"Hardcore" Gamers

[Not Changed by VASM :(]

What is your definition fo hardcore?

[Nightmare]

Somebody who plays a lot of games, and plays games most of his time (and enjoys/loves them).

That's really it.

[Meteor]

Someone who has put >100 hours into a single game.

[Metal Rabbit]

To me it could mean 2 things:

-They play the game on a competitive level

-They've played it alot and have conquered dificult challenges

[Emeraldfox]

Someone who loves the games they play. They also have an extensive knowledge about them too.

[DOS]

Hardcore gamers know the game they're playing/they have played inside out, have put countless time in completely finishing it on the most difficult setting (although this isn't necessarily true in all cases), and have tried - at least once - in completing the game with restrictions to make it even more difficult.

[Masu]

Hardcore gamers know the game they're playing/they have played inside out, have put countless time in completely finishing it on the most difficult setting (although this isn't necessarily true in all cases), and have tried - at least once - in completing the game with restrictions to make it even more difficult.

>_>........sounds like my genis only run through in TOS..........

[DOS]

>_>........sounds like my genis only run through in TOS..........

Congratulations then. :)

I also forgot to add, hardcore gamers will also try to play a game they really like - but not necessarily finish - in a foreign language if such game has not been released in their mother tongue. Or at least, that's my experience with hardcore gamers. The don't need to fit all of my criteria to be hardcore, but they have to meet at least two.

EDIT: Typo and added more.

Edited October 25, 2008 by Once

[Masu]

Congratulations then. :)

I also forgot to add, hardcore gamers will also try to play a game they really like - but not necessarily finish - in a foreign language if such game has not been released in their mother tongue. Or at least, that's my experience with hardcore gamers. The don't need to fit all of my criteria to be hardcore, but they have to meet at least two.

EDIT: Typo and added more.

*has the jp and us TOS*

..........im feeling hardcore...........

[Wist]

I think this is a really neat thread. I'd like to see whether anyone here believes my father could be considered a hardcore gamer. When I first started writing my post, I was going to use my father as an example but I realized that I wasn't sure if he could be considered a hardcore gamer or not. No-one has any obligation to respond to this question if they'd choose to continue the thread as it has been going thus far, it's just something that popped into my head that I think might be interesting.

I'll put the rest of my post in spoiler tags to signify that I'm not intending to hijack the thread.

My Dad has beaten The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess, as well as the campaigns for StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War. He's also played some of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Final Fantasy XII. In the late nineties, he learned how to play the Pokemon Trading Card game so that he could teach it to me. Even when I was fifteen and sixteen, he beat me more frequently than I beat him because he has an enviously good understanding of how to make an effective deck. He and I also used to set up a LAN in his house so that we could play StarCraft on teams against the computer (I think he only played on Battle.net once or twice); we didn't play against each other though because my mechanics are much more practiced than his.

From this information alone one might think he's relatively hardcore, but I have difficulty deciding if this is really the case. Except for StarCraft team matches and the Pokemon TCG which he would play with me, he usually only plays games to wind down after work. Despite his knack for playing games (he's good at figuring out difficult Zelda puzzles without using GameFAQs, and I like having him watch me play StarCraft because he's great at pointing out when is an ideal time to expand or where I'd best counterattack), I don't believe he sees gaming as a dominant hobby. He enjoyed sailing in Wind Waker because it was pleasant and fun; it took him over a year to beat the game because he preferred exploring the islands over everything else. He's also just as inclined to write or play a sport as he is to play a game.

Do you think he could be considered a hardcore gamer? What criteria of yours does he fit in, and which does he not? Did I give enough information to allow people to make an approximation like this? He has his own GameCube, Wii, and PlayStation 3, which I think might tilt scale a bit, but he bought those as much so that I wouldn't have to bring my own consoles when I visited him as he did for his own game playing.

----------

Irrespective of that matter, there's a lot of interesting points in this thread which I think are all valid when trying to come up with a definition or criteria for a term as vague as hardcore. I'm aligned with the idea that a willingness to put time enough into a game to discovering most of what's in it can be an important defining characteristic, but that might depend on the kinds of games a person prefers to play. Would I be safe in assuming that the majority of active members here consider themselves hardcore gamers?

