dinosaur_hunter2
Member
The reason I am a "core gamer" today is Nintendo. I grew up playing their games. Their games taught me to be good at playing. Nintendo's exclusion from this list is fucking absurd and ridiculous.
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NPD shares their definition of "core gamers", estimates 34 million in the US
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
ethomaz
Banned
It is not that high.
For example... I just start to play at night after 21pm... so I play until 1am or 2am... so 4-5 hours per day... but on weekend (Saturdays and Sundays) I play over 10 hours per day.
The rest of time is spent with job, family, girlfriend, beer and football (the real one)... I sleep at max 6 hours per day.
That number is if I have no scheduled things I need to be somewhere for.
Like the poster above me said I also only sleep 6 hours a day.
Edit: Saturday and Sunday I usually have nothing going on so it's 10 hours easy both days.
The average American spends 30 something hours per week watching TV. 22 hours actually strikes me as a rather low average amount of time for an enthusiast hobbyist to spend on their hobby, and 5 hours strikes me as not an enthusiast at all.
SwiftDeath
Member
I am casual #confirmed!!!!
Except when I get lost in FTL or Dice Wars apparently
This probably works better than most other definitions. GAF wisdom right there.
block tower
Member
well im a filthy casual. probably only play about 10 hours a week if that. when i bought TES: Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Fallout New Vegas, those were the only games i played like an addict lol. everything else takes me very long to beat, most AAA games take me about a month to beat. im fine with that amount of gaming though, it's just enough to relax and not enough that i'm wasting my own time.
Lambda Pie
Banned
man i'm not core at all. i've played maybe a combined 5 hours over this whole month.
thechristoph
Sir!
I'm a casual because even though I played about 8 hours of Mass Effect on PC this weekend, with some FTL, Skyrim, and Spelunky peppered in there, I also spent 2 hours with Bravely Default in a waiting room, played the first couple maps of Donkey Kong Freeze or whatever it is, and punched people in the face with Tekken on Wii U. And when you factor in all the Threes I play whilst making poopies, then a lot of the gaming I got don't this weekend didn't count.
IdreamofHIME
Member
I want all Nintendo owners to hand their hardcore passes in, no excuses....just do it. I don't care if you got other consoles, you heard NPD, you ain't hardcore. Had em in.
Chezzymann
Member
I can't believe they didn't include Nintendo. What the heck, lol. Very unprofessional.
I guess I wasn't a hardcore gamer when I played my 3DS for 500+ hours last year and my Wii U a lot too.
I guess I wasn't a hardcore gamer when I played my 3DS for 500+ hours last year and my Wii U a lot too.
Narpas Sword0
Member
I'm a filthy casual.
The irony is that most game developers probably barely get 5 hours a week in.
The irony is that most game developers probably barely get 5 hours a week in.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
Is this NPD your god?
70%* of 20-to-40-year-old gamers grew up on Nintendo games, but don't let that interrupt your study, NPD. I'm sure the frat brothers playing Madden next to the beer pong table are more loyal customers than the old-timer playing Pokemon on the train.
*making this number up but it seems reasonable
SmoothRunningGun
Member
I play around 10 per week. Alot of that on the treadmill so it's good for me 
My guess is one of two things:
1. They're assuming the vast majority only play games like Just Dance or Nintendo's central series like Mario, and thus aren't really core as they only have a casual interest most likely.
2. Most of those that AREN'T in that category probably play with one of those other systems, and thus qualify that way.
I still think it's kind of crap, the console's basically relevant primarily for hardcore at this point while the handheld has a load of niche stuff, nevermind that the types of games a lot of them play absolutely would've been core gaming in the 90s.
EDIT: And if they're actually excluding all handhelds rather than just 3DS then they're fucking clowns, period.
I need to download the survey to check, but I find it highly unlikely NPD would have excluded Nintendo.
I suspect that journalistic error is to blame for the exclusion of Nintendo in the media reporting. (i.e. they forgot to type all the platforms). Let's see.
Oh, and another core gamer reporting.
I suspect that journalistic error is to blame for the exclusion of Nintendo in the media reporting. (i.e. they forgot to type all the platforms). Let's see.
Oh, and another core gamer reporting.
Hyperactivity
Banned
This legitimately hasn't been posted yet?
Huh
Huh
Tidus_Great
Banned
it's 2014 everyone plays games these days.
I get maybe 1/2 hour a week. Sometimes a month!
Sacrifice GAF and sleep.
Schnozberry
Member
I've been a casual since I had a kid four years ago. Supporting other life forms is time consuming.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
You guys are taking offense at... What exactly?
NPD is a business that offers marketing data to its costumers. This is a a market report helping to define a segmentation they set their own definition for.
If I were a subscriber or paid to access the full study. I would presumably be interested In gaining insight on behavioral patterns of what this segmemt is defined as. So I have a data driven understanding of my target market so I can more strategically allocate my resources to reach them.
It's cleaner this way when the segment is clearly defined.
Who would pay NPD for data to reach people on the Wii u who play 40 whatever hours a week when no one is making content for that audience?
