Casual vs Hardcore Gamers

by Piyoz on Oct 22nd, 2013

I’m a gamer. You’re all gamers, too, if you’re reading this. Over the years, we gamers have created a culture for ourselves within this global industry of game design and distribution. We are the audience that has played games since we were children. We are the ones who buy game consoles and argue about their advantages over other consoles. We are also the consumers who shell out serious loads of hard-earned money for software every year, despite there being many other hobbies to spend that capital on, like movies, books, and alcohol. But no, it has to be video games.

What I’ve seen in my own life and splattered across internet forums is a surprising amount of diversity in gamers’ approach to their hobby. I’ve noticed a pretty strict dichotomy between two distinct camps of gamers. These two groups are commonly known as the “casuals” and the “hardcore” gamers. These are words you’ve read before, I’m sure. But they’re also words that have hardly been defined to my satisfaction. A frat guy can play Call of Duty and consider himself a hard core gamer. Yet a hipster who only plays emulated SNES and Genesis games on his laptop would also call himself hard core. What does hard core gaming even mean? And what does casual gaming mean? Is it your little cousin playing Angry Birds on her mother’s tablet? Is it a 20 year old playing Animal Crossing?

What I am offering today is a definition for these terms that categorize the types of consumers in this industry. And I’m going to do so with a mere two examples.

My friend Marin likes to play video games. At home, she has an Xbox 360, a PS2, a Wii console, and a 3DS. She doesn’t buy that many games per year due to financial limitations, but even if she did have more money, I can’t imagine she would go out game shopping that much. When she bought a Wii, she bought some Legend of Zelda games, Lego Batman, Guitar Hero, Super Smash Bros Melee, and that one X-Men game. I asked her why she purchased the games she did, and she had trouble telling me exactly why.

She likes Batman. Legend of Zelda is famous, so she had to buy that. And she played Smash Bros with the children that she babysits, so she wanted that, too.

When Marin bought an Xbox 360, she bought with it Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Devil May Cry collrction, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Batman: Arkham City. Why these games in particular?

Again, she likes Batman. She likes Marvel superheroes. She likes Street Fighter characters. She heard Devil May Cry was fun, and my other friend recommended Assassin’s Creed. Hardly informed purchases, but I didn’t argue since she bought all good games that day.

When I go game shopping with Marin, the conversations end up being very one-sided. I comb the racks of Gamestop and shoot off names of publishers, developers, and IGN scores like an announcer at a race track. I can recognize nearly every title in a store, new and old. I could tell you exactly what you should buy and what you shouldn’t. Marin had to drown me out.

When I buy a game, I will have done my homework. I buy games on Steam by reading every review under the sun, checking out all the trailers and screenshots, and by looking at the discussions online. If I want to spend the money for a console game, I do an FBI-level background check. Developer, publisher, game designers, music composers, interviews, reviews, previews. Does this game appeal to me? What genre is it? How is its visual style? Does the gameplay seem fun? What is the premise? Is it worth the fifty/sixty dollars being spent on it?

Video games are not just a way to spend time for gamers like me. They’re not just a fun way to interact with the things we like. They ARE the things we like.

Marin likes Batman. So she buys a Batman game.

I like interesting visuals and well-crafted platforming. So I buy Super Mario Galaxy.

Marin buys games that appeal to the interests that she already has. She also buys games that society has deemed to be popular and cool. She doesn’t have much concern for “innovative game play”, industry awards, who developed what, or the business practices behind a game’s release. Marin doesn’t care about WB producing a critically-acclaimed sandbox beat-‘em-up developed by the folks at Rocksteady. She just wants to beat people up as the Dark Knight. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

I buy games for the sake of games. I want a new experience that can’t be delivered by any other medium. I want to follow certain game makers because I trust in their products. I complain about EA’s bullcrap DRM practices and the broken business model that American producers have created for AAA titles. I bought Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword because I craved a new and enthralling adventure/puzzle game with wonderful visuals and world design. I also care about Nintendo’s recent creations, and the fate of one of gaming’s most famous franchises.

My friend Marin, along with much of the world, is a casual gamer. Video games are just one of many media available to appeal to her interests. I, on the other hand, like many of you, am a hard core gamer. I play video games for the sake of video games. For me, they are a means to their own end. Sure, I might play Marvel vs Capcom with her sometimes. I play it for fun and exciting fighting mechanics. She plays it to have C. Viper fight X-23. Neither of these approaches is the “right” one. These are simply two different views on video games as a medium, and I feel that game makers have gotten an unintentional grasp on this in recent years.

Playing Call of Duty, Diablo III, or Skyrim does not make you a hard core gamer. Games with adrenaline, fast-paced action, and high texture quality does not separate the grown-up “manly” games from the colorful and obtuse “kiddie” party games. Casual and hard core are not inherent qualities of the games you play. These designations belong to why you play the games you do. Where your uninformed parents see racks of nearly identical game boxes and peripherals, we see an international competition for attention and favor. This discerning eye only belongs to about 15% of gamers, though. What publishers need to remember is that we are the most critical and observant group of consumers. We will complain about SimCity reboots and Mass Effect 3 endings, while the casual demographics don’t have much interest outside of Wii Sports, Kinect dance games, and Fruit Ninja.

What do you think about casual and hard core gaming? Think I missed something? Want to offer your own insight on this topic? Start a discussion in our very own forums!

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