there are so many easy games!? but so little hard! Why?? and your so right.

Because hardcore gamers spend much longer playing games so a game which is difficuly and requires you to invest alot of time is going to be hardcore.

Having said that I think since the transition to 3D games have gotten much easier. Now if you figure out what you have to do you are sorted (and you even have internet sites that tell you what to do). In the days of Nes games were so difficult they could drive youi insane (I'm looking at you Contra, Battletoads, Ninja Turtles, Ninja Gaiden)

I don't think a game being excessively hard makes it hardcore, but a game can't be too easy either. In my mind, hardcore is about how deep a game is, and how much time you put into a game.

I don't think that hardcore has anything to do with sex and violence, which seems to be the definition for a lot of people.

Hard games:

Guitar Hero
Bejeweled
Chess

Easy games:

GTA 4
Half Life 2
MGS 4




"Hardcore" games are easy, casual games are hard.

I don't do either of those things though because, difficulty and competition are just two aspects.  I agree with the Fun part. It's not always about fun, to a hardcore gamer it's more about satisfaction than fun.

Sometimes it's score, sometimes it's beating other people, sometimes, it's about time consumption.  But really it's about looking to games for something that that other things don't provide.

My definition is trying to leave it open to the many types of hardcore gamers.

Most of the time when I play, I couldn't give a crap how the game or the other players are telling me how I did.  It's more about doing things.  I still take my gaming much more seriously than casual gamers do.  And I know many casual gamers who are extremely competitve and then forget all about games for a long time.  Then they play a little bit and are competitive again.

Sometimes I wish the word hardcore would just die. Who cares if you define the game as core or not. You should define it as fun to play/not fun to play. End of story.

Well, most RPG's are very easy, in the way that you'll seldom die, still the story and the depth/sidequests/lenght make it worthwhile.
FPS's are also pretty easy most of the times, but it's the involvement, tactical possibilities and mayhem that makes it also very good for the hardcore.

But hard games like Ninja Gaiden, Old NES games, Metroid, etc are of course very suited for hardcore because it will involve lots of restarts and slow progress.

Really? I find that a lot of people see the whole FPS genre as "hardcore" but most FPSs are really easy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_II#Gameplay

"While for normal players the game doesn't end when they die (as they are resurrected into that act's home town), the game ends when a hardcore character is killed."

I think thats where it is from.

hard games arn't always HARD!