Nice article. I couldn't agree more. For the reasons mentioned above my NES is still plugged in so I can remember what it is like to have my butt kicked from time to time.

You misspelled "Teh Hardcorez". However, I do not believe that game difficulty corresponds to quality or even length of play. While it's true that it's rarely an accomplishment anymore to beat a game, neither is it an accomplishment to finish a book, or cultivate a garden. The difficulty of these things does not diminish the quality of the act, and the same is true of games. I believe we are currently in the golden era of games; there are excellent games for people of any disposition, which is ultimately a good thing. If you're really looking for punishing difficulty, you don't even have to look far. Just play Guitar Hero 3, Devil May Cry 4, or the most recent Ninja Gaiden. Or just complain to your grandkids that "back in the day, games were tough and we liked it!"

MichelobGolden: Yep, I'm not saying that there are no hardcore games at all in the industry, just that some developers are neglecting them -- and the proportion to casual games isn't great.

And whislt a hard difficulty isn't necessary, it can certianly enhance the experience by making the user feel they have overcome a challenge.

Good read! If casual gaming is becoming the standard why has Square just released a dungeon crawler for Wii?

I get the feeling that RPGs are becomming more suited to a Western market, in that they are much easier to understand than they were before and are now about 10 times easier. Take Lost Oddyssey for example. It pretty much displays every single bit of information you need to know (and more) on the screen in a very clear and precise way at all times. The game is also very easy for a JRPG, and its on the American Xbox 360. Compare that to say Final Fantasy Tactics which is the exact opposite, which feels more geared towards a Japanesse market, being incredibly time consuming and difficult (apparently thats what the Japanesse like according to Square Enix). I dont know whats better, I think I would like something in between, but i wouldnt say this is a return to anything. It is just a re-release afterall. Now if they were to create an entirlly new IP that would be a diffrent story.

Very nice read, but I am not sure I agree with much of it. What exactly is "Hardcore" this question has been asked, and fought over for a very long time. Just because a game is long, or difficult makes it "hardcore"? I don't agree with that. Then, what needs to be asked next is "what is casual gaming?" If I understand you correctly, anybody who only plays the Wiii or hand held games can only be casual gamers. I believe there are hardcore, casual gamers that play on any system.

So, you're blog isn't really a harcdoce/casual dissection, but more of a "Why aren't there that many fantasy games?". Well, the answer is that fantasy doesn't really garner the same reaction it used to. Since the release of the Lord of the Rings movies, which is the zentih to many as the ultimate fantasy story, high fantasy has been quite hard to find. In fact, most fantasy based stories, such as Fables in comics and Final Fantasy, has adopted a more rugged, realistic edge to put grounding into the story.

Also, science fiction has actually gotten much more popular, with the Gears of War's and Halo's and all. Sci-fi seems to get more exposure and more connection with people because there are tangible things in the story or the themes that seem to connect with the gamer/reader/movie-goer itself.

It is really hard to write good fantasy for that reason. High fantasy is often very hard for someone who isn't familiar with fantasy already to get attached to. So, it really isn't a hardcore/casual type of question, it's more or less why do people seem to not respond to fantasy games?

'Hardcore' is for porn and pro wrestling. 'Hardcore' RPG players are typically obnoxious know-it-alls who see finding every character's ultimate weapon as a genuine life achievement.

i agree that gaming is taking a more casual turn. i have a feeling it has to do with people's short attention spans now adays. i think now people want to play games they can stop playing whenever they want and not feel like there missing anything, ex. how the story ends. hopefully developers will continue to make great time consuming games.

Um, as someone who eventually made it through Contra and Contra II without the 30 life code, I find it odd that someone says that games are NOW becoming easy. I thought games became easier when the SNES came out.

I do agree that the casual game market has gotten a huge boost in the past generation, but the question remains: what can be done to solve this issue? Releasing more fantasy RPG's may settle the minds of their fans, but that most likely won't satisfy the game market as a whole.

I do enjoy a good challenge, and so does a good percentage of the gaming market, but constantly redefining the term "hardcore" can be pretty confusing. Naming titles like Wii Sports and World of Warcraft as casual and social can make the most "hardcore" of video games difficult to pinpoint.

