Topic: Spore vs Hardcore Gamers

[rob]

Sporon a new blogger posted this interesting article http://www.sporeblogger.com/entry.php?w=Sporon&e_id=10

[SimEarth Freak]

In todays gaming world the numbers are often divided between two major groups. The first group would be the hardcore halo playing supreme commander loving hard core community. The second would be the arcade game playing sims loving casual community. The real question is, how does Spore as a game stack up to feed either one of these groups? Well, when you look at it logically the answers seem sound.

Weve all known for some time that Spore is a brilliantly designed "Casual" strategy in many respects. Few could guess at the end result of the strategy or action portions of the game and exactly how deep they really were, but as we are now learning more and more about how the actual gameplay of Spore unfolds, its beginning to look brighter for hardcore junkies as well. So the big question is... What does Spore offer the hardcore gamers? Well the answers can vary depending on the type of hardcore gamer your looking at.

The hardcore gaming crowd is often divided between the immersive hardcore players and the competative hardcore players. The "Immsersive" hardcore players are the kinds that tend to play final fantasy or MMORPG's nonstop for hours. Here you have the roleplayers, Those who love the stories within the games, and also the "Overachievers" who set out to unlock everything there is to unlock in a given game.  Needless to say, Spore probably offers the most for this camp of players.

Spore is offering a unique opportunity for the player to get immersed in a story of their own creation. At the same time there is also a directed story going on around you that guides you just enough to show you that things are happening everywhere instead of just around you. In recent videos weve seen many instances of generative missions, and we have heard much about the quest to get to the center of the galaxy. Such features will offer several opportunities for the player to spend hundreds of hours logged into Spore advancing their character/creature as well as discovering the lost secrets of the galaxy.

Its the competative hardcore gamers that things tend to get a bit trickier, but alas I think Spore has the goods to come out on top. Typically competative gamers like numbers. Whether its beating another player directly or competing indirectly in contests somehow the competative hardcore players like being engaged in competative activity that lets them know where they stand. Well, it seems that the Spore team thought of such things long ago. Spore includes statistics built into the Sporepedia where you can view several types of statistics for the creatures that you create. Also each part added to the creature has statistics that are both posative and negative at the same time, meaning finding a perfect balance of parts should be quite a task. So creating a perfect creature to compete in the galactic ultimate fighting championship may give the player more than enough to do for a while.

Ultimately the game is a massive online single player experience, and it probably always will be. And this is going to turn away those tough cookies who demand direct player competition and interaction at least to a small degree. But ultimately Spore offers more than enough to grab a good chunk of the hardcore market while still maintaining an obvious sense of player friendliness that the casual players should enjoy. So for now well just leave the tally at a tie, only the release of Spore will prove to us who wins this monumental battle.

Nothing too interesting in my view and he spelt the word positive wrong.

[Veraal]

tl;dr

he spelt the word positive wrong.

Where, where??

[CosmicD]

to me this is a non-issue, just because some of these hardcore gamers just don't see why you would waste time doing this stuff in the game the way you do it in spore. it's like the difference between a farmer and a business man. Because if I talk to "casual" people, they will always see these creative game as cool but don't talk to competitive hardcore people about this.

I know some hardcore gaming girls who only see gaming as a means to earn money and they will say "spore is for loosers who cant game" (this is liteerally quoted from one i know)

I don't feel hardcore gamer and I still like dreamfall and half life,
(not cs, that's too hardcore to me but i'm sure you can also play this casually but not in the mind of hc ppl).

yet.... come to think of it, some people who play WoW and age of empires alot are also positively receiving spore. So there's hope

[Spore-addict]

to me this is a non-issue, just because some of these hardcore gamers just don't see why you would waste time doing this stuff in the game the way you do it in spore. it's like the difference between a farmer and a business man. Because if I talk to "casual" people, they will always see these creative game as cool but don't talk to competitive hardcore people about this.

I know some hardcore gaming girls who only see gaming as a means to earn money and they will say "spore is for loosers who cant game" (this is liteerally quoted from one i know)

I don't feel hardcore gamer and I still like dreamfall and half life,
(not cs, that's too hardcore to me but i'm sure you can also play this casually but not in the mind of hc ppl).

yet.... come to think of it, some people who play WoW and age of empires alot are also positively receiving spore. So there's hope

hardcore gaming girls ROFL would like to meet one...so far they have been utter destroyed

[I Have Corn]

to me this is a non-issue, just because some of these hardcore gamers just don't see why you would waste time doing this stuff in the game the way you do it in spore. it's like the difference between a farmer and a business man. Because if I talk to "casual" people, they will always see these creative game as cool but don't talk to competitive hardcore people about this.

I know some hardcore gaming girls who only see gaming as a means to earn money and they will say "spore is for loosers who cant game" (this is liteerally quoted from one i know)

I don't feel hardcore gamer and I still like dreamfall and half life,
(not cs, that's too hardcore to me but i'm sure you can also play this casually but not in the mind of hc ppl).

yet.... come to think of it, some people who play WoW and age of empires alot are also positively receiving spore. So there's hope

hardcore gaming girls ROFL would like to meet one...so far they have been utter destroyed

I know 2, there not too good at Halo 3, unless thats what you mean by "utter destroyed", the other one was good though, but either way there pretty hardcore.

