Ben-DutkaIt's the most painful thing I've had to say all year. But the facts are undeniable.
Although there are still plenty of developers out there who absolutely strive to deliver games specifically designed for the hardcore, the industry is now dominated by the casual crowd. And that can never change.
It can't because gaming is officially mainstream. Back when it was only for tech geeks and the kids who had trouble making friends in school, basically the only people who played were "hardcore." There was no such thing as the 26-year-old girl who sat down and played anything ; see, we didn't have mobile gaming or games on Facebook, and the stigma that females did not play video games was in full effect. No girl would be caught dead playing a video game.
The evidence is right there in the content of video games. They were once nigh-on impossible to beat; only the truly hardcore, the endlessly dedicated, could eventually conquer them. But you can't get away with that any longer, as the majority of gamers are not hardcore and simply wouldn't play if we didn't implement the ease and accessibility that is now common. I've spoken out before about how this is actually a very good thing . And of course, we're talking about big business now. Big business doesn't survive without the masses. An obvious and irreversible rule.
So in the long run, if a publisher is looking to make money, he absolutely cannot focus on the hardcore. In fact, that publisher can't really think about such a small group at all. Losing the hardcore means almost nothing, provided the casuals love it; it has been estimated by analysts in the past that 80-85% of this industry is now comprised of people who are only "casual" in every sense of the word. With gaming spreading to multiple venues and becoming a normal part of popular culture, the term "hardcore" can only denote the die-hard avid fans, and that is always the minority in any big-business form of entertainment.
If movies weren't also dominated by the casual movie-going public, we'd have top-quality independent and foreign films that focus on writing, acting, cinematography, etc. You know, the stuff real film buffs actually care about. But the vast majority of movies are just flash and no substance, which is what the masses want. And that's what they're getting in the video game world, too, although I still maintain that this industry rewards quality in terms of both critical reception and sales.
So although the hardcore can no longer drive sales to the point where game makers can actually turn a profit, it seems most gamers still know what's good. …to some extent.
This is exactly how I feel about the gaming industry right now.
I think there's a lot of truth here. I did, however, know a few girls when I was young, one a friend's mom, another my older sister, who played Atari 2600 and or NES, but majority-wise, yeah, guys owned this venue much like D&D back in the day.
But it really is no longer niche. And the first game I can recall that really made headlines, like literally camera TV crews at Babbages/EB/Gamestop, was Final Fantasy VII. THat game by my recollection was something of a trojan horse, bringing video gaming to the lime light of mainstream entertainment. Well, something that wasn't Mario and Zelda anyway.
But as Ben pointed out with movies, I near had to stop watching Transformers 3 half way through a couple weeks back (first time watching it), I just couldn't stomach how much of a sell out the movie is for the masses. Don't get me wrong, I love Transformers, more when I was young than now, but Michael Bay's interpretation is designed to appease everyone.
Anyway, I really don't know how things will be for Sony going forward into the next-gen. History has suggested to me that winners and losers happen on generational transitions, I just hope MS and their market tactics doesn't bury Sony or place them in a spot that forces them to really change their identity.. anyway that's a different topic.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 8/3/2012 9:53:28 PM
How could a toy advertisement franchise possibly sell out?
Hasbro's audience had always been geared towards one demographic with Transformers, even recent Transformers games War and Fall of Cybertron respect the ardent fans. Michael Bay's stuff is Independence Day (will smith) meets Hasbro's Transformers. Something for everyone, flavored with robots. Outside of SFX the movies are a waste of my time.
I enjoyed the Transformer movies. They may not have followed the old stuff exactly but they were still good entertainment.
@ I completely agree Temjin. I even thought the second's quality was questionable – but 3 was absolutely abysmal.
I still have faith that developers will cater to the hardcore gamer. In march we get God of War IV and God mode is very difficult. I hope to get another installment of Demon/Dark Souls. The gaming industry won't go 100% casual, 80-85%, but we still have that small niche. Who knows maybe being a hardcore gamer might be the cool "hip" thing in the future.
