How would you go?

[Keyaki]

Okay I had a talk with a friend of mine with the discussion of the difference between 'Casual Gamer' and 'Hardcore Gamer'

My friend said that a hardcore was a guy who played games every chance he got for a LONG time, always spent his money on nothing but video games and video game accessories, etc

mainly a no-lifer

and Casual gamer was just a regular guy who played games with his friends once in awhile, usually when he has spare time to burn.

So whats your definition of a Hardcore and Casual gamer?

[Kuukai]

Well, just to be clear, I'm going to approach these terms from the same direction the industry is. This sums it up pretty nicely. A "casual gamer" (or "non-gamer") is basically someone who happens to play flash games or solitaire or owns a Wii, but is completely removed from what you might call "gaming culture." It's not a hobby, completion is almost never an issue for them. They are devoid of most of the traits and love of the medium that define a "gamer." Play every character? A hardcore gamer (i.e. "gamer") is the person who knows every character's name. Skill is a separate issue.

[TheSorrow]

Hardcore Gamer = Me
Casual Gamer = Anyone else

While i don't really spend my money in everything i can get regarding consoles (only videogames and i think i spend more money in anime-related things), i definetly play games for a LONG time whenever i get the chance and don't have anything else to do, try to understand almost everything i can about them, perfection myself in them, and finish every quest or challenge that exists. I can play games for 30 hours straight without moving much and don't get bored, and unless i finish a game as much as i can, i don't stop playing it. There's also no game i've played that i've never finished....but i fear some Shin Megami Tensei games because i'm almost sure i won't get any far in those (i suck at Traditional RPGs XP)

So, i'd say a Casual Gamer is the kind of person who has a few consoles and games, plays them every once and it's mostly for multiplayer games, and finishes some games but not at 100% and can spend months beating them because the casual gamer gets bored of playing the same after a few hours. The casual gamer overall plays to spend some free time on or because he's interested in the games for some reason, but just plays them for the sake of playing. Sure, they can be good at playing the games and finishes them, but just takes it easy overall and can spend months or even a whole year without touching a console and not minding it.
The Hardcore Gamer is the kind of gamer who has every game he wants to have and has completed each one of them as much as possible. That kind of crazy gamer plays more for challenging himself and finishing everything and not just for "playing a game", never gets tired of playing it, and finishes every thing in the game even if it means he won't be out of his room for 2 weeks, which he doesn't seem to mind. The moment a gamer starts playing the game for more than a day long and memorizes everything that there is, and is not resting until he gets the last item of the game, is the moment that gamer becomes a Hardcore one.

And yeah, skill doesn't really have anything to do with being "casual" or "hardcore". Maybe the hardcore one has played for long enough that he knows what every movement does exactly and how much frames it takes...but, the casual can have better skills and doesn't need any of that to play very good and just plays as he feels correct.

[Keyaki]

Hardcore Gamer = Me
Casual Gamer = Anyone else

While i don't really spend my money in everything i can get regarding consoles (only videogames and i think i spend more money in anime-related things), i definetly play games for a LONG time whenever i get the chance and don't have anything else to do, try to understand almost everything i can about them, perfection myself in them, and finish every quest or challenge that exists. I can play games for 30 hours straight without moving much and don't get bored, and unless i finish a game as much as i can, i don't stop playing it. There's also no game i've played that i've never finished....but i fear some Shin Megami Tensei games because i'm almost sure i won't get any far in those (i suck at Traditional RPGs XP)

So, i'd say a Casual Gamer is the kind of person who has a few consoles and games, plays them every once and it's mostly for multiplayer games, and finishes some games but not at 100% and can spend months beating them because the casual gamer gets bored of playing the same after a few hours. The casual gamer overall plays to spend some free time on or because he's interested in the games for some reason, but just plays them for the sake of playing. Sure, they can be good at playing the games and finishes them, but just takes it easy overall and can spend months or even a whole year without touching a console and not minding it.
The Hardcore Gamer is the kind of gamer who has every game he wants to have and has completed each one of them as much as possible. That kind of crazy gamer plays more for challenging himself and finishing everything and not just for "playing a game", never gets tired of playing it, and finishes every thing in the game even if it means he won't be out of his room for 2 weeks, which he doesn't seem to mind. The moment a gamer starts playing the game for more than a day long and memorizes everything that there is, and is not resting until he gets the last item of the game, is the moment that gamer becomes a Hardcore one.

And yeah, skill doesn't really have anything to do with being "casual" or "hardcore". Maybe the hardcore one has played for long enough that he knows what every movement does exactly and how much frames it takes...but, the casual can have better skills and doesn't need any of that to play very good and just plays as he feels correct.

Wow, so I guess that's me too? lol

Every game I have I have beaten alteast 2-3 times (except IMOQ and GU), espically Jak and Daxter.

