Come to me, ye "hard-core" players.

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Let me be frank. I spend A LOT of time playing video games. Ever since I first received a SNES from my parents for Christmas '93 I've been hooked to the medium and spent more time than I can really recall playing. Even though I have shaved down my day to day gaming I would say that at least 6-8 hours of the day is spent with a controller in my hand.

Now, from what I see around this board, it doesn't seem to be many opinions or even games that stand out. People discuss Final Fantasy and Super Smash Bros., which in all fairness are mostly good games, they have become a more mainstream/casual gaming titles.

Consider this a bit of a probe, as I want to know whom of you consider yourself to be a avid gamer. I want to know because, I haven't really ever met anyone who is. At least not in the same league as myself. Let's have a conversation, eh?

I used to be a real hardcore gamer, but was forced to lighten up die to increased homework in high school.

I still game a lot, though. My most recent gaming phase, you could say, has been emulators- playing older console games on the PC. I'm working on Super Mario Bros 3, Final Fantasy VI (known as Final Fantasy III in the American SNES release, and which is the version I'm playing), Chrono Trigger, and Paper Mario. I live FFVI the most out of the bunch, and older games are (in general) really good. Modern game designers could learn a thing or two from them, I think.

One series that's near and dear to my heart is the excellent Ace Combat series. I've been playing it since Ace Combat 3 (which I lost ). I also lost my AC5 disc , but that really wasn't my fault (it was lost in a move.) I still need Ace Combat: Zero and an XBox 360 for Ace Combat 6 (I tried a demo of it at a game store, and was frickin' AMAZING.)

I think that if you're introduced to gaming in your childhood, you're hooked for life. The earliest memories I have of gaming are games on my dad's old Mac, especially WarCraft II. I got a PlayStation for Christmas when in 1998 or so, and played on a Super Nintendo and N64 at other people's houses.

Do computer games (as opposed to video consol games) count? I am a full time worker with son and girl friend, that spends 5 to 7 hours a day playing Civilization (now IV) during the week, and maybe 8 to some number less than 24 hours per day on weekends. God bless my NT GF for being able to put up with my lack of attention.

Mark

I could be a hardcore gamer if I wanted to be. It just takes a lot of time playing a game till you reach perfection. Havent done that for years though.

If I didn't have to work, I probably would be one. Grrr.

I'm pretty hardcore. I have loads of games, spend lots of time playing games, reading about games and thinking about games. I was really good at Ninja Gaiden which is a hardcore game. I played over 250 hours of Baldur's Gate 2 and did every quest in the game. I got to Level 48 in Diablo 2 which mean't playing for a very long time. I now have mild RSI in some of my fingers and I frequently get blisters on my hands from playing too much. I alternate between consoles and PC games. I especially love strategy games like Total War, Civ and Alpha Centauri and RGPs like Fallout, Baldur's Gate and Arcanum.

I'm too busy gaming to talk to real people!

had playing sessions of 40 hours at more then one occasion, so i guess yes...


(battlefield 2 and Entropia universe are my main interests atm, but i play kalonline, bf2142, cod4, and some more games aswell)

I reckon I am a hardcore gamer. You said that Smash Bros. and Final Fantasy were becoming mainstream. So what? Are you suggesting that hardcore gamers can't play them? I'm not really interested in Wii Fit but games like Smash Bros. have so much depth that they are perfect for hardcore gamers.

The most hardcore games I still play are RTS cames.. got a shelf full of them but I dont really consider myself to play them hardcore because I like to do really dumb stuff.

For example:
I will try revealing every single part of the map so theres no shadow.
I will keep building all my buildings in patterns which seem nice.
I will nuke my own buildings for the fun of it and build again.
I will line up every unit and make them look as neat as possible and definitely well organized.
I will hunt down every single thing on the map that can be shot at/destroyed that isnt the enemy.
I will mine, farm, chop down every single resource till there is absolutely nothing left.
I will use cheats to creat enemy units and whatever super units just to watch them battle it out.

These are a reason I wont play RTS games as a hardcore player even though they are my favourite because I like more doing these dumb things with no purpose than completing it.

I could excel easily at racing games and time trials because there is nothing else to do but go forward and each time I will cut a corner more and more perfectly each time which is easy.

I hate video games. They're so boring!

I can only play 360 games though.

last evening at 11 pm i went like: oh ill take another hour of bf2 before sleep...bad decision...went to bed at 4.30am...and had to get out at 7 am (which became 8.15, making me late @ school)

No, not at all. I'm not saying that hardcores can't play games like Smash Bros. and FF but that those specific franchises has garnished such a follow that there's a lot of people who play them, and only them, in the context of the genre, like a person thinking that they have had the entire RPG experience available when they only have played FF VII neglecting other rich titles of the genre(and there's quite many of those).