[Rehab]

The only criteria for being a hardcore gamer: Playing Skies of Arcadia and putting over 300 hours over multiple playthroughs into discovering everything before anybody else.

[Masu]

The only criteria for being a hardcore gamer: Playing Skies of Arcadia and putting over 300 hours over multiple playthroughs into discovering everything before anybody else.

*has maxed out the play time in TOS (999 hours and 99mins) beaten it at least 40 times, can collete,raine,and genis abysion solo and genis can do 7,000 dmg with physical attacks*

tell that to a guy who plays tos and he/she will stand there like "WHAT.THE.FUCK"

[Magical CC]

I call a gamer is a hardcore gamer when he remember the name, the lv and the stats of a monster in the game he havent play for 1 year when I ask( he is my friend)

Edited October 25, 2008 by Collete

[Florete]

Wist has taken over another topic. Damn, he's good.

My definition; Someone who enjoys talking about games as much as/more than playing them.

[DOS]

My Dad has beaten The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess, as well as the campaigns for StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War. He's also played some of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Final Fantasy XII. In the late nineties, he learned how to play the Pokemon Trading Card game so that he could teach it to me. Even when I was fifteen and sixteen, he beat me more frequently than I beat him because he has an enviously good understanding of how to make an effective deck. He and I also used to set up a LAN in his house so that we could play StarCraft on teams against the computer (I think he only played on Battle.net once or twice); we didn't play against each other though because my mechanics are much more practiced than his.

From this information alone one might think he's relatively hardcore, but I have difficulty deciding if this is really the case. Except for StarCraft team matches and the Pokemon TCG which he would play with me, he usually only plays games to wind down after work. Despite his knack for playing games (he's good at figuring out difficult Zelda puzzles without using GameFAQs, and I like having him watch me play StarCraft because he's great at pointing out when is an ideal time to expand or where I'd best counterattack), I don't believe he sees gaming as a dominant hobby. He enjoyed sailing in Wind Waker because it was pleasant and fun; it took him over a year to beat the game because he preferred exploring the islands over everything else. He's also just as inclined to write or play a sport as he is to play a game.

Do you think he could be considered a hardcore gamer? What criteria of yours does he fit in, and which does he not? Did I give enough information to allow people to make an approximation like this? He has his own GameCube, Wii, and PlayStation 3, which I think might tilt scale a bit, but he bought those as much so that I wouldn't have to bring my own consoles when I visited him as he did for his own game playing.

Your father could be considered a hardcore gamer in my eyes, but rather a light hardcore gamer if you know what I'm getting at; the fact that he would explore rather than finish the game quickly with just the basic requirements, and that he does not use a walkthrough for anything proves to me he is one. However, are there any other games he has played/is playing other than The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and/or Starcraft? It's just something I'm curious about.

He does fit in the criteria in the fact that he knows the game(s) like the back of his hand, and has spent a lot of time trying to complete at least one game, but also in the fact he still continues playing games despite his age. I don't know about anyone else, but I would love to have a parent like that.

Irrespective of that matter, there's a lot of interesting points in this thread which I think are all valid when trying to come up with a definition or criteria for a term as vague as hardcore. I'm aligned with the idea that a willingness to put time enough into a game to discovering most of what's in it can be an important defining characteristic, but that might depend on the kinds of games a person prefers to play. Would I be safe in assuming that the majority of active members here consider themselves hardcore gamers?

As for me, well, I wouldn't consider myself as someone hardcore, but others - my friends - believe otherwise because I play much more games and have more knowledge on games than they do. I have beaten, and replayed many games throughout my rather short time as a gamer (I still play games, but others have played waaaaay longer than I have), however I have not really dedicated most of my time into finding every little secret/achievement in every game I have played so far (only a few), and have generally used walkthroughs to find those annoying items and whatnot.

[torifae]

Taking things to the extreme...at least that's what I think.

[Leonri]

Ethan from Ctrl+Alt+Del.

The Hardcore gamer

[Meteor]

Wist, it sounds like your father is a hardcore gamer. He may not have his vigor from past days, but it sounds like he still has his passion. To show the difference, I would define a casual gamer as one who plays games just for the social aspect. Wii Sports, Guitar Hero, Halo have all become mainstream and are probably the extent of most casual players' video game experience (Not that there aren't hardcore GH or Halo players).