Overall, this article makes an interesting point worth thinking over. Thumbs-up!

Liked the article. I think the poster has clearly defined hardcore gaming: gaming in which the player must commit a good deal of time to and perhaps compromise social activity in exchange for an engrossing experience, rather than a quick thrill. Fantasy is simply used as an example, and wii fit/sports is used as a counter example.

Nice blog. Have you played Crisis Core FFVII? IMO it's so much more trimmed on casual than FFVII. But why? Aren't the fans of FFVII core gamers?

I think gaming should be about going into an adventure and escaping life by doing things the player in real life cannot, but it seems as though the "casual crusade" (awesome name, btw) that Nintendo is doing isn't dumbing down that aspect of gaming, but branching off into its own niche that the casual can get introduced into and/or stay in, as opposed to moving onto hardcore later.

The casual gamer is getting a such a big push now is largely because the very perception of gaming has changed. Think about the early 90s and now: gaming is no longer "for nerds"; gaming is now "cool". I remember back when I was a kid, playing video games largely placed you in the nerd catagory. Now, with the "cool" kids regularly dropping their cash on Madden and Halo (to name a few), we'll undoubtly see far more games trying to target as many people as possible, rather than the "nerds" of yesteryear. At least, it's what I think is going on.

Surely this isn't a new phenomenon? If we go back and just cherry pick those games in the past that provided a challenge we'll get a rose tinted view of the past. I doubt the ratio of "hardcore" games to "casual" games was higher 10 - 15 years ago.

Plus, I would argue that games are a lot harder these games because we no longer just play against computer AI. The advent of broadband and multiplayer gaming on a massive scale means that games can be as challenging as your human opponent. However, if we limited the scope down to JRPGs, then perhaps that genre of games are getting easier. I haven't played a JRPG pre FF6, but those that I have played, only Dragon Quest 7 provided a challenge.

Hardcore gaming hasn't changed at all, the media just pay a lot of attention to the likes of Wii and Guitar Hero since it's a new trend. Naturally the gaming community, mostly console owners, takes notice but they tend to fly off making all sorts of dramatic statements (e.g. "decline of PC gaming"). I've kept to my PC gaming and with games like Call of Duty 4, Crysis, FEAR, GRAW, Half Life 2 Episodes, Unreal Tournament III, The Witcher (and these are just the ones I own) etc. I can't say I can complain for a lack of "hardcore" games.

I hope so. Hardcore gaming needs to come back but in the form of the indie game scene this time.

Remember that Nintendo's goal was not simply to sell games to non gamers, but to attract a new generation of gamers, people that would not necessarily have picked up gaming otherwise. This could arguably lead to them becoming hardcore gamers like many of us, or it may not.

I think they will push casual games, garner a new market, and hopefully then try to attract them to the more serious games. The question is whether they will do so, or whether they will simply cash in on the casual games market, because they're cheaper to develop.

I applaud the industry for moving away from traditional hardcore. High fantasy has never been cool. (except for LOTR movies) Video games are cool now, and if you really want, you can still devote yourself to becoming hardcore in any number of games, but unless you have a budget for only one game a year, why?

I agree about games becoming more 'casual'. Just compare Morrowind with Oblivion. Huge difference.

Hardcore: -. unswervingly committed; uncompromising; dedicated: a hard-core segregationist; Intensely loyal; die-hard: a hard-core secessionist.

