Are "hardcore" gamers ruining the industry?

[The 1 2 P]

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.



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.

So if I'm reading this correctly you don't actually have a problem with gamers being cheap and waiting for price cuts, sales or titles to hit bargain bins.....as long as they don't talk about it or complain about the companies. Or something like that. But the thing is, as long as people are spending money on a product they are entitled to have an opinion on that product, rather they bought it for $60 or $6. And as you already know, the majority of them enjoy sharing that opinion.

I don't think any one segment of the industry is ruining gaming. I think it's a combination of many things thats causes people to have a negative attitude towards the future of the industry. As for $15 games being too expensive, sometimes they are. Even $10 games could be considered too much. I really liked the X-Men Arcade dlc game but it lasted around 30 minutes or less to beat the whole thing and that is not worth $10-$15 to me(which is why I waited for it to go on sale). I did buy Alan Wake: American Nightmare for the full $15 because that title was worth that price to me and I also wanted to support Remedy. But every game for me(and probably most people) will be a case by case basis for what I feel is worth $5, $10, $15 or $60. It's my money so me and only me will decide rather it's worth it to spend it on any given game/product.