Casual VS Hardcore, What's the Point?

I hear complaints from hardcore gamers about how casual gamers ruin the industry, so what does it take to qualify as a hardcore gamer?

Hardcore gamers if you don't like the "casual games" or the current trending games, why not go on steam, buy Garry's Mod and try making your own games, or playing indie games.

Casual gamers please try some other great games and please don't stay limited to Call of Duty, Madden, FIFA, Candy Crush, NBA 2K, or other most popular games. These are good games, but there's alot more fun gaming experiences to have.

I don't mean to pigeon hole gamers and I am for the most part against it, but I think we all should try to identify more as intermediate gamers and make a scale with numbers on how dedicated we are to gaming instead of making it one or the other, what are your opinions on this?

The people that play games and go on discussion forums and read gaming news are in very much the minority. It's easy to get caught up in the gaming bubble when you're online, but the reality is that the majority of gamers are "casual" in a sense that they don't really follow gaming as a hobby to the lengths that we do.

That's why marketing and advertising matters so much. If most gamers surfed the major websites there'd be no need for marketing/advertising. Those in the bubble are very clued in about whats going on in the industry. Those outside it - and I'm sure we all havea lot of experience with this - are completely oblivious.

There are gamers who, as you point out, buy Call of Duty and FIFA and that's their lot for the year until next year when the new versions come out. That's a casual gamer; not because hes playing CoD or FIFA, but because their interest in gaming is defined by other things. That could be things like multiplayer with friends or whatever. Or that they like the respective sports, so they play sports games.

There are games to satisfy most market segments, so I don't see it as much of an issue. I guess some of people that are in that bubble more than others have a sense of superiority, so you get things like that.

Hardcore gamers are the ones posting in forums, reading articles and new about the gaming industry. Hardcore gamers also play different games in different genre's and like gaming as a whole. They don't play only one game the masses always play like FIFA, COD, Madden, etc. Guys that are hardcore play games like RPG's, platformers, puzzle, action Adventure, etc. That's the difference

@The_Last_Ride: Complete agree with the first part of your post. Not sure about the second part.

GTA5 is action-adventure. Bejewelled is a puzzle game. Mario Wii (forget what its called) is a platformer. WoW is an RPG.

All four games and genres have a vast number of players who are in every sense of the word casual gamers. They stick with one or two titles a year and generally have no idea what's going on in the rest of the industry.

Sure GTA V is Action Adventure, but that game has become just so huge because of all the controversy. I am not talking about Bejeweled here, i am talking about games like the Witness or the Swapper. Duck Tales Remastered and Rayman Legends is bought by hardcore gamers mostly aswell. I am talking about the harcore games on consoles. Casual gamers mostly stick to shooters or sport

So for the TC popular equals casual? Huh.

At one point people will have to let those labels go, I think. I think there's already too much variation to make such a broad distinction; too much variation in games and too much variation in people who play games. Holding on to these labels will only lead to inaccurate generalisations about which people play games. It will only make people think there's this singular group with people who all kind of think alike, which I don't think is the case. Just like there are no hardcore filmwatchers or bookreaders, I think the idea of hardcore gamers is becoming more and more meaningless.

IMO hardcore gamers are the ones who would rather play games than do almost anything else. I go to school, work, play guitar and bass, read, write and keep a healthy social life but after work and school I usually would rather play video games than anything else. I'm constantly streaming videos about games and engaging in video game debates and conversation when I have the chance. I constantly check out reviews, previews, trailers, overviews, and anything else I can get my hands on pertaining with games.

My point is that general interest is what separates casual from hardcore. Casual gamers plays when they're bored, or for real life social interaction among friends and family and many other examples. You could make the argument that certain games such as sports games and over-popular shooters appeal highly to casual gamers and certain consoles do too such as the Wii. But even with the trends you will find desparities because casual gamers might play more hardcore games than you'd expect and hardcore gamers might play casual games as well. I don't mind either version of gamers but the elitist of both groups are the most annoying. For example the casual gamer who would bash RPGs for it not being "real enough for them" maybe and vice versa of course with a hardcore gamer.

There is no point, it's silly label.

Us. We are "hardcore".

Very few people go on online gaming websites and talk about games.

Too be honest it is a silly term because i enjoy COD just as much as i enjoy Final fantasy and other JRPG's

What's the point of the argument? For people who are more dedicated to games to feel superior. I think the labels are ridiculous but at the same time I can see why there needs to be some sort of distinguishing factor.

I guess I don't understand the labels either. You could say I'm a casual gamer, yet I've never played any Madden, FIFA, Candy Crush, NBA.... I loved Limbo, Fez, just bought Adventure Time (don't judge, love the show), and others. I'm not a hardcore gamer, yet I like keeping up with the news and seeing what other gamers think and love (or hate).

So the label just confuses me.

That's because you aren't a casual gamer.

While there are some minor distinctions between a casual/hardcore game vs a gamer, spending time talking about games in a forum is very much considered a "hardcore" gamer activity.

As for the OP, i think that there's a distinction between a casual and a hardcore game: Casual games are meant to provide satisfaction and some sense of progression or achievement with relatively little time and effort. Hardcore games are tend to require significantly longer amounts of time and effort for a rewarding payoff.

Many of the most successful games have elements that satisfy both; Think of online matches of any popular FPS. Matches are around 15 minutes or so, but someone could spend hours on end playing them and still find it rewarding.

