What makes you a "HardCore" gamer

[Angelous Wang]

Blowing off reality to keep on gaming be because you are that into you just don't want to stop.

Forgetting to go sleep and gaming all night.
Spending two or more days in a row without sleeping because you want to finish a game in one secession.
Forgetting to eat all day.
Forgetting to drink.
Holding going to the toilet for as long as possible and until the next best possible time in the game.
Forgetting to go somewhere you were supposed to be.
Telling yourself you'll stop after *time limit/level amount* and then finding yourself still gaming hours after.

Doesn't matter what type of games you play or what you game on.

IMO Hardcore is all about obsession and engrossment.

I would apply the same to being Hardcore at anything.

 

[Phasmal]

I dunno. Liking games a whole lot, spending a lot of time and money on them, talking about them a lot, kind of needing to be with someone who also plays them because a normal person would get sick of you in two minutes?

I guess I would technically fit to the `core/hardcore` category, but I don't lose sleep over my categorisation.

Captcha: smart casual.

What exactly are you suggesting, Captcha? You callin me a casual? You want to fight me, bro?

 

[Inglorious891]

The way I see it, "Casual" refers to mobile, facebook, etc. type of games will little learning and difficulty curve. As the comic suggests above, simple fun and nothing more. "Hardcore" refers to games with more of a learning curve and more depth.

And I know the terms are being discussed as labels for people and not games, but I really don't care since that's how I've always used them. Especially since they're being used more due to the discussion of more "Casual" gameplay mechanics being inserted into more "Hardcore" games (see: Dark Souls II discussions; those sure were fun, right?). That's why I think those terms are being tossed around a lot recently, anyway.

 

[KOMega]

So, "hardcores" are actually, like, the hipsters of gaming? Hah, I am so going to use this one often.

actually that kinda makes sense now.

captcha: laugh at me
... for I am not hardcore enough.

 

[Manji187]

For me, it's simple. Investment (mostly time, but also money) x Complexity = Dedication (following news/ trends, knowing stuff like consoles and their exclusives etc.)

If you consistently invest consecutive hours into a game that is reasonably complex (more complex than stuff like Angry Birds or Wii Sports), you are likely to be dedicated to the medium.

 

[TeaCeremony]

I avoid humanity to game... i think that makes me hardcore.

 

[RandV80]

Yeah honestly I hate the term 'hardcore gamer'. It's become more of a marketing term dedicated to a specific brand of games that seems to have a goal of self-distinguishing the gamer that plays them in a more positive light. But if you consider the term 'hardcore' in other past times it doesn't hold up.

For example, I'm a hardcore hockey enthusiast. I cheer for my NHL team but really follow and know the entire league, as well as lesser international competitions like the World Juniors or World Championships. I generally do about 4 hockey pools a year, primarily on Yahoo, and since 2001 have managed 34 teams with 22 trophies (top 3 finish) and an 80% winning average. I also am consistently involved in 3-4 more hardcore 'sim leagues' where you play GM online with other people while only simulating games. I've also been playing ice hockey for 5 years now, had enough money to join a second beer league team for the first time last year and haven't missed a game in 2 years.

In my opinion if you want to call something or someone hardcore you need to do something extra that distinguishes you from your fellow enthusiasts. It shouldn't be a club you can join by simply buying the right games.

 

[hermes]

It doesn't need to be "refreshed", it needs to be disposed. It is meaningless...

I guess the difference could be the amount of time we dedicate to gaming. So casual could be 5 or 6 hours a week and a hardcore could be 20+ hours a week? Maybe WoW players because for many it is there life. Where other gamers play for entertainment and fit it in with their every day stuff.

I have seen that argument thrown around quite a bit. I don't think its a fair or an accurate distinction, as adult people tend to have busy periods were playing for 1 or 2 hours a day is more than enough. Also, some people spend more than that in facebook or mobile games...

OT:
- I have platinum some long games in my library.
- I have beaten several RPGs (both western and eastern), many of which after more than 100 hours.
- I have been playing since the Atari days.
- I have beaten some of the hardest (not impossible) old school games of the NES era.
- I could reach the last level of Contra without using the Konami code.
- I know the Konami code by heart.

 

[thesilentman]

I can play Lunatic Touhou! I win!

Right, hardcore is just an elitist thing which I don't give more than a single fuck about. If you like gaming, you're hardcore. Done. Nothing more, nothing less. =D

 

[The White Hunter]

Well I play videogames for fun and enjoy many of them. I often enjoy more traditional genres and more complex or fulfilling experiences.

