I think it’s time to update this to the 2010 edition including newer species I haven’t catalogued.
I started compiling this article back in 2004. I made numerous iterations until finally submitting it to Gaming World in early 2005(Types of Gamers). At first, this article was designed to help sort out the confusion between ‘hardcore gamers’ and ‘old-school gamers.’
The information is 50/50 split between gamers, editorials written over time from magazines and websites around the world and my observations. The definitions are somewhat rigid and not all gamers will fall into just one place. There’s a little bit of 2 or 3 or more of each of these in us. To accompany you while reading, I prepared my playlist to play select game music from OCRemix.
- The Casual Gamer
- The Competitor
- The Day Trader
- The Equal Opportunity Employer
- The Framerate Junkie
- The Free Rider
- The Game Company Fanatic
- The Genre Freak
- The Hardcore Gamer
- The Hype Zombie
- The Mini Gamer
- The Old Schooler
- The Power Tripper
- The Relic
- The Sick Puppy
- The Slot Jockey
- The Social Gamer
- The System Bigot
- The Title Disciple
Perhaps the easiest to define, and often the people who have the least trouble defining themselves. These are people who enjoy videogames for moderate and occasional enjoyment. In the same way that many people watch TV now and then or take in a movie once a month, the Casual Gamer probably has the game system in his or her house (most likely not the next-gen console) and a few games, all of which may be collecting dust. They often purchase games months after their release, when it's on sale. Thanks to the Wii, we now have a huge casual gaming population. For every Wii sold, Shigeru Miyamoto gets a dollar… True or false, I’d gladly be in his place. [back]
Probably one of the general type, since most gamers are competitors. The biggest difference is that these guys are scary. These gamers are the ones who don’t lose any sleep mastering Tekken, Soul Calibur, and the granddaddy of fighting games…. Street Fighter. These guys go to forums and talk about ways to beat another guy’s character to a pulp or game glitches that hinder opponents unable to connect a single attack. There are multiple types but let’s still with these two: trash talkers and those who are full of themselves. Trash talkers usually belong in the loser category in tournaments. Those who are full of themselves are basically just full of themselves. Getting beat by trash talkers is not a let down for them because that doesn’t equate to being really good, which they have a point.
“Yeah. You beat me. That makes you really good, right?” Says Mr. Fullofit.
These guys are so full of it that they justify losing when they are playing to the fullest of their character’s ability and still lose. They choke it up to NOT playing to their fullest. In a way, they are trash talkers, but not the loser kind. After winning, they talk about how they won and what they did. When these gamers get beat and start playing for real and still get beat, they just stop talking. If they own the game, they either make excuses of going home or work or somewhere else. Not all gamers are like this, though the most common.
The competitor is not limited to fighting games, however. In recent years, game tournaments have been held worldwide using other games like Dance Dance Revolution and Pump it Up. The competition in these games comes in two parts: Perfect Attack and Freestyle.
Perfect Attack is getting the most perfects of a song you compete with another person. This is the most unoriginal aspect of DDR and PIU and the most boring to watch. The first few minutes are alright: watching the guy perfect everything in a song at the hardest setting and… that’s it. The competition comes to life in Freestyle.
Despite its name, freestyle in a tournament is not freestyle at all. After all, making up dance routines without practice right off the bat in a competition that awards an arcade machine to the first place winner(s) or A huge sum of money is just not gonna cut it. Basically, the contestant, or group, does a dance routine for a song with hand plants, knee drops, jumping, dance moves, pop locking, etc. The judges rate the routines for difficulty, style, and audience reactions. These gamers are on a separate league. Trash talking only comes in the form of a joke to tease the other contestants and anything else coming from the mouth of spectators are addressed as ignorance. The competition in these tournament boils down to whoever has to most unique dance routine and the most reaction from the audience.
The most hardcore competitors of all are the ones who find ways to make the most unnecessary aspect of a game as the base for competing. These guys level up their characters, collect every item, spends the most number of hours and do every side quest in RPGs or other games. They use these achievements to compare with other gamers.
