The Core/Casual/Hardcore Dynamic

[BreakABone]

As always this is a topic borrowed from another discussion, but I am curious what GT thinks.

But this generation has seen the emergence of people dropping these words every which way. From developers, who make games to cater to one audience to gamers who feel this is X and this is Y.

So what exactly do the terms mean? What are they in reference to? What are the parameters for usage?

[thatmariolover]

:P I'm slow, but I have something written at home on this subject I've been wanting to polish up and post.

I'll see if I can't post it this evening.

[magus113]

I don't think the terms work too well, because hardcore gamers can be anyone that is dedicated to a certain game for a certain period of time, when in reality it would more than likely to be someone who just plays all games, all the time, and is probably very into it.

Although, the term casual gamer is a little more correct for people that pick up a console and play for a little bit maybe every couple days, everyone once in a while.

[KillerGremlin]

[Typhoid]

So what exactly do the terms mean?

I think by "Hardcore" gamer, they either mean: Someone who will undoubtedly buy every Zelda/Mario/Final Fantasy/Halo/Call Of Duty game despite financial ruin or B) Someone who buys and plays a lot of different games.

Casual gamers; I would consider people who play Wii Sports games, Sports games in general, racing games.

What are they in reference to?

The people who play the games.

What are the parameters for usage?

The amount you play a game, and the type of game it is.


Alright, thread solved.
Next.

[TheGame]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

So what exactly do the terms mean?

I'd say hardcore gamers are more likely to go for things that are cutting edge on the technilogical side. Casual gamers go for the simplistic and cheap.. Hardcore gamers go for the sophisticated and expensive.

Hardcore gamers are more likely to follow the industry more too.

[Szymon]

Being that geeks are generally an obsessive group of people, I would say that these terms are loosely connected to the level of obsession that somebody displays regarding a game or gaming in general. In my opinion, it might even mean playing games once or twice a month for a couple of hours, but, this person spends a lot of time obsessing over facts, history and lore, reading up on strategies, watching videos about the game(s), crafting game-related paraphernalia and accessories, or attending gaming related events such as PAX or tournaments.

No doubt there are a lot of people out there that feign this sort of fanaticism by purchasing a few gaming related knick-knacks and adorning their room with them. Gaming culture is becoming cool and it's weird to see people posing as gamers. A quick conversation about the 1-Up mushroom on their shirt is usually enough to reveal these frauds, and seeing these people stealing a culture and parading it on their shirts when they don't share the fanaticism that we do really grates my cheese.

[manasecret]

I think hardcore means people who come to places like Gametavern to discuss what a hardcore gamer is.