Ok, the term is obviously overused by people who either want to offend other people/ feel better about themselves or mocked by people who want to get back at the people who offended them/ demonstrate how insightful they are being above what is popular forum knowledge. I think the term might be real, but it's not really about the game being hardcore, but the player.
Here's a little story: I have two friends who bought FFXII. One of them had about 250 hours on the clock by the time he stopped playin it and got every piece of equipment in the game (which I think is the hardest thing to do in the game). The other played the game, cut through every FMV and cutscene, didn't read a single line of text, FAQed through the entire thing and for some reason, still raged about how awsome it was by the time he was finished (probably because someone told him so).
While that has little to do with casual or hardcore gaming, I wanted to share that story with you guys to ask you this question: doesn't that second guy sounds like a douche?

Cu-On-Pa is the hardest of the hardcore, and I bet only about three people here have played it. None more hard.

As for hardcore game to me is a game that you have play for a while to do real progress. Zelda is a hardcore game cause to make progress you may have to play a couple of hours to complete a dungeon, while GTA is not cause you can easily to a mission in 10 minutes

I like that description of 'Hardcore'. Hardcore games are exactly the same as games from last generation only with slightly better graphics and slightly tweaked gameplay elements. Every major shooter coming out for all the consoles is basically just Halo with one or two things added. Every major RPG is just FFVII with one or two things added.

Actually, the first guy sounds like a horrible nerd, and the second probably has a life. Given the choice, I'd grab a beer with the second and throw eggs at the first - if he actually came out of his house at some point between 250-hour RPG marathons.

Let's start by saying that there is no black and white. Nowadays we have so many people playing games and such a wide variety of games that it is maybe time to come up with a new system to classify games and gamers. However, when people talk about hardcore and casuals a do have some, yeah maybe cartoonish, ideas that come to my mind.


Hardcore Gamer (let's paint his clothes black): A single guy with some economic independence whose passion for videogames makes him spend most of his free time and money in games. He owns a PC and several consoles and handhelds. He loves hitech stuff. His collection is pretty big, easily more than 100 games, but that's only those which deserve to be kept. He's the kind of gamer that finishes the games in 100% and keeps on playing them. For him, there is something called "History of Videogames" and he knows about every platform and every game ever. This guy pre orders his games or buy them on day one. Why? Because he knows the release dates in advance. How? Surfing the web and being aware of every little news about the development process of his upcoming games. He not only knows how are the games reviewed but he writes reviews about games he had played. Sometimes they are good reviews, but most of the times they are bad reviews. Somehow, he can't get satisfaction anymore. As a hardcore, he is very demanding of the product; after all he is a very important consumer.

Hardcore games: high maintenance guys like this need games with the following features

Immersive: Fantasy and situations far from reality need it
Single player: To be absolute in control of this escapist trip
Balance between novelty and repetition: Needed to keep player hooked
Rewarding difficulty: Is this game worthy of a true hardcore/experienced gamer?
Violent actions: Perfect place to do what you can't in real life


Casual Gamer (let's paint her clothes white): This is a married woman with kids also with some economic means at her disposal. She is a super mom who has a job and takes care of her children and husband. Along with him, she decided to buy a Nintendo Wii in Christmas "for the family". The older son already had a ps2 in his bedroom, but this new white machine was put in the living room. She hasn’t played much, actually. What she does is organizing little family parties around the Wii, mostly the weekends. They play Wii Sports and Wii play. She has also bought some Mario games for the little kids, a WW2 shooter for the husband, and RE4 for the older son. But her favorite game is Wiifit which she plays alone and also shows off to her girl friends. The next game she's planning to buy, mainly because of the little kids constant nagging, is Wii Music. Maybe she'll get it in Wallmart for Christmas.

Casual Games: To this kind of customer we need the following features

Pick and play: games must be designed for short sessions and taking turns
Social: The real fun is in the simultaneous interaction
Intuitive difficulty: If this kind of games need a tutorial, they are no good
For everyone: No sensitive topics or previous deep knowledge should be required


Well, now that I have finished posting my opinion I must say that these descriptions are ridiculous. Way too accurate. And the real gamers are way to damm different between each other. If somebody is offended because they are called hardcore or casual, well, sorry. But this is how the people in marketing work to try to come up with products every time more close to our personal and unique taste.


"So, convince me that "hardcore games" actually exist. How do you define a "hardcore game" - or, for that matter, a "hardcore gamer"? What creates such a stark difference between "hardcore" and "casual"?"

So... to answer your question, the difference between hardcore and casual is created by the developers and publishers. They just want more money and the market of the hardcore can be very difficult to please. So they are going casual. And some hardcore gamers are living an existential crisis just because of the very existence of the Nintendo Wii! The difference with the casuals is that they just don't care. For this people, videogames are just another form of entertainment. Some hardcore gamers call themselves like that trying to feel special, different, and superior; like the little circle of people who can really appreciate the fine art of videogames. Casuals don't even know they are called casuals; they have other things to care about.

 Truche! I most certainly agree with you.

What is a hardcore gamer? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk, have at you!

What? Somebody had to do it.

Anyway, going by basic dictionary definitions (why do people forget about those so much?), a hardcore gamer would be a gamer who holds certain values to be fundamentally central to gaming, and adhere to those values as being the basis of all games. Not any specific values, mind you; the term "hardcore" can apply to anything from die-hard gamers, to die-hard sex fanatics, to die-hard aquarium fanatics, so you really can't say that there are consistent values attached to the term.

Nowhere in that post did it say that that player didn't rack the 250 hours within the course of a whole year even. You immediately jumped into conclusion with the assumption that the guy spent 250 straight hours playing ffxii yet you call others "elitists"...very funny.

Get the log out your eye first!

Sarcasm meter = fail.

Seriously though, I can't imagine spending 250 hours on a game, no matter how spread-out those hours are. That's, like... 20-25 normal-length games. Or almost 100 books. Heck, just for comparison's sake, that's the entire length of an eight-season TV show on DVD - times two. Just think about all of the interesting stuff he could have been doing if he spent even half of that time learning a new hobby, or experiencing some other intellectual activity (like reading), or hanging out with friends, or - gasp! - going outside.

To put it another way: Do you really think that spending 250 hours meticulously doing every single little thing in a single game is an indicator of a stable, let alone remotely interesting, personality?