What makes you a "HardCore" gamer

[Zacharious-khan]

I love the dichotomy in the thread, people who just read the title and people who read the post and subsequent edit asking for moments of badassery.

Also I would say the "hardcore" term can apply and is a valid term to describe some gamers, It's not a hardcore v casual, if you aren't one then you are the other. I think of hardcore gamers as not bound to one game genera or developer or series. Not even those who devote hours of time to their obsession. The hard core are those who go above and beyond for their games, feel the need to better themselves almost compulsively. Give me our equivalent of the chess grandmasters and Olympians. Show me the man (or woman) whom scours every block of super mario 3 not because it was the flashy new game, but because they heard from a friend of a friend that there was a warp whistle in level 1-3. Those who practice until their moves are pixel perfect on any given fighter game because you have friends who can beat you as chung lee and screw those people. The hardcore are those who want to be the very best like no one ever was... to catch them is their real test and to train them is their cause. They travel across the land searching far and wide. Each pokemon to understand the power that's inside. pokemon, gotta catch 'em, its you and me. You know its our destiny. Pokemon oh you're my best friend, in a world we must defend.

 

[Ishal]

Anyone who uses the term 'hardcore' unironically, deserves to be lynched by a mob of angry badgers, garrotted with their own intestines, and then strung up, semi-conscious over the edge of a cliff, so that when the young folk walk by they can see, and then they will proclaim, 'dude, that's hardcore'.

I've been playing video games for more than 20 years.

You kids probably think that's pretty hardcore huh?

Am I accepted now? Can I be cool?

I don't understand such vehement opposition to the terms hardcore and casual. Lots of people have different variations of what they mean but after visiting several threads on the matter they don't seem to be all the different when you get down to brass tax.

"Hardcore" someone who is invested in gaming as a hobby and is one their main forms of enjoyment in life. They have passion for it and take it seriously. Whats so bad about people who want to self identify as that? I don't get it

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

I don't care if you consider me to be "hard core" or not but I certainly ain't "casual".

I once played sins of a solar empire for exactly 24-hours.

Yesterday I played Fallout New Vegas the whole day (also did that the day before) and went to sleep at 3:00 am and woke up at 2:00 PM today, then got back to it.

I downloaded hundreds of gigabytes of games last week that I lost when my hard drive failed.

I beat all the mass effects on the highest difficulty several times.

I spent three years saving up and building an expensive high-end rig to game on.

There are lots more but I think I've made my point.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

I would be hardcore b/c of how long I've played games, and the fact that I play more than what's popular (like first person shooters and RPGs). I'm a fan of gaming, and that includes all of it.

I've been gaming since Pong, went onto the Atari 2600, messed around with the Commodore 64 and Colecovision, did the NES, SNES, Genesis, the arcades in the 80's and early 90's...then I took a break while in college. From 94-98 I left the scene. I stayed with my SNES and maybe played with friends on Genesis, but I didn't get into Neo Geo or anything like that.

When I came back from college, I got a PS1. I messed around with the Dreamcast in the hopes of finding SF III, but that never happened for some reason. Then I got into the PS2, which was like the second coming of the NES for me. I was still in the arcades but they were dying out. Strangely, after 9/11/2001 one of the arcades that I used to frequent in a mall had shut down. I held onto my PS2 for a long time. I eventually got the original XBOX. Then, after waiting a year or so, I jumped into the current gen with the 360 and the PS3. I couldn't move myself to get the Wii, even though it had some killer titles back when it debuted.

So again, I'm hardcore b/c I started when I was like 3 or 4 years old and I haven't stopped. There are many other factors and things that we take for granted as gamers - like the ability to play with a controller. That's actually a sophisticated piece of technology/hardware. If you don't believe me, give it to someone who has no clue. I'll stop there.

 

[ronald1840]

- I finished Persona 3 and 4 back-to-back inside of 28 days. P4 took 14 days and P3 was 11 (I finished FES the Answer last month - 50 hours).

- I played through Silent Hill 3 (HD Collection) from start to credits in one-sitting starting at 8pm. Not a good idea.

