Casual, Hardcore, and Mainstream:

Being a hardcore gamer has anything to do with what system you play, or what genre of games you like. By definition, Hardcore means the most active and dedicated members of a specific group. Considering that, a hardcore gamer should be those who are dedicated to games. Those that play games when they have time. Those who have knowledge about games. The kind of person who when asked in a store by a soccer mom what game they should get for their son for his birthday, rather than just recommending the most popular game, could listen to the person and be able to tell what game would be best for them. For the most part these people have played games for a number of years, but not necessarily. It doesn't have anything to with how badass the games you play are. Just because you play Halo and CoD, doesn't make you Hardcore. If you only play games because you think they're badass or because your friends tell you such games make you cool (or whatever), you're not hardcore, you don't have a dedication to games, you have a dedication to your friends, or popular culture, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Someone who is truly dedicated to games, shouldn't just look at graphics or art style, but all aspects of the medium. If you're not dedicated enough gaming that you refuse to play a game because its on a console that you think isn't as cool, or more casual, or you refuse to play a game like Zack and Wiki or Wind Waker, because you don't like the art style, You're probably not a hardcore gamer. Again, there's nothing wrong with being Mainstream, Casual, Hardcore, or anywhere in between. Saying you're a hardcore gamer, isn't elitist, just look at what the word actually means before you start throwing it around.

So, then what's all this about casual and mainstream gaming. First , lets take a look at mainstream gaming.

Before the original Playstation came out, in 1995, just about everyone involved in gaming had that sort of dedication that is now only seen in true hardcore gamers. The Playstation came out, and everything changed. Now all the cool kids where starting to invade the domain that was once only inhabited by so called nerds. Developers were starting to make more badass games to appeal to these people. Note that I'm not saying this sort of game didn't exist back before then, but you can't deny that there's more of it now. It was all fine though, there was nothing wrong with more games having mature content in them, it wasn't just the cool kids who played badass games. Many of us nerds now had something in common with the in crowd. It was a good thing, there was less bullying and all that crap, and people were coming together more. There are problems with this though. Many of the people who just came for the badass games weren't all that good at playing games. The developers were making games easier, and this wasn't a good thing for those who had spent many years getting good at them. And now, games have to be badass to be considered good games, or to sell well. Either that, or be from an established IP from 20 years ago. The problem today, is that there aren't enough original ideas being put into games. Some games seem to be practically designed around being badass without having much substance for those who want more out of their games. Look at GTA 4 as an example. Journalists almost have to rate games like GTA 4, Modern Warfare/CoD, and Halo 9 or higher or risk a severe backlash from the Mainstream, which isn't at all good for those of us who want reviews to reflect how good a game actually is, and not how badass it is. Its healthy for the industry because it means more people are buying games, but at the same time its unhealthy because the industry is loosing the charm it once had. There's nothing wrong with being a mainstream gamer, please understand that I'm not trying to be an elitist here. But please, stop telling me that CoD:4 or Halo 3 are the best games of all time and that the Wii is only for Homosexual males and overweight people. This sort of opinion is only ignorance towards the industry, and something that is very un-hardcore by definition. By the way, mainstream by definition generally means popular and common.

So, now, on to casual gamers.

Before we start, I should tell you that I don't think casual gamers are ruining the industry, If you think like that, perhaps you should consider the impact you have on the industry. Just saying. I do think however, that there are two types of casual gamers. There are the ones that were first attracted to the industry by the PS2, and games like DDR, and Guitar Hero, you know, bridge titles. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with either IP, both are great and are enjoyed by many different types of gamers. Bridge titles, are incredibly good for the industry. Then there are the Soccer Moms, and Elderly, who didn't know Wii Sports came out of the console, until Wii Fit came out. Again, I'm not saying that in a bad way, or that anything is wrong with these people. Expanding the industry, is a good thing. These people don't know much about games, especially the 2nd type of casual gamer. Thats why they need the help of us who know a little bit more about games to make smart decisions in game stores. And that brings us to my next point. Its not Casual gamers who are ruining the industry, its the way the industry is treating them. No, I don't mean the way Hardcore and Mainstream gamers act towards them (but you could in general be a bit nicer), I'm talking about how the publishers are flooding the market with crappy games in an attempt to exploit these new gamers as a resource. It needs to stop. Remember back the last time the industry crashed...

In 1983 way to many video game companies were producing what we now know as shovel-ware. There was a time where you could easily tell what games would be good, and what games would be bad. Anyone could make and get published a game back then, and there were so many companies making poor games, that people couldn't tell what games were good, and which were bad (Remember, this was before you could just go look at reviews on the internet, and before gaming magazines became popular). A game called ET was marketed heavily, but was rushed out after only having been worked on for about 6 weeks. The game didn't sell that well, and it was the final nail in the coffin for gaming in North America at the time. As you all know, the industry as we know it was saved when Nintendo asked a newer game designer to produce a game to run on the arcade cabinets of the failed game radar scope. The result was Donkey Kong, and that designer would latter go on to become the greatest that the industry has ever known (For those unfamiliar with gaming history, I'm talking about Mr. Miyamoto here).

...Thats a lot like what's happening now in the industry, uninformed consumers aren't able to tell what games are good, and so they buy shovel-ware. Some may like these games, at first, but after a while the games just sit on their shelf, and having not seen a decent example of what gaming is like, they eventually give up on it altogether. This isn't healthy for the industry. And nobody is trying to do anything to help them. You walk into an EB Games/Gamestop/Gamestation/Game/ect. and you see a soccer mom buying one of those Wii Fit starter kits made by those accessory companies (I think its Intec here, but I'm not sure), and you know she thinks its an actual Wii Fit game and is in for a big disappointment when she gets home. Yet, nobody helps these people. The only reason many mainstream and hardcore gamers don't like Casual gamers is because casual gamers don't know all that much about games and gaming. But if the only games in your collection are just a couple shooters that your friends told you that you should get to be more popular, are you really any different from them?

-Emasher