Topic: Why Being a Casual Gamer Is Wrongly Patronised

I love gaming. I see myself as an avid gamer but still a casual gamer and it’s such a shame that so many people patronise is casual gamers.

So why am I a casual gamer? Firstly because of time. I don’t have time to play loads of games to completion and do everything.

Secondly - cost. I don’t have the kind of money to buy top end PC’s and low end PC’s for me, are still too fiddly.

I want to pop the game in and away I go.

But mainly because I enjoy just sitting down and enjoying games, no matter what I play on.

Yet I get told I’m not a ‘proper gamer’ because I don’t play games on the most powerful machines.

And that is really a patronising thing to say.

We should ALL love gaming no matter what we play on.

Let’s game together , not against each other!

The correct answer is to raise the middle finger. Someone insisting that only a person who uses the most powerful platform to play is a 'real gamer'? Is being an *****, and rightly deserves rejection and contempt.

Like you said yourself, you're a "casual" gamer. Not a "hardcore" gamer.

But some people push for anyone who plays any kind of video games to be a "gamer". My mom plays solitaire on her phone. Only solitaire. Last year she played only solitaire. This year she played only solitaire. Next year she will play only solitaire. Not a "gamer".

A gamer is someone who plays video games, likes to know about the world of video games, visits gaming websites, participates in gaming forums, is part of gaming as a "culture".

A friend of mine has a Series X. I thought he only played Call of Duty on it, but have heard him talk about ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 recently. He just plays shooters. He has no interest in anything else. I tried to talk to him about GOTY Clair Obscur, he's not interested. I told him about the addicting Balatro and Ball X Pit. He has no interest.

Even some "hardcore" gamers playing on the "most powerful machines" aren't really a part of gaming culture outside of their own narrow interest.

I've been told before that i'm not a 'proper' gamer because I don't play on the most powerful hardware (current desktop is a Ryzen 5 7600X cpu with a RTX 4070 SUPER gpu it does a reasonable job with most of the modern stuff I throw at it, I think the most 'modern' game I've tried to run on it recently is the latest Indiana Jones one and it runs OK not without some graphical hitches here and there but workable and I've overclocked the GPU as well so I guess I'm at my limit as to what the machine can cope with now, so no new PC games for me then! but I won't be looking to upgrade at least not anytime soon as I simply haven't got the money) and I don't own a PS5 Pro or Xbox series X mainly for the cost, the only other gaming device I have is a Switch 2, but I'm constanly told that this was a mistake and I should have bought a more powerful PC handheld, but the fact remains that I enjoy gaming.. so what if I can't play 'cutting edge games' and to be honest all they seem to be focused on nowadays is how many hairs you can see up a characters nostril and not the actual gameplay, and who knows maybe Nintendo will actually produce a new generation of Mario and Zelda that will blow all of your ultra high defenition, ray-tracing trash out of the water. So for now I am happy playing older games, Nintendo's offerings and any interesting looking indie titles that come along, and if that makes me a casual gamer then so be it, but at least I'm having a good time!

@simonhamer Well said and that’s exactly it. If you are having fun then you are doing what gaming should always be about. Having fun first and foremost!

@simonhamer Lol. Your point about the ‘hairs up the nose’ is one I make often! And it’s so true. When I see people taking about a hair not shimmering quite right in the light, I just can’t help thinking that that is not what gaming was ever about to me and , 40 years later, it’s not what it should be about either!

@MontyCircus Interesting point well made. I believe that as long as you enjoy gaming, you can be considered a gamer but I totally take the point that when it’s just one game being played, then that does become a touch of a mute point.

I know several PS5 owners who only play Fortnite. It does seem odd to own a gaming system and only play one game but I guess as long as they are happy, I have no issue but I also agree that there is a matter of being part of gaming culture.

One thing I’ve learned from online gaming discourse (or online discourse in general) is that people take their hobbies way too seriously. Even to the point that you begin to wonder if they even enjoy the hobby.

