The Hardcore Gamer Isn't Going Anywhere

Recently there has been a spate of of articles on the web stating that the core gamer is doomed to extinction by the rising tide of the casual gamer. It is said that the hardcore gamer is a niche market, and like all niche markets, when they go mainstream, will be poorly served. This is correct.

[resistance100]

What alot of people forget is, although we take up a small amount of the total market, we are the ones who actually buy the games and create a large amount of money for the industry. Compared with the casual who will only purchase 1-2 games every now and then

[StarieMichie]

Partly because games are so short now, and if we want something to play we have to get something else.

For the record, I'm getting sick of 5 hour offline modes.

[season007]

o well...all these hard core is doomed sounds like the hardcore industry can't even generate a couple hundred thousands profit......

[ReBurn]

The hardcore gamer becomes the casual gamer as time goes on. I used to play games like crazy, but now that I'm older and have more responsibilities I just can't play like I used to. I think the explosion of casual gamers is mainly those of us that grew up in the 2600/NES generation. We still love games, we just can't play them like we used to.

[Shadow Man]

I used to play games everyday. I think my record was 15 hours. Now that I am older I play 3hr every two days. I wear contacts now because I was gaming too much.

[Horny Melon]

Weak sauce man. My record is 50 hours straight. I played shadowrun for the genesis straight through in one sitting.

[Noodlecup]

are casual, just because the Wii is super-casual it doesn't make the 360 a hardcore console. If you're a hardcore gamer you own a PC, that's where the uber-gamers live.

[Harry190]

do you hve any rational explanation to what you just said?

[Horny Melon]

Just because PC gamers spend more on their rig doesn't mean they are anymore hardcore of a gamer. Take me and my boss for instance. I'm a mechanic I own and built myself (I'll keep it simple for laymen) a 97 Nissan 240sx with, rb25det out of a Nissan Skyline, turbo upgrade, totally adjustable suspensions, wide body, custom sound, custom leather interior. Cost me 30K. My Boss owns a Ferrari F430....won't admit to how much he spent but six figures none the less. All he did was pick the color. Who's more hardcore? The funny thing is the Ferrari only beats me in top speed and sex appeal. It comes down to what you can afford if you can only afford a 800 gaming pc your better off going with a ps3 since it won't be obsolete in a year.

[meepmoopmeep]

i think hardcores are the ones who tend to pirate games, though others (like myself) do support the industry. but i'm not hardcore nor casual, i'm inbetween. Hardcores will always be around and the industry needs them because without them launch consoles would never be bought.

[kingme71]

You also have to consider the buying pattern of a casual gamer compared to a hardcore gamer. A casual gamer picks up a Wii because it's a trendy thing and gets a game or two, then as time goes by the Wii falls back into obscurity like their stereo or VCR, so their buying habits decline over time (the newness has rubbed off). This is not the case with a hardcore gamer. The hardcore gamer uses the console as a primary form of entertainment, they read gaming mags, go to websites, forums, etc. Gaming is a topic they are constantly interested in so their buying habits aren't affected by a lack of interest.

As '07 has passed with the most profitable year in gaming with '08 to surpass, I don't see how publishers and developers can look at hardcore gamers and think they can't make money.