What is a casual gamer?

Casually hardcore takes a look at what a casual gamer is and answers the question a lot of new gamers have been asking lately. Are you a casual gamer or a hardcore one?

[hennessey86]

I would say someone who plays just for fun, I like to get into the story and immerse my self in a game. I have expensive hardware for my racing games which a casual gamer would not buy. Casual gamers are important to the industry as a lot of sales are too casual gamers, I would say 80 percent of COD gamers are casual, I have about 10 friends who I know offline and the only reason they have a 360 is to play COD online, they play no other games, they have not touched the single player and never talk about other gaming problems. I define these as casual gamers.

[CasuallyHardcore]

Totally agree, you can be into a few games hardcore but still be a casual gamer. Generally these games will be popular mass market games like COD or maybe something like World Of Warcraft or facebook games.

[darthv72]

you were defined as being hardcore by playing all types of games pretty much all the time. You didnt pick and choose what to play as the idea was to play everything.

So now that has changed to only reflect the type of game played. I was a hardcore gamer once. Owned and played all the systems and games I bought. Still do but I dont buy as many as i once did. I have slowed down as I got older.

I can still feel like a hardcore gamer looking at my collection of hundreds of games from systems like the 2600 all the way up to current. But that is probably just my nostalgic reference to hardcore. I have become very casual in playing games here and there. I dont single out the games though. I can be just as dedicated an angry birds player as i can be a killzone 3 player. I depends on my mood but i definitely dont game like i used to.

Sucks to get old and have responsibilities but i will always have those fond memories of buying a new game each week and beating it within the first day.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

@darth

Yeah that was back in the day before games had deep story telling and where games like Metal Gear Solid didn't exist. So you are correct in saying back then hardcore was playing all games all the time. That definition can still be applied today as long as the games you play don't only consist of Wii and Kniect titles.

No matter how many hours you put into wii fit, I will not and cannot call you a gamer... You really can't call your self a hardcore gamer if you aren't playing some of the big titles of today.

[Captain Qwark 9]

id agree with both of your definitions although i think i can simplify it even further....

casual = buys/plays/rents around 3 full retail games or less games a year

gamer = purchases more around 4 or more full retail games

really i think it mostly boils down to sales, as a gamer myself and knowing a bunch of gamers, we all spend prob hundreds on gaming in a year, between games, hardware, accessories, etc becuase its our pastime, we are legitimately interested in it. casual gamers on the other hand buy a couple games a year to kill time and beyond those couple could care less about the gaming industry

funny thing to note is how unreliable that crownd is, idk why devs would choose to cater to them so much these days, COD is just plain lucky. your much better off appealing to fans becuase they are much more reliable for future purchases of sequels, the casual gamers will just move on to the next big thing. i dont think i need to remind anyone of the guitar hero franchise or even the wii itself, casual is not for longterm success

[CasuallyHardcore]

Totally right there, casual isn't a market you can cater to as such. For casual gamers the games they are interested in are always changing. A few years back The Sims was the casual game of choice, now whilst still selling well The Sims 3 is not on the same level as the original game.

Same with WoW and countless other casual games, its very hard to make a casual game that will sell, it seems sometimes its down to luck if a game takes off for casual gamers.

[MariaHelFutura]

If you only own a Wii or if you own a 360/PS3 you only have Call Of Duty and Sports games in your collection. Plus, your family has to look like the one in the picture. :P

...And you must own atleast 2 sweater vests and have no clue what Ico even is.

[Captain Qwark 9]

LMAO this ^^^^ is prob the single best definition ever of it. agree 100%

[rexbolt]

i only own a wii? and i more hard core then ull ever be theres a ps3 and a 360 in my house i dont pay those much mind since half of the are shooting related i find those games to all feel the same but i do play some of the games like naruto i wil get the new .hack azuras rath and zone of the enders HD. a casul gamer is a person who goes to a store and buys a game based off of if it looks manly or not like seeing a bald meaning looking dude that resebles stone cold there like oooh look look thats tight yo and buy it without a damn clue to what the hell it is. also ppl who sell back there games to gamestop. a true hardcore gamer never sells back there games they love to collect and build up there libery since hardcore gameing is a hobby/life styleso pretty much if ur one to sell back ur games u cand consider your self a hardcore gamer a a true hrdcore gamer plays all types of games and if u only play fps your a fps gamer not hardcore gamer.