Either hardcore gaming will make a triumphant come back when all the casual gamers desire more of a challenge. Or it will die with us 😛
I'm really not to worried about who the industry caters too. Gaming to me is my hobby and a fun getaway. I will play pretty much anything even if the enjoyment lasts for a bit. I at least got some fun out of it. Plus I have so many games in my backlog that if nothing else came out for 5 years I might get caught up.
Even with movies I'll watch anything. I may not like some but I do enjoy the moment. I love a movie sometimes where it's just non stop action without a deep story but I also love movies with a really good story. It all depends on what kind of mood I'm in. I've watch some of the biggest garbage on Netflix but I've always made the best of it. If the movie is boring I take the time to get a nap in. Some of my favorite movies are all subtitled and foreign.
Let the gaming industry bring on whatever they want. We'll always still have the devs out there that were/are hardcore gamers and want that experience themselves. I think sometimes peoples standards are set to high nowadays to actually enjoy a game like they use to.
When I play a game for the first time, I always start in normal mode just to enjoy the game first from start to finish, then if I feel like challenging myself I will try the hard mode, I like it that we have that option today. But I don't like games that is stupidly so easy but if the story is good I'll be satisfied in the end. I remember in the Family Computer I only finished 3 games Super Mario, Contra and Chip and Dale because the other games is so hard.
As for the casual gamers who started playing only mobile games and facebook games, some of them do it just to kill time, me too sometimes play it for 15 mins. (Fruit Ninja is a good quick stress reliever), but sometimes other casual gamers will be hardcore gamer, for example: my cousin only knows mobile games, facebook games, but when she tried Uncharted, FFXIII and Heavy Rain in my ps3, she regreted buying an IPHONE 4S,
and nobody has thus far tried to blame COD and the bazillions of casual gamers who love it – im impressed.
Hardcore gaming today is competitive online gaming, like it or not. So, COD is by definition hardcore gaming.
I believe even the COD haters realize this. 🙂
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/4/2012 2:18:01 AM
I'm not sure a "majority" equals hardcore. While I'm sure many hardcore gamers play or have played CoD, it is not on it's own accord "hardcore". How could it be? It's the very definition of casual pick-up-and-play marketed game. It's easy to learn and easier to master. Personally, I love when new CoD's come out now because I know it'll be a quick and easy platinum. :p
Underdog, you can't seriously mean that COD is *easy* to master? If so then you are a crazy natural talent in online FPS gaming, cause I find it almost dishearteningly hard. If it wasn't for the fact that I just know from experience that practise helps I'd give up playing after a very few rounds and cry "Foul play! Cheaters! Exploiters!", cause initially I am hardly able to as much as spot the attacker before he's killing me.
You can be lucky and enter a game with only newbies. But if you on *average* ends up amongst the top three-five well then you are really very skilled and deserves cred for that. That's *not* easy.
COD is easier than the more tactical games like Battlefield (who I just find far *too* hard and I'll admit that), cause it's more solo based and therefore does not have the same teamplay requirements. Plus it's very well made and therefore intuitive, easy to *understand*.
But easy to *master*? Getouttahere!
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/5/2012 4:14:01 AM
I believe hardcore gaming is alive and well, it's just gradually shifted character over the decades.
It's online competitive gaming that is the hardest thing to master today. No soft intro, no difficulty curve, no tutorial phase, no savegames, no forgiving AI, no mercy.
It requires playing the same maps over and over, learning every inch of the map like the back of your hand, ultra quick reflexes and an intimate knowledge of the gameplay mechanics and ruleset.
That's hardcore gaming right there, folks. That's the arena where the noobs are nothing but target practise, and that's where the hardcore gamers flock.
I used to be one of them, but I have no problem in being called a casual gamer these days. I just don't have the *time* for anything else any more. Frankly I don't think I'd have the skills either. I'm just too old for that sh*t now.
Had my life been different I'd love to fight for the upper spots on the result boards, or the most prestigious equipment in mmorpgs! But I don't have that time.
