Actually, the creation of the Hardcore-Casual divide actually started almost a decade before the Wii launched and has its origins in MMORPGs. In particular, I remember Dark Age of Camelot was trying to attract gamers to their game by claiming that you could play in a much more casual way and still get success in the game. Unfortunately, the balance in DAoC was terrible and overpowered classes and realms often defended their classes from being nerfed by claiming that the "Hardcore Gamers" all picked that class/realm and the casuals picked the other classes/realms. There was no evidence of this, and (in fact) there was some suggestion that the opposite was true (gamers with less time and resources flocked to the classes which were known to be overpowered), but a lot of the preconceived notions stuck; and from then on there seemed to be more and more scapegoating on so-called casual gamers without any definition or demonstration that they existed in the way they were portrayed.

It actually surprises me that so many people are agreeing with this.

First, I will make it clear that I do believe that it's possible to make a good casual game. However, the large majority of casual games are absolute garbage. "But" you protest, "the majority of hardcore games are absolute garbage, too!"

Exactly right.

The difference is that hardcore crap fails, and casual crap doesn't necessarily. Has any terrible hardcore game enjoyed the success of Carnival Games? Please, nobody answer that question with "Modern Warfare 2", because as much as some people hate it, it is at least liked by the majority of people and the gaming media.

I should make it clear as well that I hate on every company who does this in equal measure. Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, EA, Ubisoft, Activision, whoever it may be. There is nothing wrong with making a good game aimed at casual audiences. There is, however, something deeply wrong with making crap aimed at casual audiences.

So, the reasons I dislike bad casual games:

1) They divert resources away from good games
2) They often end up selling disproportionately well
3) The company is fully aware that they are terrible and releases them anyway.

I don't think Sesame Street is going to be like that. I do think Disneyland Adventures is going to be like that.

this is a joke thread right? :S

No. You didn't 'tear apart' anything because your points were not particularly good.

You sure acted like it was an achievement or victory. Patting yourself on your back like that with the  " I'll stop tearing apart your OP now"comment.

The MAJORITY of self-proclaimed 'hardcore' gamers I've met on forums online are idiots who think the industry should cater to their tastes only and act all insulted that some dare to try  reaching a broader audience. They think them playing the games they do makes them more 'intelligent' than casual gamers.

 The most sensible posters I've met on gaming forums don't find a need to give themselves stupid labels at all.

Which is exactly my problem with the OP, except its even worse because he groups us all in there.

And I.T.O VIDEOGAMES (!) I am CERTAINLY more intelligent than a casual gamer. Most people on this site can make faaar better choices than for instance my brother who bought a PS3 with some old crappy shooter today...At least he got LA Noire, oh well...

I'll ask again to rather adress my points than trying to bash my ego, because I don't really care if you think I'm full of myself.

EDIT:

 ''No. You didn't 'tear apart' anything because your points were not particularly good.''

 This is a big world and I am too lazy to look where you come from, but maybe you should consider that people have different definitions of phrases, so if yours doesn't fit mine (which I supplied), then there's no point going on about it is there? 

EDIT 2:

Barbados eh. Well, I love cricket and weed, but this thing between us just isn't going to work out.

Yeah...I know what 'tear apart" means. There's no different meaning.

"I.T.O VIDEOGAMES (!) I am CERTAINLY more intelligent than a casual gamer."

How so? If you think a game like, say, WiiFit is shovelware crap but a 'casual' gamer chooses to buy it because it's the kind of experience he/she is looking for, how does that make him/her less intelligent than you?

Your choice is based on what you want to play and his/her choice is based on what he/she wants to play. Your preference regarding videogames does not reflect your intelligence.

you tell him bro, hardcore gamers who act like they are superior to casual games or smarter are complete retards. i know that hardcore gamers feel hurt that they are not getting the attention that casuals are even though they were there before the casuals but thats life. im glad though because the market has spoken anyway and "hardcore" game sales pale in comparison to casual games like wii sports and mario kart wii. they can whine all they want but they dont want to support the games they want companies to make so tough shit.

There is one point you forgot to make ...

While the "casual" games may be low quality when judged against the standards that dictate quality for core games, the best-selling "casual" games are among the highest quality games that are similar to them.

Hypothetically speaking, if we reversed the situation where all "Hard-core" games were being developed by mediocre teams on a small budget, and "casual games were being developed by the best teams with a massive budget, it would probably not be unusual to find the best-selling "Hard-Core" games receiving very poor scores when judged based on the values of "Casual" games.

I am a hardcore gamer and my Wii sits next to my Xbox 360 and unlike other people it have never ever collected dust. I like them both the same and I don't have kinect.

Hardcore console gamers?....


......that's unpossible.