So in other words,

Fiction: Hardcore

Non-fiction: Casual

Meaning that Silent Hunter III is casual, and Bookworm adventures is hardcore?

Things would be so much easier if people would just drop those inaccurate memes and accept that there is no such thing as a "casual" or "hardcore" gamer. There are varying levels of interest and enthusiasm towards individual games, types of games, and gaming in general, but to assume that all people fall into one or the other absolute extreme in all things relating to games is just simple-minded and childish.

Chess is a very accessible game. A great deal of board games are too. They don't set up high barriers to entry, usually having only enough rules to make sure that the experience has some solidity to it. These accessible games are almost always simple, mostly because complexity makes for additional learning time and thus will drive off more impatient potential players.

Conversely, games with enormous rulesets like Dungeons & Dragons are very inaccessible. These overly complex games have entire manuals dedicated to just a single aspect of how to play them, in extreme cases. They tend to appeal to a niche of players as a result.

And in between the extremes are the gray areas, for games like Risk and Gin Rummy. There are a great deal of these sorts of games, which are not immediately accessible, but are not inherently inaccessible, either. Of course, when you get right down to it, there's a spectrum of complexity, and not just three levels of accessibility (simple, middling, complex). Much like how there's not just two (or three) types of gamer that can conveniently be labeled "casual" or "hardcore", actually.

Show a little more respect for the many spectrums of possibility. That is all.

I hope you will forgive me, but your lampooning of this misuse of terms is beginning to border on the pedantic. I think it has been sufficiently highlighted that no one can really define what "hardcore" and "casual" means.

Well we've got an answer!

From Wikipedia,

So there you have it.  Chess is casual.

As a stupid casual gamer, tricked into buying Wii because of a gimmick, who knows nothing about gaming except for flash games I play at work,  I happily welcome Chess as a game my kind is allowed to play.  HOORAY FOR CHESS!

I've decided I love all this Hardcore/Casual stuff - just mad entertaining (in terms of post contents).

As for Chess, I love it, and would simply say its easy to learn but hard to master.

Yes. That is basically my point. About the games you are proposing as examples, I cannot contradict because I am way more casual than you and I don't know them.

Just consider this:

CASUAL GAMES:

Wii fit

Wii music

Wii Sports

Cooking Mama

Nintendogs

Guitar Hero

Hardcore Games

Final Fantasy

GTA

Metal Gear Solid

Zelda

Gears of War

Ok, the thing here is that there are few Absolute casual or hardcore games. Lots of games can be in between.  And yes, both of this list can be played in a harcore or casual way. BUT, the casual list may too shallow for a hardcore gamer to enjoy, and the gameplay of hardcore list too complex for the casual to find fun to play.

How do you play tennis? Swing the raquet or Wiimote, just like in real life

How do you play the drums? Hit them with the sitcks or Wiimote and Nunchuk  ...just like in real life

How do I cook. Stir to mix the ingrediendients on a bowl with a spoon or the Wiimote ...just like in real life

How do I play the guitar, well grab the real guitar or plastic guitar ...just like in real life

How do I pet my dog? Well caress its head with your hand or stylus. ...just like in real life

How do I play chess? Select a piece and move with your hand or wii pointer ...just like in real life

How do I cast a spell In Final Fantasy? which are the buttons I should press? Oh here comes another menu... What do I do now? (oh, forget it. This is no fun)

How do I steel a car? just press x (Not like in real life)

                                                              ....And I think you know what I mean

So I think games are aimed mainly to hardcore gamers may be called hardcore, and games aimed mostly to casuals can be called casual games. But you can always try to play them in a casual or hardcore way.

For those people who say that the Wii has mostly casual games, I don't disagree. But Wii owners still can choose some hardcore games from its library like Zelda, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, etc, etc, etc. Those 4 games I just mentioned I played and found them awesome. But I have a Wii for my family. My wife loves Cooking mama, guitar Hero and so on. My four years son loves Rayman, SuperMario Party 8, and loves to watch me play any Mario game.

And there are tons of games which are bridge games, not absolute hardcore, not absolute casual, maybe a little bit of both which most of us love to play together like Star Wars the complete Saga, Super Mario Kart, Wii sports and Wiiplay and others I don't recall.

Actually I think there are a lot of hardcore games for the Wii which I haven't come to like yet, because maybe they are just bad hardcore games like: The godfather, Scarface, Accent Core, Red Steel, Opoona, Need for Speed, etc...

So yes Fiction+"videogame tradition and videogamish gameplay"=hardcore

Simulation of Reality+simplified pick and play gameplay=casual.

What I strongly disagree is Casual=stupid or bad games. Hardcore=smart or good games. They are just for different tastes

I told you

EDIT: It is casual as a video game. But if you play, any hardcore video gamer plays, Wii chess online against a Chess master with no video game skills he is probably kicking everybody's ass anyway... That means that hardcore gamers shouldn't feel superior to casual a priori