Are you a mid-core gamer?
by Scott Jon Siegel 
{ Feb 6th 2008 at 9:00AM }
What does your new-found identity mean? According to 8-Bit Rocket, it means you're the type of gamer who doesn't want to buy a new computer every time a new game comes out. You might love MMOs, but you don't have the time (or patience) for eight-hour quests. You might own the latest consoles, but you might not finish every single game you buy. 8-Bit Rocket also suggests that mid-core gamers are generally of the older generations, but we firmly believe that young people can be mid-core as well.
So, are you mid-core, or not? Declare yourself in the comments.
[Via GameSetWatch]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Jerk Face @ Feb 6th 2008 9:04AM
Yeah. That's about right. I'm young, though.
Grog @ Feb 6th 2008 9:30AM
Same here. I've owned one console the past couple generations. I buy 3-4 games a year. I frequently don't finish the single player games and I mostly look for multiplayer games I can play with my wife or friends. I visit this site (and a couple others) for video games news, but more because I consider that a fun break than because the news matters to me.
Sure, I'd like to own and play more games, but I'm a married 25 year old medical student and I'm quite happy with my life without more brain-rotting. =)
Co @ Feb 6th 2008 9:33AM
I wouldn't go as far as saying video-game playing is "brain rotting".....
DEEZNUTZ @ Feb 6th 2008 10:06AM
Yup, mid-core fo' sho.
Zoesch @ Feb 6th 2008 10:21AM
Can we call you Dr. Jerk Face from now on?
Jerk Face @ Feb 6th 2008 10:24AM
Yes.
Dr. Jerk Face @ Feb 6th 2008 10:28AM
I actually just finished medical school. It was pretty awesome.
CM @ Feb 6th 2008 3:25PM
Not exactly "young" then.
Dr. Jerk Face @ Feb 6th 2008 3:29PM
Dude, I was totally kidding. And for the record, I'm 25.
rivaldi22 @ Feb 6th 2008 9:04AM
Mid-hard-core, here, fading slowly into mid-core territory as I get older, due to time and money constraints.
Zorink @ Feb 6th 2008 9:59AM
I blame college.
JerJer @ Feb 6th 2008 11:18AM
college is how i went from casual to mid-core...
rivaldi22 @ Feb 6th 2008 11:57AM
College, girlfriend, and money are the main things that lessened my game life.
DCBlack @ Feb 6th 2008 12:49PM
I'm with you there, but I've already gone far enough to defy my parents assurance from when I was 8 that I would "someday grow out of playing video games." I know I will always look forward to the next console/game/etc, even if I can't afford it. But yeah, I wouldn't consider myself older either, at 23.
Daniel @ Feb 6th 2008 9:05AM
I'm definitely mid-core. I'm the kind of gamer who always keeps up with the latest news, but doesn't buy that many games. As with your articles definition, I actually rarely fully complete (or with some, complete at all) games. I play WoW, but as soon as an instance hits the 2-hour mark I start to get bored.
But although you say mid-core gamers are mostly older, I'd disagree fully. I'm only 16, yet I feel that I fit every category you give.
ish @ Feb 6th 2008 9:07AM
im 24, and i consider myself a mid-core gamer...
im torn between having a life and playing countless hours on screen grinding away...
i mah gaems though.
paragraph @ Feb 6th 2008 9:10AM
I'm not a Mid-Core Gamer... i'm a Geek...
I buy a new computer every time a new processor technology comes out...
But as far as gaming goes, that sounds about right. I usually play a game a committed 75% and then sell it... not dedicated enough to finish most games... or atleast games that require you to be commited.
Mike @ Feb 6th 2008 9:12AM
I'm so mid-core. I'm in the middle of half a dozen games at all times, most of which i will probably never finish. Some games with particular quality or production values will grab my attention and i won't stop playing them until I have wrung them out dry (Half-Life series, Oblivion, Crysis, TF2), but I don't always need a game to play. Somehow my gaming desires are propelled by my addiction to upgrading my PC, instead of the other way around.
passing thru @ Feb 6th 2008 9:36AM
totally. this is me all over, i rarely sit down and game for more than about 45 minutes straight these days and i agree with most every point in that piece.
i also far prefer the term midcore to hard casual.
Darkbhudda @ Feb 6th 2008 9:13AM
I'm a softcore gamer due to my pudgy center from playing video games in my youth rather than playing outside and forming gangs to terrorise the neighbourhood.
baby sea tuna @ Feb 6th 2008 9:15AM
There's still time, brother. There's always still time.
Zootittles @ Feb 6th 2008 9:13AM
Yeah, I guess I am. You marketing types and your silly fucking labels.
LordMinogue @ Feb 6th 2008 11:58AM
How about flex-core or tempered-core? I play games, go to college, and work a campus job. Does that make me multi-core?
Mark @ Feb 6th 2008 9:14AM
Hehe. The picture should be "Hello, my name is , and I'm a mid-core gamer." Otherwise the joke doesn't really work.
dave @ Feb 6th 2008 9:15AM
I am a mid-core gamer.
Is that a baby foot underneath the DS?
Scott Jon Siegel @ Feb 6th 2008 9:20AM
That's MY foot. The camera's just really far away, plus it's a weird angle. I assure you I have normal feet.
baby sea tuna @ Feb 6th 2008 9:14AM
I tend to fluxuate between hard and mid, I suppose. I mean, I own all the consoles and almost always play through the games I start, but I can also go a week without popping a game in and I don't get the shakes or anything.
