Casual vs. hardcore debate

The notion of gaming has become a medium that has evolved over time into something quite brilliant. The debate between hardcore gamer vs. casual gamer has also been around since gaming became a popular hobby. I find the ongoing debate to be mildly entertaining not to mention amusing. Often hardcore gamers look down on casual gamers and vice versa. It is difficult to add any substance to the argument that hasn’t been said before. However, as a 23 year old everyday female with absolutely no idea about the in and outs of gaming, you could say I am the definition of a casual gamer. There are so many ways to define a casual gamer as it is such a broad term but I think It is easy to see from a casual gamers point of view as I fit the threshold quite well.

I found the funniest definition on the Internet of casual gamers. It literally speaks for itself and the opinion that a lot of real gamers have.

The definition of a casual gamer:

“What kills the game industry? Equivalent of someone who plays Farmville. Some games they play. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. ShovelMcShovelWare 17 Wii. Any Intellivision game.”

Kevin’s lecture on Thursday compared the three popular consoles- Nintendo Wii, Play station and Xbox. As of 2011, the Wi was the most popular with 90 million units sold worldwide. This is incredible as the Wii is the casual gamers console. However, I was not remotely surprised.
Nintendo Wii has become a bit of a hit and miss in the gaming world. It is interesting that learning from the lecture, Nintendo formed a partnership with Sony but backed out at the last minute. To see Sony completely change the gaming world with the play station was incredible, but then to see Nintendo come back with the wii makes the whole gaming world even more interesting. Nintendo specifically targeted the casual gamer market, and were very successful as seen in the number of consoles sold. They were clever in the fact that they didn’t try and compete with Sony and Microsoft but instead, worked alongside them. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has admitted that this may have not been the best idea, however wii's sales say otherwise.

I purchased a Nintendo wii around Christmas time a few years back. I had no idea how to set it up. I had to get my 12-year-old niece to do it for me (!) I brought the Nintendo wii specially because it looked easy and fun. There was no violence; it wasn’t your average play station or Xbox game that reeks of difficulty that would require a lot of time and practice. I could play numerous sports as well as “wii fit” which focused on being fit and weight loss- hello! The biggest pull for woman like me in this day and age who are obsessed with their weight and wanting to lead an active lifestyle. To be able to keep fit and have fun at the same time was a dream come true for most females. I am your typical casual gamer in the fact that I do not play games much. The first game I remember playing was Alex the Kidd on Sega. I never got past the first stage. I enjoyed crash bandicoot (who didn’t!) because it was fun, simple and easy. After that I casually played Teaken, street fighter, spyro etc. That was it. So when the wii came along, it fitted perfectly.

It wasn’t just me who was buying it either. My flat mate, who was once a “hardcore” gamer also succumbed to the wonderful thing that is a wii and brought one. It still to this day sits next to his Xbox. (Gathering dust may I add). Almost everyone I know was buying the wii. A family, singles, couples. Nintendo. There were even people using it in the office. . All these people were people who are against the notion of gaming. The wii allowed them to access gaming in a much more easier way. Not to mention the notion of being active while playing a game. This brought gaming to a whole new level. Previously, gaming was seen as a lazy hobby, which involved pretty much just sitting down hours on end. Wii completely changed that. Families could enjoy time together by playing wii. A lot of families brought it for their younger children as a safe haven and a fun thing to do together. It completely opposed the whole violence issue.

I have not used my Nintendo wii since the first few weeks I brought it. Another example of a casual gamer and an example of a downfall of the wii. Perhaps I will pick it up again when friends are around. That is the beauty of a casual gamer, we can pick up where we left off without any requirement of thinking on our behalf. However, this is also the biggest downfall for Nintendo. Casual gamers bought the Wii for only for the novelty of the system. Yes, you made money from us purchasing the console but there is not enough development to keep us interested. Gamers will continue to buy new games and wait anxiously for new games to come out- this provides a steady profit and a loyal fan base. They are also educated in the fact that they know when games will come out. They will pre order or buy on first day. They will get excited. Casual gamers do not do this.


If Nintendo wants to continue attracting casual gamers then they need to make iOS/android apps and find a way to keep causal gamers interested because we are losing or have already lost interest.

I found this article to be interesting and this particular conversation between himself and his wife that he uses as an example of the difference between a casual and hardcore gamer

http://voices.yahoo.com/whats-difference-between-casual-hardcore-gamers-8708771.html

"Honey, it's a first-person shooter with a class system."

"What did you just say?"

"It's a game where you can see your gun in front of you and you can pick different types of soldiers to play as."

"Why didn't you just say that the first time?"

"I did."

I also own an iphone and on face book regularly (just like the many other thousands of people in this world). Therefore, I play games on there only to socialize and play against my friends. Games include word with friends, song pop, bejeweled. What attracted me to these games is that they were so easy to use! No experience necessary. I could go on when I wanted and just play. No wires, no instructions needed. It was prefect. Secondly , I could play against my friends and compare scores. It became a “social” thing just like face book.


I often look for games to play on my iphone incase imp ever bored. I will look at the top 25 app store and see what’s popular and what looks fun then i will download it. I never look at games to play seriously, only purely for fun to play while I am bored or waiting for someone.

The debate between casual and hardcore gamers reminds me of music and the genres many people debate. A lot of people get angry at music fans who only know “radio” music- they don’t understand the definition of “real” music and listen to what is popular and trendy, often jumping on bandwagons and not doing their own research to consider what kind of music is actually good. I myself am one of these people. I detest the radio and rarely listen to it. I detest pop music and agree with Adorno's notion of masses being manipulated and music being standardized. I think gaming is exactly the same in the sense that hardcore gamers are frustrated with these so-called people who purely jump on bandwagons and have no idea about the gaming industry. When you have so much knowledge and appreciation of something and then to have people come along and be so casual and ignorant, its incredible frustrating. However, just like in the music industry, popular music fans are needed just like casual gamers are.

Casual gamers may lack knowledge and respect for the gaming industry ,but they do have benefits, which can only mean good things for the industry. A lot of gamers laughed at the Nintendo wii and didn’t give it the time of day. Casual gamers are more open when it comes to these kind of things and invested their time in money into the wii. Hardcore gamers soon began to take interest and began to use it too. Casual gamers look at games in a way to have fun and relax. Hardcore gamers and intense, and often competitive which can be a bad thing.

Casual gamers are also blamed for the increase in bad games as they are deemed as being simplistic and easily amused. I don’t see anything wrong in playing games purely for fun. That way, we get to have a life outside of a gaming console.

When we think about it, casual gamers are evolving the gaming medium to a much wider spectrum. Anyone can enjoy a casual game. To me, the difference between "casual" and "hardcore" is also about the free time that you've dedicated to the game. If you're a person that picks up a controller to play a quick game because you are bored, and does not require much thinking on your behalf, then yes you are a casual gamer. In contrast, if you spend hours on end playing a game then you are a hardcore gamer.


The definition of both is coming so broad that it’s hard to define what an actual “hardcore” gamer and “casual” gamer is. I think casual gamers are changing the gaming industry in a good way and as a casual gamer myself, we are helping bring video games to more accepted and relevant in media and society.