Just how casual is casual anyway?

[keniakittykat]

I love all kinds of games. From flash dress-up games to bioshock to obscure retro titles and everything in between.
One of my favorite developers is 'Nitrome' and they make fun, colorful browser based flash games.

But does playing these make me less of a gamer? I've been playing since I was a little girl, Doom and wolvenstein were some of the first games I ever played and have at least 7 consoles with a decently sized libraries for them lying around, so by most standards I'm a 'hardcore gamer'.

While I enjoy playing wii games and pick-up and play games as well, so I'm actually casual?

I my opinion a gamer is someone who plays games as a real hobby. No matter the game or platform. So why do we keep on labeling people? Is it just snobbish, or is there truly a difference that causes a problem?

And why is the casual market being looked down upon to the point that the word 'casual' is used almost as an insult? Is it a good thing that people who never would have played otherwise get introduced to our #1 favorite pass-time? Or is it hurting and crippling the market by causing games to be easier and more accessible.

What's your opinion?

 

[lRookiel]

What are you? Casul?


I don't think casual should be a thing. There are gamers who prefer different types of games, big fucking deal. No need to create this hardcore/casual shit

 

[ohnoitsabear]

Fuck labels. They're almost completely pointless in the context of gaming (and just about any other context, really). They may have some use for businesspeople differentiating the markets of different kinds of games, but for describing one's tastes in gaming, it's completely worthless.

It doesn't help that the terms "casual" and "hardcore" as related to gaming are so overused to become basically meaningless at this point. Neither of them are very good at describing what they're supposed to be describing, and they have so many connotations at this point that I'm in favor of abandoning them altogether. That said, I still do use them sometimes, just because everybody knows what I'm talking about.

Really, gaming being more accessible is by no means a bad thing. More people enjoying games can only be good. I do kind of wish that there were a few more games that bridged the gap between "casual" and "core" games, but that comes more from a selfish desire to have more people playing the games I like so that more of them will be made than any issue with casual games themselves.

That's not to say there aren't some "casual" games that I take exception with (cowclickers, namely). But then again, there are a lot of "core" games that I take exception with too, so that really isn't saying anything.

 

[Windcaler]

Casual gamers arent lesser gamers IMO. If I had to put a label on myself, as much as I despise labels, I would call myslef a hardcore PC gamer however that doesnt make me any more or less of a gamer then other people who use games as their primary source of entertainment. Its just a descriptor for the kinds of things I personally enjoy

That said, casual games tend to be ones where theres little need to invest time into it. The game is easily understood and has few, if any, meanings. If thats what a person likes, thats fine, we all have our personal prefernces. Hell even though Im a hardcore PC gamer sometimes Ill play plants vs zombies or Extreme fishing because those games are fun. It doesnt stop me from playing, or make me worse at playing, titles like battlefield 3, Morrowind, Xcom: Enemy unknown, or any other core or hardcore game.

At the end of the day whats important is youre doing what you enjoy. I think its a tragedy when people spend their leasuire time doing something they dont enjoy

TLDR: Play what you enjoy on whatever system you enjoy and dont worry about the labels

 

[DoPo]

I my opinion a gamer is someone who plays games as a real hobby. No matter the game or platform. So why do we keep on labeling people? Is it just snobbish, or is there truly a difference that causes a problem?

I can't believe you asked that - you are truly not a hardcore gamer if you have to. See real hardcore players rely on ub3r1337-ness to work - it makes them stronger, faster, smarter, better overall. Even healthier - real hardcore gamers can live at least 200-250 year, maybe more, depending on the levels of ub3r1337-ness. Erm, that's a theory for now, though, as video games have not existed for that long, but everything we know so far supports it - in just two short centuries it would be reality. Anyway, according to another theory, hardcore gamers can even become immortal with the right amount of ub3r1337-ness.

And here is where games come in - exposure to the right games changes the structure of the body and helps it generate more ub3r1337-ness. And those are, of course, hardcore games. They turn normal people into Superman. Well, the people still need a steady supply of the games, otherwise their body would slowly deteriorate and return to being normal - the right games prevent the process, the wrong games on the other hand not only allow it, they accelerate it and can even damage future improvements.

And this is where casual games come in - they are like poison to hardcore gamers - they give out lam3 waves which. In fact, they are like kryptonite. Casual gamers have all been exposed to that wretched influence and sufficient exposure to casual games also has effects on the human body. If the body absorbs enough lam3 waves, it can turn into a sort of a battery and start radiating the excess amounts. You can see how that can be a problem for the hardcore gamers - they not only have to avoid certain games to be immortal, they also have to avoid people, too. But there is an additional problem to go here as well - lam3 waves are...for the lack of a better term "addictive". They also alter the brain chemistry in such a way that the "junkie" subconsciously tries to seek them out. Those addicted usually don't even know they are addicted. However, they do know what they want, so they would push for casualising other games in order to be able to get their fix from elsewhere, too. Thus even more casual gamer addicts are created and also, the hardcore gamers get even fewer games that would give them ub3r1337-ness and have to avoid more people, too.