The argument that there is no "Hardcore" gamer, that has been seen from time to time, is complete and utter stupidity. The arguments trying to define what the pinnacle definement of a "hardcore gamer" is, does have merrit. I consider myself to be an extreamly hardcore gamer, and it comes down to that games, are my passion to the extream. I get a good 4 - 13 hour session a day depending on whats on in the day, average per day is 8 hours, when im not playing them, im researching them ferverantly. What I Want in a game, Huge worlds, endless content, 100+ hours of story, missions, quests. Great stories, great characters, indepth and complicated gameplay systems that open up insane ammounts of possabilities and customisation (eg. The materia system in FFVII). In my mind, I cant possibly consider anyone who plays any type of shooter with joysticks and any form of lock on or autoaim, as hardcore. Because if someone is that passionate, they want to be the ones in complete control of everything thats going on, when it comes down to it, i want everything that happens on screen to be something that I did 100% myself, skill and skill only. I dont only like RPG's, I dont only like Shooters, FPS, TPS, I dont only like strategy, or mmo's, I play all of the above and more, puzzle games, adventure games, platformers. I still play games from, NES, SNES, Sega master system all the way through all the systems from then till now. I do think games are about fun still, and that depends on whats fun for you. In games such as the GTA series, I do go to collect hidden packages at time, but i have never collected all hidden objects in any of the games in the series, because i consider that to be freaking crazy, and that generally doesnt appeal to me. Still, ive played and finished for egsample, GTA SA, 8 times, the story and the assets, and many of the hidden packages each time, and this goes for many games, ive finishes some games 30+ times throughly, and I will still go back and play them again. @Nesku08. Your point is a valid one i agree with. There are around 3 - 8 skills from morrowind cramped into a single skill of oblivions, and things like this are done in every modern game. Its made easier, and simpler and more accessable, for it to be more enjoyable for a much wider audiance. That in many ways is fair enough. The Hardcore gamer isnt the majority anymore, not by a longshot. But what ive been thinking for a long long time is, why cant they put more options in games, so that when someone starts a game, they can customise how they want it to play to a degree. So you could choose options that would make the game more complicated to play, by having more control over some things and more things to manage and sub manage. After all, the ammount of people that play games has grown huge, and the developers have to please as many people in this audiance as possible. So instead of giving an average experiance to all these differant people, why dont they add in some options, that allow people to change the game in small ways that will make the game more custom fitted to how they would like the game to be played. Thats my oppinion anyways. (P.S. srry about the lack of spaces / paragraphs, it only seems to let me make one)

I'm not sure I agree with this article- I find the premise that games were harder in the old days to be flawed (unless we are talking about the days before the save game feature). It is true that games are shorter, but I believe that this is mainly due to development costs having gotten so high. And so a shorter game is more likely to be finished by more people, but is it really easier?
And I'm not sure that making a game harder makes it better- often it is the opposite.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but in general a traditional JRPG that is super long is going to have 90% of its game time spent grinding out levels? I'm not sure that's a good thing, or even something that gamers are looking for in a game.

Yeah well, every era faces its own characteristics and produces its own ideas and ways of living. In the past generation, games were lengthy, had fair-visuals, and pretty much that sorta-thing. You might have liked that more, but other people enjoy what this generation brings: shorter games, hd visuals, more focus on multi-player. And who knows what the future generations might bring? It is just a matter of opinions and tatse.

Funny thing, the DS has probably easily the most hardcore games this gen.

I agree 100% Great article!

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

games are shorter because they cost too much to make

I'm with ThaSod on this. What's more, is another FF game really a return to hardcore gaming or just producing more of the same thing? I mean, the basic gameplay of the Final Fantasy series hasn't exactly changed much since the original Nintendo game. As RPGs go, I am far more interested in games like MassEffect where there is another aspect than selecting the appropriate attack from a menu and I am even more into a game like Morrowind where you can go entirely off script and do whatever you want. These are also games that attract a different audience that may well have attracted the same who played FF. Also, I disagree with people who claim that the Wii doesn't have any hardcore gaming. Super Mario Galaxy was a triumph of design that made good use of the new control structure and allowed for people to move past the basic (and easier) storyline to take on much harder challenges in the levels. And with casual gaming, the real reason this gets so much attention now is that there is soooo much money to be made in it.

@Nejikusa
I think different. Games always cost much to make. They just focus more with multi-player nowadays than offline storylines.

While hardcore gaming has its place, we must realize that gaming is a business. The problem is, people that play hardcore games are no longer the majority. These days video games are becoming main stream in society. Anyone from the nerd living with their mother to the gangster that shot his neighbor last night can be seen playing them. The gaming industry, being a business, is going to look towards what pleases the most consumers and what will get them the best sales. And you, saying you were a hardcore gamer, but saying you also played wii sports, is the reason the gaming industry is migrating towards casual play. Hardcore players also will play casual games, but casual players wont play a lot of hardcore games. This predicament has held the gaming industry at a paradox, do they continue to support their loyal hardcore gamers, or do they begin to transition towards the masses of incoming casual gamers. Naturally, money is beginning to win out.

