Today I deposit my Master's thesis at the Thesis office at Concordia, which is basically the last official step before my thesis defense on December 11. Unofficially, I will be madly rereading my references and trying to remember how I had these brilliant thoughts last February.Anyhoo, in the second-to-final edits of the thesis, my supervisor Dr. Leslie Shade asked me to include within my third chapter, which is centered around case studies of 7 video games, my own particular position as a gamer. In other words, to answer the question- what kind of gamer are you? Upon a little thought, and research into what defines hardcore and casual gamers, I included within my thesis the designation of a hardcore casual gamer.
No, this isn't a slippery way of getting out of the question. Rather, it highlights the variety of dimensions that comprise the definitions of both hardcore and casual (nevermind the ferocious denigration connoted by each camp when discussing the other). I am a hardcore gamer simply based on the numbers per week I play video games (typically over 10 hours a week). I am a casual gamer because of the types and range of games I play. Besides World of Warcraft, I play mainly 'soft' video games, especially the simulation games I so enjoy mastering and the classic games like Super Mario Bros. I play on my emulator. I also play a few games dedicatedly and repeatedly rather than playing rapidly to completion and then moving on to another game.
As a state of mind, I would say I am a casual gamer, playing for pleasure with little motivation to play new games, but hardcore in terms of interest, seeking news daily on a salmagundi of sites and blogs daily. How would you classify your gameplay? Where do you stand on these labels, which are so pervasive I had to include them in my thesis?
2 comments:
you're hardcore casual, I'm casual hardcore. I LOVE me some videogames, but I haven't really played anything aside from quick play games on the DS in awhile. Though, with the new massive sized TV the Gamecube looks SOOO awesome through the S-Video input, I might just have no choice but to try some F Zero, Ikaruga, Paper Mario 2, and Zelda Twilight Princess when it comes to the cube in a week and a half's time. Sould Calibur 2 nearly brought me to tears!
Glad you liked the bigger TV. Hehe.
I'd consider myself a casual hardcore, though most of my hardcore comes from eithe wanting to know every single thing about games and wanting to try the game and play at least 40 hours of it before giving a final judgement.
I am also an MMO nomad. I've scored 7 MMOs in which I have played for longer than 2 weeks (it would be 10+ if I include games which I only played for less than 2 weeks). And for the ones I stayed the longest, I have enough in-depth info of it into end-game that people either think I'm an obnoxious know-it-all or the guru of that MMO.
I think I am also a jack-of-all-trades / Red Mage in my taste of gaming. I mean, I like every game that is fun to play. I've done almost every genre and love every platform. Some people think I'm an over-achieving faker, but I like almost everything (but love only a few).
Heck, I even like Bookworm Adventures and Literati-on-YIM.
I don't like showing off how much of a gamer I am by my gaming setup or my game collection, because I always end up playing at a friend's place or renting consoles and games from Rogers or friends (because I'm not well-off or financially sloppy).I prefer showing off who I am than what I am. ;)
I mean, I am a hardcore gamer, but I'm also much more than that. :P
Dammit... I lost my train of thought again. Sorry. T_T
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