The Conundrum: Hardcore/Casual

Post by Claude (3,206 posts) See mini bio

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GameCube 1.5

Hardcore Casual

Shovelwarestation
Portstation
LastGen
WiiSuxLOLZ!!!
Hardcore wut?

What is it to be a hardcore gamer? Who perpetuates this term? Is hardcore next gen? What the fuck is hardcore? Check this out... I was on the Nintendo Channel browsing around on my Wii. I found where you could recommend a game. I decided to recommend Tiger Woods 10. Turned out to be a survey... This question broke my heart. Would you consider this game "Casual or Hardcore"? What the fuck, I was stumped. It could be both. All-Play mode is so easy a two year old could play it. Hell, Tiger Woods for the Wii is all over the place with difficulty and has a boatload of features and games. I logged out of the question for I could not answer.

So, What the hell is hardcore? Gamers, Enthusiast Press, Publishers and Developers all have a hand in the hardcore pie. Question is where does it grow? Who helped create the internet message boards gaming culture? I kind of understand "core" gamer. But what the hell is hardcore?

I don't consider myself hardcore, and I don't understand people who claim to be hardcore. Hell, I might be a hardcore player. My gaming life is all over the place. There's an ebb an flow from gotta play Xbox 360 games with my dual analog gamepad, PC games with the sweet keyboard mouse combo for all types of genres and my Wii with its options galore. Oh, and for the PS3 people, I wish I had one, so many games missed. Maybe I'm hardcore with needs.

What is hardcore? What is casual? Is there such a thing as a hardcore casual player?

Edited 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Bigandtasty (1,222 posts) See mini bio

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It's all semantics to be honest.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by MB (5,927 posts) See mini bio

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Moderator

I'm not one that really subscribes to these notions of hardcore vs casual - but if you're on a gaming website for any reason, then you probably aren't casual anymore.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by ArbitraryWater (1,570 posts) See mini bio

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I'm afraid it's all marketing bullshit at this point. Most games that are not 4X Space Sims or similar ilk appeal to both people who play games a ton and those who only play occasionally. I will use the example of Halo 3, which appeals to both me (a person who would detestably be called "hardcore") and one of my female friends (who kind of sucks, but can still beat other girls and my little brother. Thus, casual?).
These examples show that the majority of games appeal to a wider audience than most of the GameFAQs crazies would like to admit, so the term hardcore can only really be applied to games that are either too hard or too complicated for the average human being to play (Ninja Gaiden, Civilization) which are surprisingly few in number when compared to the games that have the potential to appeal outside the regular contingent of people who play games regularly.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Sparky_Buzzsaw (1,255 posts) See mini bio

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I want to see the terms go away and die a peaceful death. Like you say, there are definitely such things as "core" gamers, but that's about as much as I believe in. We all play games. Our tastes in those games might be completely different, but at the end of the day, we're all just out for a little fun with them. I can definitely see the development of more concise gamer "groups," such as JRPG gamers, shmuppers, and the like, but the difference between casual and hardcore is so vague and gray that I'd rather the terms just not exist.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by GamerGeek360 (752 posts) See mini bio

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This is a weird game of tug-of-war in my opinion. I consider myself hardcore in the fact that I play a lot of games and get really into gaming news and learning about all of it. Other than that, I don't really know what I'd be.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by DBoy (249 posts) See mini bio

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I just discovered recently that I'm more of a casual gamer than a hardcore one, since I've been playing a ton of sports games and almost no other genre of games. Or maybe I'm a hardcore, since the sports games I played are not all that casual (Virtua Tennis 2009, Tiger Woods 10 & MLB 09)...

Ugh, I don't know anymore.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Sweep (791 posts) See mini bio

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I like to differentiate the following way:

A hardcore gamer is one who actively makes time to play and improve at videogames.
A hardcore game is one with a steep, extensive learning curve that often requires a large time commitment.
A casual gamer is someone who plays in between doing other more important life stuff, gaming as a meaningless form of procrastination.
A casual game can be picked up and played by almost anyone with minimal practice and effort.

But there is no universal understanding of it. I don't let it worry me, I play what I want regardless.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by DarkGamerOO7 (202 posts) See mini bio

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I really don't like to think of games as casual or hardcore (most games are as casual or hardcore as YOU make them) with some few and pretty much obvious exceptions (Not many people who religiously play video games are going to play Wii music, and not many people who think Wii music is the shit are going to play Counter-Strike). However I fully believe in the Hardcore, and Casual labels of gamers.

