So lately I have been reading a lot about "hardcore" vs. "casual" and what the definition of a "hardcore" vs. a "casual" game or gamer is, and the most mitigating factor in such a definition I find to be...
the presence of GUNS.
The more guns in your game, the more "hardcore" it seems to be. At least, that's how it's turning out this generation. When someone mentions "hardcore", the first games that come to people's minds seem to be Halo, Call of Duty, Gears of War, Left 4 Dead, and maybe Bioshock. Even the more "hardcore" RPGs are turning into shooters, such as Mass Effect and Fallout 3. They even threw guns into such games as Fable 2 and Darksiders, though in those games you didn't necessarily have to use them. I also think (here comes the flamewar) that the primary reason the Wii gets so much crap from "hardcore" gamers is the lack of an open-world FPS (a la Halo, Call of Duty) on the console.
Now I don't mind guns in games in general; I did use the guns in Fable 2 and Darksiders decently often. However, for the sake of full disclosure, I have never been a fan of FPS. I would like to state my ultimate opinion that (more flamewar fodder) Halo has negatively affected gaming in this way, despite other positive effects it has had. I play plenty of games and would like to call myself a "hardcore" gamer, but nowadays I fear that word has been so strongly attached to the FPS genre that I would think anyone would look at my game collection and severely deny that I am a "hardcore" gamer.
What do you think? Am I right or wrong? I know there are more of you out there who don't enjoy FPS, so do you consider yourselves hardcore? Do you even like the term? If you do think guns make games hardcore, or that FPS in general are more hardcore than other genres, what makes such a game more hardcore, or a player who plays them more hardcore than one who doesn't?
the presence of GUNS.
The more guns in your game, the more "hardcore" it seems to be. At least, that's how it's turning out this generation. When someone mentions "hardcore", the first games that come to people's minds seem to be Halo, Call of Duty, Gears of War, Left 4 Dead, and maybe Bioshock. Even the more "hardcore" RPGs are turning into shooters, such as Mass Effect and Fallout 3. They even threw guns into such games as Fable 2 and Darksiders, though in those games you didn't necessarily have to use them. I also think (here comes the flamewar) that the primary reason the Wii gets so much crap from "hardcore" gamers is the lack of an open-world FPS (a la Halo, Call of Duty) on the console.
Now I don't mind guns in games in general; I did use the guns in Fable 2 and Darksiders decently often. However, for the sake of full disclosure, I have never been a fan of FPS. I would like to state my ultimate opinion that (more flamewar fodder) Halo has negatively affected gaming in this way, despite other positive effects it has had. I play plenty of games and would like to call myself a "hardcore" gamer, but nowadays I fear that word has been so strongly attached to the FPS genre that I would think anyone would look at my game collection and severely deny that I am a "hardcore" gamer.
What do you think? Am I right or wrong? I know there are more of you out there who don't enjoy FPS, so do you consider yourselves hardcore? Do you even like the term? If you do think guns make games hardcore, or that FPS in general are more hardcore than other genres, what makes such a game more hardcore, or a player who plays them more hardcore than one who doesn't?
