Hardcore Gamers

[Tex]

real gamers don't have girlfriends

fixed and such

Hmmmmmmm...

[Nekofrog]

real gamers don't have girlfriends

they also dump their prom date who also happens to be their best female friend the night of the prom just to play final fantasy 8

[sefirosu]

I'd have to say that the real hardcore gamers are the ones who do it for a living. Like, doing nothing but honing their skills and entering the big tournaments and shit. Hardcore, professional, same thing in my book.

I agree with ya Bryce. But you forgot the professional video game testers!

[Ascendancy]

the definition of what a hardcore gamer is varies from person to person, there is no one true answer, somebody already mention that.

as for the the gaming industry, i've been a gamer since 1996, my first game being donkey kong country for snes and games have come a long way, but i have to say its just not as fun as it use to be. games of today has declined in gameplay and storyline of course this is my opinion. they just don't make them like they use to or maybe the gaming compaines just seem to focus too much on making profit (which i know that's what all businesses want) to actually make an enjoyable and fun game. they just tend to focus on more flashy stuff like graphics, or killing, gore, violent language,etc, honestly when was the last time you actually enjoyed a game because it was fun? today's game all target what the companies think gamers want like fps... gaming companies will unlikely take risk into doing something innovating because of the fear that it will become a failure. i think that game companies that actually make games for fun would probably produce better games than companies that focus on making profits....like think about it, wouldn't you be more happier working at a job you like, wouldn't that make you want to work more, have more enthusiasm instead of working at some crap job you feel like quitting but your only working for cause of the pay, which you probably won't even bother to give your all...actually better example would be when your in college and you choose a major cause it pays more....honestly your more likely not to try as hard as you should. its the same for game designers....they rather make a game thats fun and not just cause they think it will make them money, unfortunately if the idea doesn't seem presentable to a wide audience then their boss is gonna say no....the ironic part is that it might be a groundbreaking game, but gets turned away cause the boss doesn't think it will appeal to what the majority of the audience wants which happens to be mainly flashy stuff...or the younger gamers who don't know a damn thing of course i don't mean all of them.

edit: wish i could reword this better, at the moment its just not coming to my head, sigh*

i think what kitashi is trying to say is that, game designers are being diverted away from focusing on the storyline or gameplay because of the amount of work it takes to put into the graphics.

[Bigfoot]

they also dump their prom date who also happens to be their best female friend the night of the prom just to play final fantasy 8

The greatness of handhelds.

[ProjectJusticeX]

they also dump their prom date who also happens to be their best female friend the night of the prom just to play final fantasy 8

hey hey

to be fair it was final fantasy 11 not 8

[abg]

To respond to the original post, I'd have to say there are two different kinds of hardcore gamer.

There are the hardcore gamers who absolutely have to own all the latest new release games in their genre of choice, and have been playing these kinds games for so long that they quickly excel at every new title. Like the hardcore FPS gamers, or the hardcore RPG players, who take their gaming accomplishments as a point of pride and tend to surround themselves primarly with other hardcore gamers. I'd have to say most of the online gaming communities out there are filled with this kind of hardcore gamer.

Then there's the hardcore gamers who are more what I would call "gaming enthusiasts". They've been playing a variety of games since the Commodore 64 and are interested in playing the greatest games in each genre but aren't so adamant at pwning at every single one of them. These gamers are hardcore about games as a form of entertainment, rather than being hardcore about being an awesome gamer.

I'd have to say I used to be the first kind of hardcore gamer, but lately I fit more into the latter category.

[JCvgluvr]

the definition of what a hardcore gamer is varies from person to person, there is no one true answer, somebody already mention that.

as for the the gaming industry, i've been a gamer since 1996, my first game being donkey kong country for snes and games have come a long way, but i have to say its just not as fun as it use to be. games of today has declined in gameplay and storyline of course this is my opinion. they just don't make them like they use to or maybe the gaming compaines just seem to focus too much on making profit (which i know that's what all businesses want) to actually make an enjoyable and fun game. they just tend to focus on more flashy stuff like graphics, or killing, gore, violent language,etc, honestly when was the last time you actually enjoyed a game because it was fun? today's game all target what the companies think gamers want like fps... gaming companies will unlikely take risk into doing something innovating because of the fear that it will become a failure. i think that game companies that actually make games for fun would probably produce better games than companies that focus on making profits....like think about it, wouldn't you be more happier working at a job you like, wouldn't that make you want to work more, have more enthusiasm instead of working at some crap job you feel like quitting but your only working for cause of the pay, which you probably won't even bother to give your all...actually better example would be when your in college and you choose a major cause it pays more....honestly your more likely not to try as hard as you should. its the same for game designers....they rather make a game thats fun and not just cause they think it will make them money, unfortunately if the idea doesn't seem presentable to a wide audience then their boss is gonna say no....the ironic part is that it might be a groundbreaking game, but gets turned away cause the boss doesn't think it will appeal to what the majority of the audience wants which happens to be mainly flashy stuff...or the younger gamers who don't know a damn thing of course i don't mean all of them.

edit: wish i could reword this better, at the moment its just not coming to my head, sigh*

i think what kitashi is trying to say is that, game designers are being diverted away from focusing on the storyline or gameplay because of the amount of work it takes to put into the graphics.

Wow, I couldn't read this entire thing. All of the baseless pessimism was making me ill...

