This whole schism between "casual" and "hardcore" gamers is a complete fallacy created by basement dwelling nerds who see their hot younger sister and her boyfriend having a fun time with Wii Sports along with the other physical sports they engage in the bedroom nightly. In effect, it is an unhealthy borderline personality type reaction to others getting laid based on one's own social inadequacy.
I am 25 now and was 11 years old in 1996. Was I a casual gamer because I was playing and loving Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and other 2D platformers? Not to mention, I purchased Earthbound when it first came out in the big box, was there for the excitement when Secret of Mana came out, bought a N64 for Super Mario 64 and bought a PlayStation for Final Fantasy 7, though I still think Kefka would win 10 out of 10 rounds against that little emo biatch named Sephiroth.
I can understand the term casual gamer as it relates to getting one's sister, mother, father, and grandparents to play a title such as Wii Sports. That is where the discussion ends.
Titles such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Metroid: the Other M, Red Steel, and on are not casual titles. If it has Mario, Metroid, or Donkey Kong in the title then we are not talking casual, we are talking old school gamers who grew out of videogames, but have purchased the new "Mario" title because it brings them back to their gaming days in the 1980s and 1990s for an experience they can share with their children.
Congratulations on calling yourself "core" or "hardcore," now go into PC gaming because that is where the majority of the cutting edge titles have come from since Diable and Fallout in the mid 1990s, through Far Cry, Half Life, and Crysis.