NPD is a business that offers marketing data to its costumers. This is a a market report helping to define a segmentation they set their own definition for.
If I were a subscriber or paid to access the full study. I would presumably be interested In gaining insight on behavioral patterns of what this segmemt is defined as. So I have a data driven understanding of my target market so I can more strategically allocate my resources to reach them.
It's cleaner this way when the segment is clearly defined.
Who would pay NPD for data to reach people on the Wii u who play 40 whatever hours a week when no one is making content for that audience?
Erin S Kittens
Member
Nintendo's exclusion is silly on the surface, because their platforms are clearly hardcore/enthusiast-friendly, but it makes sense in the context of NPD. "Core gamers" is likely codespeak for "people who buy big-budget games from large publishers with large marketing budgets", and that group doesn't primarily game on Nintendo.
I'm a gaming enthusiast. I started playing NES when I was 7, subscribed to Nintendo Power midway through its third year, was always aware of upcoming releases, read the imports section, and began developing diverse tastes. My parents hated my interest, so I started working at 8 to buy my own games. The first NES game I ever beat was Castlevania II (yes, that required some assistance with the cliff), and by the time I was 11, I could consistently no-damage-run Mega Man 3 with finesse. I cut my teeth on games like Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Startropics, Legend of Zelda, Kirby's Adventure, Conflict, Archon, Contra, Nintendo World Cup, Super Mario Bros 3, and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. I had friends with Sega systems, and in the 16-bit era, I'd trade my mags out for other mags so I could see what was going on in the rest of the gaming world.
As the years went on, I ended up owning and loving NES, Gameboy, SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, Virtual Boy, Gameboy Color, N64, Playstation, GBA, Gamecube, PS2, DS, Wii, PS3, and 3DS, as well as playing a bunch of older games on PC. Now I'm almost 30, and I've pared down to keeping my PS2, Gamecube, GBASP+, Gameboy Micro, DS, and 3DS at home. The consoles run on a CRT, and I'll use emulators to play old games I've got in storage or maybe some pre-HD-era PC games on DOSbox, but my primary gaming these days is done on 3DS and DS.
Gaming's changed a lot in my lifetime. I've seen JRPGs go from well-paced, abstract, and snappy adventures with surprising depth to self-indulgent, literally-presented, over-encumbered CG-fests that don't respect the player's time. Shooters went through a number of transformations, for better and worse. Platformers went 3D then came back again. Dungeon crawlers became a thing again! Simulators on PC died out for a while and returned as arcade-type games with a skinner box. Western PC gaming went from an obscure niche to dominating the gaming landscape. Many genres died out and others emerged.
I still buy a ton of games. I'm just not the gamer NPD is looking for in their 'core' batching, because I don't often buy those games on those platforms. I have an appreciation for all games, and enjoy most genres and platforms, but when it comes to my bread and butter, I game with Nintendo. I've always, always been able to count on their platforms having a ton of unique gameplay-focused titles from first and third parties, even if they're not getting what's hot in the AAA space. I'd like a Wii U, even if it's doing poorly on the market. The games out for it already are more than enough to justify a purchase, and I miss playing so many excellent Wii titles. With most systems, I buy used (often by necessity), but I've always bought games for Nintendo systems new whenever possible.
My 3DS attach rate is probably something ridiculous like 100, and I still pick up a few new games a month for it, retail and digital. Including eShop and Virtual Console, I own 45 titles developed by first-party studios or published by Nintendo, and 64 titles by third-party developers and not published by Nintendo. Out of those, I can think of 3 that I regret purchasing. There's no question that I'm a dedicated, enthusiastic gamer who loves her gaming. However, it's not NPD who cares about customers like me, nor should they--it's the small developers who thrive on niche games for specialized fanbases who still want dungeon crawlers, logic puzzles, 2D RPGs, visual novels, creative platformers, action games like Shinobi, things like that instead of big-budget focus-tested marketbait. I'm okay with NPD not including me. As long as Nintendo platforms bring the experiences I want for my gaming time, they'll remain my primary platforms and I'll continue picking and choosing from the 'core' system offerings as an afterthought.
I'm a gaming enthusiast. I started playing NES when I was 7, subscribed to Nintendo Power midway through its third year, was always aware of upcoming releases, read the imports section, and began developing diverse tastes. My parents hated my interest, so I started working at 8 to buy my own games. The first NES game I ever beat was Castlevania II (yes, that required some assistance with the cliff), and by the time I was 11, I could consistently no-damage-run Mega Man 3 with finesse. I cut my teeth on games like Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Startropics, Legend of Zelda, Kirby's Adventure, Conflict, Archon, Contra, Nintendo World Cup, Super Mario Bros 3, and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. I had friends with Sega systems, and in the 16-bit era, I'd trade my mags out for other mags so I could see what was going on in the rest of the gaming world.