[Dr. Tarrasque]

I often aim for game completion and if I happen to really like the game, I may do some sort of insane playthrough (3 heart zelda runs, no tank 5 missile metroid prime runs... stuff like that). What the hell does that make me?

Edited October 25, 2008 by Boo

[Wist]

Your father could be considered a hardcore gamer in my eyes, but rather a light hardcore gamer if you know what I'm getting at; the fact that he would explore rather than finish the game quickly with just the basic requirements, and that he does not use a walkthrough for anything proves to me he is one. However, are there any other games he has played/is playing other than The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and/or Starcraft? It's just something I'm curious about.

He does fit in the criteria in the fact that he knows the game(s) like the back of his hand, and has spent a lot of time trying to complete at least one game, but also in the fact he still continues playing games despite his age. I don't know about anyone else, but I would love to have a parent like that.

As for me, well, I wouldn't consider myself as someone hardcore, but others - my friends - believe otherwise because I play much more games and have more knowledge on games than they do. I have beaten, and replayed many games throughout my rather short time as a gamer (I still play games, but others have played waaaaay longer than I have), however I have not really dedicated most of my time into finding every little secret/achievement in every game I have played so far (only a few), and have generally used walkthroughs to find those annoying items and whatnot.

I understand what you mean by a light hardcore gamer, it would probably be more accurate to classify my father as that instead of simply hardcore or casual. As for other games: he's played Rockband, Wii Sports, Mario Party 4, and a little of the two most recent Smash Bros. games. I think he also completed Harry Potter 4: Goblet of Fire with my sister. I encouraged him to try Pokemon Yellow but he found it too repetitive to be interesting. Aside from Harry Potter 4 and Mario Party 4, I don't believe he's put more than a few hours into any of those games. In regard to games he's playing right now, I think he stopped playing Majora's Mask in favor of Final Fantasy XII.

He never played video games (aside from Space Invaders and some games that shipped with old Windows platforms, and the Pokemon Trading Card game which I mentioned in my earlier post) until I got him to play StarCraft with me. I wasn't allowed to have any consoles when I was a kid, but my father got into games when I showed him some StarCraft UMS maps I made based on the novel Dune. If you can show your parents that you're learning something neat from playing games, you might inspire them to start experimenting.

It's intriguing that your friends would disagree with that assessment of yourself as a gamer. Do you friends consider themselves hardcore players?

EDIT (2008.10.15):

I see what you mean, Meteor. My father's too experienced and self motivated to be seen as a casual gamer.

Edited October 25, 2008 by Wist

[Celice]

"Hardcore," to me, is anyone who has followed a company, series, or genre of games.

Those who pickup the types of games that they don't understand, like those shovelware Imagine games for the DS, Disney games (ones not from the NES and SNES era), and the like, are not "hardcore." The ones who play games like Frogger, Tetris, and a few other remote or well-known games only, and every once in a while.

[Zanarkin]

Hardcore is someone who plays video games with a passion.

forgot to finish sentence lol

Edited October 25, 2008 by Richter Abend

[noremaC]

somebody who ha played a game so much that it doesn't even challenge him/her whatsoever and still even after 10 playthoughs gets the same rush they did the first time they played it.

Like i kinda was when i was 7-8, i could be Loz ages/seasons in 1-3 days

[Dr. Tarrasque]

somebody who ha played a game so much that it doesn't even challenge him/her whatsoever and still even after 10 playthoughs gets the same rush they did the first time they played it.

Like i kinda was when i was 7-8, i could be Loz ages/seasons in 1-3 days

Wow that's like me and MMX6. I've beaten the game somewhere around 130-140 times and I still play it at least twice a week.

[Rehab]

*has maxed out the play time in TOS (999 hours and 99mins) beaten it at least 40 times, can collete,raine,and genis abysion solo and genis can do 7,000 dmg with physical attacks*

tell that to a guy who plays tos and he/she will stand there like "WHAT.THE.FUCK"

for the record, my reaction:

"holy crap"

Time to replay arcadia 6 times