To me a Hardcore Gamer is someone who

Plays video games as often as he can
Has a strong knowledge of games and gaming industry
Plays video games to get better at them
Gaming is a main hobby or one of their main hobbies

To me a Casual Gamer is someone who

Occasionally plays video games but doesn't always play them as often as they could or only places rarely

Has little to no knowledge of games or the gaming industry
Just plays games every now and then with no care to how good they are
Gaming isn't really a hobby to them as much as it is just to pass time

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Keyser_Soze (1,171 posts) See mini bio

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I'm ultra-hardcore and proud, heck I'd even state that as a fact in a court of law. Fact.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by EpicSteve (845 posts) See mini bio

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I think the terminologies are dumb, but I guess the gaming world needs some sort of terms to define demographics. Ultimately you're on a somewhat obscure videogame website blogging and participating in forums (you probably listen to podcasts as well), which are activities that Joe and Soccer Mom shopping at Wal-Mart or Gamestop don't even know exist. We could spend hours defining what exactly defines one or the other, but really, you should be able to tell who belongs to which side based merely on gaming habits.

Gaming for me is a hobby (I was so tempted to say religion, for those old Hotspot listeners) I plan to make a career out of it, so I guess you could call me proper hardcore. My mother plays hardcore games such as Left 4 Dead and Resident Evil, but she's casual. I play games like Peggle and Mario Kart, but I guess I would be "hardcore". It's not the games you play, it's the lifestyle.

Edited 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Hamz (3,364 posts) See mini bio

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I personally don't buy into the Hardcore vs Casual debate or method of thinking that so many within the gaming community and industry seem too. We play games we enjoy from genres, developers, publishers and on platforms we enjoy and that fit our preference. Why debate it any further than that?

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Claude (3,206 posts) See mini bio

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@MB said:

" I'm not one that really subscribes to these notions of hardcore vs casual - but if you're on a gaming website for any reason, then you probably aren't casual anymore. "

I'm hardcore casual... I called it.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by ZombieHunter (2,799 posts) See mini bio

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@Claude said:

" @MB said:
" I'm not one that really subscribes to these notions of hardcore vs casual - but if you're on a gaming website for any reason, then you probably aren't casual anymore. "
I'm hardcore casual... I called it. "

Burn the witch !!!!!!!!!

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Godwind (1,456 posts) See mini bio

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@ZombieHunter said:

" @Claude said:
" @MB said:
" I'm not one that really subscribes to these notions of hardcore vs casual - but if you're on a gaming website for any reason, then you probably aren't casual anymore. "
I'm hardcore casual... I called it. "
Burn the witch !!!!!!!!! "

@MB said:

" I'm not one that really subscribes to these notions of hardcore vs casual - but if you're on a gaming website for any reason, then you probably aren't casual anymore. "

Its not intended for gamers, its intended for business analysis. People with suits.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Hailinel (1,388 posts) See mini bio

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I grew up with and still play a lot of quote-unquote "Core" games, but then again, put Dr. Mario or Tetris in my hand and I'm just as likely to have fun. The terms (and necessary) for marketers, but otherwise they're not necessary for people like us. I think the people that cling to those monikers (especially the "hardcore") need to work on how secure they feel in their tastes. Otherwise they just sound defensive, as though the casuals could come and destroy their hobby at a moment's notice.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Claude (3,206 posts) See mini bio

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@Sweep: A picture adds a thousand words.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Dalai (1,620 posts) See mini bio

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I've never liked that question in those Nintendo Channel surveys. Hardcore or casual... Tiger Woods 10 looks like it could be both. Hell, Wii Sports could be a hardcore game. It's all in how you use the game.

As for Wii Piss, we all know that's totally hardcore.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by LiquidPrince (6,624 posts) See mini bio

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I say a game that has been watered down, and made fit to work with stupid gimmicks is what is considered casual, and a game that has high production values and does what it strives to do originally is hardcore.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Ferginator4k (174 posts) See mini bio

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To me, a hardcore game is a game that is very difficult and time consuming but rewarding to the player who dedicates this time.
And a casual game is a game that is fun and engaging for any amount of time.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by SL33TBL1ND (104 posts) See mini bio

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@ArbitraryWater said:

"I'm afraid it's all marketing bullshit at this point. Most games that are not 4X Space Sims or similar ilk appeal to both people who play games a ton and those who only play occasionally. I will use the example of Halo 3, which appeals to both me (a person who would detestably be called "hardcore") and one of my female friends (who kind of sucks, but can still beat other girls and my little brother. Thus, casual?). These examples show that the majority of games appeal to a wider audience than most of the GameFAQs crazies would like to admit, so the term hardcore can only really be applied to games that are either too hard or too complicated for the average human being to play (Ninja Gaiden, Civilization) which are surprisingly few in number when compared to the games that have the potential to appeal outside the regular contingent of people who play games regularly."