I won't game like that again, but it is a hobby just like swimming and learning how to cook. "Hardcore" gamer? Yeah, but it's not something I wave around to people. I keep up with sites like this, Siliconera, GiantBomb, TGS, and other media and I enjoy it.

 

[MammothBlade]

I need a difficulty curve that's at least 45 degrees. I consider anything less than that boring, unless it's a sandbox. Am I hardcore now?

 

[TrevHead]

I just like a game that challenges me in some way, I like the feeling that I've overcome some obstacle and achieved something. Yeah I know that in the grand scale of things it doesn't amount to much but it's my free time and I'll spend it how I please.

 

[JagermanXcell]

What I do that makes me a hardcore gamer is, you all ready?! Don't freak out ladies:
I play video games a lot. *gasp*

You know what else? Hold on to your pants folks!:
Its a.... hobby. WOOOOOOAAAAH SO H4RDCOR3 YOLOSW4G 420 #MLG

OT:
The closest thing that makes me fell like a so called lol"Hardcore gamer" in a video game is Dark Souls PVP
Going into the forest to invade.
Usually 3v1 spawn campers/gankers.
And coming out killing all three, with melee only, dual wielding.
Oh and the hatemail from the butthurt... icing on the cake.

 

[sageoftruth]

Basically, I associate hardcore with exclusion or discomfort, the sort of things that made geeks and nerds unpopular in the past. Basically, they were all hardcore about something. I think that if you are a hardcore X, then you have to modify your speech when talking about X so those who aren't interested in X can understand. It's been referred to in psychology as the "Curse of Intelligence", where you become so informed about something that you forget what it's like not to be as informed. A hardcore gamer can be capable of talking about games to a non-gamer or a casual, but he'll usually have to consciously dumb down his speech a bit to do so, whereas a casual gamer usually won't have much to talk about beyond the things that are already accessible to people who don't game.

 

[BlackFlyme]

I casually play Dwarf Fortress, I've heard it's considered a hardcore game. However, some of the more "Hardcore" dwarf fortress players terrify the hell out of me. Seriously, they'd make Khorne cringe with some of the shit they pull off.

As for bad-ass things I've pulled off in games, I actually can't think of anything truly all that awesome that the game doesn't actually set you up to do anyways, aside from beating Dark Souls with increasingly ridiculous equipment set-ups. Unless you count some of the things I've pulled off in DF, but awesome things in DF can be incredibly mundane compared to other games, like managing to fight off several enemies at once or hiking to the top of a mountain/volcano.

Seriously, just doing this actually counts as a historical event, people will actually make figurines and carve engravings of this.

Spoiler: Though throwing stuff is hilarious.

I guess I'd call that a draw.

The fact it was full of arrows made of solid silver probably helped add a bit of weight to the throw.

I just enjoy the mental image. Shame I couldn't get more bounces out of him, but the room was only so big.

Spoiler: Though actual cool things I've done included:

Killing a Titan, which is a randomly generated beast, by throwing a chunk of meat at it, causing it to explode. Though it was made of mud, so it's not like it was that strong in the first place.

Getting saved from a rampaging centaur by a freaking cat. killstealer. (The centaur was modded in, they normally don't exist in-game.)

Barely killing a dragon with a lucky stab to the head after it ripped off both my legs and my left arm. I still don't know how I didn't bleed out, and I still don't know where the hell I can find a crutch so I can stop crawling everywhere. I also don't know how someone can stand with a crutch even when they are missing both legs. Maybe it doubles as a pogo stick?

Getting thrown by a giant into a cursed cloud, which turned me into a nigh un-killable zombie abomination. Luckily, the giant didn't wander into the cloud as well, or that fight would still be ongoing. Seriously, evil weather can be hardcore.

 

[LAGG]

I'm reading and posting in a forum in a website dedicated to video-games.
I know the name of at least one incoming title for the next semester or year.
If all games ceased to exist overnight, I'd be among the ones who notice.

I any of the above is true for you, you're a hardcore gamer too.

