The definition of a hardcore gamer...

I see the term hardcore gamer getting critizied alot now as being an elitist stance. People say that "just because you play violent games doesnt make you a hardcore gamer" etc etc, but who said it does?

For me the definition of a hardcore gamer is pretty simple. A hardcore gamer is someone who spends a significant amount of their disposable income on gaming and spends a considerable amount of their free time playing games. A casual gamer is someone who doesnt meet this criteria. Why cant we agree on this?

And yes someone who plays halo or wii sports all day is a hardcore gamer as for me the term has all to do with how dedicated someone is. The casual gamer who doesnt like challenging games is an entirely different subject and something I am not a fan of. What is challenging and fun to you maybe utter boredom and frustration for the other so why should he play it?

I also agree that just because a software appears on a game console does not automatically mean that we treat it as a video game. Wii fit is clearly not a game as it's main purpose is to lose weight and not play a game, same could be argued for the brian training and cooking software on nintendo systems.

The bottom line is that when someone calls wii owners as casual then generally speaking that statement is not wrong as everyone of us can observe in our daily lives that wii owners generally spend less time playing games than PS3 and 360 owners. Ofcourse there would be some uber casuals on the PS3 side as well who bought it for a blue ray player but apparantly they are a lot less than the wii casuals.

hardcore gamers seem to complain alot.

ill agree in terms of time, but the type of game definitely matters, listen i dont consider a 3 year old who plays wii sports all the time a hardcore gamer. Microsoft1234

What if they played for 3 hours a day everyday?

When you go to the midnight launch of game instead of your best friends wedding.

Who ever is the highest ranked player on Halo 3 or COD4. (In fact, I really don't want to know how many hours they've spent doing that...)

I can see that, TC.

People here are sensitive to the fact that Nintendo is going for the NonGamer/Casual gamer crowd...but guys, they are really doing that...and it's okay.:)

Most individuals calling themselves 'hardcore gamers' are usually nothing more than youngkids in search of some sort of title to make themselfes feel more important, or either older inadiquate individuals probably suffering mental health issues..

If your payed to play games in public, endorse gaming tech, judge contests or even open gaming seminas then please feel free to call yourself a 'Hardcore Gamer'.. If not; then please grow up because you sound ridiculous.

:):

[QUOTE="osan0"]if you dont have a 360 and/or PS3 then your not a hardcore gamer. PCs, DSs, PSP and wiis are casual crap fests :P. j/k seriously....the definition is someone who, for some bizarre reason, thinks there better than someone else because they play alot of games. the whole hardcore/casual stuff is just a load of nonsense. there are gamers and there are people who dont play computer games...yet :). whether they play a very realistic sim for hours on end or online poker in the evening...there gamers. then theres this other nonsense of hardcore and casual games....a load of rubbish. there are only 2 types of games....good games and bad games....and at the end of the day what makes a good game and what makes a bad games is in the eye of the gamer.Revan_911

either way its all bollocks really

In my opinion its just a label people give themselves to make themselves more 'important' if you know what I mean.

I see the term hardcore gamer getting critizied alot now as being an elitist stance. People say that "just because you play violent games doesnt make you a hardcore gamer" etc etc, but who said it does?

For me the definition of a hardcore gamer is pretty simple. A hardcore gamer is someone who spends a significant amount of their disposable income on gaming and spends a considerable amount of their free time playing games. A casual gamer is someone who doesnt meet this criteria. Why cant we agree on this?

And yes someone who plays halo or wii sports all day is a hardcore gamer as for me the term has all to do with how dedicated someone is. The casual gamer who doesnt like challenging games is an entirely different subject and something I am not a fan of. What is challenging and fun to you maybe utter boredom and frustration for the other so why should he play it?

I also agree that just because a software appears on a game console does not automatically mean that we treat it as a video game. Wii fit is clearly not a game as it's main purpose is to lose weight and not play a game, same could be argued for the brian training and cooking software on nintendo systems.

The bottom line is that when someone calls wii owners as casual then generally speaking that statement is not wrong as everyone of us can observe in our daily lives that wii owners generally spend less time playing games than PS3 and 360 owners. Ofcourse there would be some uber casuals on the PS3 side as well who bought it for a blue ray player but apparantly they are a lot less than the wii casuals.

Gambler_3

To answer some of your questions:

1) Countless people on THIS website, and other gaming websites FREQUENTLY refer to FPS games as automatically being "hardcore" because they are M rated and/or contain violence. They follow that illogical claim up with the idea that people who PLAY those games must then automaticaly be hardcore gamers. This is untrue. The FPS genre is a success specifically because of its appeal to casual gamers looking for a quick, twitch gaming fest.

