Casually Hardcore Gamer?

Evening all,

Now there are certain things in life that are inevitable. Taxes and death are 2 things that spring to mind, but one of the more social inevitabilities is that of labelling.

You wear lots of black, white make-up and listen to dreary sounding rock music - you're a goth.

You have a beard and wear off-beat clothes - you're a hipster.

You are a Tory voter - you're deluded.

You support Chelsea, Man Utd or Millwall - you're brainless.

The list goes on, and that list extends to the world of gaming, usually in the form of those who are fanboys, hardcore gamers, casual gamers, noobs, retro gamers and the list does tend to go on.

Now I tend to categorise myself in a group of gamers that can only be growing in size: I'm a Casually Hardcore Gamer.

Now there are certain elements that I've thought of that put's one in this category.

Firstly: You must have a passion for gaming that is unmoveable. I have a passion for gaming, have done since I was a tiny little Toolbox. Loved them all, from old DOS games like Gorillas.bas and Digger to Wolf3D, Doom and Quake, moving on through to games like Metal Gear Solid, WWF Attitude, FIFA (minus the massive amounts of alleged money embezzlement) to Championship Manager, then Football Manager, Mass Effect, GTA and many more. Gaming is a passion of mine that just cannot be quenched. Whether it's revisiting old games again, or exploring new ones - gaming doesn't get old for me.

Secondly: As much as you love gaming, life events tend to be more important. Such is life. When I was younger, I went to school or college, then after a little bit of homework or a little bit of time with my mates - the computer beckoned. Sometimes, the mates would be fobbed off or homework left to the last minute because. hey, it's CLEARLY more important to me. But then you grow up a bit - this doesn't mean that gaming is no longer important - and things happen. You get married, you have kids, you have a more responsible job. These things inevitably...get in the way. Now that could be read wrong. My wife and kids don't "get in the way" of time that I could be spent gaming...no wait, they totally do - but it's alright, cos I love them dearly and would do anything for them. So games of Toy Story Happy Families and Guess Who? or going for walks to the park or spending some quality time  with the Mrs are as, if not in a strange way MORE important than gaming. I know right, as if anything could be more important! But really, they are. I never would have thought it growing up, but there you go.

Thirdly: Time spent playing is limited - but treasured. This little nugget is so true. I don't tend to get on the computer for any "me time" until the kids have gone to play in their room before bed and the wife is on her laptop watching the tele. As much as I'd love to roll in from work, sit my fat arse down and play some GTA or Football Manger (the 2 games diving my gaming attention at the moment), that's just not gonna happen. Dinner needs to be made, the rubbish needs to be taken to the outside bin and other things need doing. But when the evening rolls round, and the kids are gone...then I'm no longer a father, or a husband. I'm Toolbox24 - gamer. The other thing though is that when I was younger, late nights gaming into the wee hours, even before work, were commonplace. I mean, I only worked at Argos, it's not like I needed to use much of my brain. Now however, I work an important job in the Civil Service, and as such, I need to go to work and actually use my brain for good. This means (unless it's the weekend) no late night gaming sesh's. So the time gaming, is minimal - especially with tea/coffee breaks with the wife - or getting the kids teeth cleaned and bedtime story read.

Fourthly: You sneak gaming in wherever and whenever you can. I work in an office. Sometimes I need to photocopy a ton of shit. While I'm stood over the photocopier waiting for it to do it's thing I could do 1 of 2 things. I could stand and wait, maybe check the stationary cupboard...OR I could whip my phone out and play some games. This sneaking of gaming in is where casual gaming comes into play. I generally wouldn't spend my evening playing Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, or Criminal Case. No, no, no...I would however play them whilst sitting on the porcelain throne or having a tea break. And in doing so, I have played over 500 games of pool on 8 Ball Pool on Miniclip, completed pretty much every Angry Birds iteration out there and am steadily approaching level 800 on Candy Crush Saga to name but a few. Gaming is somewhat of a way of life, and it's one I am immensely happy with - be it with "proper" games or casual ones.

