Topic: Why Being a Casual Gamer Is Wrongly Patronised

@larausjarod Yes. Well said.

I mean there is nothing wrong to try other games and get new experience from playing different games.
Sticking only on 1 or 2 games without ever trying to open their mind to try new things in positive way is something that can make other people looking down on the people who only stick on the same repetitive stuffs.
Some people think the not open minded casual gamers behavior might be insulted the other people who have broaden taste of gaming.

Never really sure what the definition actually means. Without a slight on anyone as each to their own, I kind of think of the casual gamer as someone who occasionally plays games.

Its a bit of a moot point really. If you play games, you are a gamer or someone who enjoys video games ..... casual, hardcore, avid, regardless.

The only true hardcore are those whom play for sponsors for real Currency. That take dedication and team effort to make it that far. All of us are just Gamers in General some play more hours then other and some play when they can-the camp I am in right now, since I always have a job I work at that prevents endless hours of play. But those whom pay for Currency that is true HardCore dedications.

I'd argue those of us going hard on 3DS sinking hundreds of hours into games like Monster Hunter in 240p with a tiny nub for right analog... were definitely hardcore 😀

There is nothing wrong with being a casual gamer. Games are indeed meant to be enjoyed... it is a hobby, after all. I would consider myself a casual player, honestly. I do have my favorite genres, like platformers and adventure games (I've played a little bit of everything though), and I've mainly been a Nintendo player for years at this point. Nintendo's games are generally what I have the most fun with, and I do like a good indie game, too.

@JaxonH : Those of us who coughed up the goods for that comical Circle Pad Pro accessory were as hardcore as it gets.

@SillyG
Raises hand✋️

Resident Evil Revelaitons (misspelling intentional- if ya know ya know) with dual analog gyro aiming. My first introduction to a proper modern control scheme... and it was on a 3DS lol.

But did you get the fold-out stand to play Kid Icarus Uprising?

@JaxonH : I sure did!

And I got the Revelaitons reference too, though we didn't get that typo in Australia... fortunately (I just checked, and the Australian release used the game's logo as opposed to plain text, which was odd, because we usually get crappy plain text on our game spines in PAL regions).

After I got my Switch, I would often dream of getting a PS5 or Series X...some day.

Then the price of the PS5 Pro dropped...and quickly realized the PS6 will be that or higher.

So that is when I decided I'm just a one-console-under-the-tv kinda guy. And that is a Switch 2. Eventually a Switch 3 or whatever.

I have a budget gaming laptop, but I only get PC-only games for it (mostly strategy games), hoping that anything that comes out on console will eventually come to Switch 2. I guess I could get Sony games on it too, I've never played any of them (yup, even that one, and that one), but I'd much rather game on TV so I haven't bothered.

@SillyG
Respect.

And a salute to our PSP brethren claw gripping MH Freedom Unite. Those guys birthed the hardcore gamer moniker 😀

@MontyCircus
Prices are out of control. I have a PS5 and XSX, but honestly I quit playing them years ago. Don't really care about GTA or Elder Scrolls, and while I was playing them for a time for a number of 3rd party games not on Switch, most of the ones I care about are on Switch 2 now, or announced, or I'm confident will release in due time.

It's easier just having one console, hybrid to cover TV play and handheld play, Nintendo exclusives and 3rd party, classic pro controller or split joycon or gyro or mouse. It's everything I need all packed into one.

@JaxonH
Playing RE: Revelations on the launch 3DS(Not the XL or New XL 3DS, since their larger screens seemed to almost flatten and dumb down the 3D effect, making it far less striking and pronounced, combined with it's softer jaggier visuals due to enlarging the screen with the same default low resolution was a real drag. I quickly bounced back to my original Aqua Blue launch 3DS and instantly let out a sigh of relief as soon as i resaw the same game but with crisper amazing S3D visuals. Still haven't tried out the New 3DS, but it seems like a solid happy medium between the launch & XL models.

But ya, with REV 3DS, playing it in first person mode with the Stereoscopic 3D Slider set to max was definitely the best way to experience that one. Loved it! At least as far as Jill's Scenario/main campaign goes. Funny to think this game was directed by the same dude who helmed RE7 and RE9: Requiem.

Control wise, I didn't like aiming with the 3DS's Gyro only because the handheld's screen moves around in different angles with your own movements obviously, which never felt natural to me and tarnishes the S3D effect since you're constantly shifting out of that tiny 'launch 3DS' sweet spot. Stick aiming surprisingly got the job done, but that's probably because I was just so taken back and enamored with how amazing it was in S3D, that I was willing to make due. It was like peering through a window into a miniature world. Going back to 2D just felt unatural.

