You know what game was hard? Earthworm Jim.

I went back, got a Sega Mega Collection, Megaman X Collection, and some other retro games (those through methods I will not speak of) and they were hard as hell!

I also was all about the Co-op as a child, which explains why I played games like Super C and Brawl Brothers, yet put up with crap like Hexen (N64 4-player co-op, though awful). In the end, it was all about playing with your family, together. For some reason that is looked down upon these days.

Instead we get 'AAA-hardcore' games that are easy as shit that my little sister beats them, like Gears of War. It was sad watching my friends and some family stray away from all genre's of gaming and stick only to shooters and sports....but you can always reel them back in...with some SNES. Super Mario World is a nostalgia trip NO ONE can resist.

I agree am pretty casual that way. Really hard games annoy me. I don't want it if i can't finish it. I remember back in days i got to the end of Doom 3 but just couldn't beat the last boss. Blah.

Allow me to just share what I consider to be my most "hardcore" gaming accomplishments:

5. Collect all 120 stars in Super Mario 64.

4. Beat Red in Pokémon Gold.

3. Complete Super Smash Brothers Melee's Classic mode on Very Hard using no continues.

2. Complete Super Mario Bros. with no short cuts.

1. Actually beat my older brother in a Mario Kart 64 grand prix.


The pattern is clear: Nintendo provides the most hardcore gaming-experiences.

Nothing can compare to the feeling of beating that level you thought was impossible and practiced for at least two weeks.

You can get cheap thrills out of an exploding helicopter gunship setpiece in CoD but you know it didn't require skill so you need that fix fast and often to keep interested.

My greatest memories in gaming that I will have forever are beating Super Mario 64 at the age of 10 after months of trying to beat Tick Tock Clock 100 Coins, certain levels in Advance Wars Days of Ruin without guides, and Metroid Prime 2 Boss Boost Guardian on Hard, and Yakuza from Fusion. Oh and making Diamond in Starcraft II which I did two weeks ago.

yes games with puzzles and such things are "harder" to beat than a cod on easy or whatever because you don't need to think much then but i don't think my definition of hardcore is if a 11 years old kid can play it or not through the end. i'm sure i played harder games when i was a kid as i play now on average (one reason is that they were much harder lol) and i still think i'm more hardcore now then as kid or i was few years ago compared to 15 years or more ago. for me there is no hardcore or not game (except some games like dark souls or that kinect mario kart like game i forgot the name of). for me, hardcore is how you play a game.

not even sure if there is a real definition what a hardcore game is, i believe many people define that word absolutey different and they can be all right.

@yukanasenix

you said there is no learning curve in games like gears, halo and so on, that's just wrong. there is a big learnig curve in gears in my opinion and also in halo, you can't really tell me that you don't get better in firefight or whatever without training a lot. if you train a lot you will last much much longer. same with gears, as beginner you won't last long in some modes.

and then you sound like a battlefield 3 fan, i don't really see why that should be more hardcore or why there is a bigger learning curve and i also don't really believe battlefield 3 players are older (maybe a litle bit). maybe on pc because most 10-15 years old play on console but that would count for cod on pc as well then.

i don't really get how beating a programmed challenge in a video game can be considered more "hardcore" than actually beating other real thinking human beings at a game but that's my pov

My biggest accomplishment this gen is still probably beating this challenge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9kC8HIMh-k

Of course I'm not the vid maker; this guy is well-practiced in this particular technique and wins about three or four minutes faster than I could.

Nothing else I've done in the past seven years comes close.

One of my first memories is gunning down a man in cold blood.

Pfffttt..

Beat all of the Battletoads games when I was like 10. Your daughter has nothing on me.

program AI's can very much be more difficult than playing against another player.  Sometimes the games give an unfair advantage to the AI's.  That's how.