I guess it all depends on work schedules, other hobbies, relationships, the weather, and (to be perfectly honest) what games are out. Having almost finished the last holdout of my pile of must-play games of '08 (for some reason I still just can't get into Metroid Prime 3,) I'll probably go back to part-time gamer.
umm....hello??? @ Feb 6th 2008 9:56AM
same here....although I think you meant the last hold-out games of 2007?? = )
baby sea tuna @ Feb 6th 2008 11:35AM
Yeah. With the exception of some decent games, I'm trying to forget 07 ever happened.
farfisa @ Feb 6th 2008 9:14AM
I'm definitely mid-core. I surf joystiq and the fanboy pages more than I game. I do finish games, but it takes me months--that's why I don't count it as a strike when games are short. I mean, sure Heavenly Sword only takes 5 hours to beat, but spread that over three months and you got yourself a mini-series!
CaptNink @ Feb 6th 2008 2:05PM
I hear ya brother! I love it when I hear a game is "too short". Yay - it's only going to take me 3 months to finish!
Magetto @ Feb 6th 2008 9:14AM
This pretty much covers the majority of gamers, myself included.
fyreblazer @ Feb 6th 2008 9:17AM
Definitely mid-core @ 24 w/ a fiancée, a job and a place to worry about. I have SO many 360 games I need to finish.
KayRazy Ken Kutaragi @ Feb 6th 2008 9:17AM
Ich bin eine midcore.
"gamer who doesn't want to buy a new computer every time a new game comes out. You might love MMOs, but you don't have the time (or patience) for eight-hour quests. You might own the latest consoles, but you might not finish every single game you buy"
This sums it up nicely 4 me. Time is the 1 thing I never have enough of.
Spartacoxx @ Feb 6th 2008 9:19AM
more like gaycore amirite?
Nigeria @ Feb 6th 2008 9:23AM
That makes so much sense.
KayRazy Ken Kutaragi @ Feb 6th 2008 11:32AM
Gawrsh yer so witty. Did you think of it all by yourself or did Billybob help you with your biggoted sentence?
I can only HOPE to be as funny and original as you Jimbob.
SpartacoxxINURMOUTH OR IS IT SPURTACOXXINURMOUTH?
britishben @ Feb 8th 2008 2:10AM
I took that as rather obvious sarcasm :p
Nicholas @ Feb 6th 2008 9:32AM
Can I be mid-core at times, then a hardcore completitionist for some games (looking at you Oblivion!) and old-school at other times?
I buy a lot of games and I make sure to finish the good ones, but I also don't waste time or money on average or sub-par games (no Turok for me, that's for sure!).
I guess I'm somewhere in the middle of multiple categories.
n0v4 @ Feb 7th 2008 6:58AM
Tottally agree with that. Also, it depends on timing. Right now, I'm paid to play video games and continue playing to other video games when I come home (well most of the time) I don't seem to get fed up.
But there are periods which I can pass without playing at all.
Plus, I like all kinds of game even if I have a preference for multiplayer shooters and platform games.
So I guess I would be somewhere between mid-core and hard-core depending on the time of the year. I don't think I've ever been soft core since I started playing because even when I'm in a sort of detox, I continue to read the news and get excited about the good games.
Poisoned Al @ Feb 6th 2008 9:21AM
I'm petty hardcore, but not stupidly so. I won't finish games I think are poop just for the hell of it. I won't bust a gut to improve my gamer score, but it's still higher then most peoples who've had a 360 longer then I have. I've spent about 70 hours playing Team Fortress 2, but I'm not in any clan. etc, etc.
Poisoned Al @ Feb 6th 2008 9:22AM
woah, make that well over 100 hours on TF2... Jesus.
FOXHOUND @ Feb 6th 2008 9:26AM
That's a lot of TF2! XD
Jerk Face @ Feb 6th 2008 9:40AM
Dude, TF2 is the best thing that's ever happened to me.
Korova @ Feb 6th 2008 3:45PM
TF2 is midcore paradise (on console). All the hardcores are Haloing and CODing.
Nigeria @ Feb 6th 2008 9:22AM
I am not a label.
Why can't we just be happy to play video games without having to label each other, as if we're brands or cattle.
This just seems like another way for the industry - and its offspring (the uncritical media) - to create an invisible market and advertise towards it.
Hahaha, disregard that I suck...
Poisoned Al @ Feb 6th 2008 9:23AM
Mooo!
Chip @ Feb 6th 2008 9:26AM
Definitely mid-core gamer.
MrTyzik @ Feb 6th 2008 9:30AM
I am totally mid-core. In fact, just recently I was declaring to a friend that I must be a casual gamer because I know I'm not a hard-core gamer. Thank you Joystiq! 28, going on 29 if you're curious.
Brian Arnold @ Feb 6th 2008 10:29AM
I just dinged 29 myself last Friday, and I'm definitely in the mid-core range.
When I was a teen, I was hardcore. Having more than 80 hours into a game wasn't a big deal. Now, there's only about one or two games a year that I put more than two hours into.
I used to refer to myself as the hardcore casual - I'm a gamer to my core, but I simply don't have the time I once did. House maintenance, time with the wife and our puppy, etc -- I simply don't have the free time I did, but when I have time, I play as much as I can.
Mid-core sounds funny, but based on the description, it's me.