Are "hardcore" gamers ruining the industry?

[Rob2600]

First of all, I put "hardcore" in quotes because I know it's a vague term. But I'm using it in this thread to represent gamers who read all the magazines, web sites, and blogs, who also participate on forums, and have large game collections...who are also the type of gamer who complains that the Wii is catering to "casual" gamers and Nintendo can go F itself...etc.

Those things are fine...but then these same "hardcore" gamers refuse to pay full price for anything and look for any way possible to screw over developers.

I'm really tired of the "you better release an AAA game that blows my mind, but I'm going to wait for it to hit the bargain bin before buying it...but hey, I'm a 'core' gamer and I'm the one really supporting this industry, not those part-time 'casual' gamers" entitled mentality.

I think you're overreacting and frankly, if the game is good, it will probably sell well at $15. Having said that, I'm one of those people that waits for games to fall in price before I buy them on modern consoles and with digital stuff especially, I tend to be very cheap. I don't think gamers who share my practices are hurting the industry. The industry is well aware of us and does things like create expensive collector's editions and launch copy DLC or other upgrades. Sometimes that stuff works in getting me to pay full price and sometimes it doesn't. Steam, Microsoft and Sony all do regular digital sales on their respective stores to capture revenue from gamers who share my practices and they seem to be doing pretty well, as do most of the publishers that participate in those sales.

In any event, $15 might be too much for a new video game depending on how extensive the remake is and how good the game is. None of us really know until it's finished. There are lots of great games that launch for $5 or $10 out of the gate, so it's not like price and quality are mutually exclusive.

If people want to wait for games to go on sale, that's fine. The thing I have a problem with is people posturing all over the internet claiming to be "core" gamers or "hardcore" gamers and that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft better cater to them or else they'll go bankrupt...but then those same gamers who call themselves so important to the industry refuse to buy new releases at launch or pay full price for them. They wait for games to go on clearance and then snatch them up for pennies on the dollar.

From a value perspective that's great! And if people want to be cheap and wait for games to hit the clearance rack before buying them, that's fine. But then don't blab all over the internet about how gamers like you are so vital to the industry and if companies stop catering to you, they'll be sorry. Don't blab all over the internet about how "casual" gamers are ruining the industry and if big companies cater to "casuals" they're making a huge financial mistake because the "core" gamers will turn their backs on them.

Guess what? "Core"/"hardcore" gamers have already turned their backs on them years ago by refusing to pay for anything.

And on top of that, "core" gamers keep demanding better and better games. Bigger levels, more detailed graphics, better physics, more varied music, more options, etc. Those gamers want and want and want, but they don't want to pay. So they wait for the AAA title to hit the bargain bin...and then after they finally buy it, they nitpick it to death and badmouth it all over the internet. "The controls are horrible because I have to press A to shoot instead of B." "Some of the textures are blurry." "I saw some clipping on this one part." "The voice acting should've been better." "The single player missions should've been longer."

They think they automatically deserve technologically and artistically advanced games for pennies just because they've been gaming for a couple of decades. They have a false sense of entitlement and are overly cheap and overly negative/nitpicky/snarky.

I think it's ruining the industry. I also think companies are wising up and are catering to that type of gamer less and less. Companies can never win by catering to that type of gamer because that type of gamer is never satisfied. It's a very selfish, immature attitude that is prevalent in gaming.