Assassin's Creed I've beaten 3 times, Devil May Cry, you can forget it. I've beaten that so many times its boring now, espically Devil May Cry 3 ( I can't even look at that game without feeling pain in my eyes). Uncharted: Drake's Fortune I've beaten twice. The only games I haven't beaten more than once are Mirror's Edge and inFamous.

[TheSorrow]

Depends. Have you just been replaying them and finished them all like that because you want to, and in a long lapse of time, or have you been replaying them and getting everything because you HAVE to, and have beated, let's say, Assassin's Creed those 3 times in less than 48 hours and/or without resting or playing any other game? Casual Gamers can beat games so many times too...but unless they go INSANE in beating them in every difficult and in such a short time, or without resting or playing any other game before they beat them, they aren't extreme enough to be "hardcore" :P

I don't replay games much, actually, though i finish them in all possible difficults and with everything possible, and as i do, perfection myself in the games. I guess the game i've replayed the most is Metal Gear Solid 4, around 14 times to get all emblems (except Big Boss...might try that sometime again), and because the game is just THAT godly. Also, i played it for 30 hours straight and beated it twice and a half in that time, and now i can beat it in 5 hours with no problem, or 8 hours as a completely New Game.

[nobodyknows]

I'd call myself a mid-level gamer. I go through a game once to see the storyline e.t.c., then on the other playthroughs I attempt to get every unlockable secret that is possible to find. as for knowing video-game character's names... I only know a maximum of half of them in each game I've played

[Erranty]

*Looks around and whispers* "600+ Hours of monster hunter..."

Casual gamers own party games, and only feel the need to play when their friends are over.

Hardcore gamers own a 360, play games till they can whoop a pro's a** once, then brag about it, take the game back to the store to trade it in for a new one, rinse and repeat.

Masochist gamers own a 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, DSi, and a computer that rivals the ones at NASA, have every game ever made on their hard drives (yes that's right, multiple), and have the right software to burn illegal copies of those games to play on their 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, & DSi. They don't care about who they beat because they've already won by having everything. They're rich, which is how they could afford those things, and most likely were former lottery winners.

I used to fall into the Hardcore gamer category, but now all i own is a PSP with 1 game, a Gamecube with no power chord or games, and a computer that can run Perfect World International on medium graphics settings.

[nobodyknows]

*Looks around and whispers* "600+ Hours of monster hunter..."

...

I used to fall into the Hardcore gamer category, but now all i own is a PSP with 1 game, a Gamecube with no power chord or games, and a computer that can run Perfect World International on medium graphics settings.

600+ hours of Monster Hunter is enough to classify you as a hardcore gamer. FACT.

[Kuukai]

Here's another good comic from VG Cats demonstrating the various types of gamer.

I'm not sure I'd associate either "hardcore" or "casual" more with piracy. Sure, console piracy is harder, but a recent survey in Japan showed that even casual gamers were bootlegging DS games... Besides, one of my friends preorders basically any game with corporeal form, and I'd like to think that's a form of "hardcore." Likewise, my condo resembles a miniature Play Asia outlet with attached bookstore ("idie gamer w/ power to import" from above comic), so I like to think that counts for something more than torrenting does. It's definitely more expensive...

[TheSorrow]

I don't think that the amount of games someone has, originals or not, would actually say how much of a "hardcore" gamer he is. Sure, you walk into someone's room and see mountains of videogames's cases of different consoles and maybe the first thing you'd think would be "OMFG HE'S SO HARDCORE!!", but, he might not know what console some games are even for, or what they're about and maybe hasn't played more than 10, and just have them because they like collecting videogames, plan to sell them eventually, or just had the enough money and did it for teh lulz. I'd say that someone who owns many consoles (including stuff like SNES or Dreamcast) and many games for them all should be referred with a different word other than gamer, be it hardcore or casual (i KNEW there was a word for that, not different from "gamer" but more like "collector"...can't remember what it was x-x'' wasn't anything insultive either, not anymore than "geek" would be), and then, "casual" or "hardcore" should be referred by the amount of games played, and the way such games are played; of course, someone who has like 20 consoles and 80 games for each, and can claim to have played them all at least once and can tell you all about any game you ask, is a freaking Supreme Gamer, but not anyone who has 20 consoles and 80 games for each should have to know all about them, like i said before. I mean, i don't think i have more than 200 games in total, but i sure as heck have finished them and know what i must about them and meanwhile i have a nephew who has at least 3 times the amount of games i have....but, he hasn't played more than 20 for sure, doesn't know much about them if he has even finished them, and most are games like Superman and that stuff.

And BTW, i love those VG Cats comics o3o lol

[Kuukai]

I'm prettttttty sure "collector" comes from Latin "con electrum" which means "(gamer) with money."

[{Fabled Hero}]

I honestly think that keyaki summed it up pretty good.

The hardcore gamer (me being one) does spend money on everything gaming...