2) Someone who spends a lot of time and money on games is automatically hardcore? Gee...then that means every teenage boy with a part time job at McDonald's is automatically hardcore. I am in my 30s and have been gaming my whole life. I've been gaming since consoles were first invented. When the console industry crashed, I spent every free moment in arcades. I follow the industry as a whole and always try to stay educated on what is happening in the gaming world. However, these days I'm lucky if I can game for 2-3 hours per WEEK. There are plenty of games out there I'd like to buy but simply can't because I don't have the time to play them and my "disposable income" is spent more on fixing up my house and/or on my 19 month old son.

So am I now casual because I can't spend as much time or money on games as some 16 year old kid with no responsibilities? Am I more casual than people who play more games but have no clue of the industry? Am I more of a casual gamer than somebody who hates any videogames that aren't FPS? Because it seems to me no self-proclaimed "hardcore gamer" would hate ANY genre or any attempt at innovation in gaming. Yet this happens CONSTANTLY. Then again, I figure if anyone feels they have to proclaim themselves as being "hardcore" at something, then chances are they aren't really.

3) I would argue that someone who only play Halo or Wii sports all day is a Hardcore Halo FAN or Hardcore Wii Sports FAN...not necessarily a hardcore GAMER. To say you are a hardcore gamer implies a loyalty to GAMING as a whole...not just one small type of game or one particular title.

4) The more a console sells, the chances are it has a higher percentage of casual gamer buying it than lower selling consoles. That seems to be the trend as the casual gamer is always the majority of the market. The PS2 didn't get to 150 million sales because there are tens of millions of hardcore gamers. It got there because it was seen as the "cool" or "popular" console to have, at a time when gaming was the cool/popular trend, so casual bandwagon jumpers flocked to the PS2. Now they mainly flock to the Wii/360. As the PS3 starts to see an increase in sales, it too will attract more and more casuals and become more reliant on casuals for continued sales.

Oh well, Im not a hardcore gamer anymore. I don't have enough time for play games; in fact, I only play like a hour or two so that makes me a casual?Miroku32

For me it matters what type of games they play, not how often the play them.

For my observetion hardcore gamer is a core games lover that is sceptic for inovations (at least at first), like untypical genres (We had nice example with HR :P), motion controlers etc.. In short just like classical PC and NES-like gameing in modern form

For me it matters what type of games they play, not how often the play them.

Yandere

For me the definition of a hardcore gamer is....Gambler_3

[QUOTE="Yandere"]

For me it matters what type of games they play, not how often the play them.

Jandurin

When did anyone say hardcore gamers are better than casual gamers?

I find someone that plays

more "hardcore" than someone that plays

that implies that you think they're betterJandurin

[QUOTE="Jandurin"]that implies that you think they're betterDystopian-X

True, its just categorization.

real hardcore gamers dont even spent time in forums talking about hardcoregaming and casualgaming, they just game.

i giggle when i hear someone say they are hardcore... yes that is all i am going to say.

P.S. I think it's just a silly label to make someone feel better about themselves. But each totheir own.

To me a real hardcore gamer is one who usesalot of his free time playing games, or thinking about them.

He is also one who are able to see the good things in most games, not being effected by platforms or graphics, but who deep down care way more about gameplay then hype and the mainstream "cool games".

He is someone who aint afraid to stuff in a wii game, and act silly, if there is a premise of it being good, afterall it is a videogame, just like GEOW or GOW.

one who might have a preference in genres, and types of game, but does not dismiss games soley by looks, or lack of hype.

In short a hardcore gamer simply loves games, of all sizes and shapes.

(do note that while I did say "he" a "she" is also fully possible.

ill agree in terms of time, but the type of game definitely matters, listen i dont consider a 3 year old who plays wii sports all the time a hardcore gamer. Microsoft1234

[QUOTE="Jandurin"]that implies that you think they're betterDystopian-X

how can you game differently :| if we're gonna categorize it should be "sim gamer" "FPS gamer" "all around gamer" etc.Jandurin

How can you say they are all the same when these are obvious differences are present? lol

There isn't an exact definition for any. Basically, a hardcore gamer is someone who plays games and cares about them beyond the simple action of playing them, and a casual player is someone who plays games and stops caring about them the moment he stops the action of playing.

Like anything else in pop culture as time passes the definition may change and certain things may be removed/added, you have to play certain hours a day, you have to play certain games or genres, you have own certain quantity of games and systems, you have to play certain game during certain hours, and so on. Some make sense in the overall context (the more you care about something chances are you will spend more time with it, also own more of it) while others sound like nonsense (being hardcore means playing mature games, that makes you cool over noobs).

As long as you understand as many view-points and posibilities as posible you will be fine in the whole hardcore/casual thing.

How can you say they are all the same when these are obvious differences are present? lol

Dystopian-X

[QUOTE="Dystopian-X"]

How can you say they are all the same when these are obvious differences are present? lol

Jandurin

If some wants feel superior and whatnot becasue of that then so be it I guess, it's not like there isn't attribute.