That aside, a lof of that inbetween action oriented episodic filler where you had to play as different characters kind of bogged down the experience, including the convoluted plot, and maybe just a few ridiculous characters, with one in particular looking almost indenticle to Conan Obrien and that woman with her hair doo completely shielding her vision. lol Still pretty excellent regardless, for it's time, ON the launch 3DS and probably the none-XL 'New' 3DS. had it not supported S3D I don't think i would of enjoyed it anywhere near as much.

However the NS & PS4 versions of Revelations instantly lose that magic without S3D first person mode. It would of been neat had they included a first person mode with Gyro aiming, using the NS2 Pro Controller, with quality duo gyro slider dials that offered high sensitivity & precision, found in the likes of Power Slave, Quake 1&2, Metroid Prime: Remastered etc), but alas. And if only a VR mode for REV existed on Quest 3, PSVR2 or Steam Machine(SteamVR). Heck, a stand alone Quest 3 could handle the original 3DS version, and at 90fps. But that's only if Meta paid Capcom to do it. You'd reclaim S3D, but in VR, with 2K per eye, with the best in-class motion controls that surpass the Wii remote plus, and with 30 more frames per second than the later console ports.

The only mainline Resident Evil game that I've failed to get into and complete is RE6. Whenever I feel encouranged to play it, thinking "well, maybe this time I'll-' Nope! Never works out for me. it's the one sequeal that needs to be banished from the mainline entries and completely reebooted and revamped into something else entirely by the lead director of RE7 & RE9, imo.

@JaxonH
i remember initially not being a fan of gyro stuff, it didnt help that a lot of my exposure to motion based control at the time was mandatory motion-control segments in games or the waggle/shake stuff on wii , but playing a lot of those nightdive shooter remasters on switch ive been loving the whole dual analog+gyro combo control scheme for those even in handheld.

@Mgalens
A lot of people misjudge gyro at first due to poor implementation of motion gestures which isn't the same thing.

Glad to hear you finally get the appeal. Once it clicks, it clicks, and it's hard to go back to right-analog-only aiming without it.

@WaveBoy
I really did love that 3D effect. Shame we'll never see it again. I wanted Mega Man in 3D. But at least we got Virtual Boy (if you modded the 3DS, anyways).

@JaxonH
there was also some stuff like that ball rolling shrine on BOTW (and similar such things) i feel like the reason why i enjoyed it on things like quake and the like is because it felt like more of an extension of the traditional controls due to being able to use the analogue stick for broad movements combined with the gyro to fine tune it, wheres i find things where it feels like its being used in place of an analog stick i find it feels worse to use (such as the aforementioned zelda shrine)

though i think another big part was more how a lot of motion based controls were done in mandatory segments so back then it was a case of having to use them regardless of whether i found it comfortable or whether i enjoyed it wheres during the examples i mentioned of me enjoying it, during those games it was optional so it was more a case of me being able to figure things out myself and use it because it felt the most natural after experimenting.

ideally for me controls should be something that are largely up to the player even if theres a "recomended" way to play (as in the game designed around a specific control scheme)

@Mgalens
Ya, I agree 100% and am glad to see games like Metroid Prime 4 offer so many various control options, including gyro and mouse, allowing the player to discover what works best for them.

It's even preferable to mouse imo, as a controller is easiest to still use buttons. But I do prefer the NS2 mouse mode far more than KB/M. It's long been my dream to use a mouse with right hand and have a split half-controller in left hand. Even bought niche PC peripherals to do that- a Nunchuk like controller with keyboard keys mapped to various buttons, even a motion gesture shake was mapped to a button! Cause with right hand using mouse, you gotta squeeze what you can on the left controller.

@MontyCircus
Yea, I owned all three consoles for a couple generations, but with prices these days, I’ve been one console and my PC since the Switch launch.

Certainly helps keep things under control, and honestly, I think it helps me just chill and appreciate the games I have.

I do have issues with casuals sometimes, but more because of how their buying preferences affect what kinds of games are developed. Biggest example is the NSMB games selling like hotcakes because of how simplistic and casual friendly they were gave Nintendo license to put out a ton of repetitive, uninspired rehashes during the 3DS/Wii U era and few large, ambitious adventure games. But as long as I can get my games and you can get yours, I don't mind what the casuals do.

This is the first Gen where I own all three systems, but that is only because I bought a V2 Switch outright (with a small discount), got the Series X as a birthday present and got the PS5 slim with disc drive after trading in three Wii U games for a ridiculous discount. The Series X gets the most use, with exclusives on PS and Switch.

As for terms such as ‘casual’ gamer or ‘hardcore’ gamer I am reminded of an old Groucho Marx quip: ‘I don’t want to belong to any club that will have me as a member’😂

I consider myself a casual-core gamer. I don't play competitive multiplayer games. I play games on the lowest difficulty. I play more hours a week than a thoroughly casual video game enjoyer (2 hours a week on average) but fewer than a streamer would (20-40 hours a week on average). A casual gamer might play two or three games a year, where as I play two or three games a week.

I am my own blend of unhinged madness.