I see the term "hardcore" a lot in forums... and primarily it is used by "wanna-be-a-real-man-teens" who think adult games are cool and the rest are childlish...
In any case, as other posters have already said, for me there aren't hardcore games, but harcore gamers. A game may be long, short, easy or hard, but it's the player the one who invests his time in passing or dominating the game.
For example, between 2 friends and me we have 3 copies of "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock", my other two friends passed easy and normal modes and left the game. I still play, and I've been playing in expert mode only for two months already. I guess I've played more than 100 -120 hours, and I think I'll be playing at least for two months more (for an additional 60 hours) before I consider to stop playing (which I doubt it, as I really enjoy the game).
Thus, I consider me a hardcore gamer... not because of the games, but because I want to get all the juice I can for the games I play, and I like to it in hard/expert modes and continuously break my records. It doesn't imply to play many hours a day (I don't have the time to do this)... just a lot of hours a game. Anyway, I don't consider me "superior" to "casual" gamers, as many "wanna-be-a-real-man-teens" do... It's just I have little money left to spend in games (3 - 4 a year), and I enjoy playing them, can't do any more...