“I played the most hours in the game!”
“Well, I played a lot of hours, did every side quest, and collected every item. Beat that!”
They feed off on failures of other gamers. That makes them feel better for reasons I don’t know. I think it’s compensation of some sort. If you get to compete with one of these guys, there’s only one thing you should do when you beat them: WALK AWAY FROM THE VISCINITY OF THE PLAYER AND DON’T LOOK BACK. You don’t wanna know what they’ll do after losing, but I’ll give generalized examples for future references.
• Beat the gamer; gamer cries.
• Beat the gamer; gamer beat controller.
• Beat the gamer; gamer beat game.
• Beat the gamer; gamer beat wall.
• Beat the gamer; gamer beat you.
• Beat the gamer; gamer beat gamer. [back]
The Day Trader follows the industry to a moderate or serious degree, knows the rumors, the projected release dates, and who's working on what project. Press releases and announcements affect their opinions about games or a system. They might know the cache speed of a next-gen console without knowing what that even means, but will take it under consideration when choosing between systems. These are the guys who look for flaws in a game showcased at TGS or E3 (Tokyo Game Show or Electronic Entertainment Expo) by a game company, of their liking or not, for a system or console they hate. These are the people who are really proud to tell the world that the latest screenshot for a new game was ‘photoshopped’ by the game company to make it presentable. They will use the newly found discovery to their advantage to bash a system or console (for system bashing, see The System Bigot, no. 18). [back]
4. The Equal Opportunity Employer
This is the gamer that owns every system, and has a massive library of games, some of which they rarely play and some of which they've never played or only played once. Whether it's because they grow tired of games too quickly, have too much money, have a CD burner and a Blockbuster card so they can burn Dreamcast games, have the game just so they have it, or can blaze through games without stopping to smell the roses, this gamer has more games than he/she can handle, and rarely gives those games their deserved time in the sun. On the positive side, EOEs have proper games, not systems mentality and are great to have as friends to borrow games off of. [back]
This type of gamer is truly the antithesis of the Hardcore Gamer. These are people who cannot get past the jaggies, the occasional slowdown, or the eyeballs in the next-gen post Madden games. Their unbridled focus on a game's technical quirks supercedes their ability to derive enjoyment out of the game. These gamers are usually the people who grew up in the 90's in the sixth-gen videogame market (no offense *_*) who had Saturns, Stations, or Sixty-fours for Christmas.
With the new Flat screen HDTVs capable of 720p and 1080i or 1080p, games with fewer polygons are clearly seen more than ever. About 5 years since I created this article, game graphics have improved exponentially and I think the Framerate Junkie is about to be extinct or find another thing to complain about and evolve into another type. I wonder what they’ll talk about with the newer 3D TVs? [back]
Another opposing force to hardcore gaming. These are gamers who use codes, gamesharks, walkthroughs, and others almost immediately upon owning the game. They do not struggle through anything, and defeat and resistance in a game is more likely to provide frustration than an enjoyable challenge. They prefer NOT to be surprised by the boss monsters and the placement of special items, and the first code they look for is usually the infinite health. I hate to say this, but THESE are the same people who used the 30 lives code from Contra in the NES. If I struggled my whole entire childhood beating the game without knowing the universal KONAMI code, then why shouldn’t they? Why, I say? Why? WHY??? [back]
These people are the ones who stick with a videogame company whom they think are the best. These guys are the most dedicated gamers in a sense that they spend too much time arguing which company makes the best games or which company has the best system instead of playing games. Game Company Fanatics are the saddest bunch (it's true, no offense). Talking to them is like talking to a dog that can’t really talk and can’t really hear because it’s deaf on one ear and really deaf on the other (No dog was harmed in the making of this article). Any bad rep they hear from their company, they usually get pissed off and counterattack you with a thousand-word essay on chatrooms, forums, or in person. Not in a way that they want to be heard because they are right, but in a way that they just got pissed off their company was dissed. [back]
These are the people who ONLY play sports games or RPG's (No offense to some of you ^_^) or racing, or First Person Shooters. Their knowledge of games is based on the type they play. Genre Freaks are the most diverse type of gamers except when it comes to the sports gamers.
