"Casual" & "Hardcore".

These are only two words but people waste entire books to define them. Everyone defines them in the way that brings them money, whats so hard to understand.

It's funny that our grand kids will have the exact same discussion too.

Casual gamer: person who play games just because they are easy and accesible. If a game is too complex or too hard he/she will usually stop playing. Isn't really interested in new releases and almost always will buy popular games only. Gaming for he/she is just a way to pass time, just an activity to do if there is nothing else.

Hardcore gamer: person who doesn't mind how hard or complex a game is, he/she will always try to master that game and appreciates the production values in it. Usually has preferences between genres but enjoys gaming in general. Gaming is an important part of their lives and play not just to pass time, they try to make some time for playing games.

Where I'm going is that if someone buys GTA4 just because is popular but doesn't really pass at least the story, you can almos say that person is a casual gamer for sure.


But if someone tries to make some time just to play wii sports you can say that person is a hardcore gamer...

BenKenobi88 said: I don't like the hardcore/casual labels. What I prefer is traditional or not, or perhaps just judge games on how difficult they are for new players.

The problem with Traditional or nontraditional is that the "casual" games of today are actually more traditional then the "hardcore" games of today when you look back at the earlier videogame systems.

And a lot of 13 year olds would complain for no reason if suddenly the games they played were the "non traditional" ones. 

I agree. Labels are for marketing purposes, but no single gamer can really be classified so easily, simply because games can't be classified as such.

If you look at the original Pac-Man, you might consider it a casual game, but if you look at the Pac-Man tourneys, then you'll realize that Pac-Man and Donkey Kong have the potential to be way deeper than modern games and have cults that explore that depth. Are these people considered casual?

It's just silly, and our posters realize it. That's why our blogs are genius level.

There are a lot of problems with the labels hardcore and casual.

First off they are stereotypes that are used to offend one group or another.

Casuals play games where they just wave there arms for fifteen minutes before watching American Idol.

Hardcores are semi-retarded individuals that will only play a game involving a lot of explosions.

Hardcore and casual can refer to the type of game or the difficulty of the game.

An argument that was made on these posts before was whether Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz was casual or hardcore.

The opposing arguments were basically:

It has monkeys in balls so it's casual to the max.

It has a deeply complex gameplay that is nearly impossible to master so it's hardcore.

I don't know anymore. My head's going to explode over the entire hardcore/casual debate. How about settling on this. We are all gamers that like the games that we like. Let's face it, anyone that types up posts on a site that tracks the sales of video games is probaly hardcore regardless of what kinds of games that they play. Right?

BenKenobi88 said: I don't like the hardcore/casual labels. What I prefer is traditional or not, or perhaps just judge games on how difficult they are for new players.

 Why not go like Satoru Iwata and use the term "avid gamers"?

lightbleeder said: Casual gamer: person who play games just because they are easy and accesible. If a game is too complex or too hard he/she will usually stop playing. Isn't really interested in new releases and almost always will buy popular games only. Gaming for he/she is just a way to pass time, just an activity to do if there is nothing else. Hardcore gamer: person who doesn't mind how hard or complex a game is, he/she will always try to master that game and appreciates the production values in it. Usually has preferences between genres but enjoys gaming in general. Gaming is an important part of their lives and play not just to pass time, they try to make some time for playing games. Where I'm going is that if someone buys GTA4 just because is popular but doesn't really pass at least the story, you can almos say that person is a casual gamer for sure. But if someone tries to make some time just to play wii sports you can say that person is a hardcore gamer...

I think that this is (A) a pretty good answer and (B) pretty much what the guy in the interview was trying to say.  If you put the time and effort into video games, you are ipso facto a gamer.  Put enough time and effort into mastery and you deserve to be called "hardcore" ... even if you're only hardcore at Wii Sports. 

The label "casual", applied to certain games or to all gamers who play primarily those games, is grossly misleading and that's why it ought to be stamped out or redirected back to where the term is harmonious with the definition. 

I love his use of Tetris as an example. As an ex-Tetrinet player I'm aware tetris can be played at a ridiculously high skill level. Plenty of games use this design method. If this is Nintendo's grand plan then they are going to create a lot of amazing games. The four games I've spent the most time playing in my gaming history are in order:

Minesweeper
Tetrinet (multi-player tetris)
Soul Calibur 2/3
Super Smash Bros. Melee

These games have something in common. They are all easy to get into (maybe not Minesweeper, some people just don't get it!), but they all facilitate very highly skilled players and immense replayability.

i agree with him 100%.

i think most people who are identified as "hardcore" gamers are really closer to "nerd gamers". i don't mean it in an entirely condescending way, although probably with about the same mentality these "hardcore" gamers refer to "casual" gamers. excuse me on that.

the creation of the term is really as simple as that--an older, incumbent social group with a need to ward off the influence of an emerging group that poses a threat to their "gaming well-being".