Defining the "Hardcore" Gamer

[Professor James]

I think gamers, developers, etc. need to make an agreeable one-worded definition of the word hardcore. When the word hardcore gamer strikes most people's eardrums the thing they think of is a person who has Cheetos dust all over their face and plays COD or halo 8 hours a day. Me personally thinks that a hardcore gamer is a dedicated or die-hard gamer. The reason I think this is because of two reasons. The first is because of the Merriam Webster dictionary definition. [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hardcore?show=1&t=1301546192] The second is the fact that gamer does not mean FPS player. You can play FPS and be a gamer but my point is why can't you be a hardcore RPG gamer or a hardcore Platformer gamer or a hardcore sports gamer. I can understand why people think the 8 hour COD player is a hardcore gamer since they're usually the most vocal(and the most ignorant) but by thinking that we're creating a stereotype and other hardcore gamers will be hesitant to call themselves that. So do you agree with my definition, the 8 hour COD player definition or a entirely different definition.

 

[Professor James]

I would also like to add that if a similar topic like this was made before please inform me.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

No such thing.
There are gamers and there are people who aren't gamers.

Creating pointless divides leads to nothing but arguements.

Edit: One might even argue that the term gamer itself is a pointless divide, but ExtraPunctuation and Extra Credits say it better than I do.

 

[Sad Face]

No such thing.
There are gamers and there are people who aren't gamers.

Creating pointless divides leads to nothing but arguements.

That's my thought on it. Why do we even waste our time dividing up into subgroups when it really doesn't matter?

 

[Halo Fanboy]

For a one word definition: dedicated.

 

[Lieju]

It's possible to be hardcore gamer of some types of game, and casual of others.

I'm a casual player of fighting games, but a hardcore RPG player.

I can see the use of labeling people hardcore and casual in some cases, where you can play the game on several different levels.
Like, you can play pokemon casually, go through the story, maybe try to collect some of your favourite pokemon.
Or you can breed pokemon, build teams and try out different strategies and battle people online and devote your life for collecting all pokemon.

And both are equally right ways of enjoying the game.

 

[ssgt splatter]

The thing is there are some people who fit the stereotype and it ruins it for they rest of us but that being said it's only like 5% of all gamers.

I consider myself a gamer but I don't eat while I game because it divides my attention. I have to focus entirely on the game in order to kill people otherwise they kill me.

BTW, look for Manic Laughter on XBOX LIVE during Gears 3 beta and I'll kill you all day. I will unlock everything in the beta period or die trying.

 

[Smertnik]

The term doesn't mean anything and I wish people would stop using the term 'gamer' as well.

 

[Fappy]

Hardcore gamer: Someone who knows his way around a modern controller (or keyboard+mouse) and spends a decent amount of time playing video games on a regular basis. Also, they need to be able to ***** about video games... A LOT.

 

[Proteus214]

According to the dictionary link, anyone that we tend to call a "gamer" fits their "hardcore gamer" definition.

 

[Fappy]

The term doesn't mean anything and I wish people would stop using the term 'gamer' as well.

Yeah, I hate being called a "gamer" in the context of video games, but I don't when referring to table-top gaming... don't know exactly why.

 

[veloper]

That's a CORE gamer, not a hardcore gamer.

A core gamer is anyone seriously into games. Everyone posting regularly on these boards is a core gamer, or they wouldn't be wasting their time here. Nobody here is casual.
A handful are hardcore aswell, like for example hardcore starcraft players.