Malstrom rants about the hardcore - completely misses the point.

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What Malstrom refers when he talk about hardcore player ? ( Note that the meaning of a word is determined by who speaks ).

Go to Malstrom main site ( where there are his articles, not his blog ).
There is a section with the misterious name of "Glossary".
Among the definations there is this entry:

Hardcore Player-

This is the self-described word for the traditional market (rejecting outsider words such as ‘obsessed’ or ‘freaks’ for ‘hardcore’ sounds like they have mastered a physical sport). Similar to ‘casual player’, the hardcore is a perspective that is a moving target. Once upon a time, The Legend of Zelda was considered a hardcore game. Now, it is considered a casual game.

In my articles, the Hardcore Player is used as the gaming elitists who believe software such as Brain Age or Wii Fit will destroy gaming, surround themselves with black electronics, and confuse the home theater experience with the gaming experience. Often, I will interrupt my merry text to say (for the hardcore, this means X,Y, and Z). The elitists have difficulty understanding some basic concepts so we must be helpful and place notes for them. The ‘hardcore gamer’ is best illustrated as a stuck up who stares at paintings everyone hates, holds a wine glass with the pinky finger sticking out, sips his red wine, and says, “Ahh, have you noticed the way the quality of paint meshes with the material? My goodness! What fine art this is!”

When I use ‘hardcore player’, I do not mean the player who likes Western games or someone who prefers a more PC experience from their console gaming. I mean the gaming snob.