I think a hard-core gamer is simply someone who considers gaming a primary interest. That said, I would expect at least 12 hour average per week spent gaming from a hard-core gamer.
I've always thought of console gaming as being really no-hassle and convenient. Not like PC gaming with its compatibility modes and graphics settings and the like. But the Xbone manual with its "0.6 meters from here no more than 0.4 meters from there and don't place the box upright etc, etc" sounds panda complicated.
@SuperDutchy First of all the increase to $60 had more to do with inflation than anything else. In fact games are actually ready for another price increase. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics $60 today has the same buying power as $50.10 in 2005. Also that $10 increase to $60 could easily make certain games profitable. $10 is fully 17% of the total price. And of course GTA made a lot of money. Pretty much everyone with a console bought it -- they could have charged 30 bucks for it and still made a handsome profit.
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