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[Mengy]

So what exactly does the term "casual" mean when it comes to gaming? My friend called me a "casual" gamer after he learned I stick to genres like Shooters, Action, Adventure, Horror etc. and I'm having trouble figuring out what a "casual" means.

The term casual gamer means different things to different people. Just a few definitions include:

- someone who plays less games than me
- someone who only plays a few types of games
- someone who only plays games on one platform
- someone who dabbles in playing various games but never takes them seriously, or never even finishes a game
- someone who doesn't raid or PvP in MMO types of games but just solo quests and putts around

It's really just a generic term that when you read between the lines means "someone who is less of a gamer than I am".

 

[Alcoholikaust]

people who buy or play games and dont frequent the GAF

 

[HyperBitHero]

Someone who casually plays video games.

Not that hard.

 

[CadetMahoney]

likes games that play themselves

dat first post.

 

[GYNGA]

People who are not GAFfers

 

[Symax]

core gamer = gaming side
casual gamer = off-topic

 

[popeutlal]

Me, I mostly play COD games. With a sprinkling of Mario Kart here and there.

I find most indie games terrible.
I have no interest in GTA games, I did like Lego GTA on Wii U though.
I play games on easy or normal difficulty.

 

[a.wd]

For me it means that you buy consoles based on general hype rather than an understanding of what is actually coming for the platform, I am a little guilty of it this gen, but I am fixing that by buying kickass games...

 

[Xenon]

core gamer = gaming side
jaded gamer = off-topic

fixed

 

[Haunted]

Here's a helpful tip: if you don't have a job in the industry and are posting on NeoGAF, chances are you're not just playing games casually, but approach the subject with some earnestness, interest and enthusiasm that goes beyond that of other people.


OP's friends (mis)usage of the word can be considered a secondary function, classifying players on a slider of casual to hardcore, but usually happy to just put someone down as less hardcore (i.e. "what you haven't done ____ in game ____? You're a casual").

 

[RyanPierre]

You have never been up for a midnight release!!

I kinda like this one.

 

[M°°nblade]

casual gamer = a gamer who doesn't call or consider himself a gamer

 

[Melfice7]

Someone who casually plays video games.

Not that hard.

Yep i dont get the mystification of the term, its as if people feel threaten by it or something

You play games casually, you're a casual! You have gaming as an hobby and play alot, you're not a casual!

 

[Seanspeed]

People who game but dont consider themselves gaming enthusiasts.

Just like anything else. Quite simple really.

 

[QuickSilverD]

Why so much contempt?

Casual Gamers are a thing, and they are most simply defined as those gamers who are not Hardcore gamers.

Now think about what makes a hardcore gamer, spending much time playing/talking about games, probably plays a lot games, plays competitively, is knowledgeable about the industry, cares about the industry, probably enjoys talking about games in online forums, etc. a casual gamer would lack most if not all of those characteristics

People who are not GAFfers

I would agree with this, considering that it takes a non-insignificant effort to join NeoGAF, I cannot see anyone that's only casually interested in gaming to join up.

Casual gamer = gamer who plays games that I don't like

Its origins are from marketing teams. You know, the same people that have no problem calling their biggest fans "whales"

Whales are not called whales cause they are the biggest fans, but rather the ones willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars in a single app

 

[-Horizon-]

I'm pretty sure I'm a casual gamer at this point :T

 

[DragonSworne]

people who buy or play games and dont frequent the GAF

Funny, I would define a casual gamer as someone who spends more time posting on GAF than playing games.

 

[Icefire1424]

A casual gamer is what happens to a hardcore gamer after he/she has a kid. Unless he/she is a horrible parent.

At least that's what it felt like after my kiddo got here. Soon enough though, said kid will make an excellent excuse for me to buy Nintendo games again.

 

[FriedConsole]

Casuals are people who spend more time playing games than complaining about them on the Internet.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

People who play games, but it isn't their top hobby and they aren't spending much time on it relative to people more seriously into games. I.e. rarely more than 5 hours a week, and lots of weeks with no gaming.

And I'm meaning only people playing pc/console//portable games. Mobile only gamers are hard to classify. What do you call someone that spends 20 hours a week on Candy Crush and Angry Birds?. Beats me.

 

[Weetrick]

For me it's not so much about the type of games people play. I think casual gamers are people that enjoy video games, but don't follow the industry. They don't know about industry news, game developers or release schedules.

Casuals are people who spend more time playing games than complaining about them on the Internet.

EDIT: This is my second favorite answer.

