Over the past few years, people who play video games have generally been classified into one of two groups: casual gamers or hardcore gamers. While there is no definitive answer to what fits each group, it all really comes down to investment in each video game one plays. While a casual gamer might play something quick with a little free time, a hardcore gamer is probably more likely to stick with a few games at most until everything possible within the games' rules is accomplished (or some self-set goal is met). While there is nothing totally wrong with being a hardcore gamer (other than maybe the health risks of sitting on your butt playing video games for too many hours a day), I want to know why lately it seems that people think video game companies have to focus primarily on them over casual gamers. Technically, why should the companies give them any thought?

I'm going to bring up something that maybe nobody really thought about before; a hardcore gamer will probably not buy several video games at once; rather, that person will more than likely buy a few games, stick with them for awhile, and be happy. A casual gamer might buy a short game and beat the basic play through or play so much of a long one, get tired of it, and buy something new. Therein lies what we like to call "business opportunity."

Think about this: the video game companies are in it to make money and survive as businesses. If they can quickly throw together and sell twenty games to a casual gamer compared to the time it takes to design and sell just one challenging game to a hardcore gamer for about the same price per unit (maybe a little difference), which do you think they will focus on?

The downside is that the companies will have to keep generating new ideas; it's not as if they can rehash old ideas or anything... oh wait, they do that for both types of games. Then again, that doesn't just apply to video games either.

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