Shenske's Projects & Thoughts

[the7k]

I don't think being a hardcore gamer has anything to do with the amount of time you put into gaming. You can be a hardcore gamer and still have a full-time job and social life.

Whether you are a hardcore gamer or not depends on the types of games you play, at least where I come from. Are you into 2D Fighters/Technical 3D Fighters, Mario Bros.-style 2D Platformers, RPGs (Tactical, Japanese or Western), or Shmups? Then you are probably a hardcore gamer.

A casual gamer is one who sticks to the easy-to-understand, don't-spend-time-on-it type of games. First-Person Shooters, Mario 64-style 3D Platformers, Mobile Puzzle Games, and any Wii game that thrives based on how much waggle is involved: those are the casual games.

A hardcore gamer can play casual games and still be hardcore. A casual gamer can not play hardcore games and still be casual.

Of course, if a gamer puts too much time into a 'in-between' game, then they'd be hardcore. If you just play an FPS or Fighter online for the fun of it, your a casual gamer. If you play those same games with a close watch on your Win/Lose ratio and consider making a brand new account if you have a bad day, you'd be hardcore. Play "I Love Rock & Roll" on Easy? I'd question whether you've even seen a video game outside of your iPhone. Play "Through The Fire And Flames" on Expert? I'd question whether you've every seen the outside world.

So, maybe it's just a mental thing.

Anyway, I consider myself hardcore, with a casual attitude. I don't care (too much) about Win/Lose ratios or getting 100% achievements/trophies, but I still play shmups, Tactical RPGs, 2D Fighters and other genres that Father Time has left in the dust. I also take gaming very seriously, wanting it to be as aesthetically pleasing and immersible as possible.

C'mon, I come to this site, don't I? I'd say that any gamer who actually prints covers out for their games on quality print paper and goes out of their way to get cases for games so that their games can look really great on their shelves has far crossed over the line into hardcore country. Most gamers I know just keep their CD-based games in CD Folders and their cartridge-based games in boxes. Probably in the attic/basement.

[Doom]

Wow, what a well written post.

[sorwah]

I don't think being a hardcore gamer has anything to do with the amount of time you put into gaming. You can be a hardcore gamer and still have a full-time job and social life.

Whether you are a hardcore gamer or not depends on the types of games you play, at least where I come from. Are you into 2D Fighters/Technical 3D Fighters, Mario Bros.-style 2D Platformers, RPGs (Tactical, Japanese or Western), or Shmups? Then you are probably a hardcore gamer.

A casual gamer is one who sticks to the easy-to-understand, don't-spend-time-on-it type of games. First-Person Shooters, Mario 64-style 3D Platformers, Mobile Puzzle Games, and any Wii game that thrives based on how much waggle is involved: those are the casual games.

A hardcore gamer can play casual games and still be hardcore. A casual gamer can not play hardcore games and still be casual.

Of course, if a gamer puts too much time into a 'in-between' game, then they'd be hardcore. If you just play an FPS or Fighter online for the fun of it, your a casual gamer. If you play those same games with a close watch on your Win/Lose ratio and consider making a brand new account if you have a bad day, you'd be hardcore. Play "I Love Rock & Roll" on Easy? I'd question whether you've even seen a video game outside of your iPhone. Play "Through The Fire And Flames" on Expert? I'd question whether you've every seen the outside world.

So, maybe it's just a mental thing.

Anyway, I consider myself hardcore, with a casual attitude. I don't care (too much) about Win/Lose ratios or getting 100% achievements/trophies, but I still play shmups, Tactical RPGs, 2D Fighters and other genres that Father Time has left in the dust. I also take gaming very seriously, wanting it to be as aesthetically pleasing and immersible as possible.

C'mon, I come to this site, don't I? I'd say that any gamer who actually prints covers out for their games on quality print paper and goes out of their way to get cases for games so that their games can look really great on their shelves has far crossed over the line into hardcore country. Most gamers I know just keep their CD-based games in CD Folders and their cartridge-based games in boxes. Probably in the attic/basement.

Everything you just said I wouldn't call a hardcore gamer. I would call them an enthusiast - which is what I believe I am.