This title sometimes overlaps with other titles in this list, but a Genre Freak might well base his or her system choice on which one has the most enjoyable wrestling game. The example I gave for the 7th generation was this: RPG's for PS2, ARCADE type HARDCORE games for X-BOX, and REALLY OLD FRANCHISES for GAMECUBE. Well it looks like things HAVE changed… EXCEPT for Nintendo: Both XBOX360s and PS3 have great RPG and ARCADE type HARDCORE games while the Wii now EXTRA REALLY OLD FRANCHISES. I mean, COME ON!!!! HOW MANY TIMES DOES MARIO HAVE TO SAVE PRINCESS PEACH? AND THE SAME GOES FOR YOU, TOO, LINK!!! [back]
Here it is. The ultimate title. Requiring far more research than other categories in this list. Some sites have said something similar, but nothing compares to Evan Muzar's winning essay contest on the Hardcore Gamer (the link to the essay has been taken off the server without any archive left whatsoever).
A Hardcore Gamer is someone who does whatever it takes to get the most enjoyment from their gaming experiences. This can be done despite (or, in some cases, as a result of) technical or logistical problems in the game. This doing what it takes can be hauling a PS One and a copy of Bomberman Party to a friend's house after school everyday, rigging up an in-house Ethernet network for a LAN party, or just developing the aesthetic sense necessary to appreciate a game's story, music, gameplay, graphics, and controller configuration all at the same time. Unfortunately, this definition is no more likely to justify any given person's claims to hardcore than before. But, as the other definitions show, a hardcore gamer is partially defined by what he or she is not, and a hardcore gamer DOES NOT LET MUCH detract from a good gaming experience, no matter the title, platform, graphics and control scheme.
And thanks to the Wii, we have hardcore gamers bringing in friends and using videogames as ice breakers in social events, thus creating a new specie called ‘The Social Gamer’ (No. 17). [back]
A Hype Zombie is a person whose game purchases are almost solely influenced by media coverage and, to a lesser extent, peer influence (all their friends have it). These are the people who have Chrono Cross without knowing Chrono Trigger. These are people who think Final Fantasy VII is the best of the series without knowing or playing the original Final Fantasy to Final Fantasy VI (Not that I think FFVII is bad, I think the game is one the best). These are people who have Army Men games instead of anything else. These are the people who have Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Star Wars, and Lego anything. We know who you are. Yes we do. [back]
You’ve heard of these guys. They are taking over the Interwebs with their strategic knowledge and micromanagement of… wait for it… FARMING!!!
That’s right. Games like Farmville, Fishville, Frontierville, Mafia Wars and many, many more brought about a new species of gamers. You know why it’s so successful? Because it’s so addicting. Why is it so addicting? Well remember those mini games you played in your Role Playing Games and other games with mini games to pass your time? Weren’t they addicting?
