'Hardcore' games, 'Hardcore' consoles, and a think about the hardcore gamer

[ChromeAlchemist]

Right, so I just want to get this off my chest without starting a flame war and without trolling if possible. This is how I feel.

This 'hardcore games' and 'hardcore consoles' business is bullshit. It's been played out moreso than the 'next-gen' buzzword (I mean seriously, this generation has been here for four years now), and obviously enforced by gamers who feel that a recent wave of games that don't appeal to them are destroying their favourite pass-time by being simplistic in design, and wish to differentiate themselves from such titles.

There is no 'hardcore console' or 'casual console', there are just consoles, just like there are no 'hardcore games' there are just games, and you can only be hardcore at games in particular. The PS3 is in no way shape or form more 'hardcore' a console than the 360 or the Wii, and vice versa, as well as the Wii not being any more of a 'casual' console, and it annoys me when any consoles are labelled as such.

For example, if you spend your time playing CoD4, and generally own everyone, then you are a Hardcore CoD4 gamer by the old standard of thinking...

So if you spend your time playing peggle, and know the game by heart or are a master of the game, then are you not a Hardcore Peggle gamer, thus making you a hardcore gamer? Are you still considered to be a casual gamer if you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggle#Championships win the Peggle European Grand Championships?

Playing Gears Of War does not make you a hardcore gamer, but collecting all the COG tags and achievements does.

There have been too many media articles and other people that have been spouting nonsense about hardcore games when, what makes them hardcore? What makes a game, and what makes a hardcore game? I'm trying to form this into a form of discussion as I go, but I'm sure it's not working (especially if it makes no sense), and two different topics of conversation probably doesn't help.

Either way, end of rant. I may edit for more coherence later.

 

[NeutralDrow]

It's coherent enough already, though I doubt you're going to convince anyone. I do agree, however.

 

[DM.]

Casual gamer: Plays Mostly for fun
Hardcore gamer: Plays Mostly for the challenge

That's what it seems like you're trying to say.

And I agree with it.

Technically people who play Microsoft chess online are hardcore gamers.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I would define a hardcore game as one that requires an investment of a large amount of time and effort from the gamer to complete or become competent at.

 

[BolognaBaloney]

I would define a hardcore game as one that requires an investment of a large amount of time and effort from the gamer to complete or become competent at.

I agree entirely.
Also congrats on 2000

 

[AngloDoom]

The term was spawned by people who kept getting hit with the "well, while you were doing that, I was out having sex with girls" arguement.

If they're a 'hardcore' gamer, then it sounds like they're the Rambo of button-pressing. It's basically announcing themselves king of those with a hollow social life, rather than a failed attempt at leading a great social life.


Then the name became catchy, and people stuck it on everything that was difficult that was either mainstream or involved explosions of some kind. Solving a near-impossible Mario level isn't hardcore, but throw in a few super-soldiers and a fat lump of a protagonist with no hair and a gun the size of their tree-trunk arms, and now its hardcore.

Trying to attach the term to specific parameters is an uphill struggle, due to the diversity and differences in quality of games on the market.

EDIT- I wrote 'meerkat', not market. Best mistake ever.

 

[DonkeysAndClipboards]

OP, do you honestly believe that PS3/360 are just as casual as the WII? Seriously?

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

OP, do you honestly believe that PS3/360 are just as casual as the WII? Seriously?

They have the games and potential to be as casual as the Wii, I don't believe they are but they could be.

 

[DM.]

OP, do you honestly believe that PS3/360 are just as casual as the WII? Seriously?

I don't think you read what he put properly.

Also, this thread seems to have an inhumane amount of views.

 

[Chiasm]

I agree, Always have found it kind of amazing in a good way how games are getting shorter and easier to play rather then viewing it as a bad thing. When you have limited free time and real life you have to juggle it's nice to come home and just play for a few hours either with friends or family before bed.Personally I end up hating all the "hardcore" games anyways that people seem so rabid about.

