You obviously are missing something if you can't appreciate a platformer, though the gameplay is jarring and the aesthetic retro, so maybe you just never bothered to get over the learning curve. And since when was a simple control mechanic a bad thing? It's what the iphone is made for. Gently tilting the screen left or right to jump up platforms, drawing lines to direct air traffic, single taps to run and jump along buildings, it's the games that try to do much more that fail.
i totally agree. gameplay is the thing. graphics and endless "achievements" are often just a smokescreen for games lacking in game.
conspicuously absent Edge, HC/SQH, Jet Car Stunts, Battle for Wesnoth, Rogue Touch Space Invaders is a great game but it's not "hardcore" in any definition I'd feel comfortable with... and madden, wat?
Too hard doesn't necessarily equal hardcore. Modern Warfare isn't too hard yet can be considered hardcore.
I actually do have all of them except for Esp II (won't run on my device), Madden '11 (I do have Madden '10, is that "hardcore?") and Guitar Hero (don't like rhythm tapping games. Squareball is a great game, by the way. Leave Squareball alone.
I usually think of hardcore games, as difficult, arcade inspired, and/or niche titles. Modern warfare is a call of duty rip off, they are mimicking a popular game franchise in order to sell units, it is definitely not hardcore and is almost aimed at casual gamers, with it's guided campaign that holds your hand the whole way.
I don't think there's one clear definition of Hardcore game generally accepted by all. But the central point is it's a game that don't please to most players because of some characteristics but please to some players with a deep knowledge of the genre of the game. Now the question is: is all gamer not a casual gamer is a player of hardcore game? I think it's the natural evolution of the gamer, either he quits gaming but for casual gaming, either sooner or later he starts play more and more hardcore games. The main reason is just that the more you play games the more you know some game genres and the more you identify some game genres you prefer. That's when you start play more Hardcore game because you dig deeper a game genre, you have play all the good games in the genre and ends on Hardcore games. The main reason to never really enter this loop is the time you spend in games. The less time you spend in gaming the more is the chance you don't need dig up to hardcore games. From this point of view you can remove all games with a very large success because the very large success means they please to players not glued to the genre and then can't be hardcore games. But that doesn't mean that a game with less success is a hardcore game. Also I don't think that niche games can be considered as Hardcore. There are some niche game genre and no matter the game characteristics it will remain a niche game. But there's certainly some game genre that are purely hardcore. A half good example is Roguelike games. Many players will think Ascii games and necessarily Hardcore games because of Ascii approach. But if you use a wider approach of the genre you add games like Diablo and it stops to be Hardcore genre. If the idea you play hardcore games seems satisfying for your ego it's because there's the idea you can enjoy the gaming qualities of a game that are hidden to more common players. It makes you a sort of specialist like a part of an elite. But for the game itself being hardcore isn't fully positive. At least it means that something was successful in its game design otherwise it would be just a failure and not a hardcore game. But this also means that something failed because the game, on purpose or not, include design elements that didn't allow the game to please to a wider public. For me the problem of Hardcore games is that their gameplay can be really flawed. For example some RPG become hardcore mainly because they require a lot of grinding involving a lot of repetitive fights. That's not a positive quality that push the game into the Hardcore category. The definition used by Apple links game involvement and difficulty with hardcore characteristics and that's clearly wrong. But it's also uneasy to list characteristics pushing necessarily a game in hardcore category. Apple move is to try highlight games that aren't casual, and that are closer to more traditional or conventional game qualities, have a much longer play length value not based on replay. In short it's a message "here we have also true games with a deep gameplay value, here an highlight".
There should be a "console-worthy games" section next. That list will have even less games on it, maybe like 5 lol. Chaos Rings, Street Fighter IV, Broken Sword, Crimson Gem Saga, and GTA.
This is a little ambiguous, what means console worthy for you? Consoles has ton of crap that cost ton of money to produce but that have weak gameplay. Myself the only console worthy is the DS, the wii is boring and other just don't match a PC and got dragged into its infernal loop of increased production cost at price of gameplay value. I have seen a quick point of view on last Final Fantasy and that was symbolic, even more production value but gameplay crap. That's what I like on ipad, the gameplay isn't yet hide by production. It's in fact something already existing on PC but the related games just get forgotten, when on iPad/iPhone they get quite more highlight and it's much more easy and fun to follow than try follow this on PC. But yes that depend of the point of view and I can understand that some require games with a high production level to enjoy, but then I wonder what you seek in igames if that is so important.
Um you're wrong, Modern Warfare IS PART OF THE CALL OF DUTY FRANCHISE.....duh.... and if you play veteran the game gets quite difficult, it is a hardcore game as it's really well made and done, and keeps you entertained and theres more to it than just aiming and shooting, using tactics to win online matches also adds the "hardcore-ness" And there are plenty of games that are not "Arcade" Inspired that are hardcore, seriously wtf are you trying to say? That all hardcore games, In your opinion, are inspired by Arcade games? So as an example, in your words, (for the sake of this rant lets say Modern Warfare 1 and 2 are hardcore games (to me they are)) Modern Warfare 1 and 2 were inspired by Pac-Man and R-Type, and Galiga....right? That is what you are saying.... Don't bash a great game without knowing what your talking about. You're "Modern warfare is a call of duty rip off" was the dumbest thing I have read on these forums, again I will say it, It is part of the Call of Duty Franchise, Infinity ward is not "mimicking" a popular game franchise you twit....jesus. And its not aimed at casual gamers either, however I will not be explaining this to you, as I tire of typing.