[AppleQueso]

Everything you just said I wouldn't call a hardcore gamer. I would call them an enthusiast - which is what I believe I am.

Well all things considered, the term "Hardcore Gamer" is pretty synonymous with "Enthusiast Gamer" if you ask me. However I suppose that if you really wanted to separate them you could say that "Hardcore Gamers" tend to be elitist and look down on "Casuals".

I would consider myself an enthusiast then if we are to make such a distinction, as generally, I don't see any reason to look down on people who simply don't have the same amount of passion that I do for my hobby.

However, insult the classics and you're likely to get my blood boiling 

[sorwah]

agreed.

[the7k]

Everything you just said I wouldn't call a hardcore gamer. I would call them an enthusiast - which is what I believe I am.

Well all things considered, the term "Hardcore Gamer" is pretty synonymous with "Enthusiast Gamer" if you ask me. However I suppose that if you really wanted to separate them you could say that "Hardcore Gamers" tend to be elitist and look down on "Casuals".

I would consider myself an enthusiast then if we are to make such a distinction, as generally, I don't see any reason to look down on people who simply don't have the same amount of passion that I do for my hobby.

However, insult the classics and you're likely to get my blood boiling 

Honestly, Casual Gamers look down on Hardcore Gamers too. Or at the very least, dislike them.

For example, if everyone is playing Guitar Hero on Easy, then you get a turn and play on Hard, you'll probably be called a showoff by all but your family/close-friends. Sure, some people do that to show off, but sometimes I just wanna have fun. Once you've played GH on Hard, going to Easy is like... switching to a tricycle after being on a dirt bike.

The reason a lot of hardcore gamers consider casual games inferior is because, in many cases, they are. It's a problem when the hardcore can't recognize when a casual game is brilliant. Boom Blox is as casual as they come, but it's still a good game. Casual gaming has become so mediocre and copy-paste due to the Wii's success that all casual games are being lumped in with Carnival Games: Mini Golf and Wacky Races. When the next Tetris does hit, no one is going to know it. The hardcore will dismiss it immediately because it's "just another casual game", while casual gamers will be confused by the sea of options that they won't see the best of the best. Even reviewers, at this point, can't cover the massive flood of casual games (Can't remember the article, but I remember reading recently that magazines have to "pick and choose" what to cover each month, just because there are too many things to cover), making it even more likely  that gems will be forever lost.

As far as I'm concerned, a hardcore gamer doesn't have to be an elitist. Elitism is an entirely different area. I'm sure there are tons of casual gamers that look at hardcore gamers, playing their silly technical fighters, ancient space ship games and menu-based adventure books on TV and thinking "What a bunch of nerds."

[sorwah]

I remember playing Rock Band 2. I had my skills up to Medium. I kept auto-joining into this one guitarist's band. After 5 minutes of idling, we went into the stage/song select. He chose Expert, I chose medium. He immediately backs out to the lobby and boots me.

Pfft.

[juan0tron]

eh, I'm not much for naming myself, but I guess I could fit in with the hardcore crowd. I love collecting games, completing them, and paying them over and over if I think they deserve it
Time investment doesn't matter much, I'm at school about 10 hours a day, so I don't have much time, but it doesn't stop me from being hardcore. Check out my signature if you want proof of the amount of games I play.

For Rock Band/Guitar Hero, I find it kind of hard to play anything lower than expert because I'm so used to playing the actual notes for a song, especially with drums. (unless someone pulls something like "visions" out, then I'll bump down to hard again )

[Doom]

I won't purchase a GH/RB game out of principle. All that money for something that doesn't cost near that much to manufacture I would think. Thus, I can do okay at best (maybe normal) only because of my general musical experience.

However, anywhere there is DDR, (I pronounce it "du-durrr" ) I make an ass of myself. Anyone playing DDR well and most people playing GH/RB well seem to always look like assholes, myself included. As annoying as it is to me when I lose in CoD or Halo or an equally shitty FPS, games like that where all of the attention is usually focused on one or a few people make people seem like dicks very easily.

[the7k]

Yeah, all the GH/RB analogies I use is simply because it is such an over-exposed series. Guitar Hero stopped being fun after GHII, and Rock Band only brought it back to the fun times for a while before I got tired of pulling the set out for yet another fret-fest.

