some of the time playing flight sims. He only plays about 3 or 4 flight sims. Even though he's retired and has plenty of time to play, he only plays about 10 or 15 hours a week. Hes old and his reflexes arent very good, so he often times dies to things that most would consider easy to avoid or dogde. He stands no chance at playing online, but he legitimately enjoys playing the game as it is. Hes also not even a very big airplane enthusiast. Does that sound hardcore? Most people would say no.

As a retired Art Director with a lot of free time he decides to join in a modding community figuring he can put his decades of experience to use for something he enjoys. With all that free time he spends 30 hours, even 40 hours, a week working with his mod team putting his skills to work. Hes responsible, well-coordinated, heavily experienced, works well in the team, and puts out phenominal work. He still only plays 10 or 15 hours a week, if that. Is that hardcore? Hell yeah.

In fact, i'd argue that that old man is 3 times as hardcore as anything anyone else here has mentioned for what being a "hardcore" gamer is. My scenario has happened several times with the IL2 Sturmovik mod community.