So instead, when the chance arise and I got a couple of hours to spend on gaming I want to progress in the game I am working on. I don't want to spend those rare, valuable hours struggling with some god damn hard boss that spank me over and over and wipe the floor with my ass, or a map I have to start over and over each time I die.
I just don't want it! I guess that makes me casual. So sue me. But I am really very pleased that the single player games are heading this direction. It suits me *perfectly*.
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/4/2012 3:01:24 AM
Come to think of it, based on your definition of hardcore, it seems I who plays ps3 games just for fun and to be inspired by games with a good story for only 2 hours average a day, sometimes 4 if I can't help it, is a casual gamer. And the gamers who play Temple Run for how many hours just to be the highest scorer is a Hardcore Gamer. Then I'm too will be proud to be called as a casual gamer. Hehe, just a funny thought!
Yeah you and me both!
To be honest Homura, that whole "casual VS hardcore" separation of gamers implies an elitish attitude that I just don't like. I find it rather… Childish? So people can call me whatever they want, I don't really want to be a part of that game(!) anyway.
Why can't we all just be… Gamers? With different preferences and reasons for being gamers? Some want this, some want that, but we are all gamers.
What we prefer typically depends on what we are familiar with anyway.
So I am Beamboom, a *GAMER*. Nice to meet you, gamer Homura! 😉
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/4/2012 3:53:23 AM
@Beam its some truth to that a example is GT5….. when released online was flooded rooms for days now only car enthusiast/ fans of series started clubs & have events..
Competitive gaming doesn't really mean hardcore. I used to play DoD:s with my friends clan and we would scrim a lot, and I played in like a couple exhibitions and it is a completely different feeling than say conquering Demon or Dark Souls.
Its hard to really explain how it is different but, I guess the best example would be one is like winning a game of soccer and the other is like solving a rubix cube for the first time without anyone helping you.
Competitive games are pretty limited to genres, you have shooters, RTS, and fighting games.
Is it fair that people who want challenging platformers, action games, RPGs etc are left out to dry?
I don't think hardcore games will disappear soon, we have devs that are catering to us. However I think it might die with my generation of gamers. Unless there is some hardcore gamer revolution when all the casuals get fed up with ez modes 😛
Sorry Beam, but just because somebody plays a zillion hours online doesn't make them "hardcore." Not by my definition, anyway. Essentially, online is THE haven of the casual right now, in more ways than one.
What are you guys definition of hardcore then?
I agree that competitive online is pretty limited to genres Xenris, also I agree that no-one should be left out to dry. Of course not.
Furthermore you got a good point in that the experiences are utterly different. Totally agree. Online matches are like a sports games, indeed they are.
But a professional chess player is just as "hardcore" as a professional table tennis player even though those two games are extremely different.
And in my opinion, from a pure analytical point of view there is no principal difference between practising 100 hours to beat a boss or 100 hours to win a match. It's just two different kind of games, just like there are different kinds of sports in the olympics.
When most of you in the comment field on this page talk about "hardcore" you only think single player games, but that's way too narrow. Hardcore is a question of dedication and difficulty! And to win in online matches you need to be *real* good, utterly dedicated, cause it's *hard*.
It's hardcore!
Be honest now, this is just another case of missing "the good old days". Let's call it "oldschool" instead of hardcore.
What we have here is a classic, traditional generation shift where the old boys don't understand the shit the youngsters do today.
"There's no real music made anymore. Or movies. Or TV. Or… Games."
Time to face it gents, you're just getting old! 😀
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/4/2012 4:24:02 PM
Beam, but thats why we don't think Hardcore gamers matter. Because we have to go into a specific genre in order to get a challenge?
Bens favourite game is FFTactics from what I understand, or at least it is up there for him. Is it fair that that genre which poses specific challenges is disappearing? Should he have to take up FPS gaming to get a challenge? Even still going to actual competitions in an FPS is a lot of coordination. How is that fair, that he can't have a hardcore game made for him and others and instead has to take up another genre and travel to LAN parties to play a game of Counter strike or starcraft or something like that?