I feel a lot of issues on why some people are "hardcore" is just they are afraid of change. They remember the old days when it was only men and/or people who played alone in a dark room for hours staring at a single screen for a high score. While now days it is becoming much easier to come home from work,Fix dinner then play a few hours with your SO before your favorite tv show comes on.

 

[Hellion25]

Couldn't agree more, to me anyone who labels themselves as a hardcore gamer because of the console they play has a bit of an inferiority complex. Why feel the need to place yourself above someone based on how "hardcore" your choice of console? It just makes no sense to me. Surely a real gamer would be lapping up any decent game on any system rather than trying to differentiate themselves by annointing each other with a hardcore label.

 

[Fallen_Hitokiri]

I reckon the Wii is for casual gamers...im talkin sup? kinda casual


ps3 is for medium gamers ..... and for hardcore gamers it is more the 360 coz you dont get
all the shiny tools that the ps3 has its more purely gaming plus it has better games

In my opinion

but the most hardcore console would be the SNES
gotta love it

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Hardcore is pretty meaningless without a lot of context. Just another attempt to over simplify things and make crazy assumptions about other people based on a small amount of anecdotal evidence. Not everyone engages with games in the same way even if their background and circumstances are the same.

 

[super_smash_jesus]

Ah, another fellow escapist that hates the term "hardcore" as much as I do. Not to mention you gave an extremely good point on how any person that plays games could technically reach that coveted title, and it doesn't HAVE to involve playing Halo or Gears. I say scrap that entire term from the depths of our gaming world.

 

[lordsandro]

Right, so I just want to get this off my chest without starting a flame war and without trolling if possible. This is how I feel.

This 'hardcore games' and 'hardcore consoles' business is bullshit. It's been played out moreso than the 'next-gen' buzzword (I mean seriously, this generation has been here for four years now), and obviously enforced by gamers who feel that a recent wave of games that don't appeal to them are destroying their favourite pass-time by being simplistic in design, and wish to differentiate themselves from such titles.

There is no 'hardcore console' or 'casual console', there are just consoles, just like there are no 'hardcore games' there are just games, and you can only be hardcore at games in particular. The PS3 is in no way shape or form more 'hardcore' a console than the 360 or the Wii, and vice versa, as well as the Wii not being any more of a 'casual' console, and it annoys me when any consoles are labelled as such.

For example, if you spend your time playing CoD4, and generally own everyone, then you are a Hardcore CoD4 gamer by the old standard of thinking...

So if you spend your time playing peggle, and know the game by heart or are a master of the game, then are you not a Hardcore Peggle gamer, thus making you a hardcore gamer? Are you still considered to be a casual gamer if you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggle#Championships win the Peggle European Grand Championships?

Playing Gears Of War does not make you a hardcore gamer, but collecting all the COG tags and achievements does.

There have been too many media articles and other people that have been spouting nonsense about hardcore games when, what makes them hardcore? What makes a game, and what makes a hardcore game? I'm trying to form this into a form of discussion as I go, but I'm sure it's not working (especially if it makes no sense), and two different topics of conversation probably doesn't help.

Either way, end of rant. I may edit for more coherence later.

I agree with you.

Plus everybody knows that the only hardcore gamers are the ones still playing Quake2 and the ones who have seen all the endings of Falout2.

 

[Credge]

While the 360 with its ease of play

I don't really understand this bit.

Are you implying that the games on the 360 are easier than those on the PS3?

 

[j0z]

Casual gamer: Plays Mostly for fun
Hardcore gamer: Plays Mostly for the challenge

That's what it seems like you're trying to say.

And I agree with it.

Technically people who play Microsoft chess online are hardcore gamers.

This.
I agree with you, OP, in some of the stuff you are saying, but it just doesn't seem possible for the Wii to be considered a "Hardcore" console compared to the PS3 and 360. In fact, Nintendo is specifically targeting the non-hardcore gamers with the Wii. It is a console for "casual" gamers. Not saying there is not any games on it that coudl be considered "hardcore" but in general terms, the PS3 and 360 are much more "hardcore" than the Wii.