why do people/game journelists keep calling mario a casual game?

[V-r0cK]

Acevil said:

V-r0cK said:
IMO casual just means its more appealing to everybody and easier to pick up. More girls and elderly will pick up a Mario game than ever consider touching a Street Fighter or Halo game.

A recent party i attended had SF4 going on in one room and NSMB Wii in the other, lets just say more (guys and girls) wanted to play Mario while only a few were playing SF4.

Halo isn't the best example using your definition....

The gaming media just replaced kiddie with casual and mature games with hardcore.

My definition of casual is the style you play a game. For example I am casual fighter gamer, but a hardcore RPG player. Almost any game can be casual and hardcore depending how you play it.

Yea after reading back i agree casual/hardcore depends on the gamer than the game itself because of how they play the games.