 

[FoolKiller]

If you consider gaming to be your hobby then you are a hardcore gamer in my mind.

I would amend that to gaming as one of your primary hobbies. If gaming is your hobby, you are just a gamer. If gaming is your primary hobby then you are a hardcore gamer.

 

[Woodsey]

My crippling porn addiction.

 

[Crazie_Guy]

My measure of a hardcore gamer is all about what you do other than games. I don't care what you play or how hard it is.

I'm a hard core gamer because I watch ZP and AVGN and Extra Credits and Jimquisition, because I follow a long list of gaming comics, because I follow the industry, learn the names of developers, get excited about press releases, get angry about bad company practices, and talk about it on forums. It doesn't matter what games I play or how. I'm hardcore because I care about it all enough to immerse myself in the very culture that surrounds it.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I'm pretty sure that's actually taken from another comic to do with Dwarf Fortress, there's another panel. Either that or the person who drew the Dwarf Fortress bit appended it onto this. Either way someone dun copied the other.

Anyway...

Nothing makes me a hardcore gamer. I wouldn't describe myself with the term thanks to the baggage it carries in what it implies about your behaviour and tastes. However I do play games extensively, I do try to understand the game on a mechanical level, I involve myself in the community and test mechanics, etc. As far as actual achievements, I have done an SL1 run of Dark Souls all bosses included and have over 40 Dark Souls builds made from scratch after bugs had already been patched, I have solo'd White Fatalis and Ukanlos on MHFU, I was part of a team that took over the Alpine region of ACV decisively (probably says more about patience than skill but w/e). No mindblowing stuff, but I'm dedicated.

I myself am playing Dark Souls, famously known as extremely hard (I insist though, Candy Crush is way harder)

I had to quote this because a lot of the time detractors of Dark Souls will say that the difficulty is artificial, ie. the player has no control over when they fail, and yet Candy Crush is the epitome of artificial difficulty, randomising layout every time so it doesn't even assure that there is a solution at all.

 

[Severian]

I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore gamer. I just know that I've been playing video games for 30 years and have a fountain of useless knowledge pertaining to the subject. I also keep up with all the new video game jazz, more than anyone I know. Just a hobby to pass the time. I also like movies and outdoors.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Uhhh. I used to be in the top 1k in osu!, back before I stopped playing it. Specifically in the 600's.

Can I be hardcore now? Oh, wait. I'm casually hardcore, nevermind.

[sub][sub][sub]Which always makes me laugh because nobody can seem to grasp the concept of casually hardcore and almost always misunderstands it.[/sub][/sub][/sub]

As far as I'm concerned, it's all nonsense. To me, we're all gamers. Everyone plays games for different reasons and/or in different stretches of time. I don't care if you play easier games, shorter games, longer games or harder games. I don't care if you play AAA, Indie, niche or shovelware games.

Different people like different things. No one aspect of gaming is better or superior to any other aspect.

 

[sweetylnumb]

So I saw this comic and it got me thinking http://chickgeek.org/hardcore-gaming/
What makes a game hardcore and how far does interaction with the hardcore game have to go before the player becomes hardcore? Does the title need to be refreshed every now and again?

Feel free to discus the above but my question to you is what have you done/ played that makes you a hardcore gamer

Personaly, I'm a 38th HR Hunter in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
and
I've beaten 5 bosses in "I Wanna Be the Guy"

Feel free to leave your personal hardcoreities and also to call out people for things they've said OP's off limits. Have fun!

A hardcore gamer is an elitist shithead who takes gaming way to seriously and is therefore a total loser.

Also i beat a dragon in skyrim using only my fists. #robazzswag

 

[Abomination]

Gaming is my primary hobby but I would hardly call myself "hardcore".

I don't enter into tournaments, I don't aspire to be a professional, I can have a conversation that doesn't involve gaming, and I don't consider gaming achievements to be worthy of praise.

 

[Kopikatsu]

I got carpal tunnel syndrome by age 21 from pretty much doing nothing but play video games all the time.

So I think I earned the title of 'hardcore'.