Guest Post: Hardcore Versus Casual (Versus Fun)

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 3, 2011

I may be back from vacation, but I’m not back from being lazy. I’ve still got some great guest posts to share over the next several days. Today’s guest post is by Chance Gibbs, who’s bio line reads, “Chance Gibbs once played Gameboy during a college English class, and that makes him more than qualified to write about stuff on the internet.” Works for me! Today, he’s putting the “hardcore” and “casual” gamer descriptors under the crosshairs and opens fire.

Everyone has that friend. The one guy (or girl, in theory) that plays one game WAY too much. To be fair, everyone has one genre where they really shine, and in that genre, they have their favorite game. But this person picked up a game (let’s use Super Smash Bros as an example), and their world changed. If ever a person could be born for a purpose, this is the who and the why. They’ve been playing Smash Bros since they were six months old, and God forbid you want to just have fun; maybe you want to play as Jigglypuff and float around. At some point, you will be called out as a scrub, or a noob, or a casual. He leaps from the couch, fists in the air, reveling in victory. “I’m just too hardcore,” he says, as you leave him to his victory. EVERYONE has that friend.

Games (and gamers) are often categorized into two groups: Casual and Hardcore. The boundaries between the two groups are tenuous at best, and based heavily on opinion. Any gamer can be hardcore about any game. I know a guy who swears Carmageddon is the pinnacle of hardcore gaming. The chaos, the struggle for first place, the pedestrians on your hood… All of these add up to the ultimate “hardcore” experience. However, I know another guy that scoffs at racing games like Carmageddon and Burnout. “You can’t even change your engine!” He scoffs over his shoulder as he tunes his Formula Car for optimal performance in Gran Turismo. “How can you call THAT hardcore?” These two guys argue frequently, and I’ve never seen an argument end without the inevitable label: “fucking casual”.

The hardcore (in relation to the second case) market is narrow, but gamers flock to games like Gran Turismo, Dwarf Fortress, and several others. Why? For the challenge, the glory, and the label. Being “hardcore” now means being in-depth. It now means full control over every possible feature and variable. And oftentimes, it means the fun knob gets cranked down, then torn off and thrown away.

I play Dwarf Fortress, so I’ll be using it as an example. If you don’t know, it’s sort of a hybrid between Nethack/Rogue and Sim City (that’s a very ham-handed description, but bear with me). You get a number of dwarves in the beginning, and you’re tasked with their survival. This is an in-depth game. This is the MOST in-depth game I’ve ever played, and if you try it, you’ll agree. Dwarf Fortress crams incredible detail into a small game. By selecting a dwarf for closer examination, you can see every scrap of clothing worn (and everything has a specific material, i.e. leather vest, silk socks, steel boots), a brief background on the dwarf, how the dwarf is feeling (Urist McFisher has been elated lately! He saw a nice statue inside! Etc, etc.), and every other facet of this tiny person’s life. Your whole purpose in the game is to craft an elaborate fortress underground, and keep all of your precious dwarves safe from the evil outside. And underground. And in the air. And in the fortress. Like The Sims, dwarves are incredibly stupid. But rather than piss themselves, or forget to eat, dwarves tend to do more dangerous things, like petting giant spiders, or swimming in lava. It is up to you as their caretaker to keep them from hurting themselves, and it is FUCKING. HARD. I’ve seen dwarves fall into wells and drown; I’ve seen dwarves build a wall, only to realize they’re on the other side, isolated from food, shelter, and safety. Dwarf Fortress’s motto is “Losing is Fun!”, and it’s true. However, it’s also the ONLY thing you’ll be doing.

In contrast, let’s look at Animal Crossing. Some of you have never played it, and that’s okay. It is, for lack of a better term, casual. There is no way to lose. There’s only one real, concrete goal (to pay off a debt), and no real challenge. The game can be completed at any pace. I’m certain that if you could convince your granny to play this game, someday she would raise a wrinkled fist in triumph. Don’t get me wrong, Animal Crossing is fun, and the gameplay is more or less structured, but it can’t even be called easy, as that would imply that there would be something even close to challenge involved. However, it’s incredibly fun, and has been compared to a drug, because once it gets its hooks into you, you’ll play for a ridiculous amount of time.

I promise there’s a point to this.

The problem with Dwarf Fortress is something you may have already figured out: it can quickly get mind-numbing. Games with too much linearity can feel cramped, and may leave you feeling led by the nose; but too much freedom is overwhelming. In Dwarf Fortress, I rarely make it past the third in-game year. The game bogs itself down with choices, and options, and necessary details that I just don’t have the time or patience for. The game is too hardcore for me. Does that make ME less hardcore? Of course not. If you think I’m not hardcore, we’ll play some Smash Bros Melee (oh yeah, that gamer in the first paragraph you hate? I’m the example.). The point I’m dancing around is that separating games and gamers into hardcore and casual is an unfair categorization of a medium already overloaded with niches and subdivisions. It also brings discrimination and disrespect, which the gaming community is already filled with. We don’t need to hate each other because of gaming differences, especially if the difference is how “hardcore” a game is. The gaming community should revel in itself, in the fact that we play games, we love games, we LIVE games. And for Pete’s sake, stop calling your game hardcore just because you can change the brake pads on your car, or choose which socks your dwarves wear. Most of you are just playing it to feel superior, and that’s kind of silly, when you think about it. Games are made for entertainment, not to be compared as badges of endurance. And I’m not hating on your favorite game. I just want you to not be so smug about your dwarves’ underwear.

Besides, we all know that if you can’t Short-Hop Fast Fall L-Cancel in Smash Bros Melee, then you aren’t hardcore like me.

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