What these companies did with these games is take the MMORPG format of leveling and took the hardwork of slaying monsters and saving your farm from raccoons down to a simple mouse click. Instant gratification FTW. Even your mom or your grandmom are probably playing this game now and is probably disappointed in you for not accepting their neighbor requests. [back]
The Old Schooler is almost as coveted a title as the Hardcore Gamer. It is often used to suggest, under an air of superiority, that I was here before you. Being Old School does not equate to simply having lived through the Atari years and owning one (a Relic). Nor does it equate to merely having an NES and a copy of Mario Bros./ Duck Hunt and a light gun in your home. Being Old School Means having PROPER RESPECT for the history, origins, and development of games overtime. A gamer who could not stoop to playing the original Zelda, or games like Contra or River City Ransom due to their graphical limitations will never qualify for Old School. Old Schoolers have a special place in their hearts for Space Invaders, Defender, and Pac-Man. [back]
The Power Tripper is similar to the Free Rider, except that they use codes, Gamesharks, and created players with hyper abilities in sports games for the purpose of utterly crushing their opposition, or, annoyingly, legit players in online multiplayer games. Most simply call them CHEATERS, but extend the category to anyone who needs to have an edge that they haven't learned or earned. These are people who play games on easy and leave them there forever. These are the people who cheat on Bejeweled… They’re that terrible. (On a side note, if you do this and the game is still challenging for you after a month, maybe you should try a new, easier hobby, like breathing through your nose). [back]
The Relic's taste have stopped evolving. They may still bust out games for nostalgic value on their TI-99, 4A, or Commodore, and don’t want anything faster paced than Pitfall or Galaga. Anything else would cause fainting, nosebleeds, high fever, epileptic seizures, and cancer of the eye. They don't need a graphics card on their PC because at best they will merely download DOS emulators. The relic is locked in the land of pinball and Tetris. The Relic term is not intended as disrespect. Several collectors are game relics. One even suggested the title for this type of gamer: NOT-A-GAMER. A very rare type of this gamer is one who spends hours playing Ms. Pac Man or Galaga. [back]
For this type of gamer, every game they play is a catharsis of forbidden or sinful, depraved activity. Whether it's fighting games with maximum carnage (blood everywhere ala Twisted Metal: Black with its serial killer overtones) or Dead or Alive for its Barbie-in-zero-G game engine, the games they play primarily are ones that satisfy some baser urge. They’re a big fan of Grand Theft Auto, Carmaggeddon, and probably Rapelay. They also like to play alone. Yes, we know who you are Hentai lovers and your Hentai games. These games are these gamers “Big-O.” The most common of these gamers are the ones who play their games with their underwear as their only piece of clothing. [back]
This is a rare gamer who believes that the home console can never match the social, public aspect of the arcade. They will choose to spend quarters on Crazy Taxi (if it still exist) or Jungle Cruisin’ at the mall before buying it for the machine at home. If they have Dance Dance Revolution at home, it's for practice ONLY. The bigger and more bizarre the arcade peripheral (light guns, skis, dance pads, boxing pads, Silent Scope sniper rifles, sit-down driver's seats) the better. This is indeed an endangered species who flourished in the 80's when thousands of Pac Man knockoffs where produced in consoles and Pac Man kept making quarters disappear. [back]
You gotta hand it to Shigeru Miyamoto for finally figuring out a way to make games for everyone without the awkward pass the controller to your left or yanking the wire off the machine. I don’t think they anticipated the Wii to make the other two competing companies come up with their own peripherals to cash in.
The Casual and Hardcore gamers (my definition of hardcore gamer) gave birth to the social gamer. Hardcore gamers have been doing this since forever by setting up the connection on multiple TVs or split screen. People who don’t take videogaming seriously consider themselves as casual gamers. Thanks to the Wii and the many, many games designed for casual gaming, we now have social gamers running everywhere.
What sucks is that the serious gamers and the gaming community in general don’t consider social gamers as gamers. I think it’s because most social gamers are the parents, aunts, uncles, grandpas, grandpas, cousin you don’t like and many more who can’t play videogames because of the complex button configurations. And let’s be honest, other gamers play games to escape from them. I guess we can call the social gamer the “NOT gamer.” [back]
Arguably more of a non-Hardcore Gamer than the Framerate Junkie (and often related), the System Bigot has somehow settled on a particular brand's superiority, often for arbitrary reasons (the system they get for Christmas). The Bigots possess a mindset similar to sports fans: "My team is the best because I live…" kind of nature. System Bigots also cannot seem to grasp the connection (or separation) between the machine designers and the game designers. [back]
This gamer is a whole different breed. They have found what to them equates to be the perfect game and play it over, and over, and over again beyond obsession. They mostly play the game as obsessive as they can until one day they set a world records of those games. Everything else pales in comparison, and the closer another game is to it, the more they like it. These are the Trekkies and Star Wars fans of the gaming world. Pokemon is a clear example, but there are also people who haven't taken Warcraft II out of their CD-ROM drives since 1996 either. [back]
So you guys, which one are you? Take your pick!
I'm done.
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