Categorizing gamers, from hardcore to casual

by Kyle Orland { Aug 30th 2006 at 2:25PM }

It's always been extremely convenient to categorize the wide spectrum of gamers into the two distinct, warring camps of "hardcore" and "casual" (especially for journalists, who love condensing difficult ideas into single words) . But that dichotomy isn't too useful for accurately describing most gamers, who fall somewhere in between the guys from Penny Arcade and your grandpa who played Tetris that one time.

Enter Parks Associates, a market research firm that recently issued a report on online gamers that divides them into six distinct groups based on their time and motivational commitments. Parks' categories include:

"Power gamers" who spend the most money on games.
"Social gamers" who use games mainly to socialize (duh!)
"Leisure gamers" who spend lots of time playing mainly challenging, casual titles.
"Dormant gamers" who like playing games but just don't have the time.
"Incidental gamers" who play games because there's nothing better to do.
"Occasional gamers," who will occasionally play a puzzle, word, or board game.

This division isn't perfect (where's the space for people who buy one game and play it exclusively for months?) but it's definitely an interesting new way to think about and discuss the incredibly wide array of people who play. What kind of gamer are you?

Tags: casual, gamer, hardcore

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

The Intangible Fact @ Aug 30th 2006 2:34PM

Im both a Leisure gamer and a Social gamer.

Dustin @ Aug 30th 2006 2:35PM

(where's the space for people who buy one game and play it exclusively for months?)

"Broke-a%# Power Gamer"

jc @ Aug 30th 2006 2:35PM

I am one who buys one game and plays it exclusively for months...

Does the "Power Gamer" expense cover HDTVs and other media gear, or just games? I shudder at the thought of how much money I have invested in the past 6 months.

Deeznuts420 @ Aug 30th 2006 2:37PM

Dormant Gamer here. If only there were more hours in a day!!!

bolt @ Aug 30th 2006 2:39PM

Power gamer it seems. 3/4 of my monthly wages is spent on games or gaming related items.

mykie @ Aug 30th 2006 2:41PM

What about the people who spend most of their money on mainly challenging, casual titles as well as puzzle, word, or board games, but don't have the time to play them and usually only play them to socialize when there's nothing better to do?

noob @ Aug 30th 2006 2:42PM

where is the hardcore im too 1337 for you gamer?

frickshun @ Aug 30th 2006 2:43PM

OH MY GOD! I never realized it but I'm a "Dormant". I think the Wii might just convince my wife that we need to start playing head to head games again instead of watching bad TV shows @ night.

logikil @ Aug 30th 2006 2:44PM

This is stupid. I'm a gamer, nuff said.

OtakuCODE @ Aug 30th 2006 2:45PM

I'd say I'm an aspiring power gamer. Lots of money to spend, and I spend it on games when the games industry decides they'll actually put out something worth purchasing. I'm desperate to be showered with fantastic games, but my tastes and those which they (errantly) believe as the only profitable ones do not intersect. When I do find a fantastic game, it's usually panned by the incompetent reviewers. Rarely, however, a game shines through and wins widescale acclaim... those are fun.

For the next however-long-it-takes I get to immerse myself in Xenosaga 3, one of the warmest and most loving embraces gaming can bring to its fans. And it's only $40 because the game companies realize nobody will buy it! Still the best game released this year thus far, and will reign over the whole year as far as I can tell. Is there another scheduled scifi RPG I don't know about? Or maybe someone has finally taken up the challenge to create a console roguelike game with all the variety and possibility of Angband on the PC? No? OK, I'll keep making due with what scraps I can manage to gather together... keep on making utter crap like Madden, you game companies, and I'll keep just wishing I could give you my cash for a good game.

djpuddle @ Aug 30th 2006 2:46PM

Wow, that's pretty lame. By that article there one can be both a Occasional Gamer and a Power gamer. As the Definition of "Power Gamer" seems to be someone who spends alot of money on games, not someone who plays alot of games.

I consider myself to be a HardCore gamer. I may not spend a ton of cash on games, but I frequently sink anywhere from 6-12 hours of gaming in a day, depending on what I'm doing. (work, school, hanging out with friends)

I don't really fall into any of those categories. What constitutes a "Casual Title"? I don't think I play any of those.

On average I buy about 1 game a week, not always a new game, but I play like mad. I have, easily, over 100 games for My Atari 2600, Genesis, SNES, N64, PS2, Gamecube, GameBoy, Gameboy Advance, Game Gear.

Hmm, that's not really all that much. I'm mainly a PC gamer I think. I've probably got about 100 of those alone.

Eh, whatever. Still interesting to read.

