The Psychology of a Gamer: Hardcore vs. Casual Gamers

Intro - the background to the modern "casual" phenomenon

Nintendo have been a major player in the video game world since the release of Donkey Kong, a much loved arcade game that introduced possibly the most popular and well known character in the Video Game culture, Jumpman Mario. Nintendo's glory years was the era of the NES/Famicom and SNES/Super Famicom, the late eighties up until the mid nineties. This era brought us many games that are to this day regarded as the best ever. Anyway, Nintendo's glory years came to an end in 1995 when the Sony Playstation burst into the gaming scene, this was largely because of superior gaming hardware and good relations with third parties, many of which were former Nintendo developers. Nintendo had been trying to win back ground every since and after two generations they have finally re-emerged as the king of home console gaming.

The Wii is the console that brought Nintendo back to the top through a smart marketting campaign and general accessibility(as well as a lot of luck), it was a risky move because the Wii is not as powerful as it's modern competitors but it seems to worthwhile. The success was mainly because of Nintendo's attitude to target audience, it has always been Nintendo's aim to produce games that are accessible to everyone, so instead of simply designing games around this mindset(as they always had) they designed the whole console around it. The control is simple with a minimal amount of buttons that means anyone can simply pick up and play but it still allows a level of complexity for more in depth and challenging games.

The target audience ate this up because in a day and age where games are constantly in the media for proliferating violence and sex, Nintendo provided a safe haven and a controlled environment where children can be entertained without the danger of bad influences. The simplistic style and input also meant that parents could also become involved with video games and their children's hobbies.

Hardcore vs Casual

However with the success of the Wii came a division to gaming culture between Next Gen(PS3 & 360) and New Gen(Wii). The next gen is characterised by High Definition, Large capacity Hard drives and Mature games, whilst the Wii is characterised by accessibility. However, the division is that the Next Gen gamers automatically assume superiority compared to Wii gamers(who may be less devoted). At the heart of this debate and conflict though is “Exclusivity”.

The word exclusive is something gamers hear a lot in the modern day, it's largely thrown about when discussing PS3 and 360 games but it speaks more about the climate of Next Gen gaming. Many people claim that the Wii are “alienating their userbase”, this is true, however they have not neglected their userbase. The “core” of the group of former Nintendo gamers feel intimidated by the larger audience that the Wii has reached, gaming on a Nintendo console is no longer “exclusive”, it's not a niche any more. The next gen consoles present the idea that the users of the consoles are a tight knit community, you're a 360 player or a PS3 player, this is largely the fuel behind the infamous Console War. This leads many people to neglect the Wii in favour the more inclusive, “members only” nature of the Next Gen consoles, the 360 is probably the most inclusive as the Xbox live service requires payment for full utilisation, this gives the impression that you are now a part of a group that's willing to pay to be part of the 360 group. This is probably the cause behind the major media use of the word “exclusive” when discussing games for the Next Gen consoles, it promotes the idea that you're a buying into an ideal, it's certainly the reason the 360(and it's predecessor) were labelled as FPS havens.

There is also another reason many Next Gen users criticise the Wii despite it's widespread success and popularity. To put it bluntly, it's jealousy. The Wii is coming close to outselling both of it's competitors put together, which leads to a lot of animosity. This is largely because the Wii was both cheaper and less technical than the other two consoles and the Next Gen gamers feel that the Wii is undeserving of it's success. A major complaint is that the Wii is only slightly more powerful than the last gen, compared to the major advances that the PS3 and 360 have made it is indeed minor, many dismiss the Wii saying it isn't in competition with the PS3 and 360 simply because it's not as powerful, this mindset could actually fuel the Wii as many people will buy it as well as Next Gen console, but largely it is because the Next Gen is more expensive and many people seek ways to justify the purchase of a console that costs half a grand and a TV optimised for the console for another grand.

As implied earlier the consoles are categorised by the content that is provided and the content provided on the Next Gen consoles leads to a superiority complex. The spirit of the Next Gen really comes through in Gears of War, Killzone 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV. These are mature, violent games that deal with a more adult theme and the conflict many people face in the real world. This leads many people to dismiss the Wii as most games are aimed at the family. Next Gen games are also much more technical and take longer due to the high demands and overly-complex architecture in the case of the PS3, this means many developers neglect the Wii and produce simple games for it, “shovelware” as many people call the games. The end result of this is that Next Gen gamers assume that Next Gen games are more “hardcore” because they are harder to make and deal with themes that don't apply to everybody(again “exclusivity”). Some also assume that Wii games can't be challenging because their made for little kids but games such Super Smash Bros allow children to have fun, playing as their favourite characters whilst more experienced gamers can enjoy the complex and sometimes hectic nature of the game.

Conclusion

In conclusion the conflict between Next Gen and New Gen gamers is caused by three factors; The Next Gen consoles provide an inclusive group that the gamer can become a part of it( it's provides an impression that it's special to own a Next Gen console), there is a lot of jealousy caused by the success of the Wii because it's cheaper and less complex and invalidates the purchase of a Next Gen console(which means it's less exclusive) and that next Gen consoles are ultimately more adult and gratuitous with a lot of blood, sex and vulgarity.