Reality Check - What Makes Hardcore Fans So Hardcore?

Reality Check takes a trip to Fanfest to study the psychology of hardcore video game fans. Just what is going on inside their loyal brains?

[AKissFromDaddy]

This is a great video. David's reply for commitment towards a game makes sense.

[MrSwankSinatra]

There is no such thing as a hardcore gamer. You either play games or not. There is a such thing as a knowledgeable gamer and non-knowledgeable gamer.

[AKissFromDaddy]

Damn, with that kind of evidence.....who would disagree? lol

[MrSwankSinatra]

Hardcore gamer is such a broad term you can't actually pinpoint what exactly it is. Many people have their own different interpretations for what it actually means, for one person it could mean playing hundreds of games, for another person it could be someone who plays competitively online, for another person it could mean owning every single platform available to play games and not limiting yourself. This is why i feel there is no such thing as hardcore gamer. Now gauging a person's knowledge of video gamers can in fact be a term, because you either know a lot about video games or you don't. Someone of video game knowledge would know about video game history, all the different pro and cons of each gaming platform and is also in tune with each and every genre in video games. Someone not of knowledge is someone who might just play a game here and there but doesn't really care to go into the whole world of gaming.

[AKissFromDaddy]

Understood.

[Ripco_Keller]

My definition of a hardcore gamer is someone who considers gaming their primary hobby, while a gamer is someone who considers gaming a hobby, but not necessarily their primary hobby, and a casual gamer considers gaming to be a last-resort time waster for when they have nothing else to do.

[ThichQuangDuck]

Hardcore fans tend to be rather obsessed with the definition of what is a game and what is not a game and who is or is not a gamer based upon what games they enjoy.

[Genki]

What makes hardcore fans hardcore?

Idiocy.

There is absolutely no good reason for the term 'hardcore' to ever be linked up with the terms 'fan' or 'gamer'

I don't know any hardcore photographers, hardcore movie goers, or hardcore bowlers. The idea itself is ridiculous, it speaks more to their insecurity than anything else, as if being hardcore adds some sort of legitimacy or edge to their fandom.

[air1]

I know I know!!! The ones that keep a note pad in there back pocket with the specs to all games and consoles and define good games and consoles by those specs..

[Jyndal]

In MMO's, hardcore means the guild you raid with is more important than anything else in your life. When your raid leader says get in your raid gear, you drop everything and get in your raid gear. It's a borderline psychosis, an obsession of greed, a dedication to the digital gods.

I've seen so called 'hardcore' players spend over 12 hours straight farming a boss in FF XI, forego eating, restroom breaks, and sleep, just to keep attempting to kill a boss in WoW, and scream and cry like spoiled children when an item they want drops and they don't win it.

In MMO's, 'hardcore' is something to avoid at all costs.

[sovietsoldier]

i use to know but i don't know where to start anymore. i guess when you make it more important then life issues that would be a good place to start.