That is the problem here beamboom. I played competitive games on the PC I know what I'm talking about and they aren't the same type of challenge as a hardcore difficult single player game, or co op game. Dedication is needed for both but I didn't need to dedicate myself to dark souls in order to get better at it. You just have to learn from mistakes which doesn't require 100s of hours to do.
Last edited by xenris on 8/4/2012 10:41:27 AM
Xenris;
No no, God no, please don't misunderstand me in that I mean that any – *any* – genre or game style should disappear or that everyone should just suck up and start playing online shooters instead. That is as far from my principles it is possible to get. I will always defend plurality and diversity. And I will defend that far beyond my own personal preferences.
No, my entire point is just that hardcore *gaming* has changed. Hardcore gaming happens elsewhere today than it did 20 years ago.
It's the fans of oldschool gaming that "don't matter as much any more", cause times have changed.
I believe that's why you don't find todays single player games to be too hard, cause who play those games? Its those of us who are not playing on the "hardcore arena"! And we don't want to spend a hundred hours to take down a boss. We want to progress.
But I am all for a diverse selection of games to choose from. Omg yes…!
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/4/2012 11:40:24 AM
I get what your saying. All I'm saying is that, you said who wants to play a hard game in order to progress…well my friends and I do. We like a challenge, and that seems to be going away in games, I like trying to tackle a hard boss, even if I'm not progressing because in reality I am. There are reactions and changes and progressions happening in my brain that are making me smarter and better at reaction/problem solving or whatever it is I'm trying to overcome. So I see it as progress even if I fail where most people just rage smash the controller and find an easier game. If the success of the Souls series is any indicator there are a LOT of people interesting in hardcore games, only less to make it super duper profitable. To say that most of the hardcore gamers have shifted to the competitive scene is silly too, as I said there are hardcore gamers who suck at the limited selection of competitive games thats all.
If you just want to progress I think people should still with a novel or a movie. I'm not trying to sound elitist, but in some cases games can be played without much input from the player and they hold your hand almost all of the way. Some of those games are awesome experiences and I don't think they should not exist, you know Journey was awesome and was not hardcore as are many others. But it sucks when genres that WERE hardcore or more difficult lose all semblance of challenge that the fans of that genre grew up with. Then we have genres dying out because its not profitable to make strategy RPGs or heck even traditional RPGS.
I dunno, its kind of why I PC game because there are still devs making hardcore games that are balanced even though they aren't making crazy profit they are still profiting so they continue to do it.
I just fear all genres will mash into one(kind of like they already are) and will all be so easy and casual it will be like going to an interactive movie only in this case you get the illusion of control and being a badass when really you arent.
I just find the subject touchy for me. I really don't like the direction the industry is going in most cases and this catering to casuals just rubs me the wrong way. Sorry for the rant.
Xenris, I don't think we actually disagree in much at all, and I can totally relate to all you are saying in your post above.
Neat 😀
Here's the deal for me… Back in the day, I didn't consider myself to be hardcore during the PS1 and earlier eras. I'm sure looking back I -could- have been considered HC, but I definitely didn't see myself as that, because in my group of friends (remember, for a lot of my childhood there was little internet if any) what I played were the norm. I saw some guys committing huge numbers of hours mastering a large array of games, while I pretty much stuck to one or two genres.
Now, while I don't play enough to think of myself as true hardcore, my interests are that of a hardcore gamer. My reasoning continues, though… it's because I like titles from ALL genres (while some I like more than others, but who doesn't?). I play difficult titles and easy ones. I play popular games and games that are extremely rare or niche. I'm just a game lover. Someone who solely plays CoD or devotes innumerable hours to WoW…. I don't think they're hardcore. I think they might be obsessed with their favorite titles, but… well… put it this way. Put one of them in Dark Souls, Uncharted's multiplayer, LBP…. whatever… and see. They will either be no good or simply won't like the discomfort of something they are unfamiliar with.