I'm not a hard core gamer, but I play the occasional video game.

Some of my earliest memories involve playing pacman, centipede, and adventure, along with other games on the atari 2600, from about age 3 onward. This would have been the early 80s.

Played many NES games, including Ghosts and goblins, and teenage mutant ninja turtles which I could beat, could beat mario bros 1, though granted there were some I only managed to beat once or twice (ghosts and goblins would be one example).

In my early to mid teens I spent everyday playing street fighter 2 turbo for snes, which I could beat on 8 stars without losing a single round, earning me the "You have mastered Ryu" splash screen at the end of the game, a feat my older brother could never accomplish. Completed super mario world to 100%, likewise with donkey kong country 1 and 2, Knew every move and finishing move for all characters in MK1 and 2 (could beat it too but that game wasn't hard). Could beat super metroid though not in any distinguished way.

Later in my mid teens I got a ps1. I used to spend countless hours playing the wipeout series, I was able to complete all of the titles for ps1 on all circuits with all of the different ship types, on all speed classes. I once managed to beat the Black Lamborghini in ridge racer part 1 (only managed it that one time), I could beat it in part 2 as well but it was much easier in that game. Played countless hours of tekken 1-3, I won't claim to be as good as allot of people are at tekken as I never really had a chance to hone my skills on other players other than my older brother who could not touch me, but I could do all of the most complex grappling techniques of king and nina. Street fighter alpha series also, I could only ever manage to do some basic small string 2 in ones , 3-4 hits tops not counting strings ending in supers or other multi-hit moves and some basic traps, so against actual players other than my older brother I can't claim to be hardcore as I am sure real hardcore players would have smoked me even in my prime with chun-li, but I could beat the ai with the whole roster on normal, and could beat both alpha 1 and 2 on max difficulty with ryu, managed to beat the suped up ai version of akuma with him as well, could do all moves blah blah blah. By the time alpha 3 came out I started to fall back on my game playing so I didn't put the time in it as I did others, Ryu and Feilong were the characters I could do the best with (I did manage to keep my bro trapped in a corner indefinitely using Feilong one afternoon until he vowed never to play against me again heheh), still managed to beat the game with most of the roster. Oh and lets not forget soul blade which I again could beat on all difficulties and got all secret weapons, and secret endings, though didn't find those on my own.

By the time ps2 came out I stopped really putting in the time that I used to, I did moderately well with capcom vs. snk but I realized right away that my coordination just isn't what it used to be even after I spent enough weeks playing to dust off the inactivity cobweds, not that I couldn't beat the ai, just didn't really master the game (the suped up end bosses gave me fits with anyone but ryu, got stuck at one of the high difficulties against them). Not counting final fantasy games I probably play ratchet and clank the most, I managed to find all gold bolts and all but 3 skill points all on my own in ratchet 1, found all but 7 bolts and 10 skill points in ratchet 2, and got all nanos but 3 on my own. (Haven't bought Ratchet 3 yet) I do have some other games that I beat once or twice and then pretty much shelved.

Not counting countless other titles which I didn't mention, rented, borrowed, returned across all of those systems.

I also didn't count the final fantasy games I played on ps1/ps2 as you said that those don't count, true most of a given "next gen" ff game is easy except those few special optional encounters at the end, but I beat those all as well (not counting FF12 as I just haven't put the time in, I think in FF10 I got about half of the monsters from the arena down before I moved on to another game).

Also played World of warcraft heavily, saw all raid zones before the expansion came out, but stopped playing because of the amount of time it required to play it. I have started playing it again but only a few times a week and in a very casual mind set. Have other computer games but for the most part don't spend a ton of time on them.

So tell me, what do you consider to be hardcore? Time Invested vs. Overall Skill? Time invested alone I feel I was definitely hardcore, skill alone probably about average mostly and in a few titles well above average skill.

A very good question. I'll see what I can do.
I consider myself a hardcore player since I live and breath video games. They are constantly on my mind, and few things have the same entertainment value. Hardcore for me isn't being able to best every opponent at a certain game, or investing an enormous amount of time into a single title but rather something almost higher and spiritual. Having a large knowledge about games in general, knowing your history so to say. Being able to remember most that you have played and seen and drawing upon these experiences when viewing the world in an instant if needed. Playing diverse titles from all genres and not simply sticking to one.

In a very simple way of putting it;
"Do not fear he who completes a game a hundred times, but rather he who completes a hundred games once."
Kinda turned that saying on it's head, but I think it works.

I don't know about "hard core", but I'm no "casual", either.

My skillz are less than mad, I'm bad at remembering stuff about the companies, and I'm a bit too busy to play a lot.

But I try. I have always tried. I do not remember not trying.