Gamer Types: Hard-Core

This is a category I can file myself under. Hard-core gamers probably (in my opinon) make up about 60% of gamers. And this type of gamer doesn't belong to one type of game or game platform. Remember, I'm talking about mentalities of gamers.

Hard-core gamers, unlike casual gamers, spend more time playing games. To them, playing games is more than just a few minutes of entertainment. It is also an escape or avenue for virtual socializing. They also spend some time during their day thinking about playing games. Granted, they can concentrate at the task at hand, but when they start to daydream, chances are they are thinking about gaming or something related to gaming.

These are the players that follow game development (trailers, screenshots, news, etc...), pre-order games that haven't even been released yet, participate in a game's offical forum, always on the look out for new patches or releases for their games and (for male gamers) have more "PC Gamer" magazines in their bathrooms than "Maxim" *raises hand*.

Hard-core gamers also spend more time and are more readily able to immerse themselves into the game. They can willfully throw away believability and their sense of logic to immerse themselves into their games for reasons more than just entertainment. They try to "become" the character. To live in the game's world. It is more for the reason of escaping reality than just entertainment.

Another difference between casual and hard-core gamers is that the hard-core gamers are probably the most finicky, demanding, self-centered, opinonated and most vocal sub-culture there probably is out there. Think about it. Let's take in-game advertising for example. Imagine the uproar that would occur if a company like Tampax started advertising on the virtual billboards of Counter-Strike (just an extreme example of course). You can read my opinon on this type of blasphemy here.

Over all, it is this rambling blogger's opinon that this group of players are the "meat" of the gaming industry. This is the category that mostly all of the big budget games are developed and all that marketing money is spent. This is the type of gamer that can raise or destroy a game development company. And, unfortunately, why movies like "Blood Rayne" and "Doom" get made. Hmmmm......I think I have another idea for post.