Fifthly: You don't play just one type of game. This one is important now, it's important for anyone who wants to really appreciate the art, sophistication and subtle nuances of gaming. Someone who just sits and plays CoD or Battlefield all day - no matter if they spend most of their days and nights doing so, can't really be called a hardcore gamer. They fit more snugly into the Fanboy category, along with the people who bicker over the superiority of the Playstation or Xbox. It's just not going to happen. I figure that you need to regularly play and enjoy at least 4 different types of game, to be embedded into the hardcore gamer fold. Now herein lies a caveat - no matter how many casual games you play, they cannot count towards the 5. The following game types can:

• First Person Shooter (Call of Duty, Battlefield, Portal etc)
• Role Playing Games (Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, Fallout etc)
• Sports Simulator (FIFA, NBA, Madden etc)
• Real Time Strategy (Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, Starcraft etc)
• Other Strategy (Civilization, Hearthstone, etc)
• Management Simulator (Football Manager, Prison Architect, Cities: Skylines etc)
• Action/Adventure (The Witcher, GTA, Batman Arkham series etc)
• Platform (Mario, Limbo, Terraria etc)
• Survival / Horror (DayZ, Resident Evil, Dead Space etc)

The list does go on, but I would say that you need to be an aficionado of at least 4 genres - including the bonus indy game genre. Which of course is a mixture of all genres, but independently made. FTL, Game Dev Tycoon, Plague Inc: Evolved, Gunpoint to again name a few.

Roll those 5 elements together, and you have a hardcore gamer, who hasn't got time to be a hardcore gamer - so he does it casually. The usual type of gamer that this will end up being is a parent.

So yeah, I play casual games, I play proper games too. And I don't pretend that I'm some kind of divine Über gamer - I'm alright, I'm pretty decent and I occasionally have moments of greatness but overall, I'm pretty average. But that doesn't diminish how much I bloody love to play. When I get the chance. I mean even writing this, I've gotten one daughter a carrot, the other one a milk, sorted a tablet out that had disconnected from the wifi and had an incredibly brief chat with the Mrs before she went out to read her book.

So yeah. In summary, I'm a Casually Hardcore Gamer. I'm proud of this, and I won't pretend to be anything that I'm not. And I would imagine, that guys and gals who are in their mid-20's to late-30's who grew up on some awesome games in the 90's and early naughties, probably fit quite snugly into this category as well.

Nighty Night.

Toolbox24

My Type of Gamer

Hello there.

I’m still working on the Turian entry for the Mass Effect Races series that I’m doing at the moment, but little life events like getting married kind of put the brakes on that for now.

Just so you know, I am still here and I do still have plans to continue blogging on computer games, gaming in general, gaming in the news, and when I can more blogs on upcoming games, hardware and events.

But today I got to thinking. What kind of gamer am I?

Well I’m an avid gamer and I feel the need to write about it as much as I can whenever I can. Obviously, the things I write are my own interpretations and my own opinions – whether you agree with them or not is beside the point. This blog is here for me to vent my spleen about gaming. Yeah I’ll post the things I’m sick off, like kids in multiplayer or the media lampooning games because of a nut case who shot a couple of guys. But as far as games go, I just want to write about the games I love, and why I love them. You may have noticed this with Mass Effect.

So am I an “Intelligent Gamer”? I say “intelligent” not in an elitist, “I’m better than you” way – but in that I play games for more than their Michael Bay Stylings. A lot of people will play a lot of CoD or BF and that’s just fine, they do it because they like the challenge, the bright explosions and the Rambo in them wanting to burst out in some form – that’s fine. I play games because I want to be captivated by the gameplay, the story and how tuned out of the real world I can feel. That’s why I have such an affinity for the Mass Effect Series. It’s why I love Red Dead Redemption. It’s why I was so dumbfounded and completely deflated by the ending to LA Noire.

