This gen. is over . Do you hold highly any console?

[BoringSupreez]

For people who are choosing handhelds, Is the DS and PSP considered this generation?

Yes, sort of. The DS launched in '04 and the PSP in '05, so while they may have started out last gen the greater majority of their lifespans were concurrent with the 360, PS3, and Wii. Handheld and console generations don't match up perfectly.

[Gunstar Green]

I think we need a clear definition of what hardcore and casual games are.

No we don't need more pointless arguments over this entirely subjective label.

On topic: For me this generation was a lot more about the games than what console they were on, and I feel like that's going to continue.

The handhelds are the only example I can think of where I liked hardware for what it was and what it did beyond simply what games it played.

[ejamer]

.

[Menegrothx]

@Menegrothx

I think we need a clear definition of what hardcore and casual games are. Personally I call games that are Triple A and needs some videogaming-know-how hardcore. Games that you pick up and play made for the 6 year old and the grandpa to enjoy I consider casual. They usually have extra simple controls and the game is not complicated

The more challenging the game is, the more hardcore it is. Challenge consists of different things in different games, in games like SHMUPs and platformers the mechanics (usually) are very simple but the actual gameplay can be insanely challenging. Another part of hardcore games is that they have complex gameplay mechanics and that they expect the player to figure out stuff on his/her own. Read the manual and teach your self to play the game, that's what 99% of games were like during the 1980s and most of the 1990s.

Although while not pure casual games, triple AAA games have very little going on as far as depth/complexity and challenge are concerned. That's why they sell so well, you can't produce challenging games for todays mass market. Nor games that require the player to think.

99% of games cant' be classified as casual or hardcore. There are thousand shades of gray inbetween. Older games that would be classified as hardcore if they were released today were normal or challenging back when they were released. The hardcore label was something that was reserved for the hardest and challenging games only the most skilled and dedicated could conquer.

[Sarge]

Well, challenge can certainly be one metric, but it's not the only one that I'd use to define "hardcore". But you are right that it is an amorphous definition, which is why I'm just going to abstain from trying to define it, and instead use the old adage, "I know it when I see it."

[BurningDoom]

I thought "hardcore" gamers were just the bro-gamers that play CoD, Halo, and Battlefield day in and day out.

[Jmustang1968]

Seriously? The hardcore vs casual discussion has spilled onto this thread to with menegro spewing the same narrow sighted definitions of what is hardcore?

[Ack]

We're looking into the possibility of adding plugins to the forum which will change the word "hardcore" with "bananas."

[o.pwuaioc]

We're looking into the possibility of adding plugins to the forum which will change the word "hardcore" with "bananas."

I for one welcome our new language overlords.

[Menegrothx]

Seriously? The hardcore vs casual discussion has spilled onto this thread to with menegro spewing the same narrow sighted definitions of what is hardcore?

Games that are extremely challenging and/or have a very high learning curve=hardcore. Too challenging for most players.
Games that are very accessible and non-challenging=casual. No learning curve what so ever, just about any one can play these, including people who don't even play video games normally.
That's gamer lingo 101. Give me a better summary of the term or STFU.

PS: It's not "hardcore vs casual". Hardcore and casual are classifying terms as much as genres. Some games are hardcore. Some are casual. Some games are adventure games, some are SHMUPs. There's no versus situation between the two, they're just terms used to describe the design and content of the game, like dividing RPGs into subgenres such as ARPG and SRPG.