As the years went on, I ended up owning and loving NES, Gameboy, SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, Virtual Boy, Gameboy Color, N64, Playstation, GBA, Gamecube, PS2, DS, Wii, PS3, and 3DS, as well as playing a bunch of older games on PC. Now I'm almost 30, and I've pared down to keeping my PS2, Gamecube, GBASP+, Gameboy Micro, DS, and 3DS at home. The consoles run on a CRT, and I'll use emulators to play old games I've got in storage or maybe some pre-HD-era PC games on DOSbox, but my primary gaming these days is done on 3DS and DS.
Gaming's changed a lot in my lifetime. I've seen JRPGs go from well-paced, abstract, and snappy adventures with surprising depth to self-indulgent, literally-presented, over-encumbered CG-fests that don't respect the player's time. Shooters went through a number of transformations, for better and worse. Platformers went 3D then came back again. Dungeon crawlers became a thing again! Simulators on PC died out for a while and returned as arcade-type games with a skinner box. Western PC gaming went from an obscure niche to dominating the gaming landscape. Many genres died out and others emerged.
I still buy a ton of games. I'm just not the gamer NPD is looking for in their 'core' batching, because I don't often buy those games on those platforms. I have an appreciation for all games, and enjoy most genres and platforms, but when it comes to my bread and butter, I game with Nintendo. I've always, always been able to count on their platforms having a ton of unique gameplay-focused titles from first and third parties, even if they're not getting what's hot in the AAA space. I'd like a Wii U, even if it's doing poorly on the market. The games out for it already are more than enough to justify a purchase, and I miss playing so many excellent Wii titles. With most systems, I buy used (often by necessity), but I've always bought games for Nintendo systems new whenever possible.
My 3DS attach rate is probably something ridiculous like 100, and I still pick up a few new games a month for it, retail and digital. Including eShop and Virtual Console, I own 45 titles developed by first-party studios or published by Nintendo, and 64 titles by third-party developers and not published by Nintendo. Out of those, I can think of 3 that I regret purchasing. There's no question that I'm a dedicated, enthusiastic gamer who loves her gaming. However, it's not NPD who cares about customers like me, nor should they--it's the small developers who thrive on niche games for specialized fanbases who still want dungeon crawlers, logic puzzles, 2D RPGs, visual novels, creative platformers, action games like Shinobi, things like that instead of big-budget focus-tested marketbait. I'm okay with NPD not including me. As long as Nintendo platforms bring the experiences I want for my gaming time, they'll remain my primary platforms and I'll continue picking and choosing from the 'core' system offerings as an afterthought.
SwiftDeath
Member
But what about the 3DS audience? Why wouldn't pubs want insight into that software sector?
thesolidshark
Member
Now I'm curious to see the NPD define and describe a gaming enthusiast
.
and see if Nintendo is still excluded
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
I dunno this looks like a console report for $60 games to me.
Though, the 3DS audience stopped buying third party games like two years ago anyway
I think it's a mistake to ignore people who are fans of more niche stuff too (nevermind how Nintendo innately has universal appeal) but then they're probably only a million or so extra at best, and there's probably so much overlap with those that fall under the other categories (especially since a lot of them ARE on PC/PS3/Vita if that's counted) that the slice of hardcore that are on only Nintendo is very slim.
Still, it does leave me to think that a minimum they should qualify this as anyone who plays 5 or more hours (a week? a month?) on either dedicated hardware or PC/Mac via Steam/Origin/GOG/Uplay (lol) at a minimum. Probably should be 5 hours period really, but I guess there is the angle of someone wasting a LOT of time on Angry Birds or Candy Crush without actually either considering themselves core or what most people would recognize as core. If you play that much even on Nintendo systems you're probably close enough as you either set aside that time at home or cared to buy a gaming dedicated device.
What do you mean with this? As in the 3DS AND Vita are just lumped with phones/tablets, or what?
Like I said they're clowns for doing that. Granted I guess my perspective is probably unique and closer in general to the hobby, but let's be honest here: the Vita pretty much IS just a toy for hardcore gamers, if there was wider appeal it'd probably be selling more or there'd be more stories of it being used as a music/movie player instead, but as is it's pretty much just a device enthusiasts care about.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
I'd say most of the people playing on Nintendo devices are core gamers, as their devices are pretty much ONLY for games.
I play mostly on 3DS/WiiU/PC/PS3 these days, and I'd say I play about 20 hours a week of games.
I play mostly on 3DS/WiiU/PC/PS3 these days, and I'd say I play about 20 hours a week of games.
Phone/mobile device gamers and dedicated portable game device gamers are in two separate categories, i.e. not lumped together.
On the average, Mobile gamers spend more time playing than portable gamers, btw, and bigger portion of them are dedicated gamers playing more than 10 hours a week.
Fascinating stuff.
shinra-bansho
Member
It could be that the omission is an error... the demographic range goes all the way down to 9yo and I would think that age range are more likely playing on handhelds.
Even if it's not, I'm not sure why people are taking offense. It's basically a definition comprising the bulk of the people who disproportionately drive software sales and towards whom the majority of software is targeted.
Even if it's not, I'm not sure why people are taking offense. It's basically a definition comprising the bulk of the people who disproportionately drive software sales and towards whom the majority of software is targeted.