[nausved]

hardcore gaming girls ROFL would like to meet one...so far they have been utter destroyed

Don't be too surprised that there are female hardcore gamers out there:

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000873991

According to this article, 40% of gamers are female.

[WrathPhoenix]

My girlfriend is actually a hardcore gaming girl. She also happens to be a huge sims 2 fan, while simultaniously spending lots of time in wows battlegrounds and arenas.

Being an artist IRL she is cautiously optimistic about spore, even though she often picks on me for my level of devotion to the game She wants to create her own stuff though.

I think spore has a chance to hit both the casual and hardcore markets pretty hard. There are just different things that the game has that appeal to different markets. And you cant please everyone. Most likely the comment about spore for those who cant game comes from the kind of gamer that thirsts for direct competition like the article suggests. Obviously spore may not be a perfect fit for them, but it will still capture more than enough of the hardcore market to make it viable.

I personally cant wait to see the kinds of games and events that come out of spore by the hardcore players. But this time around the sceptor is in the hands of the many, meaning that spore sort of evens the odds. Spore is rewarding players not just by their skill as a player but their creativity and imagination as a creatures creator. This closes the gap between the two ends of the dichotomy by allowing you as the player to focus your game on whichever elements you are best at.

Many who blast spore now also dont really understand what the game is about, the minds of the masses have not yet been expanded to understand the kind of changes that spore is trying to bring to the gaming market. Give it a little while, and well see more people jump aboard the bandwagon one way or another. Some might stick with the game, some might not, but I can guarantee you that spore is going to be one of the kind of games that everyone eventually has to try. =)

And by the way, dont be so quick to write off female gamers' skills. Because I can guarantee you that I can name two or three that would wipe the floor with half of the egotistical males who play halo 3. Oh the horrors and swearing that is often heard echoing through my household from butthurt Xbox live players...

[Lurker28]

hardcore gaming girls ROFL would like to meet one...so far they have been utter destroyed

I know two who are sisters and they will ****ing kill you in Halo 3, they were even better at Starcraft a few years back. They are few and far between, but many of the real "hardcore" gamer girls are amazing, because...well, they have to be.

[WrathPhoenix]

hardcore gaming girls ROFL would like to meet one...so far they have been utter destroyed

I know two who are sisters and they will ****ing kill you in Halo 3, they were even better at Starcraft a few years back. They are few and far between, but many of the real "hardcore" gamer girls are amazing, because...well, they have to be.

Exactly. Some Female gamers who consider themselves "Hardcore" push themselves often even harder than men because of an innate sense that they have to be better than most guys in order to prove something. And we all know how hard some women will try to put men in their place

[Lurker28]

Exactly. Some Female gamers who consider themselves "Hardcore" push themselves often even harder than men because of an innate sense that they have to be better than most guys in order to prove something. And we all know how hard some women will try to put men in their place

How true that is 

[Spore-addict]

Is not playing halo 3 so that is likely true.

Is a master in bf1942 Dc mod...

He he yeah quite right some women is devoted beyond any man.

Remember reading an article about a girl that still plays Diablo....and that is Diablo 1.....lol

I just WOOOOOT when I saw that...that is hardcore fan.

[happydan20]

i hate the term hardcore personally.  Everyone has their own definition of what it is, and its used most often to say that something isn't up to a mythological standard.

Is hardcore a difficulty setting?  Is it old games vs new games?  Is it war games? 

I think we moan that games are becoming less innovative and sequel-ish...  and yet at the same time we talk about whether something fits into a predetermined value set.

[Tonjevic]

i hate the term hardcore personally.  Everyone has their own definition of what it is, and its used most often to say that something isn't up to a mythological standard.

Is hardcore a difficulty setting?  Is it old games vs new games?  Is it war games? 

I think we moan that games are becoming less innovative and sequel-ish...  and yet at the same time we talk about whether something fits into a predetermined value set.

Hardcore is devoting yourself fully and completely, as much as it is humanly possible to the pasttime of playing games. Hardcore is immersing yourself in every detail and fragment of information regarding that game just because you love it so much (or you believe you'll get +4 to your status if you do, or whatever.) and for the competetive spirit... In any case, by that reasoning, most of the people on this board are hardcores, and it also explains why so many hardcore players of games and fanboys of consoles etc. are completely stupid. They don't realise that what they're doing is a waste of time - they think it's worthwhile. By this I mean bitching at others about how great their adopted game is and whatever.

Take it to mean whatever you want it to.

[Lew]

Meaningless.

The dollar is king, repeat it until you get it: the dollar is king.

Casual Sims/Spore => Lots of $$$
Making a game for "hardcore gamers" => Niche audience, barely enough to keep the lights on.

EA is in business to increase its share price.  To make money.

Go look up some "hardcore" games if you want to see what I mean.  The hardcore market is tapped out, now that gaming is more socially acceptable the market is with casual gamers (take a look at the Wii vs PS3 vs X360 if you want a great example).