The modern era of gaming has created an interesting paradigm shift, a seeming divide between the hardcore and casual gamer demographics.  The obvious source for this division has fallen primarily on the shoulders of Nintendo, whose focus on casual business practices have left the company with an image that they no longer speak to the hardcore gamer.  However, what exactly are hardcore and casual games, and why is it that the term casual is often met with such derision from the gaming community?  Why can't Grandma get in on the fun?

     As in other forms of media (e.g., literature, film), exploring demographics and the genres they follow is a complex question.  Within gaming, labeling a genre to a game can be a tricky proposition.  In general, gamers identify game genres based primarily on gameplay, although gameplay is not necessarily indicative of genre.  This is because there are hierarchical genre structures within gaming culture.  At the root of this hierarchy are the basic descriptors we apply to other outlets of entertainment: Action, Adventure, Horror, Suspense, Music, Fantasy, etc.  Secondary descriptors in the hierarchy scheme often follow mechanics implicit to the gameplay, such as first person shooter, role playing game, platformer, rhythm, fighter, etc.  Under these hierarchical genre schemes, it is possible to generally identify and qualify a games experience, and it is important to note that while gameplay mechanics may be similar, the primary genres may be different.

     Where does this leave the terminology hardcore and casual in regards to qualifying games?  Certainly the terms do not apply to any one genre, or any one gameplay mechanic.  It is common in the gaming community to refer to games with simplified gameplay mechanics as casual, especially if previous iterations of the same franchise had relatively more complicated mechanics.  However, labeling contemporary games as casual based solely on simple gameplay is positively misleading, and ignores the broader history of videogames in general.  Contra would never be categorized as a casual game, even though its gameplay mechanics are incredibly simple by modern shooter standards.  Would Pac-Man be considered casual?  In regards to Nintendo, most in the gaming community seem to regard Mario as a hardcore Nintendo franchise, yet its gameplay is remarkably simple, which has certainly played a role in its broad appeal.  Likewise with the recently updated Punch-Out franchise, that is believed by many to be a return to the core.

     The real answer lies not with the complexity of gameplay, or the difficulty of the game, but with the demographic targeted.  In other words, the labels hardcore and casual have less to do with the actual games themselves, than who those games are being marketed and sold to.  Videogames, as a major form of media entertainment and expression, are still in their early days, and as such the targeted demographics have remained relatively narrow.  Generally, the targeted age group had initially skewed young, and has grown with the medium overall.  However, over the last two decades it would be hard to argue that many companies have tried to break out of the narrow demographic the medium seemed content with. Casual games are games that seek to expand the demographic beyond the previous range, delivering content that appeals to demographics outside the norm that the gaming community has grown accustomed.  Hardcore in this case, or just core, refers to games that continue to market themselves to demographics within the previously targeted groups.  The reason Super Mario is a core game, is because while it has broad appeal, that appeal was/is contained within a relatively narrow range of demographics that have been targeted for decades.  This contrasts with games such as Wii Sports, Wii fit, or EA Active, which aim for members of the traditional gaming community less directly in an effort to expand demographics to people who have never touched a controller in their lives (i.e., your Grandmother).

     You do not have to be an economist to understand that the expansion of the mediums demographics is good for the industry.  After all, videogame companies are businesses, and more money translates to more games (hopefully good ones).  But the current machinations of the industry and the expansion of demographics have caused the gaming community itself to currently undergo some growing pains, of which gaming journalism has certainly played its part.  The large majority of game journalists undoubtedly stem from the core demographic that helped make the industry what it is today, and since casual games have proven very successful, their proliferation in the market has begun.  This has not been met well in the gaming community, where defining a game as casual is often, but not always, akin to ostracizing it, at best viewed as watered down experiences, and at worst, harbingers of the end of the medium as the core knows it.

     As gamers, one of the fundamental questions we have to ask is, are we mutually exclusive demographics?  While casual games and media that take blue ocean approaches have proven financially successful, it is unlikely that the proliferation of casual games will spell the end of core games.  Other creative mediums are more than capable of supplying content to a variety of demographics, so long as there is a demand for the material.  A common fear though, is that the approaches and design philosophies of casual games will make their way into more core games in an effort to pull the demographics closer together.  Think of it as a gateway for Grandma to play Gears.  Certainly this may be an approach that is taken down the road by some companies, but that doesn't necessarily spell the end of core gaming. 

     In the end, it is unlikely that companies such as Nintendo are going to turn their backs on the gamers that made them successful in the first place, expanding demographics doesn't mean core games will be replaced.  As long as companies are aware that a desire exists for a traditional experience, core gamers should not fear the future onslaught of casual games. After all, the market is currently saturated with first and third person shooters (as it was with fighters a decade ago), but that does not mean other genres are being scrapped.  As always, the best way to vote as a consumer is with your wallets, and there are numerous ways for gamers to express their interests (this website being one of them!).  If you value traditional core games, from all genres, the best way to make yourself heard is to support the games and genres you love.  I think we can agree that there are ways of doing this that can be welcoming to all the new folk who have found their way to the hobbies and interests we have been passionate about for years.  After all, some of these people may soon find themselves casually hardcore.