Here is a problem most people don't take into consideration. The distinction between the game and the player.
Hardcore games/casual games
Hardcore players/casual players
A hardcore player can play a casual game. The example being someone playing Carnival Games for weeks straight.
A casual gamer can play a hardcore game. The example being someone playing COD4 for an hour a week.
However, the bigger issue is simply that there are no real distinctions between a hardcore game and a casual game because very few actually require a hardcore gamer or casual gamer to enjoy them. Each player puts forth whatever amount of commitment to the game they wish.
What most people try to categorize as hardcore or casual is the overall tone or theme of the game. However this is a completely arbitrary point as noted above in the examples but one that has been propagated by the elitist gaming journalism and accepted under false idealisms by elitist gamers who feel they require a distancing of themselves from 'casual' games.
So to answer your question, is Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz hardcore? It is if you play it as such. If you put the effort into it, it's hardcore. If you play it casually, it's casual.
In other words, games are not hardcore or casual by their content but by the means in which the player plays them. If you can surmise a better definition than that, I'm willing to listen.
The rEVOLution is not being televised
