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The Hardcore Xbox Gamer

by Dick Ward May 21st 2008 9:28 PM CDT0 Comments

Welcome to Outside the Box, the newest column on Xbox Focus. This week, I’ll be taking an in depth look at the Hardcore Xbox Gamer. I’ll be sharing some personal anecdotes as well as stories from around the globe about hardcore gamers ranging from the hilarious to the depressing, and taking a look at the effect of the casual game scene on the core gamer. Before we can move on though, it’s important to know just who the hardcore gamer is.

Hardcore gamers are typically self proclaimed, and always on the border of obsessive when it comes to games. They come in all shapes and sizes, all ages, colors and creeds, but have one thing in common – a deep love for gaming. Just as there is no genre that defines all games, there is no type of hardcore gamer that defines them all. For simplification, I’ve divided them into a few archetypes. Bear in mind, no one archetype will define a player - most gamers are a mix between the three.

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Showing an enormous amount of skill, the tournament gamer archetype harkens back to the days of the arcade. He used to be the guy that played Street Fighter II for hours while kids lined up to try and upset his reign, but now he’s the guy that evens the playing field in Halo 3 by using only melee attacks on a Shotty Sniper level and wins. More enviably, he’s the guy that gets paid to do the same thing he’d do in his free time anyway.

Tournament gamers often have a certain group of people that they play with regularly and tend to take their gameplay very seriously. They practice for hours a day to keep their skills at a professional level, just as a professional athlete must train to keep at peak condition. Training doesn’t consist of just playing mindlessly either, they analyze strategies, watch videos, run drills, and prepare for anything their opponent might throw at them.

Having the greatest skill isn’t important to the collector. His concern solely lies in ownership. He may not have the highest Gamerscore, but he’s got a copy of Air Force Delta, still new in its original packaging. He’s the guy at the flea market every weekend looking for an unopened copy of Halo: Combat Evolved to add to his collection. He’s the guy diving through a box of old games at garage sales and crying out in joy because he found a near mint copy of Marvel vs Capcom 2.

Collectors often delve into the world of importing games, soundtracks and other foreign (primarily Japanese) game related items. More often than not, they’ll order several and sell the rest to friends and associates for cost, spreading their love of games that sometimes just don’t get released in the US.

The escapist, for lack of a better term, doesn’t always look for the game with the best gameplay and they certainly aren’t looking to have the biggest collection. They look for story, and for a world that they can fall in love with. When they find it, they absorb every aspect of the experience and then do everything they can to contribute back.

Whether they are cosplayers, fan fiction authors, or even machinima creators, escapists have lain fairly unknown until the internet brought gamers of all types together in one place. While often scoffed at by those outside of the scene, even fellow gamers, escapists are a vital part of the hardcore gaming community.

What truly separates the hardcore gamer from the average Call of Duty player is goals and aspirations within gaming besides just playing games, and a desire to contribute back. Hardcore gamers of all types are dedicated to their games of choice to a fault, and want the popularity of their preferred title to last as long as possible.

An embrace by the hardcore gaming crowd can be both a blessing and a curse for a title. While the game will undoubtedly enjoy unsurpassed dedication by a very loyal fan base, that same group of people can be a huge turn off to casual players. Halo 3 is arguably the best multiplayer game available on any system, but players are often caustic and insulting to players just starting out. On a team based game, one bad player stands out like a sore thumb and often earns the ire of his teammates, as well as his opponents.

On the other hand, hardcore players seem to have embraced the potential newcomers. Youtube and other video sites are filled with great Halo tutorials and tips from top ranked players, inviting fresh players to practice hard, up their skill, and meet them in the game. It’s people like these hardcore gamers that are really helping to create a great atmosphere of friendly competition.

Escapists and collectors are often seen as obsessive and strange by casual players, creating a fairly large hurdle to get over. Seeing parades of people in full on Spartan armor may be a bit for the average gamer to deal with. The high price of collectable games is a huge detractor for most casual fans as well. Recommending the ultra immersive Steel Battalion is simple, but convincing someone to shell out a hundred bucks for a used copy of a game that very few people played is another.

For those that don’t consider themselves to be hardcore gamers, remember this: For every elitist who won’t stop screaming ‘noob’ in his headset, for every importer that with malice says "It's NAH-ru-toe, not nah-RU-toe!" and for every basement dwelling obsessive arguing about Halo fan fiction, there are hundreds of very cool hardcore gamers creating movies, stories, and more than willing to accept you into their world.