Everytime i get money in my pocket i go on gamestop.com and then look at what they have they i havent gotten yet and i go out and buy it and enjoy for a long time...i personally love everything to do with gaming..it got to the point to where i was blowing my friends off to have a gaming session that would last for several hours.(several meaning 6 hours at a time, sometimes 8 in the morning till 6 at night) call it what you like..call me a no lifer..cuz i couldnt give a sh*t because i love my hobby of gaming and i always will..i still get out and stuff..i have been out everyday this summer..and still have my long gaming sessions when i come home sometimes till 4 in the morning and waking up at 1 in the afternoon..idc because i am and always will be a hardcore gamer...

Casual gamers, again keyaki said it pretty damn good.

They do only play games like madden and sports games and party games like mario party and they do own a wii. They wont go out everytime they get money to get something for their system they just see when madden or something comes out and then they get that...my next door neighbor is a casual gamer...and its like speaking another language to him when i talk about gaming..because he asked me what i was doing and i told him that i was playing an RPG.(at the time it was Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) and he looked at me puzzled and then responded with "is that one of them walking around games" and it took so much i had not to laugh, and i said yeah...so like its funny as hell how they are..they truly are "non-gamers"

and you know what else?

People who sit on WoW everyday and every second of their life are NOT hardcore gamers they are just obsessed and addicted to an unlimited grind fest called World Of Warcraft..i backup my statement with the simple fact that most of them have no freaking clue what its like to play a game where the main plot is not to just get your next level but has a story to it..or the uniqueness of the game that makes it a jewel..or what it feels like to beat the final boss of an rpg and the epicness that comes with it...WoW is a game where it was meant to make you waste an ungodly amount of time on just to get to level 80 or whatever the level cap is. I mean its ridiculous how pointless the game is...and my cousin thinks hes the somebody because he got to level 80 and i told him that WoW shouldnt be considered a video game because WoW gets so much bad PR for gamers its not even funny..thats where the media goes to, to back up their claims that the generation nowadays do nothing but play video games nonstop...that is not everyone but it is about 9 million people around the world who waste their lives on the virtual crack that is World of Warcraft..anyone who plays this im sorry if i have offended you..this is my opinion and my opinion only if you agree than cool if you dont that i feel bad for you..If you want to see someone that i just explained then i invite you to my house in Riverside, New Jersey. and we will take a 5 minute walk to my cousins house in Delran, New Jersey and i will show you his characters and the amount of time he spends on it...i once checked 2 years ago what his characters "age" is and it said 30 days and 5 hours...wtf?!?!?!?!?!? that is unbelievable..i mean my friend spent like 80 hours on one game and i thought that was alot until i saw that...that is 770 hours!!!!and that was 2 years ago..god knows what it is now!!! im done saying anything more im just sickened with that game and everyone who plays it

[TheSorrow]

Surprisingly, i actually agree with most of your post, except for this :P

(several meaning 6 hours at a time, sometimes 8 in the morning till 6 at night)

Lulz, 6 hours at a time? Try 20 hours at a time, or at least, from 7PM to 7AM, without any breaks. That's me in my "normal gaming routine", and i do it casually without any problem and just feel fine and happy, without really noticing how many hours have passed. 6 hours of gaming in a day sounds like a normal school day for me.

i mean my friend spent like 80 hours on one game and i thought that was alot

I've played each GU game for at least 120 hours in a SINGLE file, and i have like 3 files per game, so i've definetly spent around 200 hours per game...and that means, spending a bit less than 600 hours playing GU in total. Though i have to admit that's one of the games i've played the most; usually, after i play a game for 40 hours i've completed everything i should and it's not even funny to replay them. lol

But as i said, i do agree with what you said and mostly in the part about the "WoW-f@gs". Though it's not like every WoW player is like that (i have a friend who's quite good at the game, but, he's nowhere obsessed with it, and last time he was busy with Halo and GTA), and it's not like people aren't like that in all other MMO's. There's always some number of players in MMO's that seriously don't leave their basements and never turn off their computers because they never stop playing it, not even if their computer needs a restart for an upgrade, they BUY another computer while still using that one so the game never stops. And you can call them ANYTHING you wish...except gamers, because they're not. They're people who play those games not for entertainment or because they're videogames and they're having fun with them, but because they're OBSESSED with them, it's a freaking ADDICTION, or actually, more than that...they see it as their LIFE, as a escape from everything, as the only thing they need to be alive, and without it, they could as well just kill themselves since they have nothing else to live for, and nothing else that has any meaning for them. I might be obsessed with gaming, and sometimes play them more for a need than a hobby or entertainment (even though it's still "fun" to me, that's just a wierd way for me to have fun)...but the main difference is that i play several different games and don't die because i can't play any of them, while they do die if they can't plain their single MMO. Those people are just the people you'd expect to see from anything that can cause an addiction...it's not much different from alcohol, or gambling games or whatever they're called; people ruin their lives because of them and close themselves from anything but them and all they see is an imaginary happy world.