No one is made hardcore because they play a lot of hours or play what is most popular (or even commit themselves to a single title that is niche). Hardcore to me is a gamer who appreciates the entire gaming industry. A gamer who follows news, rumors, editorials, videos… who plays and is interested in a wide arrangement of titles and genres… who seeks to master anything he lays his hands on… one who appreciates artistry in games AND values the mindless blood n' gore hack n' slashes. A hardcore gamer is not easily defined by a checklist, a certain game, or playstyle. They are defined by their interest in and commitment to the gaming empire, their passion for story and challenge alike (not always present in all titles), and their ability to appreciate each and every title out there for whatever small things they do well… even if it's not a game that particularly "clicks" with them.
I know it's entirely subjective… but everything good and noble in life is. :p How do you define a hero, a leader, or a friend? There is no checklist… but there's never any doubt, either.
I agree with Beamboom. Someone who plays games irregularly and infervently [not actually a word] is a casual gamer; someone who plays games frequently and fervently is a hardcore gamer. Breadth of tastes or preferred game type do not factor into the equation.
If you want to use "hardcore" to mean something different, then it shouldn't be contrasted with "casual".
People who play COD for hours every night until the next one is released are not "casual" by any definition of the word.
casual adj.
1. happening by chance; fortuitous: a casual meeting.
2. without definite or serious intention; careless or offhand; passing: a casual remark.
3. seeming or tending to be indifferent to what is happening; apathetic; unconcerned: a casual, nonchalant air.
4. appropriate for wear or use on informal occasions; not dressy: casual clothes; casual wear.
5. irregular; occasional: a casual visitor.
In other words, more than one dichotomy exists within gaming and we shouldn't conflate various identifiable groups.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 8/5/2012 12:33:09 AM
I wish I had your ability to write, Fane. I always wiggle myself into a tirade of hopeless examples and imprecise comparisons to explain.
You just pull out the very definition of casual and it all becomes clear as day for all, case closed.
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/5/2012 4:22:12 AM
At the end of the day Beam is right, we're all just gamers, but as a PS3 owner, it's just frustrating cause it feels that we are deprived for lacking of good srpg and jrpg this generation, and the other consoles has some of the good stuff, (Lost Odyssey, Xenoblade Chronicles, Last Story. Guild 01)and of course the betrayal of Square Enix. Damn you SE, Haha, just kidding, peace!
Homura, I understand completely. If it was some of my favourite genres that were missing this gen I'd be utterly frustrated too.
My goal here was just to point out that it is the "oldschool gamers" that don't matter, the "hardcore gamers" of today are getting bucketloads of luv.
But yeah, I feel with both you and Ben and Xenris & the rest here. I totally feel your frustration and I'm just really glad I am not in that same boat, since I never had that same relationship with jrpgs and srpgs to begin with. I've only played the typical western style games my entire gaming career, so I don't know what I've missed out on.
But all this talk about those genres has made me really curious! So I *hope* that we with the next gen will see the resurrection of those gamestyles, and get a handful of blockbusters that can give me a proper introduction to the genres.
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/5/2012 9:36:17 AM
Oh dear God…
I'm getting ooooolllllllddddddd!!! /)O_O(
good read & its alot of truth….. crazy thing those thats on board & not in gaming for what it is….. when the next big thing take place they will follow the crowd….
i remember my early days of gaming most folks i dealt with thought it was foolish….. then xbox dropped some how it made them folks pick up a controller but i couldnt get into xbox like sony,sega & nintendo….. i dont mind gaming elevating, just dont forget the foundation.