casual games have nothing to do with a console, although the wii is more geared towards casual games as most people cant be bothered to wave around a remote for too long. Its more to do with the company, nintendo know thats where the money is, non traditional gamers, these people dont want hardcore games, they want something they can pick up every now and then and have a bit of fun with, nothing serious. obviously this is a change from a few years ago, where many more games were 'hardcore'. personally i dont see wii fit etc as games more as gimmicks or tools, like a smoothie maker lol. There will always be space for final fantasy and such in my opinion. These days people are playing for different reasons, personally i still play games to escape from reality and have some fun and i dont see that ever changing.

heh, whenever someone makes a post that looks intellectual the comments always start looking prettier, ive never seen so many apostrophes or capital letters used in the right places

I think there's a happy medium between hardcore gaming and this casual crap companies are putting out now. The term "easy to pick up, hard to master" fits that medium. That's why I think games like the Battlefield series and Civilization IV are so great.

Jtw8x: i just listened to the hyphens.

I disagree that hardcore gaming is being ignored or that there is some new era of casual gaming. No, there is just more casual gamers thus more casual games. I think we have the same amount of games for hardcore players now that we had 5, 10 years ago

I find it funny, that there's an article about hardcore gamers just below yours.

I agree with most of the people on here, but I also see your point. Especially in regards to the Wii. It seems that most developers are content to just develop games that are more party-based, than actually work on something that's a bit more in-depth. Admittedly not all of them are doing this, as The Conduit looks like it could definitely fill a void in the "hardcore" gaming library. So far it seems like Nintendo is the only one willing to take many chances with developing games that are challenging and fun, (Metroid, Zelda, Mario Galaxy), and I think more developers should grow a pair and try to bring a bit more to the market aside from the kid-friendly titles that they're churning out at an alarming pace. If Wii development is cheaper than the development for either of the consoles, wouldn't it make sense for them to at least try? Ubisoft had a few attempts, but rushed the final product, and have since, been locked in casual games for the system. I'm hoping this changes, but so long as people keep buying casual...developers aren't going to take those chances, I think.

It's not the casual approach to video games that bothers me so much. It's the near complete lack of originilality in video games i've seen for the past 10 years. I could count the few original titles that have spawned from the previous two generations of console. Anyway, getting back to the point, why should games companies develop games for the so called 'hardcore' market when they just don't sell as well? It's illogical. Which is sad news for those of us that appreciate a challenge...

What bothers me about the lack of "hardcore" games is not so much the trend towards easier/shorter games so much as the review sites mentioning game challenge like it's a bad thing.

I do agree that it sucks that basically hardcore gaming isn't cost effective for development companies, but I think you'll find hardcore gaming in the oddest places, like free or downloadable games, like N+, since hardcore challenge is a niche market for newer or smaller developers.

its true games are getting to easy and short i can beat alot within a day

I dont know if gamming has become more common or not really. Im 18 now still in highschool and i have a part time job. I dont know really anymore. If i had to look for a casual gamer i would reference people to the wii and handheld game because they are short and easy. Personally i think just about every game on the wii is almost rpg type. Everything is monitored. Weight, persicion, speed. Its just stats for you. From what ive seen anyway. A hardcore gamer i think personally would be the guy who rents or buys a game and then stays up just to beat it in a certain time period just to get another one. Personally i think thats me. Its nothing new for me to go hey guys dont even bother i rented it and it was horrible. (Or vice versa.) And then theyll go well how do you know and ill be like well i stayed up 2 days straight and beat the **** out of it untill i finished it. I dont know a good reference for that would be a person who just scarfs down their food and thinking someone is going to take it away from them. I guess the first time i found out i was a hardcore gamer i was like 6 and for my b-day i got yoshi's island on snes and i beat it within 3 days. When i was 6. C'mon. Ive been like that ever since i wont stop playing until i beat it or until i get extreamly bored with it like animal crossing, Hope that helps man.

Interesting that people think that hand held consoles aren't hardcore when Final Fantasy IV and Chronotrigger are to be released on the DS.

Well said. oh and the line "at least there should room in every console for traditional, time consuming, social life destroying game play." was not only well written, but funny too!

