Friday, May 11, 2012

Casual Gamer? Really??


I hate the term “casual gamer” as it is used today. Back when I was a kid, before the wheel was invented and we ran to school everyday because Pterodactyls would pick us off if we moved slowly, there were “gamers” and “non-gamers”. You know: folks that played games and folks that didn't play unless forced. Now we have lots of gamers all over the planet and excellent games all over the place. Gaming has become a mainstream hobby. So now of course some elitist shmucks have to ruin things by declaring certain game types as for the “hardcore” and others as not.


I'm going to say this clearly so that some of the sledge heads out there can understand. THE TYPE OF GAME YOU PLAY DOES NOT DETERMINE HOW “HARD CORE” YOU ARE. The time and experience and effort you put into the game is what makes you hardcore. I know some guys that play Battlefield 3 every once in awhile. They are not hardcore players. Some play an occasional RPG, still not hardcore. You CAN be a hardcore gamer and play these games, but it's your enthusiasm for them that makes you a serious gamer. So if you really love puzzle games, you study up on how to get the best combos to improve your score, then you could well be one hell of a hardcore Bejeweled player.

I'm not saying that certain genres tend to attract the hardcore: this is certainly true. I would guess that hardcore players do tend to play FPS's and RPG's. It's just that it is not a requirement. What was hardcore 15 years ago was platformers and shooters. They were definitely NOT casual. Games like Blood Money and Ghosts n' Goblins will chew you up and spit you out if you are not steady with a joystick. Let them kick you around for awhile and see how “casual” they are. It's an insult to these games that in some circles they would be lumped in as casual. Hell, they were the games that CREATED the term!

Well, I think I have ranted enough. In the end what I am saying is that the type of game you play does not indicate your dedication to the hobby. There have been hard core gamers since before there were beat 'em ups, FPS's and MMORPG's and there will be long after they have been replaced with the next big thing.

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