MrStickball's "4 arguments X360 is for Hardcore Players" And Why It's Crap

[Bodhesatva]

ckmlb said:
It depends on your definition of hardcore.

Core gamers last gen were the guys that played insane amounts of hours and bought lots of games.

Now with Nintendo's new push, the former casual players have become core players and the non gamers are becoming casual players (people who normally do not play games that are playing Wii) at least that's the plan.

So there really should be 3 categories of players, not 2.

Hardcore player- People who buy lots and lots of games and are mostly attracted to certain types of games (games that they play through and beat and not just play them as a passtime).

Core players- People who buy games but go by what's hyped, or what's big and they also have an interest in licenesed movie games or sports games and such to a greater extent than the last group.

Casual players- the new casual players are the ones that either did not play games at all before or very rarely did and now are into the Wii because of that type of game and the controls and such.

In this sense, both the 360 and PS3 mostly cater to the core and hardcore audience with a few exceptions (Scene it, maybe Viva Pinata if it's bought by a kid, Buzz or Singstar).

The Wii is the only one catering in a huge way to the new casuals with a lot more casual-centric games coming out.

Just so we've got this right, a "hardcore" player is someone who stubbornly resists all change and improvement to the medium (which is actually an appropriate definition for some, but probably isn't what you intended). The number of hours spent or games purchased is irrelevant. It's a common mistake, but it needs to be rectified I think.

Perhaps "enthusiast" might be a better term. Using the term "enthusiast" would also help distinguish the people you think are "hardcore" -- people who play tons of games -- from the people I think are "hardcore" -- professional players who play for skill, and may only play 1-2 games a year, precisely because they are the most difficult and challenging. If we call your group "enthusiasts" and my group "professionals," then we have appropriate terminology that not only avoids inappropriate denotation but also eliminates ambiguity.