So there it is - casual games are hurting the evolution of the human race into superbeings. That counts as a problem, right?

 

[OneOfTheMichael's]

Eh there should be a casual for casual gamers and they shoudln't be judged by their play style.
Not that I'm casual, considering I just beat infinite on 1999, but I'm glad my dad can game and make some progress before dying every 30 seconds.

snip*

So there it is - casual games are hurting the evolution of the human race into superbeings. That counts as a problem, right?

I'd say 'swag' to be more devolving to humanity than casual gamers, but thats just my opinion.

 

[FalloutJack]

You know what? I don't understand this shit on purpose, because people who think like that brain my damage.

 

[Risingblade]

People who only play FB games maybe

 

[Guffe]

People play games = someone who plays games
is that a gamer, well I think so. I don't care what you play as long as you enjoy it. Some people want fast paced action games, others want strategic war games while some people want their own farm (I'm thinking Harvest Moon not Farmville!!! xD)
So no, I don't like the whole "hardcore" and "casual" thing.

 

[King of Asgaard]

What are you? Casul?


I don't think casual should be a thing. There are gamers who prefer different types of games, big fucking deal. No need to create this hardcore/casual shit

Holy Fuck, ninja'd!
Also, I share your opinion, but I couldn't not quote you for that video.

 

[octafish]

I figure anyone not playing flight/driving sims with a full cockpit is a casual.

 

[Yopaz]

I've been playing since I was a little girl

Yeah, clearly you can't be a gamer, this part of your post gave it away.

Nah, I'm just kidding.

Casual/hardcore are terms that don't mean anything to me. I play games that most would refer to as "hardcore" and some games that could be referred to as "casual". Now some people define a hardcore gamer as someone who plays more than one (or one kind of) game which would place me far into the hardcore specter since I enjoy a lot of games. Then there are those who say you have to play shooters in order to be hardcore which would place me a little outside since that's not my favourite (I do like some).

My attitude towards gaming could best be described as casual since I don't care about what games I play, I don't care about how high I rank compared to the rest of the world. I am laid back, uncaring and I can't be bothered to care.

Now here's the kicker though. I don't use the expression gamer about myself. It's not a term that describes me one bit. I am so many things other than my hobby. Honestly calling myself a gamer would be like someone who took one biology class in high school calling himself a scientist.

 

[Spambot 3000]

Everyone who isn't me is fucking casual. Whiny, little, inconsiderate casuals. Get a load of these 'hardcore gamers' nowadays. Think they're fucking hot shit playing Counter Strike and Dark Souls on those fucking calculators they call PCs. I eat those games for breakfast in a big bowl of nails, and I need those nails in there to take the disgusting softness out of eating such pussy games. I'm playing twenty games right now as I'm tying this on my computer made out of technology no-one will see for the next 60 years. In the centre of a volcano. With my BALLS. That's right. Over 1000 degrees Celsius, fucking people up online and completing 12-hour long campaigns in 10 minutes flat with my just my testicles.
So you know that neckbeard that screeches at you for being 'casual'? Tell the little shit about me. He ain't fucking 'hardcore' until he's simultaneously number one in the world at three different first person shooters with his nuts roasted and bleeding.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I assumed "Casual" was a sort of derogatory term used by the bigger jerks in the gaming community. It doesn't seem to have become that derogatory though unless you're an equally big jerk; in reality I see casual gaming as something along the lines of someone playing Bejeweled in between TPS Reports or, Angry Birds on a bus in town or, playing Pokemon on a flight from one state to another. Hell, if you're sick at home and happen to have a copy of Call of Duty that you mess with sometimes, THAT is casually playing a game (when you would rather be out at a new movie or, skateboarding or, sculpting or whatever). Anyway you, OP don't sound like a casual gamer at all. If you prefer more casual games (ie: games that don't require a huge time or, attention commitment like Final Fantasy or, Starcraft) but you do spend a majority of your free time playing those casual games then I don't see how you would be classified as a casual gamer. I haven't visited Newgrounds in a while and I used to spend a ton of my time playing the games on there...I should go back there sometime...or at least boot up Poacher again...

 

[Best of the 3]

You can be a casual gamer who plays something like Dark Souls for fun, or a hard core gamer who has the highest score on Candy Crush. It's not about the game you play, it's about how seriously you take it.

That and these labels themselves annoy me. You're a gamer, that's it. Casual or hardcore shouldn't really factor into it. There's no casual or hardcore reader, movie goer etc (as far as I know) so there shouldn't for gaming either.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Well I suppose anyone who dosent play as much as you is a casual when compared to you or rather slightly more casual just as you are casual compared to someone else or maybe you play a lot of one type of gme and are really good at it sorta hardcore but then odds are you are a casual in other games.

You can usually tell a casual though they have low IQs and are easily led they also tend to smell bad hardcore gamers however are model specimens of the human race some have obtained a semblance of godhood also they can headbutt through a brick wall up to 2ft deep they are that hard and awesome.

 

[Hagi]

The way it seems to work is that you're hardcore if you use these terms.

You're casual if you do not.