Picko on 28 August 2008
At the end of the day the distinction is:
Casual - popular games (its impossible to sell a huge amount of copies without having a high casual element.
Casual/Hardcore - games that have cross-over appeal (Halo, Mario, Zelda etc)
Hardcore - niche titles (Ninja Gaiden is the perfect example).
Any other definition just doesn't make sense. There's nothing hardcore about FPS or blood or mature themes. Sales reveal what is casual and hardcore, as certain games (like your GTAs, Halos and Marios) could not obtain their high sales without significant casual appeal. At the end of the day, when you want to know what game is casual or not the best place to look is the sales charts.
Debating with fanboys, its not
all that dissimilar to banging ones
head against a wall