At this point, I'd just much rather play Audio Surf. Maybe that new Amplitude their working on for PSN'll be worth checking out too, but the whole peripheral-based music genre is kinda being beat with a dead horse.

[KaiserWAVE]

I for one love Rock Band. It's really one of the best games I've ever played. I agree with you on GH though. I bought GH3 because I liked the tracklist but the balancing is way off. I had no problem playing through the game until "One" and "Raining Blood". Couldn't even beat them on hard. You would have to be a freaking octopus to get through the solo or the mosh part of these songs. Also the achievements suck. Playing through hard with a standard 360 controller? Are you kidding me?

Ever since Neversoft took over the GH series they always screw it up. I gave GH World Tour a chance. It's a fun game, has a good tracklist, too. But the same brick wall problem. The game's got no learning curve whatsoever. Instead of getting harder with time it just stays the same and then at the end comes a song and BAM you hit a brick wall because it's way harder than anything you played before.

I was going through the expert bass career. To my surprise it was REALLY easy. Just a few songs that I didn't 5*'ed on my first try. Enter B.Y.O.B. and I'm screwed. As if they turn up the difficulty from 1 to 10 in an instant. Just can't beat the song. Since I'm the achievement whore that I am I thought, ok, I'll go through expert vocals then. Same story here. Whose bright idea was it to let you sing a LIVE version of a Jimmy Hendrix song? He's probably high on acid while he sings it and the pitch is all over the place. Can't even make it further than 30secs into the song until I fail.

I'm looking forward to GH: Metallica (mainly because I hope they bundle it with a wireless X-Plorer) and I pray that they get the balancing right for once that I can play through it on hard at least since medium just isn't any fun anymore.

rant over


But as far as GH/Rock Band players being hardcore... I have a few friends who bought either one of these games and they play on medium all the time and have a blast. They don't even want to play higher difficulties. The people online, however, are very protective and nerdy. I can't count how many times someone quit on me because they were losing. Like losing in a ranked match is like losing a limb *sigh*

I think being hardcore or casual (if you want to seperate these two in the first place) depends on how much room you give gaming in your life. Most casual players just play to relax. Or with friends or at parties. They just want to have a good time for an hour or so and then do something else. A hardcore player is likely to ramp up the difficulty, playing for hours at a time, trying to get the most out of a game until it's done. Whether it be going for achievements or a secret or extended ending that you only get on the higher difficulties. Playing the game for a second or third time just to see everything. A casual gamer wouldn't do that. If they play a game that has a story to begin with and not some shovelware or mini game collection they are more than likely done with it after their first playthrough.
Whereas the common Resident Evil fan is likely to play through the game several times. If you got 4th Survivor on Resi 2 you're hardcore, if you got Tofu, payed through Resi1 in under 3 hours or are a 7-day survivor at Dead Rising, you're my hero

[Timstuff]

One easy way to tell casual from hardcore is how much attention they pay to reviews and news. If someone only buys games if they have a fancy commercial or a friend recommended it, they're obviously a casual. But if someone researches a game thoroughly before dropping $20-60 bones on it, they are more likely to be hardcore. That's certainly not the only qualifier, but it's a possible one. I do find however that casuals tend to be much more forgiving in terms of game quality than hardcores.

[sorwah]

I for one love Rock Band. It's really one of the best games I've ever played. I agree with you on GH though. I bought GH3 because I liked the tracklist but the balancing is way off. I had no problem playing through the game until "One" and "Raining Blood". Couldn't even beat them on hard. You would have to be a freaking octopus to get through the solo or the mosh part of these songs. Also the achievements suck. Playing through hard with a standard 360 controller? Are you kidding me?

Ever since Neversoft took over the GH series they always screw it up. I gave GH World Tour a chance. It's a fun game, has a good tracklist, too. But the same brick wall problem. The game's got no learning curve whatsoever. Instead of getting harder with time it just stays the same and then at the end comes a song and BAM you hit a brick wall because it's way harder than anything you played before.