 

[jimi_dini]

leveling up dexterity

 

[silvermember]

Casual Gamer = you like what I don't like

First post wins.

A casual player is anyone who doesn't fit the mold of certain players, the so call leet.

The next time he calls you a casual look him in the eye and say, "so what" or "your point being?" That will shut him up for good.

People like drawing lines, personally your friend might just be insecure like the lot of them.

 

[shandy706]

People that play Souls games.

Always dying.

Hardcore gamers don't die.

 

[Majukun]

back in the late nineties it was used to indicate someone who played videogames but that wasn't their main hobby..thus they were usually misinformed and were easily attracted by commercials and or what other people said it was "cool" at the time.
They were also usually more attracted by graphically impressive titles,that was probably one of the reasons why on the back of playstation titles more often than not there were screeshots of CG videos instead of actual gameplay.
Then time passed,the videogame industry expanded, and those "casual gamers" became the majority,until at the beginning of the 360/ps3 era they began calling themselves "hardcore gamers" and began calling "casual gamers" those who barely even played a videogame and limit themselves to really basic games,basically whose that were called simply "non gamers"

of course since you will never find those words on the dictionary,what someone means with those words may vary

 

[FeD.nL]

Just a marketing term used by companies to sell a game, feature or game mode to a particular audience.

 

[BumblebeeCody]

Your gran.

First post wins.

A casual player is anyone who doesn't fit the mold of certain players, the so call leet.

The next time he calls you a casual look him in the eye and say, "so what" or "your point being?" That will shut him up for good.

People like drawing lines, personally your friend might just be insecure like the lot of them.

So...wankers?

 

[FrontalMonk]

My personal thought on "casual" gamers is basically anyone who doesn't make it part of their cultural identity. A "hardcore" gamer is someone who identifies themselves as "one who games" as a central part of who they are as a person.

In broader terms I tend to categorize people who only play Madden or COD as casuals, even if they play them a lot. I know a guy who only plays CoD, but buys it every year and maxes out his prestiege every time. That guy is not really a casual gamer, but if you asked him about just about any other game in existence, he'd be clueless.

I've redacted my thought process on mobile games, entirely, though. There's a lot more meat on those bones than there were 5 years ago.

 

[Illucio]

- A Casual gamer is someone who plays game on occasion and that they wouldn't consider Gaming a hobby.

- They don't spend extra funds for their habit because they already have means to gaming (Smart Phones, Computers, buying a Xbox for their kids.)
*This excludes gamers who purposely go out their way to get games for free through giveaways, gifts, and or through work. The gamers would be expressing attitude to wanting more games to fund their hobby.

- A casual gamer is someone who doesn't consider themselves a gamer in any form, but only play on occasion for short term amusement.

- A casual gamer is only a gamer when they or someone else or the person in question, considers that person a gamer, and agrees that their habit of game playing is more passionate then casually playing. (So people looks at a random person who doesn't play
nothing but DDR everyday and mastered the game, or simply plays it out of repetition making it considered a hobby. Or a Mom identifying her son or daughter for being a gamer because they find their playing more passionate and more of a hobby for them.)
*If an outside party cannot agree on whether someone is a gamer because they don't agree they fit one of the other statements above, that person is not a gamer. (AKA Gamer Girls, people who say they are gamers to feel included or to spark human interest from other people.)

My Grandpa is a gamer because he regularly plays video games as a hobby and considers himself a gamer. (He's huge COD player, and goes on this one site to play a bunch of games.) He goes out of his way to buy an Xbox 360, he plays because he enjoys it and can proudly say he enjoys playing video games.

 

[nkarafo]

Someone who doesn't want to spent too much time, energy and brain matter when playing games. Usually gamers with a short attention span or inexperienced gamers who prefer games with lots of hand holding or just pretty pictures.

 

[DistortionOfReality]

I means very little. A lot of these descriptions apply, but then a lot of them don't.

From a pure marketing standpoint though, I guess someone who only dips into Candy Crush Saga etc now and again would be considered part of the 'casual gamer' demographic.

When used as an 'insult' it means precisely zip. Just about you enjoying something the other person doesn't.

 

[IAmRandom31]

Casual = relaxed and unconcerned; a person who does something irregularly.

Gamer = someone who plays videogames

So I guess it is someone who is laid back about gaming, doesn't really do it much until that one game hits like Madden or Call of Duty or Halo. I knew people like this even back when I was a kid. They would only ever have Tecmo Bowl or Madden games or Joe Montana. Who only played Doom or Quake or Unreal Tournament. Anytime they came over and saw me playing something weird like Final Fantasy, they kind of chuckled and said it looked boring.

