@KungKras
You say I throw hardcore around too lightly but you do the same with casual. When I say hardcore i only say it subjectively. Core is a better term but it's just a label. The important thing is what the label means.
The core label means a person who is an educated well versed gamer. This person has always played games and is a fan of video games. As such, they play games like a movie buff watches movies. For all the unique factors said medium of entertainment brings. Most people watch movies but there's a difference between a fan of movies and a person who just watches movies. A casual moviegoer watches a movie to pass time. A movie buff watches a movie for the value he believes it has.
I don't think you understand what casual means. Casual is usually but not always a new gamer who plays games in the same manner they watch tv or surf the web. It's just another thing to entertain yourself while you wait to have something important to do. A casual gamer is not a fan of video games. They have very low gaming IQ and don't follow the industry period. Alot of them aren't even able to tell you which company makes which consoles half the time. Most of these gamers are on the Wii. Mainly because without the Wii these people wouldn't be gamers at all.
Being a niche gamer does not make you hardcore. If that were the case then the wii sports/wii fit exclusive gamers would be hardcore gamers. Your example does not make HUDs appealing to the general public. When you got into pokemon you were already a gamer of some sort, as a small child. The fact that you were a child alone makes my case. Most core gamers have been gamers since childhood. They didn't just happen to stumble upon video games. Core gamers were chosen by the allure of games; video games simply just appealed to us.
Have you seen the elaborate forge map obstacle courses??? This isn't even for the core gamers. It's purely hardcore of hardcore. These porge courses are complicated, carefully thought out courses made by hardcore gamers so that other hardcore gamers can attempt to clear them however they think is best. People use all types of weapons and grenades and techniques to clear the courses. Alot of people cannot clear a course, or simply take hours to do it while the very best (just a few dozen) can do clear a course in 20-30 mins on avg. Let me reiterate, it is VERY HARD TO CLEAR THESE COURSES.
When you hear hardcore in the gaming media it is just a loose term to describe video game fans and the games they play. To a core gamer games as a whole are fun, period. Out of the whole catalog of games we individually choose what we enjoy most. A casual gamer is just a fun seeker. To a casual gamer, games aren't fun, only the RIGHT game is fun. The whole video game library isn't an option, just the small part of it that most closely resembles entertainment for them.