T-Bag @ Aug 30th 2006 2:48PM

Power gamer here even though I rarely buy games. Not because I don't want to, mind you, it's just that I don't have the money to buy em.

OtakuCODE @ Aug 30th 2006 2:50PM

Shouldn't there be a separate category just for Counter Strike 1.6 players? The pathetic sub-humans who drag themselves around day to day assuring one another that they really are gamers and not just sad examples of stunted development in the gaming world? They're victims of brain damage, unable to form new memories, so they keep reliving the old as if it's brand new and just happening to them.

New games come and go, and it passes them by as they keep playing (well, cheating at) the same game they've been immersing themselves (what little there is) in for over a decade. Sores form as they forget to move from their fetid chair, surrounded by a growing mound of burger wrappers, pizza boxes, and other detritus.

Someone call Susanna Suthers, I think we have her next charity.

PodMonkeys @ Aug 30th 2006 2:51PM

Having studied Sociology, there are the definitions we give others, and the definitions others give us. If you delve into perception, thers our perception of ourself, the other's perception of us, and our perceptin of their perception of ourself.

I personally don't like the definitions. They're too confining. Such as "Dormant gamers love gaming but spend little time because of family, work, or school. They like to play with friends and family and prefer complex and challenging games." What if you don't have the time to play, but you really could care less about playing games with friends and family and happen to prefer to play simple games?

"Leisure gamers spend 58 hours per month playing games but mainly on casual titles. Nevertheless they prefer challenging titles and show high interest in new gaming services." What if you do spend 58 hours per month playing casual titles, but only the one set of casual titles, and could care less about new gaming services?

urm... I fit several of those categories, and don't think I can pick just one. I'm going to go with dormant-social-power-leisure gamer.

Liquid Sky @ Aug 30th 2006 2:51PM

I guess I'm a Dormant Power gamer with Leisurely Social underpinnings. logikil is right.

Agent MOO @ Aug 30th 2006 2:55PM

I'd be a Leisure gamer by the frequency/spending definition. I play through about 2-3 XBOX360 games per month, but just spend the $24 per month on them rather than the 100-180 for their retail price.

http://agentmoo.com

Z @ Aug 30th 2006 2:57PM

Winning Eleven Player.

jc @ Aug 30th 2006 3:02PM

"Someone call Susanna Suthers, I think we have her next charity"

Close dude, but I think you meant Sally Struhers...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Struthers

AlphaCrush @ Aug 30th 2006 3:05PM

They need a Counter-Strike Gamer category for the crowds of people who have been playing the same game every night for 7 years.

socrates @ Aug 30th 2006 3:26PM

"I think the Wii might just convince my wife that we need to start playing head to head games again instead of watching bad TV shows @ night."

I think that's wishful thinking =) Do you think that video games are really going to replace the chiseled, bad acting hunks on Lost, etc.? Not in the minds of most women!

BklynKid @ Aug 30th 2006 3:33PM

Yea I buy a game here and there and just play them to death.

que @ Aug 30th 2006 3:35PM

definitely dormant. who has the time?

32_Footsteps @ Aug 30th 2006 3:42PM

For those who are upset at the divisions...

Seriously, look at this closely - it's from a marketing firm. This isn't to depict the different types of gamers out there. This is just different groups and how they spend their money. If we want a real division of types of gamers based on what they play and how, we need to do it ourselves, so that it's a study in sociology, not economics.

Pal @ Aug 30th 2006 3:44PM

I am, sadly, a Dormant Gamer. I waste my time on the internet reading about games and don't play them. It's a shame, really.

Greenspin @ Aug 30th 2006 4:10PM

Unforunately for my wife, I'm a Power Gamer. I usually pick up anywhere from 3-5 games per month and play them as quickly as possible to make the quota for the next month. It's getting impossible to keep up anymore - seriously. Take a look at the amount of releases any given week (although most are terrible). Imagine they did this with movies?!

All Your Lost Socks @ Aug 30th 2006 4:49PM

(where's the space for people who buy one game and play it exclusively for months?)

"Broke-a%# Power Gamer"

-- My boyfriend, actually. XD But I prefer the term "singularly obsessive compulsive." ;P

"What about the people who spend most of their money on mainly challenging, casual titles as well as puzzle, word, or board games, but don't have the time to play them and usually only play them to socialize when there's nothing better to do?"

-- XD Brilliant.

-- The way I see it, it's a marketing firm thing. They need categories in order to see things, or they lose track of trends and it all blurs together. It's kind of like some people having to keep their socks paired and their underwear folded, except it's as necessary to their profession as wearing glasses is to my eyesight. (Very.)

-- I have always hated classifying myself, though.

