These two terms are thrown around very loosely on any gaming site. So who are the hardcore gamers? Is a hardcore gamer someone who plays FPS, RTS, Action, WRPGs, some JRPGs, and some racing sims and casuals are the people who play the other genres? Is a hardcore gamer the person who goes out and buys games that only get 8s-10s on review sites? Some will tell you that the hardcore gamers are the ones of ages 16-25 year old males. You can't confuse hardcore and casual with demographic. Although many understand what is being meant when the terms hardcore and casual are used, the definition of either is incredibly shaky.
The truth of the matter is that you cannot define someone as hardcore or casual by what they play ir who they are. That is like telling someone they aren't an acoholic because they don't drink vodka. That is like defining someone as a casual smoker by what brand they smoke.
From a market standpoint, this is a sales site, casual and hardcore are defined by how much of a product they purchase. A casual smoker only smokes a cigarrette on occasion, while a chain smoker goes through pack after pack. A hardcore gamer probably buys 10+ games a year while a casual gamer only purchases 1-3 games a year.
Are there a lot of casuals on the wii? Yes there are. There are casuals on any system. Not everyone can afford to buy that many games a year. Companies compete for the purchases of the casual. If DQ monster and pokemon come out in the same year, the hardcore will probably end up with both. On the other hand, casuals with ask others which one they should buy.
Are kids casual? I would say no. Kids generally spend there money on toys and video games. Also they have a lot of free time, so it is highly likely that they will complete a game in a relatively short amount of time. Which means that it won't be long before they make there next purchase.
So how would you define hardcore and casual? Which one are you? Which demographics do you think are mostly hardcore or casual?
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