Oh, the things you do and say when you should really be working. From a conversation about the PS3 between David and Jack:
[While discussing the PS3 and it’s future…]
Jack: it’s a stale system that has “potential” in 2008
David: IF they put some games out
Jack: exactly
David: MGS4 is too far away
Jack: right now, i haven’t heard of any must have games since the launch!
which is pretty amazing
David: and Assassins Creed looks way cooler than MGS4
pretty ports, that’s about it for now
Jack: my wild prediction is that MGS4 and Halo 3 are going to be considered colossal duds
comparatively speaking
then the industry will go into this huge insecure era of self retrospection
David: bah .. just look at EA .. they’re getting into new games, moving away from ports-only, and embracing Nintendo’s philosophy
there are no more “gamers”. that term is dead.
you don’t say “oh, that person is a cell phone user” .. it’s just becoming a ubiquitous term
Jack: true. i was thinking back on the 80’s and 90’s, as i am wont to do, and i remembered there was no such thing as a hardcore gamer
hardcore gamer = what you get when your audience is shrinking and becoming an obscure niche
David: hardcore, to me, is a person who plays any game they can get their hands on.
but to most people, it’s a guy who plays Halo/GTA/MGS/etc
Jack: no no, it means headshots and blood splatter
i say, half kidding of course
David: it’s the opposite in the film world, where a movie buff generally likes the smaller, independent films .. oddball stuff
a “hardcore” movie buff wouldn’t be used to describe someone who is generally interested in blockbuster movies.
I think perceptions will change soon ..
and they’ll have to
terms like “hardcore” or “gamer” no longer mean anything, at least to me
Jack: i’d call it the myth of the hardcore gamer
a marketing term drummed up by people like Microsoft to sell Xbox’s
to a certain demo
unfortunately, it was responsible for shrinking and alienating the market
What do you think, folks? We talk about it a lot, but are the lines being blurred? Do these terms mean anything anymore?