I was going through the expert bass career. To my surprise it was REALLY easy. Just a few songs that I didn't 5*'ed on my first try. Enter B.Y.O.B. and I'm screwed. As if they turn up the difficulty from 1 to 10 in an instant. Just can't beat the song. Since I'm the achievement whore that I am I thought, ok, I'll go through expert vocals then. Same story here. Whose bright idea was it to let you sing a LIVE version of a Jimmy Hendrix song? He's probably high on acid while he sings it and the pitch is all over the place. Can't even make it further than 30secs into the song until I fail.

I'm looking forward to GH: Metallica (mainly because I hope they bundle it with a wireless X-Plorer) and I pray that they get the balancing right for once that I can play through it on hard at least since medium just isn't any fun anymore.

rant over


But as far as GH/Rock Band players being hardcore... I have a few friends who bought either one of these games and they play on medium all the time and have a blast. They don't even want to play higher difficulties. The people online, however, are very protective and nerdy. I can't count how many times someone quit on me because they were losing. Like losing in a ranked match is like losing a limb *sigh*

I think being hardcore or casual (if you want to seperate these two in the first place) depends on how much room you give gaming in your life. Most casual players just play to relax. Or with friends or at parties. They just want to have a good time for an hour or so and then do something else. A hardcore player is likely to ramp up the difficulty, playing for hours at a time, trying to get the most out of a game until it's done. Whether it be going for achievements or a secret or extended ending that you only get on the higher difficulties. Playing the game for a second or third time just to see everything. A casual gamer wouldn't do that. If they play a game that has a story to begin with and not some shovelware or mini game collection they are more than likely done with it after their first playthrough.
Whereas the common Resident Evil fan is likely to play through the game several times. If you got 4th Survivor on Resi 2 you're hardcore, if you got Tofu, payed through Resi1 in under 3 hours or are a 7-day survivor at Dead Rising, you're my hero

The main reason I don't like guitar hero (after Neversoft become dev) is because they don't even put the song notes right. Half of Harmonix's staff has been or is in a band. The expert difficulty has a 1:1 ratio of notes to frets. In other words, every time you have to strum a fret it's at the same time a note would play in the song. In Neversoft's Guitar Hero they just add more frets to areas where there aren't even notes to make it harder.

[Mick Dundee]

I consider myself a Collector and moderate player.

 I play my games every weekday on breaks at work (DS or PSP)
Then come home to play 360 or watch TV....

 My little brother I consider to be in the "Hardcore" Catagory.

 He plays his games for 9/10ths of his waking hours.
 
  He gets 1000 / 1000 Achievements on all almost the games he plays.
 
 If you give him a game, he will beat it...probably because of no cash to buy more.
 
 He played through Twilight Princess with 3 hearts and Didn't die once.
 
 He used Action Replay to change ALL the enemies he could to the Big Armored Guys that you
 need  to "break" away the armor of.


 People that will take a game and get all 1000 achievement points, almost no matter what the
 game, I think are hardcore.

 oh, and If you guys want a piece of crap Band game... try Rock Revolution. I received and Returned
 this one in the same day from Gamefly

 Sadly, it DID have a good music list. (Newer rock)

[the7k]

Don't get me wrong, Kaizer, Rock Band is a good game, it's just that I have played so much of it. It got to a point where every week end, either friends would come to my place to play it or I'd go over to a friend's place and then they'd wanna play it.

About a month ago I went over to a friends place and they wanted to play Rock Band 2 for old times sake. Even with the new tracks they downloaded and everything, I just pulled out my DS and played some Neo Geo roms until they finished. I recognize it's a good game (much better than the 'strawberry milk' Guitar Hero has become), I'm just burnt out.

Hardcore gamer is hard to define, mainly because there are so many variations. I'd say Timstuff is on to something, hardcore gamers put more thought into gaming than anyone else does. Reading reviews has something to do with that, but so does reading gaming news, tutorials on making your gaming experience better and finding out the best places to hide in your FPS of choice.

I just suffered a virus a couple of days ago. As soon as I put XP back on (just so I could play games; I use Ubuntu for everything else), the first few sites I bookmarked were this one, Kotaku and Racketboy. I'd say that alone pretty much cements my hardcore-gamer-ness.