I have been watching Bonus round on gamestrailer and for some reason i began to ask myself what is the definition of hardcore gamer? Since it's common opinion that PS3 and xbox360 have more hardcore games than wii, i'm beggining to think is that really the situation.

Then, all of a sudden, i remembered my girl. This bday i bought her DS lite, and we also shared expenses to buy wii. Now, before DS and wii, she played "simple" PC games like Icy tower and some other platformer and logical games. On the other side, i was mostly playing FPSes, adventures, and some RPGs and RTSes.

Besides the difference between the types of games we were playing on PC, there was also a difference on the "intensity" of playing them. While i was satisfied to reach the ending of a game and then erasing it and installing a new one, she was always dedicated to beating all records, collecting all the extra items and she could spend several weeks playing one game till she completely master it. I wasn't really aware of this fact till i bought her the DS.

I've decided to buy her the DS for bday because it's got more games that would interest her. I thought she would play it for hour or two every week, and probably that she would loose interest in a few months time. What i didn't expect is that she would beat me in every friggen game we would both play. While i would loose interest in a few days time, she would play it till she was absolutely the top of the hiscore list.

Now, i'm definately more suited for consoles like xbox360 and PS3 (regarding the games library), but i'm finding myself less of a hardcore gamer than my girlfriend is! And, normally, wii is the console that suits her better (and i must say it's quite a refreshing experience for myself, it complements PC perfectly).

So, the bottom question is: what do you think is a "hardcore gamer"?

(P.S. sorry for bad english) 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcore_gamer

"Hardcore gamer is a term used to describe a type of video game player whose leisure time is largely devoted to playing or reading about video games. This type of gamer prefers a game with complexity which takes significant time and practice to learn, in contrast to a casual gamer. Many hardcore gamers pride themselves on mastering the rules or use of a game, although this is not a strict requirement."

I think if someone plays a specific game to the fullest and tries to do every little tiny thing in it (records, beat the game perfectly and other things) that means they are a hardcore player of that game. I'm sure there are people who are hardcore bejewled players on their cellphones, that doesn't make them hardcore gamers.

A hardcore gamer if I were trying to explain the term would be someone who plays a lot of games, usually has a decent variety of game types or genres, has a few game franchises that he or she is totally a fan of and doesn't purposely avoid a specific console if it can be helped.

Basically someone who loves games, not just specific games but games in general and so is interested in lots of games that he/she finds interesting and doesn't stick to just one game or genre.

Also I think a real gamer wants to support original games that they think are underapreciated or fail commercially while being great. I also think a hardcore gamer while of course experiencing the fun in playing a game, he/she also wants other qualities and depth usually. By default this person wants to play as many of the games worth experiencing as possible, regardless of console or machine.

A hardcore gamer is someone who spends the majority of their free time gaming. To me it doesn't mater if that game is Wii Sports or Gears of War if someone is prepared to spend 4+ hours a day on a consistent basis they are a hardcore gamer.

My teenage son would consider himself a hardcore gamer just because he read all about the latest games with great graphics and only now really plays GTA, SAINTS ROW, GODFATHER, RESIDENT EVIL, HALF LIFE, GOD OF WAR etc etc type games.

I complete many many more games than he does of every kind but I do not read articles about how great the game looks and when playing the game never follow any story and very rarely any of the mission instructions that often appear in games.

I also wanted to show how very easy it was for anyone to get to the highest level on World of Warcraft and to show my son that it doesn't actually take any skill or great knowledge (although there are some that know the game inside out) to get to level 60 or 70, just time and patience.

But despite all the games I have completed ove the last 30 years which must go into a few hundred I still consider myself a casual gamer.

Personally, I think it boils down to the amount of time you will sit per session and play. I think casual games are the quick and dirty, less than an hour (maybe upwards of two, but most likely little puzzle games.) Whereas, the hardcore gamer is someone that dedicates a large portion of their week to gaming. This could be in the form of 2-3 hours (or more) on week nights and 6-8+ on Saturday and Sunday (averaging about 20+ hours a week) MMO players could very easily be placed in the hardcore territory mostly since they pay to play most of the time, but also because of the time needed. There are, however, those that play MMOs that I place in the casual realm simply by the play time per week. But when you talk about MMOs, your treading a very gray line.

For the most part I agree with the wikipedia definition. I think they will be the ones who will put the time in to complete all the stuff in the game that I never bother to, unlock everything, max out the stats and obtain every item.

I see them as much more of an enthusiast or hobbyist than just as someone who plays games. They'll often have a proper set up rather than just plug it into whichever tv is most convenient.

However I still see a hardcore console gamer quite differently to someone who spends their whole time on Warcraft or something similar.

Well, i see there are lots of different opinions of the term.

Regarding the game's complexity, many of todays genres that are considered suited for hardcore gamers actually pretty casual. I can easily get into mostly any FPS or 3rd person shooter in a very short timeframe. For RPGs, adventures or strategic games there is really some time to get into the method of playing the game, but even for many of them the learning curve is pretty easy to master (maybe the most complex are strategy games where you need to learn about various units and stuff).

Regarding graphical complexity, i don't see why more graphically complex game should be more hardcore. For me, graphics are only meant for making the game more immersive(also depending on type of the game).

As for controls complexity and the time and dedication needed to master them, it seems that currently wii games like SSX blur are the most hardcore games out there :) Pretty much everybody is used to D-pad, and analog sticks are a no-brainer either, and some of the most control complex games i encountered on PS2 are PES games, and for PC good old helicopter simulations. This also rules out many of the games and genres considered to be hardcore.

So, this breakdown of complexity would pretty much kick out FPSes as a hardcore game genre, and there is a general opinion that xbox360 is pretty much about them.

llewdebrkram said that his son considers himself a hardcore gamer because he reads all about latest games and only plays games like GTA, saint's row, RE and so on.
If that was the criteria, i would easily be able to consider myself harcore gamer (atleast till some 5 years ago or so), but i still consider myself casual gamer, even if i played/finished all of the sequels of GTA (including the first two, i haven't played london tho).

I just think that term of a hardcore gamer today is tied to a population of players(mostly of teenage age) who enjoy immersive gaming experience which, even if not realistic, should be visually and interactively persuasive as possible.

I used to wonder why this was such a hot topic (it gets discussed once every week or two), but now I realize that many people (perhaps including me) use this definition to define "good games" and "Good gamers," and disparage those who do not fit their description.

Personally, I have two requirements:

1) Play games a lot

2) Play games for skill

That's it. Graphics, supposed immersion levels, and range of genre choice are irrelevant, in my opinion.  

 MMOs have got to be the most hardcorest of hardcore by your definition. I don't understand how it can be viewed as gray? The whole point of MMOs is to spend more time. The more time you spend, the more powerful your character becomes. I don't know of any genre that gets people who play 10+ hours a day consistently the way MMOs can. There's a reason why the terms "Evercrack" and "World of Warcrack" came into existance.