"I think that's wishful thinking =) Do you think that video games are really going to replace the chiseled, bad acting hunks on Lost, etc.? Not in the minds of most women!"

-- I resent that. A LOT.

Xbudz @ Aug 30th 2006 4:57PM

Welfare Gamer... still paying off my Xbox 360.. LOL

crono141 @ Aug 30th 2006 5:07PM

I'm definitely a dormant gamer.

I love playing games, but I just don't have the time anymore.

Ndric @ Aug 30th 2006 5:20PM

The best label that would fit me is an occasional gamer. The last game that I bought was over 2 months ago and that wasn't even for me, it was a gift for a relative.

Mr. Khan @ Aug 30th 2006 5:41PM

I'd fall into power and leisure
Power because i have a completely seperate bank account for Game Purchases, and have been known to go to the ends of the earth to find peripherals (damn you Nintendo and your Component Video Cable) But I only play 1-2 hours a day, except holidays or launch days

Pince @ Aug 30th 2006 5:53PM

How much does the average joystiqer spend on games...that is, what does it mean to be a power gamer in this community. Most of the money I do spend goes towards games, but I am a big saver and I usually buy games when they are greatest hits or used, so they are cheaper.

And what the heck is a "casual" title. I don't understand the difference between a casual and a non-casual game.

Just looking at it, it looks like I'm a social gamer (Halo and Smash Bros.) and a leisure gamer (Everything else)...but I'd think most people have a bit of both in them anyways.

The categories dont seem very good. They arent fleshed out very well and leave way too much room for interpretation.

SaraAB87 @ Aug 30th 2006 7:49PM

I am the person who waits until at least halfway through a console's lifecycle (and the first pricedrop) to purchase the console if i even purchase a new console at all. I am also known to wait a very long time till i get what i want so a price drop is not necessarily the deciding factor in buying a console for me. The female in me has me waiting and waiting and waiting till a console comes in my desired color (ds lite black) so i am usually very satisfied with what i buy when i do buy new products. Color is everything with me, if i cant have a color that i like then i am much less likely to purchase the system.

My preferred method of shopping for games is clearance sales or yard sales, the aformentioned being extremely important as i have assembled practically an entire game collection of all the main systems from yard sales alone.

Clearance sales and price drops on games are very important and are things that i thrive off of, i also enjoy the occasional trading of games for other games of the same value, i love when 50$ games drop to 10$, this way i can have more games. I rarely find a game that is worth paying full price for (50$). Handheld games are more reasonable if its something i really want or a game that i know will be hard to find like an atlus game, i have no problem forking over the 29.99 for the game. This results in me having more games than i can actually play at a time, thus making me more of a game collector than a game player. I enjoy the collecting aspect of games much more than the actual playing of them, although i do enjoy the playing of them of course!

Rizzo @ Aug 30th 2006 8:15PM

#25 - You need to look a little closer - its actually a market research firm, much different from a marketing firm.

I actually work for a market research firm, so I have to question the methodology of this study. 2,000 people is way too small a sample for the kinds of conclusions they're making.

J B Cougar @ Aug 30th 2006 8:22PM

Cool. So do we gamers get a rating/categorical system for the analysts? How about this for starters:

Brain dead: Predicting system success three months before a system is launched.

Paid shill: Any analyst or employee who has been paid by vendor to infiltrate blogger comment boards as part of a viral campaign

Uninformed baffoon: Analysts who attempt to use old buzzwords to appear cool and "with it" but tend to end up being neither

Transplant victim: An analyst who has been moved by his employer from covering the stock market to covering Xbox 360 games.

Tom @ Aug 30th 2006 9:52PM

I'd like to add 3 more categroeises...

"Poser Gamer" -- someone who buys all the latest and greatest game just to show off, but doesn't necessarily play them.

"Graphics Whore" -- a person who thinks a game should be more like a movie, plays for the 1st two hours, then moves on to something else.

"Self Abuse Gamer" -- this type of gamer has an unhealthy addiction to online games. They feel no sense of accomplishment on the rare occasion their gaming session is successful, but instead relentlessly punish themselves for hours on end.

Ha_Ze @ Aug 30th 2006 10:32PM

Well, aside from a new knife, guitar lessons, and candy, pretty much all the money that I spend this year will go to games.

I spend a lot of time on a gaming message board (PotD on GFAQ's).

I always play games on hardest level.

I have the time to play games, though to cover the "Like to pay" I do like to play, as it's one of my few hobbies, but...I'd rather be having sex(:P), or doing archery.

I also play games because there's nothing better to do, though if there was, I'd still spend a good amount of time on them, but maybe with friends instead of...alone.