[yangfeili]

Best definition I've seen:

http://onlyagame.typepad.com/only_a_game/2007/08/game-literacy.html

The “Hardcore gamer” or gamer hobbyist therefore represents a player with high videogame literacy. Such a player can play any and all games they choose – they have the requisite knowledge to do so – although the actual games they enjoy will vary from person to person. They require little or no tutorial for a game that fits into their existing experience comfortably – perhaps just an explanation of how the conventions of the new game differ from their expectations. A typical gamer hobbyist will have acquired between 15 and 50 man months of experience playing games, and will also have played 20 to 100 different games in that time. (Note that when I say ‘man month’, I mean a month of continuous play time totalled up).

The “Casual gamer” therefore becomes the player with low or limited gamer literacy. This is an explanation for the simplicity of successful Casual games like Zuma, Bejewelled, Bookworm and Solitaire – to succeed in an audience with low gamer literacy, one must make games that do not require this domain-specific knowledge. Thus a successful Casual game draws from experiences familiar to people from outside of videogames – accuracy (for Zuma), logic puzzles (for Bejewelled), word puzzles (for Bookworm) and card games (for Solitaire). Equally, a successful Casual game requires the player to learn only two or three rules. Thus, the barrier to entry is lowered.

[DJMetal]

Best definition I've seen:

http://onlyagame.typepad.com/only_a_game/2007/08/game-literacy.html

Woah. Very interesting. As always, I'm super pleased with the turnout and opinions voiced herein. I feel like I have a better understanding of the "Hardcore Gamer" and what it means. I guess it also means I need to adjust my point of view on it...I guess it isn't an entirely negative thing.

Also, what are we if we have more than 50 man months of game time? Aside from crippled from the wrist down?

[The Derrit]

Woah. Very interesting. As always, I'm super pleased with the turnout and opinions voiced herein. I feel like I have a better understanding of the "Hardcore Gamer" and what it means. I guess it also means I need to adjust my point of view on it...I guess it isn't an entirely negative thing.

Also, what are we if we have more than 50 man months of game time? Aside from crippled from the wrist down?

If you've played over 4 years of videogames, that's gross.

[Lint]

So, is it bad that I've basically had a similar argument numerous times?

The "Hardcore Gamer" is an idea that has been created by the concept of people who spent so much time devoted to something. Now, I used to really get into this definition and have to divide it into groups. So many different ideas arose from those kinds of arguments.

For instance, how many of you really examine the systems in an RPG and how you can completely manipulate them in your favor? Is the fact that you deciphered that (with or without guides/gamefaqs/forums) an indicator, or is it the time consideration? Do you consider someone a "Hardcore Gamer" if they mastered the Bahamut Zero five times in order to have HP Absorb, MP Absorb, MP Turbo, Quadra Magic, Magic Counter? Or does that just mean they have way too much free time?

Would spending hours discussing how to work stat growth vs. spell growth qualify? or is that an academic discussion.

Maybe the elusive Hardcore Gamer is the one that does nothing else. This person provides nothing to society, plays video games, is not an active consumer, does not compete professionally, does not actually purchase video games but rather obtains them all illegally. They obviously have great emotional and mental investment into their past time, though the legality and sanity of their actions are open to question.

Perhaps it's more like a "Pure Gamer", who plays games to find the flaws and then proceeds to either play the game without exploiting the flaw (if at all possible) or simply refuses to play it. Possibly even going so far as to hack the game (voiding their licensing agreement and possibly committing a crime) to attempt to rework the systems into something without exploits. Since there is no "Perfect Game" this person would inevitably play many many games looking for the perfect example.

There are even people who seek complete perfection within a single game. Are they Hardcore Gamers? Or are they simply hobbyists that focus on one thing alone. Individuals with years logged on their MMO accounts (provided they continue regular play cycles) come to mind. Hell, that sort of mastery is impressive, even if it presents no opportunity to use those skills competitively.

The media loves the "Hardcore Gamer" image because they have (in many cases) connected it to images of masculinity engaging in competition with clear victors. Is this a derivative of ancient social orders? The alpha being declared through a form of ritual combat with none to stand against him/her? (I don't mean to sound sexist there, but the general media image of so-called "hardcore gamers" does usually focus on men/boys. The stereotype of the "guy who lives in his mom's basement" is everlasting.)

A problem with this idea is that it is now perfectly possible to engage in lasting, healthy, personal relationships within the confines of our networks. The former image of that one "hardcore" guy who only steps up to the DDR pad when some newcomer gets cocky... that's fading.

Me, I flip flop. Sometimes I consider myself Hardcore because... being informed could be hardcore. Knowing some of the history and reminiscing about past games. Thinking about how things used to be and talking about these damn new kids that don't know (and could care less) about the past. Does that make me Hardcore? or does it just make me an old, jaded, jackass?

If anything, I find it easy to accept the media's image of Hardcore gaming as a certain time period and state of mind. Going to a tournament puts everybody in that hardcore, half-suspicious, half-excited, mindset. Going to a friend's house and knowing that you'll spend the next twelve hours doing nothing but bouncing between all kinds of QCF+K, HCB+P, rockets, Graveyard decks, grenades, mock-guitar controllers, schoolgirls kicking the piss out of zombies, and debating idiotic things for fun.

Games are meant to have fun with. Sometimes people get stuck playing games with someone that is a lot better than them at it, for whatever reason. That's life, turn on a handicap or make one up. It's not that they're hardcore, it's just that they're much more skilled (or they have the deck built to counter yours).

Hardcore Gamer is just a term stolen by the media to try and sell things to people that were already having fun. So they hold a vague resemblence to me when I'm playing Halo, oh well. I'm not changing my habits around their advertisments, and it helps them sell product, who am I to object? It's not like anybody has a freaking patent on "Playing video games on a couch as a leisure activity, competition, or social interaction."