Not all of us GameFAQS people are crazy thankyou very much! But anyway, I consider myself a harcore gamer because of the way I play my games, not which games I play. For example, Plants Vs Zombies would probably be considered a casual game. But once you start looking at the people who dedicate all of there time into perfecting strategies, growing their wisdom tree to max hight and getting all the achievements. They would be defined as a hardcore PVZ player. You could have a casual player of say, TF2, playing every now and then for a laugh, or the hardcore player dedicating entire weekends to clan matches. At least this is what I've always though.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by ahoodedfigure (747 posts) See mini bio

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It's all about tribes. This has been going on ever since there was competition between gaming platforms. People have come up with terms to help differentiate themselves from fellow enthusiasts to feel better about the time spent on their hobby.

Kids need to feel like they belong to something, so some random, tough sounding word is good enough for them, even though if you actually get into definitions, like with so many other belief systems, it varies from person to person.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Sweep (791 posts) See mini bio

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@Hamz said:

" I personally don't buy into the Hardcore vs Casual debate or method of thinking that so many within the gaming community and industry seem too. We play games we enjoy from genres, developers, publishers and on platforms we enjoy and that fit our preference. Why debate it any further than that? "

But there are games which obviously land at either end of the spectrum. The Casual Wii Sports player may be completely bewildered by something as punishing and complicated as the extensive combinations in Ninja Gaiden 2 for example. But then there are others, as Claude says, which sit in the middle. Something like Tiger Woods, or even Street Fighter 4. I play a fairly decent Blanka but I'm not kidding myself, I know there are several whole layers of abstraction that can be applied to the mechanics above the one in which I currently operate. There are layers to each game which can serve different types of gamers, seperating games into these two catagories is not necessarily as black-and-white as it may appear buy it can potentialy prove insightful.

Edited 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by EpicSteve (845 posts) See mini bio

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Is she playing a pissing game?

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Post by Bruce (1,329 posts) See mini bio

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Wii pissing contests!

Posted 4 months ago

Post by donwoogie (85 posts) See mini bio

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@Claude: Hardcore and Casual should be used to describle the games, and you as a gamer are one or the other depending on which category most of the games you play fall into. As for the games themselves, there are some that could float into bother categories, but these tend to be labeled by the masses as casual games anyway since hardcore gamers are never willing to share a game with the casual crowd.

Posted 4 months ago

Post by Claude (3,206 posts) See mini bio

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@donwoogie said:

" @Claude: Hardcore and Casual should be used to describle the games, and you as a gamer are one or the other depending on which category most of the games you play fall into. As for the games themselves, there are some that could float into bother categories, but these tend to be labeled by the masses as casual games anyway since hardcore gamers are never willing to share a game with the casual crowd. "

Hardcore gamers need to get over it. Hardcore Casual is my stance... of course, I jest a little. Peggle is a casual game, but what if I'm a hardcore Peggle player "Best in the World". What does it matter? Don't say I'm hardcore. Just say I like Peggle and I'm good at it.

Games should not be described as hardcore or casual and gamers that describe themselves as hardcore are diluted if they think the casual crowd is any less hardcore.

In a lot of ways, I'm mostly talking about how people view the Wii. The numbers don't lie.. they say, hardcore games don't sale on the Wii, because the Wii is casual. I say they're wrong. The Wii is not casual, it's just a different kind of experience and developers need to find what works on it and what sales.

The PC has tons of so called casual games, but some of those people are hardcore with their casual games.

Casual and Hardcore are in the mind of the beholder and nothing else. The two need to be merged, because in the end... they are all... just video games.

Posted 4 months ago

Post by donwoogie (85 posts) See mini bio

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As I said, hardcore and casual determine the game type, not how into the game the player is. When describing a gamer, then hardcore or casual refers to which category the majority of the gamer's time is spent in or, if they spend a tonne of time in both, then they can be said to play both casual and hardcore games. Simple. And no, they don't NEED to be merged. Most people are happy with the categorisation apparently, because if they weren't, it wouldn't exist.

What you are arguing for is fruitless, they are all video games, but categorisation still needs to happen because that's how your break up and specify a genre. You don't go up to Metalheads and tell them that, despite the fact you like R&B and they like Heavy Metal, you all like music so, essentially, you like the same thing, you just tell them you like R&B despite that fact that, overall, it's all just music. Just because there is crossover between casual and hardcore games every now and then, does no make them the same for most people.

Posted 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Post by JamesF (585 posts) See mini bio

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Nice ass.

Posted 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Post by zityz (617 posts) See mini bio

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There is such thing as a hardcore Casual player. People who play Uno Rush and have like 200+wins in one sitting.

Posted 3 months, 4 weeks ago

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The Conundrum: Hardcore/Casual