This is probably a year old topic but I'm still a bit confused about the ideas and use of them as some kind of conception

Everyday you can read all kinds of discussions about different player groups and how they react regarding releases of new games or products. The groups that people usually refer to are "Core"- or "Casual" gamers. The problem with those categories is that they are mostly used in a very casual way. As notions without a defined content they can be thrown into any discussion meaning just anything the writer wants it to mean for the moment, which can easily lead to confusion of concepts. My questions are; is there any concensus about the meaning of "Core" and "Casual" as conceptions? Are they operationalized in any way and used by real analysts? If not, how do you define those concepts?

Is it:

Time spent?

Money Spent?

Category of games played?

or all of those three together, or something else.


Tell me what you think!

Core - is people who play in depth video games - Black

Casual - those who play simple quick and easy games only - White

Now everything in between is up to interpition and speculation. Everyone drawls the line in a different spot. While here we could define a techincal middle grey. There are too many vairables that are opinions to come anywhere close to defining where the cross over is between core and casual gamer.

 So core people play games that takes so much time that it is impossible to have a job, wife och even a life beside the games? Guess I'm casual.

To me its all about how much focus/time you HAVE TO GIVE the game to play it how it's meant to be played. I can't think of a single person that could come home and say, hmmm I feel like playing 15 minutes of Mass Effect.

Mass Effect to me is a "hardcore" game, because the point is to play from the start, see the story, finish the game. Nothing "casual" about it.

A game like Rock band, has a single player, and you CAN devote endless hours to it, but in order to get the Rockband experience you don't NEED to. When you quit and come back, it's the same experience. It's a game that requires no real devotion of time to play it how it was supposed to be played. Rockband to me is a casual game.

Of course Casual games CAN be played Hardcore, but that doesn't change what they were geared to be. I've been to so many parties where I've played 5 minutes of smash brothers, then passed the controller to the next player, never to think about it again that whole night. But not because it's a bad game, but because I can casually pick it up without forcing myself to continue, the point of the game is to play it, not to experience it as a whole. Whereas with Mass Effect, if you only see the beginning, where does that leave you? The game isn't complete.

Thats my 2c's anyway.

I've always considered the difference being how "hard" you play the game. Madden players (or any sports game mostly) can either be hardcore or casual users. The difference being hardcore players try to make their team the best, through careful study of players in the draft (perhaps even playing the college football games to get certain players or whatever), free agency is big for them, they play against friends very competitively, and they complete all 30 years of franchise mode (if that's still the limit?).

Casuals on the other hand, simply play the game to enjoy it, probably complete a few years in franchise mode, play against friends for fun, don't use the draft and free agency to their fullest, etc.

Some games naturally drift towards hardcore users, such as RPGs, since they're usually to long for casuals. Other games naturally drift towards casuals, such as mini-games, because they're quick pick up and play type games. There's a little overlap of course, but that's how I mostly look at it.

Casual gamer: someone who doesn't go on internet forums to talk about console sale figures.

 People have succeeded with defining (not aways with a very broad concensus though)  a lot more complicated things than the level of gamer-awesomeness. :)

Those are just how the game industry would define it. As far as they are concerned you can buy GTA, Zelda, Gears of war and never play them and you have qualified in there eyes, as the targeted Core Gamer. Why because you buy them.

xD Thats fantastic Shameless :D

I guess I'd just say Casual games are the ones you play for the sake of playing.

Hardcore games are played for the sake of experiencing.

So only liking shooters, racers, action and fighting games. Guess I am a casual gamer because I do not play RPG's.