As "system war-y" as this sounds, i think there are relatively few hardcore games for consoles. Development costs are simply to high to warrant limiting yourself to a niche market. There aren't any flight simulators or even racing simulators that may practically require 100's of dollars worth of additional equipment and at least a dozen or so hours before you can actually maneuver the vehicle. That's why those games are hardcore: It takes a lot of time and effort for a pay off.

I can completely understand how some people who do want the experience of a hardcore game being disenchanted at seeing developers switch over or make compromises in order to appeal to a casual market.

Other than the genre, it could also be the length of their playing time or how they pitch in some playing time despite a busy life...?

That's hard to define. I consider myself a core gamer. Games are one of only two hobbies I engage in. I hate platformers in general and Mario in particular. I haven't enjoyed a FPS since Borderlands, and I actively dislike Call of Duty and Halo. I haven't played an rpg in over a decade(FFX).

I like curb-stomping badguys with my bare, virtual hands. I like watching as my avatar shoots, frags and airstrikes his/her way through an entire enemy army. I like slashing a path to glory right through hordes of club/sword/spear-waving savages. I like severed limbs, massive explosions, and the sound of cracking bones.

My tastes are simple, but without depth or nuance, a promising game can easily become disappointing and annoying. And while it's hard to define, like I said earlier, an easy benchmark is if your main gaming platforms are your phone, your tablet or Facebook, you're a casual.

I think both groups are equally important to the industry. If it was left simply up to hardcore games to fund the industry many studios would close due to lack of funds. The hardcore gaming community is strong and tight nit but also not as vast as the casual gamer. The casual gamer, which with IOS gaming is becoming more and more popular, is vital because they do drive system sales and still do buy serialized games in droves. Without this support many of the AAA games would not be able to be made due to lack of funds.

Exactly my opinion !

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IMO since casual gamers have dominated the industry , devs tend 2 invest in them rather than hard core gamers , seriously this is not good ....we've got too many EASY games , they're EASY without any specific challenge just to satisfy casual gamers ...

All of these terms were made so long time gamers could criticize and disparage people's gaming choices and habits. So they could show their perceived superiority over people new to gaming.

Like most stereotyping a lot of the descriptions are based in observable truths. But belittling someone because they enjoy games that you don't like is as dumb as belittling someone for being of a different race.

I don't mind games being easy as long as it's an option. If you want to make it harder that should be an option aswell. I hate tutorials aswell, they're in all of the freaking games

Well I think its pretty simple to say what makes someone a hardcore gamer. They are basically someone who loves to play video games as their primary hobby.

Someone who dedicates themselves to many games of different genres (Not just the typical games casuals go for like COD, Battlefield, and sports games) and actually tries to finish them, then tries to go for that 100% experience, trying to achieve as much of the challenges as possible and maybe even achieving that 100% completion.

Someone who has knowledge of its history.

Someone who likes to collect their games, we are talking like way back in the 8 bit days and even further back.

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Now someone who is a casual gamer is pretty much someone who doesn't play games as their primary form of entertainment.

Someone who mostly plays mobile games like Candy Crush or any type of casual friendly games that you can just quickly pick up and play and maybe not even bother with it for a long time.

Someone who says they are a gamer, but only play one game out of their system(s) (ex: COD, Battlefield, any sports game, etc.)

Someone who only owns one system, either console or portable.

Someone who buys a game and doesn't even play it nor take the time to finish the game. I personally know someone who bought Borderlands 2 and just played it for 15 minutes and never went back to play it, that was last year. Hits me up recently to play it since its free for me to download on PS+. lol

Some of you may not agree, but hey that's just how I see it.

According to these references I'd be within the middle of a casual and hardcore gamer. I don't dedicate my whole life to video games and neither do I "casually" play it here and there.

Same. I just enjoy a multitude of genres and a good variety of games from many different companies. Doesn't matter if they're kiddy or mature, popular or niche, big budget or indie. I don't spend all of my time playing them, but I am a dedicated gaming fan and probably always will be.

I don't understand why gamers take such opposition to the terms "hardcore" or "casual" as if they're some type of derogatory terms. There's truth in them and one's not inherently better than the other, it's just a different set of priorities. I've used this example before: I really enjoy the PC game Silent Hunter IV because I find all elements of WWII submarine warfare extremely fascinating: detection, approach, navigation, torpedo solutions, evasive tactics and maneuvers. I can do all of these somewhat proficiently in-game (aside from proper solutions or convoy attacks which I suck balls at), but I consider myself a casual sub-simmer at best. There's a forum I frequent for advice that are FILLED with hardcore sim-enthusiasts that discuss things that I'd never be able to understand if my life depended on it in relation to naval warfare during the Atlantic theatre.

Hell, anyone that says the term hardcore and casual are meaningless haven't played a DCS PC module before.

Meh, some people just can't stand labels I suppose. I mean, a B.A. degree is casual. A P.h.d. is not. Why is that distinction so offensive or juvenile? Perhaps it's just semantics. People probably wouldn't hold such issue with "the semi-interested" vs. "the extremely dedicated" instead. Plus the fact that these distinctions, in relation to what gaming entails, is fairly laughable.

Exactly Bigboi (do you watch OwnagePranks? -.-). I play a variety and I don't limit myself.