I do like board games (on actualy boards, not in video games) and I have an addiction to Tetris DS Wi-Fi.

So I fit all the categories, with the exception of dormant gamer.

Pince @ Aug 30th 2006 10:39PM

@33
Brilliance. Pure brilliance.

Myles @ Aug 31st 2006 1:10AM

Ahh, so now the sterotype of "Gamer" has "sub-sterotypes".

Great.

samfish @ Aug 31st 2006 3:18AM

Dormant/Leisure gamer, here.

I think there should be a category for...uh...former/retro gamers, though. I used to play a lot more games than I do today. Something about the last/current generation, with a few notable exceptions, just killed my major desire to play games. Everything kinda felt the same.
...although I've seen a few good titles on the 360 lately that have me kinda interested again.

That's why I'm really excited for the Wii, though. Retro games via VC *AND* it looks to offer some real innovation.

Mole @ Aug 31st 2006 8:42AM

I... think I'm a Dormant gamer. I've got the time, just not the funds.

PhrawzT @ Aug 31st 2006 10:55AM

Dormant Power Gamer. I have a massive collection of consoles and games and little time to play. Damn my job.

John Lucas @ Sep 1st 2006 7:50AM

Labels are important and yet they're not important.

I would qualify myself as an 'Open-Minded Gamer'.
I'm always looking for new experiences to add onto the ones I'm familiar with from times past.
Better yet call me the "Experience Gamer".

In the NES days I didn't like RPG's. Partially because of age (12-14) & partially because of the level of technology back then I just didn't have much use for those type of games. Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest) confused me with that sudden jump into a fight when I saw no enemy on screen. And the background looked so plain & cookie cutter (the field).
I was used to platformers, action/adventure games, shooting games, beat-em-ups.

It wasn't until the 16-bit days that I grew an appreciation for RPG's. With Final Fantasy III (FF6), Final Fantasy II (FF4), the Lufias, Robotrek, Breath of Fire I & II, Illusion of Gaia, and those various games from Enix like Brainlord, Super Mario RPG, NOT TO MENTION the immortal Chrono Trigger it was inevitable that I would awaken to the rich experience of this type of gaming.
Maybe it was because the better tech allowed for more engrossing dialogue & the effects of the spells & the overgrown bosses that I was pulled into appreciating this genre.

I also fell in love with strategy games like the classics from Koei such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Sim City SNES & 2000, & Populous.

My maturity may have had something to do with this along with the advanced tech but who knows & who cares. In my later teens I started realizing just how rich gaming was & started absorbing as many different experiences I could without prejudice.
I STILL liked the kind of games I liked before but now I wasn't simply limited to just them.

Mario Paint, Out Of This World & Flashback, Shadowrun & Syndicate, Uniracers, Tetris Attack, Tetrisphere, Mystical Ninja featuring Goemon, the Mario Party series, the Mario Sports series (and i tend to play sports titles the least outside of the "sport" of wrestling) Hybrid Heaven, Fighter's Destiny, Goldeneye & Perfect Dark, Rainbow Six, Mischief Makers, Animal Crossing, Pikmin 1 & 2, Luigi's Mansion & Resident Evil, Guitar Hero, Custom Robo, Wario Ware Twisted, Advance Wars I & II, Viewtiful Joe & so many more that I haven't gotten around to owning yet but will such as the Worms games, Donkey Konga series, Super Monkey Ball, Lego Star Wars, Harvest Moon & Earthbound. Admirable games like the Typing of the Dead & even Project Seaman. Shenmue. Crazy Taxi. Space Channel 5. Dance Dance Revolution. Elder Scrolls. Phoenix Wright. Even the original Grand Theft Auto.

I haven't hardly experienced a DS firsthand but I found myself playing the demo of Big Brain Academy in a Wal-Mart the other day & loving it.
I WILL be getting a DS before the year's out & I can finally pick up on all these games I keep hearing good things about. Might even pick up a Nintendogs!

So I'm all about fresh experiences to add on to my accumulated ball of familiar experiences. I like my familiar (as long as they keep it interesting that is) but always want to see something new & never done before. Sort of like Outkast. LOL...

Hm. Come to think of it maybe I'm just the EXPERIENCED Gamer.
John Lucas

Zachary Hinchliffe @ Sep 5th 2006 11:57PM

Power gamer ftw

Erik @ Sep 14th 2006 6:01PM

@5

Um, at least half of my pay goes to rent, food, and utilities.

...wait, how long can I have been moved out from my parents' place before I can't move back? I could afford a PS3 if I didn't have to pay these "taxes" and "electricity bills"! What good are those anyway?

I'm sad now.