11 signs you're no longer a hard-core gamer

[mib_]

I started gaming in 1979 on an Acetronic MPU1000.

History:

Acetronic MPU1000
ZX81
Vic 20
Spectrum +3
Amiga 500+

NES
SNES
PSX
Saturn (x3)
Dreamcast
Xbox
PS3

Gameboy
Game Gear
PSP phat
PSP slim

7 Jama boards

486 DX2 66
P90
P200
P600
AMD1.3
AMD 2100
AMD 3400

and at least 8 laptops


I've pre-ordered GTA and I'm taking the week off.

yeah, I'm still hardcore.

[Mc_Logical]

LOL nice

[R4mbo]

Still a hardcore-gamer!
I only disagree with the part of the templars in AC... you can not unlock anything by doing this, so I skip this part because there are so many other games I have to play. I finished a game when I completed the story once and unlocked EVERYTHING... which means completing the old Resident Evil parts a lot of times and that stuff^^. Assassins Creed has a lot of stuff to collect and gather, but you dont Unlock anything for it, they are just eating your time. Cant wait for Brawl to arrive at europe... all that trophy stuff, uaaaaaaaa^^

[gr42178]

I slowed down alot myself, old age will do that to you!



P.S. Old school nes/snes forever hahahaha

[benn]

i read this post and thought it was one of the best ever.
soooooo funny and sooooo like my life.

it is so funny the people on here getting all pissed off cos they 'are not hardcore' cos they dont play what popular etc. chill out and shut up. the point of the article is humour and in my books it is frggin hilarious.

top marks to author.

[Steely]

Not really true, but funny.

I'm only 14 and I'm slowing down on games. Never really was a fan of FPS's, though.

I started playing the NES, then SNES, then Genesis, then SNES, then N64, playstation, Gamecube, Wii, 360... Yeah. I've only really enjoyed the Nintendo systems, though, and some 3rd party titles on other systems.

When I had almost no homework, I used to play SNES, N64 and Gamecube all the time. I always won. Now, I don't have as much time for games because of homework and friends, and I don't even enjoy games as much anymore.

[jaws365]

Sadly many of them fit on me I actually only play DS and PSP against computer these days, and when I pick up a game it has to have great soundtrack.

[Paperghost]

To me, it's not so much a case of whether the players are "hardcore" anymore, as much as the games themselves.

It's a similar situation to where the comics industry is at - we've all aged, perhaps grabbed a wife, family, fluffy dog, whatever, got a job and so on. As the userbase has grown older, so too has the medium had to adapt and evolve to cater for the aging demographic. Whereas 15 or even 20 years ago, most comics were still primarily viewed as "for kids", so was the gaming industry. Now comics are supposedly deeper, darker and more interesting for the audience that's grown up with it so the comic makers don't lose the older demographic cash.

In the same way, its interesting to note how games have become more accessible in certain ways to accommodate for the aged audience that the game makers don't want to lose, but at the expense of perhaps losing the thing that made those older games "hardcore" (and by extension the gamers that played them) in the first place.

Is anyone going to make a game now like Star Wars on the NES with its handful of lives and continues, then demand you make it through the WHOLE GAME with that poxy supply or start all over again? Nope, because the kids need feeding and that dog has to be walked and nuts, there's bills to pay too. So games have become much more accesible (read: stop and start friendly), with easy access save points at every turn and a noticeable decline (for me, anyway) in difficulty, amongst other things.

I look back at all those old C64 / NES / SNES games, and wonder if they actually expected anybody to complete the majority of those titles. if you didn't, there wasn't any real expectation of continuing storylines anyway so it was no big deal and there was always that annoying patronising attitude of "just for kids" from the games magazines, the adults around you and (to a degree) even the game makers themselves. Now everything is a franchise and the game makers *want* to you take part in the continuing storyline, buy into the game, its spinoffs and keep coughing up the cash. Its not in their best interests to make the games "hardcore" anymore. To be honest, I appreciate the tradeoff in some ways, as I doubt I could play games with the same level of intensity I used to - but I do smile when I see a lot of younger gamers eager to pick up and play megadrives, dreamcasts etc because they quite often tell me they just don't feel challenged enough by a lot of the newer games out there.

ultimately as long you enjoy what you're playing, I don't think it matters much either way.

[Greg_Alexander]

OP: TELL ME ABOUT IT, lol.
'Life' has an annoying habit of getting in the way...