I'd say I am, even by that definition. Many of my favorite games (BioShock, Fire Emblem 4, Final Fantasy VI, Fire Emblem, etc.) are my favorites because of the detph of the story and such.
I pretty much agree with that article in every sense. I appreciate old games, I appreciate unknown games, I appreciate beautiful games, and I appreciate games which had interesting ideas that just didn't quite work.
These days, when someone identifies themselves as a gamer, it often means that there's entire eras and genres of gaming that they haven't been exposed to. It's like saying you're a film buff having never seen Citizen Kane.
I know a lot of these people who only play Modern Warfare 2 and other big titles. For one to be hardcore, I think you should be playing games of different genres and different production values. But really, it all boils down to how much videogames you play. If you play almost every day, then I'd say you're hardcore enough.
Yeah I'm qualifying as hardcore according to that. Perhaps simply given by the fact that I don't buy games when they're released. I catch up after, once I see what is the most worthy of attention.
" I am tired of the word "hardcore". Do we have any other ways of describing a person who plays video games as a main hobby? "
"Gamer", although that carries the exact same connotations. On this subject, I'd say there's a large gap in definitions of hardcore, at least with this guy. What about "intellectual gamers", huh? That'd satisfy his conditions, plus I'd still be one of them!
" I am tired of the word "hardcore". Do we have any other ways of describing a person who plays video games as a main hobby? "
"Gamer", although that carries the exact same connotations. On this subject, I'd say there's a large gap in definitions of hardcore, at least with this guy. What about "intellectual gamers", huh? That'd satisfy his conditions, plus I'd still be one of them! "
I am just tired of the whole "casual" gamer vs "hardcore" gamer thing going on in this gen. While I believe anyone who likes to play games should be labeled a gamer there is a problem with categorizing whether you're hardcore based on the games you play. For example, let's say you play Wii Sports. However, you don't play it for 3 hours a week, you play it 5 hours a day. How can someone say he is a casual gamer if he plays one game religiously and knows all the nooks and crannies to gain an edge in that game. Maybe I'm just rambling, but I think we should find a better way to categorize gamers rather than "hardcore" and "casual". Because the definitions of those terms, in my view, have been skewed.
That's probably a bad example, since it's just one game, but I can see your point. However, in my opinion, I'd say there's a certain cut-off point of things you need to do before you're considered hardcore. They're not much, and there's a lot of options, but there's also a certain mindset to the whole thing that separates hardcore and casual. Maybe that's where the controversy arises: the mindset. Anybody here a psychologist?
I tried to read the article three times but kept getting bombarded with extremely intrusive ads (including one that filled up the entire screen). Jesus.
@ThePhantomnaut: that picture reminds me of the single time I crowd surfed. It was at a Violent Femmes concert of all places. One asshole actually bit me and pulled my shoe off and threw it into the crowd (I beat his ass later, which wasn't hard because he was higher than a kite), a girl took the $50-or-so I had in my pocket, and when I was finally tossed over the gate in front of the stage the bouncers roughed me up real bad before my friend, who was working at the venue, stopped them.
That pretty much turned me off to crowd surfing. Man that must have been ten years ago. Funny how time flies.
When people use the term 'hardcore gamer', I don't assume they mean "Yo, I play Halo a lot!", as this guy seems to think the term means. I don't consider an appreciation of the wider games market to have anything to do with it either (the term for that would be 'games connoisseur') - if you regularly buy a lot of games (any games), then you are literally the 'hard core' of the consumer base. That's a totally legit way to differentiate between game purchasers and it's an accurate use of the term. The term itself could not be any more descriptive of what it actually means.
I think hardcore gamer is someone who takes an active interest in the gaming world, where gaming is no longer a simply an entertainment past time, but rather becomes more of a hobby. Taking an interest is what different studios are making, looking up media releases or even just actively reading and contributing to a gaming forum like Giantbomb I think makes you hardcore, as opposed to a soccer mum, who just plays the wii titles and hears about new games from her kids. I have friends who play a lot of games, and enjoy them to, but I wouldn't say they're hardcore, but I would say I am.
I think being a hardcore gamer is simply someone who does more with games and gaming than simply play them.
I'm sick of these labels, but I still think there needs to be some word that identifies a video game enthusiast from a dabbler. The same is true for any hobby, though. In the article, the author refers to movies, and I don't know if there is a word that describes the film goer who sees every Academy Award film before the ceremony, has a large collection of organized DVDs and reads about the film festivals like SXSW, Sundance and Cannes. I've known people like that, but I am not one. I watch whatever is on TV that looks interesting and only visit the theaters on rare occasions. I am not film-hardcore. But, I do enjoy following the games industry news, discussing the details of the hobby, playing new and varied games, and collecting various games from a franchise or genre. The problem is my definition of "hardcore" or even "enthusiast" might be different than someone else's so none of them are acceptable.
By this ill-conceived definition I am certainly hardcore. Hardcore enough to seek out the Japanese Fire Emblem games and play them with a translation patch.
Log in to comment