But then I got to thinking more practically. You may have noticed that this isn’t a gaming blog in the normal mould of a gaming blog. Most gaming sites you’d come across would have loads of information about the latest games, the latest trailers, the latest updated, DLC, patches, hardware etc etc, but here on MBG, we don’t. Because instead of “intelligent gamer” I’m starting to think of myself as a casual hardcore gamer.

Toolbox24 - Casual Hardcore

Casual Hardcore? An oxymoron? A contradiction in terms? Well on the face of it yes, but digging deeper – no. I’m not thick. I’m not going to turn around and say “Well I’m kinda skinnily fat.” “I’m shortly tall” No. I’m hardcore in that gaming (apart from my wife and kids) is my whole life. But because of the whole family thing I’ve got going, I cannot let gaming be my whole life. It’s my whole life, when I let it be. When I get stuck into a game, I’m there. I AM John Marston, trekking through the wild west in search of zombies (Undead Nightmare DLC). I AM Commander Shepherd, and you know what? This IS my favourite store on the Citadel. I AM Richard Thompson – Leeds United striker, top goal scorer and all round fans favourite. I am these people, and it’s amazing. BUT when my daughter starts crying because she needs a nappy change, or my lad comes down wanting to show off some of his art work – the games pause and I’m Dad. My wife wants a cup of tea and to have a little break and a chat in the garden – the game pauses and I’m husband.

I’m hardcore in that I do think about gaming an awful lot, I do play as much as I can and to me there is no better entertainment medium.

I’m casual in that I realise that spending £40 on a new game is a bit daft, when that £40 could be spent on groceries or paying for new school uniforms. It’s why I’m not always on the ball so far as new releases go. I’m casual in that I don’t feel like I have a genre that defines me. Some hardcore gamers only play FPS games like CoD, BF, Team Fortress etc other just racing games like Need for Speed, Forza, Gran Turismo and others only play games like World of Warcraft. All hardcore in their own right, but incredibly narrow minded when it comes to playing other games. Some filter through, like Hardcore FPS gamers could have a soft spot for the odd racing game, or sports game for example.

I don’t feel like there is a genre that defines me as a gamer. I love playing RPG games for their story element, and how much more immersive they are. I also love playing management sims like Football Manager or Sim Tower (blast from the past). I love playing FIFA games, and the occasional racer. I love playing RTS games like Command and Conquer or the Age of Empires games. I love playing Turn Based Strategy games like Civilisation and I love playing reality games like The Sims. I love mobile games like Stupid Zombies or Temple Run, and I love all kinds of games which makes me feel like I can write more objectively about any game I play.

A hardcore CoD gamer could play Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and think it’s a load of shit and should be set on fire. Because they detest RPGs. A hardcore sports gamer could play Halo and think it’s a crock of shit and should be set on fire because they detest FPS games. I however could sit playing FIFA for hours, write a review about it’s pro’s and cons, then sit playing Dragon Age for hours and write a similar review. 2 completely different types of game yet fairly easy for me to love them both.

Now I’m not saying I’m a rare breed. I think that most gamers would probably fall into the same or similar category of a lover of many genres. That’s why I hope this blog will appeal to more than just those who like to point and shoot.

In the coming weeks, I’m going to try and post more blogs, thick and fast and attempt to get the website registered onto NewsNow.co.uk. A news sourcing website that I use daily to look up Leeds United news.

If I succeed, then who knows where this blog could go.

That was a fairly pointless blog I think, but I’d like to think that everyone knows what kind of game they like, and if they like multiple genres to be flexible enough to say as much. I know that some people might just like casual games like Farmville or Diner Dash – but that’s alright. Someone made the game, someone thought up the concept and created the game. It’s only right that it’s found a niche with those who might not do “proper” gaming. Just remember: Minesweeper is a game as well.

Coming up on the MonkeyBox – Mass Effect Races: Turians, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Plants vs Zombies, XBOX 720(?) and more.

Toolbox 24