Thats what I think of with " casual gamer ". Someone who just plays a couple of games that are right in their wheelhouse.

 

[kamandi]

Someone who doesnt stick around NeoGaf. Someone who vaguely heard polygon, eurogamer etc. Someone who doesnt know bloodborne will come out, or dont even know such a game exist.

 

[small44]

For me it's someone who don't take gaming seriously it play sometimes not regularly.

 

[QuickSilverD]

In broader terms I tend to categorize people who only play Madden or COD as casuals, even if they play them a lot. I know a guy who only plays CoD, but buys it every year and maxes out his prestiege every time. That guy is not really a casual gamer, but if you asked him about just about any other game in existence, he'd be clueless.

Don't we call these kind of people dudebros or something like that? or are we not using such terms anymore?

 

[Alric]

You are either a 'casual' or a 'hardcore' game player.

Despite the fact I've played and collected games for the past twenty years, I'd consider myself more 'casual' than 'hardcore'.

To break it down, you are either IN IT TO WIN IT 100% everything trophy hunter with 20 hours a week online multiplayer max difficulty etc 'hardcore' or I just want to play for an hour or so and I don't really want to do everything the game allows but just have fun 'casual' gamer.

This, I own around a thousand games over numerous systems but I'd say I'm casual. Now 30, I play a few hours here or there and never competitive but for fun. Let kids get all uppity about "filthy casual".

 

[EloKa]

from my point of view:

hardcore gamer plays in a competitive way like maxing his own skill, either by trying to win as many games as possible vs real enemies or trying to achieve everything in a game

casual gamer plays for fun only

 

[Mathaou]

You usually get called that when you say you only play games everyone else plays like Call of Duty. It's like someone telling you you only listen to pop music

I agree with this.

 

[FrontalMonk]

Don't we call these kind of people dudebros or something like that? or are we not using such terms anymore?

Yeah, he's a dudebro. But if we're getting into categorization, I'd call dudebro a subset of casual. The dudebro would be fully encapsulated by casual in a venn diagram.

 

[IcyEyes]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamer#Casual_gamer

This will help you ... I think.

 

[mrlion]

Well if VGHS is any indication, a casual gamer is someone that plays farmville in a basement with old computers and dressed in rags.

Actually I think that was a pretty extreme depiction of casual gamers, VGHS season 3 is looking to be a pretty dark one.

 

[rogue74]

I have a hardcore interest in games but can only spend "casual" gamer time on them. What does that make me?

 

[FriedConsole]

I have a hardcore interest in games but can only spend "casual" gamer time on them. What does that make me?

GAFer

 

[Jams775]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamer#Casual_gamer

This will help you ... I think.

I think that's a pretty good summary that probably better than my categories for people who play games. Casual and Enthusiast.

People who game but dont consider themselves gaming enthusiasts.

Just like anything else. Quite simple really.

Yeah kind of like this. But I guess then where do you put somebody that only plays 16-bit games and has a huge wealth of knowledge but only extends to 90's 16-bit? I guess I would call that a retro games enthusiast.

 

[Alric]

Maybe i'm Casually Hardcore or a Hardcore Casual. For example I'm currently playing "Shining Force, Valkyria Chronicles 3, Jeanne d'arc, Diablo 3, Destiny, Myth the fallen Lords, Dungeon Siege 2, Baten Kaitos" over a few different systems but I still consider myself not playing Hardcore. I just intermittently take turns playing the games when I feel like it but I usually play a few hours a day at least.

 

[silvermember]

I have a hardcore interest in games but can only spend "casual" gamer time on them. What does that make me?

Someone who has shit to do.

I am the same as you, I have a lot of free time to post on GAF new to work, but I don't actually play that many games.

 

[Dr. Kaos]

Anyone who spends more time playing games than reading forums like this one is a filthy, filthy casual.

 

[rogue74]

Someone who has shit to do.

I am the same as you, I have a lot of free time to post on GAF new to work, but I don't actually play that many games.

I have a huge backlog. I just started playing Alan Wake on PC. I looked up the OT from a few years back to see what the initial reaction was on GAF. As usual there were people within a day saying they had beaten the game.

I always thought there might be something wrong with me. How do fuck do people do that? Even for short games I can't imagine just going straight through.

 

[Bacon]

Anyone that wears cargo shorts

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Someone who does it to enjoy themselves in the meantime. The games they play can be anything.