I think he meant that as a joke (if you google hardcore you will get a lot of porn)

From what I can gather from Iwata interviews he refers to hardcore games that take more time, and dedication to the game to complete, and one a casual gamer would get frustrated or not be interested in.  A game with a lot of depth and difficulty.

He does NOT mean 'hardcore' in the way 13 year old boys use it to mean "Any game with bloud spouting and swearing that I play in my locked room so my parents don't find out and ground me."  Most of those games are simple, easy, shallow, and are over before they begin (Bloodrayne, GOW).

A gamer that is hardcore would be one that plays games not just for fun but for the challenge, in my opinion any way.  But I'm not sure a lot of today's gamers would agree with you.  They would look at Battle Toads from the NES and say "Wow, thats kiddy,"  but beating that is one of the most hardcore achievements a gamer can have.

How does graphics make a hardcore game? Graphics is not really a factor. As for reading reviews before buying games, if you are really passionate about games, you'll play the game regardless of the reviews and simply make your own opinion, not make others force their opinions on you.

 Ugh, don't  make me remember Battletoads, that was horrible. I also can't believe I had the patience as a kid to finish TMNT for the NES.

 As for tips in beating Conta 4: Shoot at the enemy until it dies

 BOOYA! if i would've taken my time i would've said what you just said thx you 

not to bash kingofwale,you made good points but, you know, what he said.

>How does graphics make a hardcore game? Graphics is not really a factor. As for reading reviews before buying games, if you are really passionate about games, you'll play the game regardless of the reviews and simply make your own opinion, not make others force their opinions on you.

How does running out buying NinjaBread Man on Wii regardless the review score make YOU a hardcore gamer?

If you are passionate enough about games, you should at least read other people's opinions. I never said you should treat them as Bible. There's nothing wrong with finding out what the rest of the world thinks.

And graphics is a part of what makes a good game great. Okami's art direction was one of the best feature of the game. Same goes for Shadow

I think a hardcore game is a game that maintains a ridiculously loyal and devoted fan base. The games are quality, definitely not crappily done games (shovelware, see: Wii). Graphics are not really important in making a game hardcore. Also, being able to sell regardless of advertising dollars spent on it would indicate a hardcore fanbase (see: Halo, not completely, it would have sold well without the ridiculous advertsing, but not that well). It might have more to do with the fanbase than the game actually. A hardcore player would seem to be someone who knows more than the average gamer about video games (most people on this site, I would say), plays more than the average gamer (this is a loose rule imo, sometimes you just have other things to do), and would go to greater lengths to play a game. Also, it is someone who is informed about the things they buy, not people who buy things and are taken aback by the fact that their purchase is teh suck. I think anyone who cares a great deal about video games (not someone who buys a system simply because it's cheap or because you want it in case they're is ABSOLUTELY nothing else to do).

**Not flame bait** People may get pissed, but I think many would agree that the greatest percentage of non-hardcore players are on the Wii. The fact that it is seen by many as a "party machine" or provides a social playing experience does not make the Wii fanbase this way. It's because it's the cheapest and, lets be serious, there is a crapload of shovelware on the system right now. The new fanbase achieved by the Wii is not hardcore(old people, newcomers who no little about games). Don't get me wrong, there are also a lot of hardcore people on there, but I think the percentages are greater on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Where reviews lie, I think any one who plays games regularly reads reviews and have found reviewers wwith the same tastes and who's reviews they trust, so I think reading reviews isn't requisite of 'hardcore' gaming, but it may be a sign of such.

As for Okami and Shadow, art direction and graphics are completely different, in my opinion.  There are NES, SNES, Genesis, etc games with a lot better art direction than a lot of modern games, but the modern games have better graphics.

Hardcore gamers are generally teenagers (or atleast that's what they act like) who are obsessive over a single console. They will fight to the death about how their console is superior to everything else on the market, and often completely defy logic to try and get their point across. This includes making posts about how any other console is aimed at casuals or is kiddie (i.e. is not hardcore).

Hardcore gamers also defined by the games they play. Any game which does not involve killing tens of thousands of enemies in a brutal bloodbath is a game for kiddies and therefore is not considered hardcore. This is because they need to prove they are mature to everyone else, despite the fact that most adults, while considering most of the games to have content only appropriate for adults, actually consider them to lack any maturity at all. Also, any game which is not rendered in high definition, or involves large flat shaded polygons (particularly anything brightly coloured) must be terrible and they will make sure to let you know about it.

Hardcore gamers also tend to not have any real friends. This is why online gaming is so important to them. When they are not out trolling around game forums proving their system is better, they are gaming online. This is where they get to flex their gaming muscle and prove their superiority to all those kiddie gamers.

Hardcore gamers are also industry experts. In fact, they know exactly what is happening in the industry (even before it happens) and if they were in charge of their favourite company, would know exactly what to do better. Many of these claims also defy logic and lack any sort of business sense.

Finally, hardcore gamers are noted by the fact that they control the definition of hardcore. This often changes with each generation of console as they need to back their favourite companies ideas, no matter how terrible they are. If their company's next console is "Dog-poo-on-a-stick" then any other hardcore console would need to also contain dog poo. If a competing company then produces "Dog-poo-in-a-can", then this challenges this definition and the stick now becomes a factor in making their console more hardcore.

I hope this helps clear up what is meant by a Hardcore Gamer.

/sarcasm (for the sarcastically challenged)