I do despise the term hardcore though. It's used by the pathetic excuses of people that spend 18 hours a day playing COD to describe their addiction and justify it.

 

[The White Hunter]

Edit: Double post, forum done goofed.

Oooh 5000 inbox messages? Either The Injustice League got popular or the forums spazzing again.

 

[Gorrath]

I usually use the terms "Hardcore" and "Casual" to differentiate between individuals who count gaming as a core hobby and those who don't. My mother and father are both "hardcore" gamers under this deffinition. While the terms have picked up a lot of stigma and there isn't really a universal understanding of what they mean, I think differentiating between gamers who play as a core hobby and those who do not is a useful tool.

OT: I've pared down my gaming habits a bit, but I owned every major console from the Atari 2600 up until this past console generation when I sat out on the PS3. I have over 700 hours logged in Skyrim and hundreds and hundreds more in Sims 3. I own every core pokemon game and have probably 2,000 hours or more across all of them. I was very deep into Dark Age of Camelot (best mmo evar) and had something along the lines of 3/4 of a year spent in game.

I uh, kind of really like video games.

 

[Saulkar]

Let me sit you down and explain this very carefully...

My investment and knowledge of the medium vs someone who simply sits down to play games every once and a little while.

 

[J.McMillen]

I find the whole argument a waste of time. Especially considering that video game players co-opted the term "gamer" from the tabletop crowd.

I'm old enough to remember when "gamer" had nothing to do with computer or console games. It meant you played tabletop role playing games (D&D, GURPS, Champions), war games (Star Fleet Battles, Battletech, Warhammer) and/or niche board games (Talisman, Cosmic Encounters, Axis & Allies). Being a gamer meant that you enjoyed playing games and were usually willing to try any new game you could sit down to play.

A "hardcore gamer" was usually someone who was too obsessed over a few games (or even just one game). Most people I knew steered clear of those types because the tended to be too competitive and didn't have patients for people who played casually (i.e. for fun).

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I'm definitely not casual, but I don't game every day either. I don't really like the idea of "hardcore" or "casual" because gamers are gamers no matter how they play.

 

[Zhukov]

I'm not.

"Hardcore gamers" are miserable snobs that I wouldn't want within 50 meters of myself.

If someone were to call me a hardcore gamer to my face, I'd vehemently deny it.

 

[klaynexas3]

Dunno, I've been playing for as long as I can remember(I'm not joking, I can't remember a time in my life where I didn't want to play a game) back when I would go to my cousin's house or rent the N64 from the local movie rental store, then I got a PS1 when I was 5, currently own every console from the last 2 generations and most from the previous, most of the handhelds, have a pretty damn good gaming PC, and I will be studying game design and will become a game designer after college. I might not be great at them, but I love games with a passion. If that's not enough to be considered a good enough gamer, fine, I don't care. I love games, not you people.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

It doesn't need to be "refreshed", it needs to be disposed. It is meaningless...

I guess the difference could be the amount of time we dedicate to gaming. So casual could be 5 or 6 hours a week and a hardcore could be 20+ hours a week? Maybe WoW players because for many it is there life. Where other gamers play for entertainment and fit it in with their every day stuff.

I have seen that argument thrown around quite a bit. I don't think its a fair or an accurate distinction, as adult people tend to have busy periods were playing for 1 or 2 hours a day is more than enough. Also, some people spend more than that in facebook or mobile games...

OT:
- I have platinum some long games in my library.
- I have beaten several RPGs (both western and eastern), many of which after more than 100 hours.
- I have been playing since the Atari days.
- I have beaten some of the hardest (not impossible) old school games of the NES era.
- I could reach the last level of Contra without using the Konami code.
- I know the Konami code by heart.

I think playtime is merely a facet of hardcore, a way it can present itself. I don't think anyone who used that description did so in an all-encompassing "this is the only thing!" way. It's just one pretty good indicator that you're serious about your games. It doesn't mean that if you don't play for very long hours every day you are instantly disqualified. All it means is that if you DO, you more likely than not (by a huge margin) would be hardcore about your gaming.




I also think that you don't need to be a currently active gamer or to have kept up with the modern waves of gaming in order to qualify either. Even if you, say, really really love classic Jrpgs for example and don't bother playing any other genre, as long as you take them SERIOUSLY and as long as they mean to you more than any other generic form of media, you should qualify.


I don't think you need to keep up with the modern AAA games to be hardcore, as long as games mean something more than "interchangeable time killer X" to you, you should qualify.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I'm too busy playing games to be concerned about the distinction between hardcore and casual, I just play to have fun.