Sucks but Ben is spot on, I don't think he made a single point in this article that can be refuted. Unfortunately the game industry has been going down the crapper (still hasn't sunk as long as low movies, music and television but is getting close) the last few years now so I've come to terms with the fact that this industry is never again going to be as great as it once was especially in the golden years of the the 16 and 32/64-bit eras. Fortunately there are still some companies out there though like Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch who will provide top quality games as long as what each company puts out continues to perform well enough at retail.
were not there quite yet, getting there sadly but there are still a few true core franchises out there!
exactly why this gen has been such a massive disappointment!
i miss the good old days where developers made games they want to make, not developers making games they THINK will sell!
miss the good old days where there was a multitude of genres, and sub genres, and everything was in pretty good balance.
not to say there were not more popular genres, but its certainly not like it is now where whole genres have gone non existent!
which is what really worries me about next gen systems.
developers have dummed down their games for the mass market, and they have dummed down their games because there so heffed up on amazing graphics and technoloy they run out of time and budget to improve the gameplay!
cough GOW!
so whats next gen going to be like when systems are even more powerful!?
and even more expensive to develop for?
that just means things will get even worse!
I actually said something similar in an open forum earlier today.
It goes something like this:
"This is actually very similar to the photographer argument. Just because someone has a pricey camera and takes pictures, it doesn't really make that person a photgrapher.
I do agree that this view borderlines bigotry but what you guys fail to realize that generalization affects us as well. Unlike camera companies, video game publishers wont or can't cater to a specific type. They have to generalize. Many of us here are RPG lovers, but we mosty play FPS games because that is what they keep pumping out this generation. And they kept pumping FPS just because a couple million people got addicted to CoD. This generation has been a huge blob of FPS and bloom effects.
Now we do have a couple of games that do cater to our favorite genre but alot of those have been stripped down, made easy and basterdized to appeal to a "broader audience".
EA is already investing alot into casual gaming and pay-to-win scheemes because that is what the "general" gaming public is into :D"
Sadly I agree with this. Hardcore or even semi hardcore gamers don't really matter anymore. We do get the occasional hardcore game but that might not last for much longer.
It all just seems to be about getting people into the game shooting stuff quick because everyone has ADHD and can't take 3 minutes to watch or read something about the game they are playing.
I just watched one of Conan Obrians Clueless gamer reviews and while it was funny I couldn't help but be saddened by watching it, as he was playing skyrim he was constantly saying I wanna kill something, can we skip this, stop talking women etc. The impatience was probably an act to a degree but I have "gamer" friends who act the same way. Their attention is so low that they need constant stimulation and explosions killing in order to not get bored.
Sadly I don't think this will pass either. As each generation below me seems to want everything to come easy for them. In games if they arent "winning" then the game sucks, even if the winning has nothing really to do with their skills. They just want the illusion of being good at something, which extends far past videogames in the younger generation. We are in the era of instant gratification it would seem.
Now that I think about it I kind of consider a hardcore game who puts in massive amounts of hours into gaming. If you put in at least 40 or more hours a week in gaming I would consider you hardcore. A casual gamer usually only plays for a little bit.
Us hardcore gamers will put 100+ hours into 1 game. Plus we will play a more variety of games. We know what's coming out and when. Who the developers and publishers are. We go onto gaming sites to read about gaming and find out anything new about our games. We will stand in line at a midnight launch just to get our game asap.
I have a lot of friends that also play games but they're the casual type. They play here and there and always ask me what's new in gaming.
Us hardcore live and breathe gaming. We love to play more than anybody else and that is why we are hardcore gamers.
If you really look at it casual games have been around for a long time. Games like Tetris, Bejeweled, or even Super Mario Bros could be considered casual. My mom, grandma, and sister use to play those back in the days. They were never hardcore gamers.
Even when I was in the Steam store they have many games listed as casual even though a casual gamer wouldn't play them. I think we are just looking at it all wrong.
I think many of the REAL die-hard gamers tend to prefer their $1000-2000+ PC gaming rigs, anyway (while idiotically slamming <$300 machines for not having the same performance). And PS3/Xbox are still certainly more die-hard than that little Wii toy (which can still be fun, of course).
There's still niche devs out there – eg; Gaijin Entertainment, Paradox, Eugen Systems – we just won't get the production values we may have seen in the past (relative to the casual games – all production values have increased massively in recent years).
It's very important to see the trees in the wood – while the casual is a big proportion, it's not the whole gaming market by any stretch :).