You do you. Gaming is meant to be enjoyed - I think being a casual gamer is healthy, and anyone who uses the term as an insult probably has a chip on their shoulder.

@MontyCircus
yeah ive generally thought of a "gamer" as anyone who games as a hobby, like you mentioned they have an interest in games in general, regardless of the types of games they enjoy or how often they do it.

though even with "hardcore" gamers being on the more powerful machines/pc/etc feels only like a subset of it, for me someone playing old games on an old CRTtv at 60hz for that retro-responsiveness could definitely be considered "hardcore" despite the machines they are using being the opposite of cutting-edge.

Though when it comes to people dumping on others choice of gaming ive also seen it on the opposite end of the spectrum where people seem to look at others as lesser gamers because they care about technical aspects/visuals/performance etc.

in the end gaming is a spectrum,

I agree.

My definition of a casual gamer has nothing to do with frequency of play or console of choice, but rather, a distinction between that large segment of consumers who only buy 2 games each year, typically Call of Duty and NBA 2K, and everyone else who buys 3 or more games a year, and typically does some research into games existing beyond mass market AAA.

Essentially, casual gamers = ball 'n gun gamers, to me. They want their Call of Duty, and they want their annual sports title of choice. They like their ball and gun games.

That doesn't mean I look down upon those "casual gamers", but I don't think they represent any of us here with broader tastes and more adventurous spirits.

There are gamers among us who game more casually, but are not what I consider a "casual gamer". And all of this says nothing of the mobile gamer, who is in a class of their own.

Elitists in fandoms are often hypocritical losers. I consider myself a hardcore gamer, but in the sense that I have played games my whole life and care deeply about them. But in actuality, I barely play the newest games, I don't care too much about high end gaming (especially nowadays when the majority of Unreal 5 games look the same and all take 5+ years to come out), and outside of specific games and one genre my skills are fairly mid.

I think the worst example of it I found with was the especially hypocritical 7th generation era of gaming. There was a point where I was strongly trying to push cool niche games, but because they were on Nintendo (especially Wii) they were reliably dismissed as casual by Gamers who thought Call of Duty was some super hardcore game. Which is hilarious because on factual levels, the series is designed for more casual players. And there's nothing wrong with that, but people trying to pretend the biggest gaming franchise is more hardcore than Muramasa the Demon Blade or Little King's Story or Sin and Punishment 2 was ludicrous. That's just untrue, unless you're specifically a diehard COD player whose mastered every nuance of its gameplay in hundreds of hours online.

But there is a type of elitist I do at least somewhat respect, which are the ones who would actually push for weird Japanese niche games over COD dominating everything and being annoyed at the disgusting levels of sales difference between the two, which I certainly was, despite enjoying some COD games. (probably actually 100X less popular) Often they can be just as annoying when they're annoying to individual fans, which is rarely helpful so they should stop, but they are at least doing so for the sake of some cool games that deserve better, imagine trying to be a hardcore gamer to try to bury niche games for the sake of praising the biggest, most mainstream franchise. It's why that era of gaming was so bad, because the loudest people were, as they often are to be fair, worthless hypocrites. And people being elitist because of having a high end PC are just rich people pretending to have a personality.

At end of day this is what it all comes down to. Unless your Gamer for a Sponsor then that becomes a transaction and is no longer just gaming.

@JaxonH My understanding of this - correct me if I'm wrong - is that I am a hardcore gamer because I don't play COD or sports games, I love indie games, and buy more than 3 games a year.

Right?

[EDIT] I have always identified as a casual gamer.

Just elitism and insecurity really

@MoldyPasta
I never said anything about "hardcore", as that's a totally separate conversation in itself. Not saying you aren't one either. I just made no comment on that.

But I would say you are not what I consider a casual gamer. You buy more than 2 games a year, and have broader taste than only ball and gun (not that there's anything wrong with those who only like BnG games).

You may game more casually, but gaming casually isn't the same as a "casual gamer" imo, as that term has taken on a very specific meaning over the past few decades.

