Seriously, all you need to be a hardcore gamer. Trust me. ;) 

I already have a Gamecube, does that mean I am hardcore now? Guess I don't have to buy all those FPS's with HD graphics then. Thanks!

 Actually I was implying for people to paint thier skin purple and wear watermelons on thier feet. Round melons work just as well. That is unless you're not hardcore. I know I'm not, purple isn't my color. =P

 Paint those watermelons purple and you get a gamecube. Duct tape 2 together, add white paint and you get a Wii. Greenpeace states that the white paint is made with baby seal.

 Yeah, I noticed. I was trying to be mildy humorous.=P

 Well that's just crazy. The paint is made from Baby Seal Oil. Not the whole baby seal. It's the reason baby seals die everytime someone links Amazon's sale charts as a credible source. It motivates them to kill more seals in hopes of upping Wii production so they can sell more.

A hardcore gamer is simply those who have gaming as a serious hobby. For example those who if they have the cash would pay $300-$500 on a graphic card just for gaming. So I would say PS3 and Xbox260 appeals more toward the hardcore gamers and the Wii more toward the casual player. Graphics (HD) and sound (DD5.1) is more important to a hardcore gamer than the casual gamer. Of course there is a lot of gray area between the two and not as black&white as some hear seem to suggest.

I'd like to refer to part of my first post here on VGChartz, as a lot of people seemed to agree with me for the most part:

http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/reply.php?thread=11369&quote=314997

"MrPickles said:

Markets: There are many different types of gamer, not just the 'casual' and 'hardcore'

Casual non-gamer: Mom who plays Wii Sports and Solitaire

Casual gamer: Buys Madden every year, along with licensed games based off favourite movies, GTA, and uber-hyped games like Halo. Usually plays the hell out of them.

Hardcore 1-gamer: Similar to the casual gamer, but they play one game religiously. Think WoW.

Hardcore general gamer: Someone who goes to the store every week or two, looks around, and buys something that looks good. If he ends up liking it, he likes it, otherwise 'meh, live and learn'

Hardcore gamer: People like us, who spend hours talking on forums, reading game previews and reviews, sometimes getting into pointless fanboy battles, and making ourselves heard online."




I think its impossible to have just 'casual' and 'hardcore'. Think about it: My mom likes to play Wii Sports sometimes. She is a casual gamer. But what about the person who just plays movie-based games and the odd uber-hyped game like Halo? That is also casual to me, but the two are nothing alike. That's why I've categorized gamers into these 5 different subtypes.

Wow, someone else wants a return to Super Metroid?  I thought we were a rare breed.  I second this idea.  (For those who don't know Super Metroid had more emphasis on power-up based exploration and especially non-linearity, often through advanced techniques --  demonstrated to you by cute space animals -- that you could use to break the sequence of the game, by getting power-ups early or taking paths out of reach paths.)

@Porkrinds

I totally disagree with you.  In terms of thinking I think you're giving credence only to utterly overt puzzles.  You could describe Street Fighter or Virtua Fighter in just as broad terms, you beat up your opponent.  You could even describe a strategy game in such simple terms, you make units and have them kill your enemies.  However, the process of doing so, while not letting your opponent do so to you, has a lot of strategy. 

The same essentially goes for many FPS games such as Halo; the objective is simple but carrying it out is not.  Halo is a game of incomplete information, where you must be constantly anticipating what your opponent is doing.  In addition, Halo 2 balanced the different weapons (primarily in a range based sort of way), so in any encounter you must factor in what weapons you have, and what weapons you anticipate your opponent to have in order to choose the best method of approach.  When you and your enemy's have multiple teammates, this can become quite complicated and especially difficult skill-wise, as communication among teammates plays a vital role in constantly providing realtime information whose introduction will constantly effect what strategy should be used.

 leo-j, why don't you tell us in all of your 15 year old high school wisdom just how we are wrong, and just what a "real" hardcore game is