This is the second in an 11-part series. To start from the beginning, read part one: "What We Talk About When We Talk About Games."
Think about all the words we have to describe our games. You probably have concrete, specific associations with words like "platformer," "JRPG," and "brawler." Hell, "Metroidvania," with all its rich connotations, has even made its way into the lexicon. What words describe gamers with a similar lack of ambiguity? Those few that spring to mind are nebulous at best.
To the extent that we consider ourselves specialists within the broader rubric of "gamers," it's mostly to express a preference for a genre. That's not good enough. It confuses the effect with the cause. You don't like role-playing games because you've liked other role-playing games. You like them because you respond to qualities endemic to that genre, but there's no reason you wouldn't respond to those same qualities skillfully deployed in another type of game. We need a bottom-up taxonomy that accounts for this.
The two classifications most commonly applied to gamers are "hardcore" and "casual." These terms may be hopelessly broad, but they're an excellent jumping-off point. It would help to define them, once and for all. That's easier said than done. Is a "hardcore" player somebody who eschews popular mainstream games like Halo, or plays weird Japanese games like Persona to the exclusion of all else - that is, someone with narrow or elitist taste? Does a player count as "casual" if they spend hundreds of hours playing only mini-game collections for the Wii, or racking up high scores in online puzzle games?
Maybe we should distinguish the two solely in terms of dollars spent on games -- but I think anybody who got hooked on Desktop Tower Defense this year would admit to having felt hardcore at least some of the time, like when their boss was at the door but they kept on placing turrets. And some of the most committed gamers around pirate a good majority of their software. So expenditure isn't it, either.
If we can't accurately define the two most common terms applied to video game players, then we'll have to look for better ones.
Next: Skill Players vs. Tourists
4 comments:
I think that hardcore should apply to gamers that place a greater amount of time and concern for video games, in whatever form grabs them the most. It could be ways such as keeping up with gaming news, reading gaming-related blogs, putting hours into being the best possible in a multi-player game, to digging deep to acquire and play hidden gems or obscure games.
In general, I agree with that: a hardcore gamer is somebody with a greater intensity of feeling toward games, who devotes more time and attention to them than the average person. The problem I have is that that's external to the actual act of playing the game, and doesn't do much to tell us why those people like the games they do.
As for your last couple of points, read on! That's what the next part is about.
Yeah these are old, but nobody writes about these things often anyways.
Anyways, the definition of hardcore vs casual is as follows:
Hardcore - Gamers who spend the majority of their time playing games, aka, their number 1 hobby.
Casual - People who play video games now and then, but do not prioritize it.
All other definitions at this time are wrong.
I should say I made the above comment on January 11, 2010.
January 11, 2010 11:00AM
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