Its not how many games you buy a year that makes you a casual gamer nor is it the fact that you only play CoD or Sports games. In fact some of those people who only play CoD or a particular sports game, like Madden for example are some of most hard-core gamers I know off.

Also maybe a gamer doest have the income or time to buy more then one game a year. Just to say that someone is a casual gamer because you buy more games or play more games is makes you conceded.

The true definition of a causal gamer is someone who plays those causal games like Bejeweled or Candy Crush stuff that more associated with Mobile games or those more casual based games.

@Tasuki
That's one type, sure, but someone that only buys Call of Duty and FIFA is textbook casual. It's not "conceited" to say that because it's not said in condescension. It's just an observation. As already mentioned, I dont look down on casual gamers, but I'm not gonna walk on eggshells about it either.

Obviously, someone could play one game all the time. But that's still someone with a casual experience more broadly. They have no breadth. And there's nothing wrong with that. But if you're only buying 1 or 2 mass market games each year, I'm sorry, but that's what a casual gamer is. They're not deep into gaming. It's not interesting enough to them to explore beyond their annual release of AAA mainstream fare.

The distinguishing factor which differentiates a casual gamer is whether or not gaming in general interests them as a hobby. And if you're only playing 1-2 games a year, the same annual AAA mainstream iterations with enough cultural relevance to penetrate your sphere of knowledge, that's a textbook casual gamer. You have no interest in gaming as a whole, you only have interest in 1 or 2 games by chance, simply because you already liked the sport, or to engage socially with friends in death match.

For such people, gaming is no different than hitting the theaters once or twice a year. Just because someone gets obsessed with Avatar and sees it 3x in theaters doesnt make them a movie enthusiast. They couldn't care less about movies as a whole. They just happen to like that one movie.

Casual gamers just happen to like that one game, regardless of what it is. Could be Zelda Breath of the Wild. Could be Halo Infinite. Could be Horizon Zero Dawn. Could be 99 Carnival Games. The title itself doesn't matter. It's completely irrelevant. Actually that's not true. It matters inasmuch that its highly correlated with AAA/mainstream titles with enough relevance to reach the average Joe, and shovelware trash which the average Joe doesn't care enough to know any better. Seldom is it the bulk of games in between.

@JaxonH

That's a really good post!

I don't think anyone should worry too much about "gamer classifications". I don't think anyone here is saying anything like:

"core" gamers are BETTER than "niche gamers" who are BETTER than "casual gamers" who are BETTER than "retro gamers" who are BETTER than mobile gamers.

They're all just different ways and "intensities" to play games or interact with the industry and culture.

I've seen about 40 movies in theatres this year. From blockbusters to indies, comedies, to dramas, to horror, to romance, to everything in-between. My friends ONLY watch blockbusters, and they have no idea why I waste my time watching anything else. I like to watch people flying around in their underwear punching out evil wizards shooting lasers out of their hands as much as the next guy. But I have a much broader interest on top of that.

Same thing with me and video games. And to a lesser extent books, music, etc.

Everyone on planet Earth eats food. But not everyone is a "foodie". Different people have different areas of interest and levels of passion.

@MontyCircus
Right.

I think one of the problems we run into is, so many use the term "casual" in a derogatory sense, that when others (such as myself, or you, or whoever) uses the term descriptively, not in judgement but in terms of practical categorization, some take the intent as nefarious and wrongly assume its being used in condescension, when it's simply being used as a means of classification.

Will all of you that can't afford a new gaming rig be counting your cash up for a PS5 pro or Xbox equivalent so that they can play the new releases such as GTA 6 or maybe even a new Elder Scrolls. I don't think that we'll be getting a PS6 at least until late 2027 and as prices are going now you could expect to pay £1000 for one.
I must admit I wasn't really bothered about getting a pro due to it's price the availability of it's games and game prices but I have seen some online deals lately £549 that's made me go Hmmm... maybe.