There is absolutely truth to this and one of the reasons I have been disappointed by so many games this gen. However if devs would wake up and realize that every game can be both hardcore and casual at the same time everyone could be happy. Take games like Sacred 2 or the Yakuza franchise, they have easy modes where anyone can play and feel like they are great at the game, while there are exceptionally hard modes that will humble even the most hardcore gamers at the same time. More devs need to realize this before they alienate every customer on the planet, because even the casual will and have started complaining about certain games.
If devs would take the programming more seriously we could all be happy but it seems the pubs push them into the corner and say either/or and that is that, leaaving the devs out to dry when it comes to customer feedback. Hopefully more companies will realize this is achievable before they lose all of their hardcore and casual fans.
@ Ben, im perfectly content with my irrelevancy. i am content to play offbeat fighters, games like Catherine, Madden, and Rayman and Sonic. I also look forward to titles like Binary Domain when they hit, as i did with Vanquish. i relish my niche in the gaming community. I do not clamor for Skyrim or UR Tournament or GoW or God of War or Metal Gear or the sequel to heavy rain. i crave gaming, not soap operas that purport themselves to be games. i am also very set in my ways, i am in the midst of holding Max Payne 3 hostage from Redbox. Why you ask? it holds more value to me as a full game as it does to them as another title in their library, and i have already kept it for about 15 days….why keep it and not see it through? i can always peel off the redbox kiosk stickers and buy an empty ps3 game case and sell it back to gamestop. theyre whores for anything buzzworthy and will gladly pay you 40 percent of full retail value in exchange for it and youll eat a biased magazine subscription, massive deals which include selling games back…3 of them to get a full 20 dollars towards your next CoD installment! lol…gamestop will never have me as a full time customer again unless somehow all of the titles i play on my windows phone…EVAC and Monstafish…become ps3 HD remakes. i am a hardcore gamer…no editorial needed, just a rickety soap box tyvm.
So are you saying you don't like Max Payne 3 or that you do?
I'm confused on that part.
@daze
I just remember, I,ve seen a video about Super Mario, in the video you you will see the fastest time to beat the game without dying just turbo and jump occasionally all the the way without stopping and pushing the left button, and a video of clearing the last level of Tetris, it's so fast, and of course a news about a blink kid finishing a zelda game of course with a help of zelda fans, and I thought to myself, wow those are hardcore gamers.
@daze
I just remember, I,ve seen a video about Super Mario, in the video you you will see the fastest time to beat the game without dying just turbo and jump occasionally all the the way without stopping and pushing the left button, and a video of clearing the last level of Tetris, it's so fast, and of course a news about a blink kid finishing a zelda game of course with a help of zelda fans, and I thought to myself, wow those are hardcore gamers.
Society as a whole caters to the masses while most individual hates it, its the same for movies, games, anything. . .
The world is controlled by a minority that enthralls the masses while individuals gets swallowed up and thats why some ppl have some niche hobbies but those can be invaded as well as we are seeing now . .
I'm kinda tired of the negative Nancy 's in here. It's kinda messed up that most of think gaming is dead. I wasn't old enough to experience some of the " golden age of gaming" genres and when I was my parents couldnt afford the latest game console/computer. Now I love gaming. There are plenty of great titles out there most of you just have your rose tinted glasses on. It's honestly like if I were playing Mario and my grandfather walked in and complained saying " that's not as good as chess was back in the day. Now that's hardcore" … Yea I'm sure. I love this site and lots of respect but most of you guys Need to lighten up… (Come on really. turning hardcore into a definition)
I definitely would not consider myself to be a hardcore gamer at all. Sure, I have my occasional hour-sprees of non-stop gaming, but I'm not hardcore. I don't have the time, or frankly the patience to play really challenging games.
Challenge is nice of course, gaming gets boring after a while when you're practically an unbeatable god, but some games are just too hard. I like being able to experience a good story or the wacky antics of a game at my own pace. This doesn't mean that the hardcore gamer should be ignored, though it seems to be the case.
Everyone should be able to find a great game that they enjoy, whether it brings in the big bucks or not. I just wish game companies would look past the money and see that too.