If we go by that a lot of categorizations are useless then. I personally don't even care much myself, but as you said they are different and that's more than enough for some to categorize.

If some wants feel superior and whatnot becasue of that then so be it I guess, it's not like there isn't attribute.

[QUOTE="Jandurin"]that implies that you think they're betterDystopian-X

prestige cainetao11

If we go by that a lot of categorizations are useless then. I personally don't even care much myself, but as you said they are different and that's more than enough for some to categorize.

If some wants feel superior and whatnot becasue of that then so be it I guess, it's not like there isn't attribute.

yes, a lot of categorizations are useless

labels are such a weak minded thing imo.Jandurin

Well then that's just our opinion on the matter, still doesn't make them the same.

[IT's "better"? So they are separated from "hardcore" because they game differently? I would bet anything they are using their brains, and hands to control the game same as anyone else. That is how people game for the most part. What they play does not matter, imo. We all know hardcore carries more prestige than casual in gaming circles, please, let's stop labeling than playing innocent. cainetao11

=/=

They both use their brains and hands to play, that doesn't make them the same on the game level.

TC, your definitions seem correct.

They way I look at it though, is that it's really Experienced gamers vs. Casual gamers.

The people are experienced like me don't necessarily spend a heavy amount of their income on video games. Rather, they have just been gaming a much longer time and have experience playing all kinds of great games of the years for various genres or only certain ones. For this reason, I'd classify have of the user base that plays Halo 3/ CoD MW2 (for the PS3/Xbox 360) as casuals simply because they lack experience in gaming. You'll often hear these same people claim that Call of Duty MW2 is the best game ever created, or it has the best graphics. They don't have much experience in gaming and are just recently getting into the phenomena of the popularity of gaming growing (gaming industry is just as big as film industry now, right? Or at least kind of close!)

For me it matters what type of games they play, not how often the play them.

Yandere

hm... i dont know about that

so you consider someone that plays darksiders for an hour a week more hardcore than someone that plays wiisports 3 hours a day?

for me, a hardcore gamer is simply someone that has a vast knowledge of videogames. i want to include a set amount of time to play videogames in my definition, but you dont always have time to play.

Disagree Dystopian. One human being playing baseball is not superior to another playing baseball. Yes Ichiro plays as a profession, and that girl plays for fun, but strip away what we have piled on, and the truth is they are human beings playing baseball. Now if this is your argument, proof of being a professional gamer as in earning a living at gaming is needed in order to make the distinction of Hardcore gamer by the example you have given us.cainetao11

Oh and you do know there are gamers who get payed for what they do right?

[QUOTE="cainetao11"]Disagree Dystopian. One human being playing baseball is not superior to another playing baseball. Yes Ichiro plays as a profession, and that girl plays for fun, but strip away what we have piled on, and the truth is they are human beings playing baseball. Now if this is your argument, proof of being a professional gamer as in earning a living at gaming is needed in order to make the distinction of Hardcore gamer by the example you have given us.Dystopian-X

Oh and you do know there are gamers who get payed for what they do right?

its a really hard definition. honestly, i think it can be interpreted as many things. for example, if you've seen the movie "king of kong," would you say those guys are hardcore gamers? how about someone who plays "bejewelled" for 3 hours a day?

its a really hard definition. honestly, i think it can be interpreted as many things. for example, if you've seen the movie "king of kong," would you say those guys are hardcore gamers? how about someone who plays "bejewelled" for 3 hours a day?

clone01

I absolutely know there are. This thread is titled "The definition of a hardcore gamer...." I personally meditate to separate from the ego that creates and believes in these labels and identities in effort to experience life, not sit in analysis of it trying to figure out what I am. But showing me a picture of a human being who earns a living playing baseball, and a little girl playing with others with a bat, and saying they are not the same was for the purpose of status. I say ok. Anyone who says they are "hardcore" should be earning a living at it as Ichiro is at his game. Provide proof people. Yeah 95% of us here probably don't qualify then. But some of us argue that we're "hardcore"? Proving that it is an egotisical label used to stroke ones view of oneself.cainetao11

Some ppl usually jump to "status=bad" but if someone places importance on these traits, giving them a higher regard should come naturally and I'm not against that as long as there is attribute.

You are now placing importance on being paid=hardcore. If someone comes in here and says: 'those dedicated enough and getting payed are more hardcore than the forumites here' then I wouldn't be on the fence about it because he has a point and something to back it up with rather than simply saying "meh I don't care".

i just play it by feeling :P but if i had to categorize i'd say it's a mixture of what you said, and the complexity of the game whether it be the gameplay or the skill involved to get to the top levels etc...

Someone will probably find a flaw in my statement but hey... as we see with the mass of different definitions, there is no right answer. it's like the definition of a hate crime: everyone understands when it's involved but noone can define it properly and there WILL be people who disagree it is a hate crime. (there are probably better examples but i'll stick with that :lol: )