[MariaHelFutura]

^^^
I own a Wii/PS3/360.... So what's your point exactly? 99% of people who only own a Wii...are super casual gamers. Calm down and open your eyes, unless you arrogantly believe I'm referring to you.

[mike1up]

I only own a Wii... I also own every single Zelda game ever made (I replay them every year in order of release). I also own every Mario and Metroid title ever made.

I have been gaming "hardcore" since the mid 80's, can you say the same? Call me a fanboy if you must, but casual... I don't think so!

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I won't fault you for answering the article's question to the best of your ability. Just keep in mind that there are always exceptions to generalizations.

[RIPSKATEDESTROY]

i think everyone should play games "just for fun"...

[Lord_Sloth]

A casual gamer is somebody who does not delve into more than a few titles or plays very simple titles or just plays in short bursts every few days/weeks.

[jaymart2k]

I play Halo, COD, Gears of War
God of War, Assassins Creed, Burnout, SSX, Silent Hill, GTA, Mass Effect. Plus other major hardcorr games.

I also play Dance Central, Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Kinect Sports, plus more causal games.

What I'm I?

A Gamer

[Razongunz]

i'm not sure what defines harcore and casual gamers..so i don't know what i am.

i'm the person who has over 100 pc games and i have a 3ds with all sorts of games, fighting, horror, racing rpg, adveture.

i pretty much play all kinds of genres and i like to buy accesories alot and i also adept to the newest piece of hardware

and i can sit for 10 hours straight, and when i play wow i sit for like 5-15 hours a day, and when it comes to games, i allways play at the easiest difficulty on my first playtrough to grasp the story and enjoy the story as much as i can without getting stuck anywhere, and after i beat it i play it again meybe a few months later with higher difficulty and try to get throphies/achievements.. i never really aim for achievements in my first playtrough because i just want to enjoy the story.

so what do you guys think, am i a casual or hardcore gamer?

i really don't know myself :P

[Hassassin]

you're a pussy hardcore gamer (for playing on easy) lol... no offense intended.

[Razongunz]

hehe yeah i know :) a hardcore gaming is known for playing on hard or hardest, but i never do it..and if i do it i allways play it trough on easy first. thats why i was unsure if i was a a hardcore ..since i don't play on hard difficulity...meybe you can call it softcore player..or easycore? sound cool to me hehe xD thanks for pointing out :D and yeah i know i don't take it offensive :) i hardcore player is meant to be playing on hard afterall :P

[Hassassin]

@Razongunz but what I meant is you're a hardcore gamer anyways :S... even if you don't play on hard. "HardCore" meaning you play games from within (the core). And you are man enough to admit you like the games for their story rather than say "I play on the hardest difficulty and therefore I'm better than you".
That said I've always loved to game at the hardest possible setting because at the end of the game it fills more rewarding. (and also its cool to see the various death cinematics good games offer).

[remanutd55]

a gamer that plays games casually

[PCgamer4ever]

I play Total War,Sins of a Solar Empire,Starcraft,ARMA, Myst,GTR,Dark Souls,Witcher,Heroes of Might and Magic,Disciples,Death to Spies.
What I'm I?
A Hardcore-Gamer

I also play AC,God of War,Gears Of War,COD,BF3,Mass Effect,Halo
What I'm I?
A Casual-Gamer

[Game3s]

Nice try PC-elitist.

[PCgamer4ever]

Worth the try at least.

[vyke3]

Dark soul is a console game. It might be available to PC but it is mainly a console game.

[PCgamer4ever]

Yes,but it is also a hardcore-game.

[specialguest]

Without over analyzing about what a casual gamer is, my innitial idea of a casual gamer is one who plays video games just to either get that immediate gratification, or pass time.

I'm starting to drift away from my youth with each passing year, and I find myself left with little time to game like how I used to. I think I'm more of a casual gamer now. I wish I could dedicate the time for games like Skyrim or move up the ranks in BF3, but time just isn't there.

[kma2k]

so how do you differntiate between hardcore & addict? Cause the line has really been blured for me! lol

[Game3s]

Hardcore gamer and game addict are the same thing but hardcore gamer is a nicer label than game addict because the word addict sounds like your doing something over board and wrong thus the label hardcore gamer was born so that these game addicts would feel better about themselves and don't feel like they are doing something bad.

[schlanz]

What is a casual boater? How about a casual bridge player or a casual bowler...

Oh yeah.. its people who do that shit, they just don't do it all the time.

Thats the only real difference between casual and hardcore everything. Except for sex. That's a little different.