Infinity Ward: Call of Duty Players Aren't Hardcore Gamers

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stevejnb

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Well, it's a bit like calling hardcore WoW players "hard core gamers," an idea many self-labeled hard core gamers scoff at - because all they do is play WoW. I think a lot of these designations are a nasty combination of arbitrary and self-aggrandising but, depending on how you view "hard core gaming," I could see disqualifying some guy who plays 10 hours a day seven days a week from being a hard core gamer for just playing CoD. On the other hand, that is some pretty hard core playing of a particular game ...
 


A better question would be "why not?"

I like to poke fun at CoD as much as anyone but the mere existence of it is not hurting anyone. There are people out there with money to spend on what they view as cheap, mindless entertainment that distracts them for a few hours every night.

Any sane company looking to turn a profit should see this for what it is, an opportunity. There are tons of "freemium" CoD clones, most of them of very low quality, as well as many AAA titles such as BF4 which try to add a more hardcore edge in order to appeal to more strategically minded gamers.

The real news here is that IW is willing to publicly admit that they're not catering to devoted gamers with niche interests, but rather risk adverse gamers who want to shell out $60 once a year for the newest instalment of a tried and tested formula.
 

stevejnb

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Shank - so, a person who plays at least 20 releases a year but only about 20 minutes a day three to five times a week is more "hard core" about gaming than someone who plays 50+ hours a week, but only one or two games all year long?

I don't particularly subscribe to any one definition of "hard core gamer" but at the point where you call someone who plays *significantly* less per week a more "hard core" gamer than another guy who builds his life around gaming, it strikes me as a bit wonky.
 

taptempo

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This made me literally laugh out loud. I don't think playing only one game classifies you as a hardcore gamer. I feel like a hardcore gamer is someone who is skilled in/plays more games.
 

atavax

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Its weird because hardcore typically describes someone that is very focused on something specific. The claim that someone can't be a hardcore gamer because they are too focused on a specific game doesn't make sense. You're not hardcore anything if your interests are very broad and far reaching and you're never really spend a significant portion of time on a single interest. You're hardcore when you're very focused on something very specific.
 

atavax

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The most hardcore gamers i can think of are people that have gotten good enough to play professionally. They play 1 game almost exclusively. So i disagree with the sentiment that a hardcore gamer has to spend a lot of time on a range of games. I think the more hardcore you are, the more focused you are.
 

atavax

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The most hardcore gamers i can think of are people that have gotten good enough to play professionally. They play 1 game almost exclusively. So i disagree with the sentiment that a hardcore gamer has to spend a lot of time on a range of games. I think the more hardcore you are, the more focused you are.
 

eklipz330

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you know what a hardcore gamer is? that's right, because nobody does.

if i was to make up a definition, it would be that guy that plays 24/7 and has no social life. pretty hardcore if you ask me
 

atavax

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i think its less about actual playtime and more about the attitude while playing. Different people with different lifestyles have different amounts of time they an afford to spend on games or any hobby. Its more about how important that hobby is, than actually how much time they can afford to spend on it. Like someone listening to dozens of songs while they run to prevent boredom for 2 hours a day is probably less hardcore into music then the teenager listening to a single artist an hour every day because he feels a deep connection to that artist's message.
 

chicofehr

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Hard core gamers plays to be better then everyone else and can beat all his buddies and is big into competition. Playing just for the fun of it isn't hard core to me but what do I know.
 

KrzyMoke

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I feel Mr Rubin's quote is insulting. I play a multitude of games and consider myself Hard Core. I liked the COD franchise but after the bugs in the recent title and the insulting behavior of Mr. Rubin, guess I will not buy the new Black Ops and play Battlefield. This supposed "NON-Hard Core" player will just go put my money in ANOTHER developers pockets.
 

DRosencraft

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The entire "hardcore" versus non-hardcore thing is juvenile to begin with. You can play as much golf as you want at all the local clubs. Doesn't mean you can play on the PGA tour. That's usually the implication you get with many who use the term "hardcore"; they're somehow better at gaming than most others, which isn't necessarily true whether you play a ton of games or play one for a really long time.

Then you get the people who try to label others as hardcore based on what type of games they play and on what system. For instance, those who claim you aren't hardcore if you don't game on a PC, or if you don't game on an Xbox, etc.

Like I said, it's all juvenile and just needs to stop. I would have thought that a gaming exec would know better than to stoop to this level, but I guess I'll just add that to the long list of things on which my opinion differs from many others'.
 

SteelCity1981

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my friend has every call of duty game ever made. I can't understand it, but whatever makes him happy. I really can't say anything considering I have every halo game ever made. :)
 

XZaapryca

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Who cares about being "hardcore"? If you do, you're an idiot. It's about as lame as worrying about being cool in high school. WoW to CoD comparisons are tired too. One requires a brain, an iron butt and patience, the other needs weighted mice, the twitch reflexes of a 14yo, and the ability to dish out trash. lol
 

chrpai

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Nearly 15 years ago I was overclocking my dual Celerons in an Abit BP6 (no jumpers!) with Voodoo2 12MB SLI and a Geforce 256. Various Quake. We didn't have steam.. we had GameSpy and CD's. I played Unreal, Quake, MS Flight Sim, James F18 Hornet, Crazy Taxi.... you name it. Fast forward and I'm a busy guy with a career and a family. My wife always likes to get me the latest COD whenever it comes out. I stick it in and play it now and the and yup, that's about the end of it. Mindless blow shit up and relax. Personally I liked Tom's Hardware better back then. It was more about getting really technical information and building high quality, high performance machines on a budget. There really wasn't this hard core gamer segment that everyone seems to try to be cool and cater to today.
 

taptempo

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LOL
 

adimeister

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Craziness, a hardcore gamer doesn't mind whatever game you play. Some of us even still play sc1, they're good at it, they make money out of it. So why judge on what gamers play...
 

BoredErica

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Way I see it, as long as you are excited about the gameplay and care about winning or losing, you're a gamer. Be it one game, two games, 50 games. If you play 5000 hours of COD, you're a gamer that specializes in one game. You're hardcore in one game. You're a gamer.
 

kulmnar

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The only reason why Infinity Ward is claiming that CoD players are not hardcore is because they want as many people as possible to buy the game. If you claim that your game is for hardcore players only, this will alienate casual players. Basically, Infinity Ward are rattled by the success of GTAV, and want to appeal to more casual gamers since maybe according to their thinking, hardcore gamers have become the slaves of GTAV (lol).

I myself don't play GTAV and probably I'm not going to play CoD: Ghosts or BF4. I'm older now and I stick to counter-strike GO for the PC and I'm trying out some unusual games like Beyond2Souls for the PS3 (maybe I can finally get a platinum trophy).

It is sad to see how gaming has become all about money, GTAV gets billions in revenue, and now Infinity Ward are jealous and are going to try to...get trillions in revenue? lol Somewhere somehow these large gaming companies have lost sight of making innovative games that consumers can enjoy...instead they rehash the same thing year after year...where's the innovation from these guys, isn't the CoD graphics engine the same one that was used in CoD 4: Modern Warfare (in year 2007)?
 

hasten

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New engine this time around - will be used until 2020. Still will be identical to all other CoD since MW tho. IW is a shell of its former self, nothing but a name now. At least Dice tries new things...
 
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