I wouldnt say that SE are beating a dead horse to see what falls of concidering that they have 4(!!!!) massive RPGs coming out and two from well established huge series and two new ones. And having two brand new huge RPGs is a pretty big deal And an action focused game in one of the biggest game series in the world. taking a new twist(hopefully) to and old series. Thats ALOT for a company that isn't really all that big compared to other companys in japan like Capcom, Konami and NamcoBandai. And when it comes to the GBA and DS FF remakes, they probebly just but a guy in the closet and shut the door for a weekend and when they open it hes done. Well maby they put 3 guys in for a week when it comes to DS games. Don't really think handhelds are high on the priority list over at SE. Just a way to bring in easy money for their big console projects.

You mentioned the Wii a lot in this article, which helps prove your argument but lets not neglect the fact that both the Xbox360 and PS3 are releasing 'hardcore games' as you would label them.

I think maybe the reason that games are going through a phase of being set in real life situations is that current graphics is at such a high level to be able to look realistic enough.

If by hardcore you mean epic in scale like a final fantasy game or metal gear 4..thats all over. Done..never again will a company spend that much money to make a game when mindless baby toy games like wii fit out sells them all 10 fold. It also cost pennies in comparison to make..So its the brain dead drool cups out there shaking their wii remote like a rattle that have put a bullet in the head of franchises like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, GTA, Resident Evil, etc..
So fight back with your wallet..not matter how much your ditz girlfriend wants a wii..dont **** buy one.

If you ask me, almost every game should be as hard as Devil May Cry 3 or Ninja Gaiden 2. I want to be able to put a game on normal and not blow through it with hardly dying or dying at all. Sure casual games are good and fun, and games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero allow the hardcore (myself) and Casual to converge (my friends) and i'm glad for that, but where are those games like Battle Toads and Teenage Mutant Ninja Trutles? and where are great RPG's like Chrono Triiger, Mario Rpg, and such? Sure i love new games as much as anyone, and I'm pumped for gears 2 because its going the rock band / guitar hero route with allowing my friend to play on casual while i play on insane. but seriously games need to be more hardcore focused. There is a time and place for hardcore and casual but i agree too many publishers are ignoring the hardcore. If any of you disagree with me, feel free to e-mail at Geetar_ninja@hotmail.com or check out http://L33tLife.blogspot.com and comment on my blog on there.

You know, another reason for the rise of the "casual" game could be due to the industry maturing. It was one thing to play for hours and hours leveling my black mage when I was 12. Being 36, my free time is at a bit more of a premium. As the median age of the gamer moves into young adults, game makers are finding that people don't want to have to play a game for hours on end because a lot of them now have time-consumers such as jobs , spouses (who may or may not play), etc.
As for what the Wii is doing.....it's funny how many people are having a negative reaction to it. Nintendo is doing the exact same thing that Sony did with the Playstation 1. Instead of just going after the same cheese, they're going after new cheese. This is actually VERY important to the "hardcore" audience. Why? Games are continuing to become increasingly expensive to a point that the current "hardcore" audience is unable to ensure a reasonable chance for a good ROI. It isn't like the old days when 7 people could make Mortal Kombat and have it become a success. Satisfying today's graphics whores is expensive and that's just one aspect of the game. At the present rate of cost inflation (to say nothing of other factors such as piracy), the gamer market will have to expand or we're going to have another crash that will exceed that of the Crash of 83 as studios implode upon themselves.
Nintendo, whether it is was their primary focus all along or whether they just stumbled into it, realizes this. They realize that Bioshock will rope in the "hardcore"......and noone else. Nintendo has seen where the cheese has been moved and is going after that. The other two are beginning to follow because, while Sony and Microsoft are still losing money on their consoles (Sony lost 1.1 billion in their last fiscal year. Even if you don't count the 1.047 billion Microsoft lost on repairs, they still lost 847 million on the 360 in their last fiscal year.), Nintendo has been making money on the Wii since Day 1. The other two are faced with the choice of continue to cater to the harcore and go bankrupt or expanding their marketshare.
In the end, the question of whether you want gaming to stay "hardcore" can be best phrased as "Do you want the gaming industry to go belly-up by 2015 or not?"