Hybrid gamers

[c0mp1337]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_299/8747-A-New-Breed-of-Player

Yep a new breed of gamer. Those who take casual games seriously and Also yawn at complex games.
Discuss now

[MegaRock35]

...I understand playing games for the sake of the challenge, but why the heck would they not care about the story? I mean, that's like going to watch a movie that doesn't have a plot, it's just... scenes. It doesn't make sense. Y'know, it's people like this make others think video games can't be art. Ugh.

Also, why not have complex gameplay? Doesn't that make it more challenging? Don't they like the feeling of pride when you master it? I just don't get that type of people.

[Forte]

I play videogames very sporadically, so I can't follow in-depth storylines."

First, if you know how to use the word "sporadically" in casual conversation, then yes, you can follow in-depth storylines, no matter how infrequently you play a video game. For example, let's go to what people actually consider art: literature. I don't read very many books. They bore me to death, no matter how interesting they are or what the subject is. But fact of the matter is, if I start reading a story, I can keep up with that. I can remember the important plot points of a series of books enough to not feel lost if I were to pick up that series of books again.

In gaming terms, I can name quite a few games that I have played "sporadically", yet still remember what's going on, Rogue Galaxy being the first to come to mind. For this topic, I'm going to call the above quote an uneducated opinion.

While there will always be a place for narrative-driven experiences with deep gameplay like Mass Effect or God of War

>deep gameplay
>Mass Effect/God of War

hardcore gamers would be unwise to look down their noses[...] and the handheld market.

Woah woah woah. Back it up. The handheld market? This is casual all of a sudden? If you say so.

Hybrid gamers use games primarily as a way to connect with friends and family

No. Casuals do that.

Bruce grew up in arcades, when gaming was still almost exclusively a social experience.

Social? In those days, the gamer was lucky to have any friends. There's nothing social about going to the arcade to feel like you're good at something

"The first-person shooter is currently my favorite [genre]," says Bruce.

Well, Bruce, unless your last name is Wayne, your opinion is now invalid.

Like it or not, as gamers get older, more of their time gets devoted to work, friends, family, and other hobbies. This is not a bad thing, but it does mean that suddenly, an 80-hour console RPG might seem more daunting than inviting.

1. There hasn't been a console RPG that was truly 80 hours long in generations (literally).
2. That 200 page book is really daunting. There aren't even any pictures (cutscenes) in it. Man, I'm not sure that I can devote the time to it... Oh wait. I can just read it over a series of days, and since I'm not on a time limit for reading it now that I actually own the book, I can take my sweet time! I'll get to the end of it when I get to it!

And this is the point where I stopped reading the article and confirmed to myself that The Escapist is the new IGN. Perhaps I should become a writer for one of these places so I can toss baseless opinion around and hope that someone regards it as fact. Thing is, you have to treat video games like any other form of entertainment now. They aren't books, they aren't movies, they aren't plays, they aren't recreational activities. They're a new form of communication. It's like trying to compare the internet to TV; you can't do it... at least, you can't do it well.

[Blasphemic Reaper]

Mass Effect and God of War are great.  Everything else you said was credible.

[Death Dark]

Mass Effect and God of War are great.  Everything else you said was credible.

He was calling them out on depth of gameplay.