There has been a lot of talk this gen about which games  and which systems are "hardcore" and which are "casual". Similarly, there has been a lot of talk about the "Nintendo hardcore" diminishing. The Wii has supposedly taken over the mantle of the "casual" Ps2. This must mean, therefore that the Gamecube was a "hardcore" console yet i remember, looking back at last gen the Gamecube was labelled a "kiddie" console as was the N64 before it. Reminiscing about the N64 games line-up i would say it seems pretty "super hardcore" to me now. Also, looking at the attach rate of the GC i would say that was pretty "hardcore" too. Do people really believe the so-called Nintendo hardcore base is diminishing or do they think that the new expanded fanbase will, in time become Nintendo hardcore? I say this because next-gen i believe many Wii buyers will show brand loyalty to Nintendo. For the record, i don't really buy into all this "casual/hardcore" stuff. I believe any game can be played in a "hardcore" fashion. Even Animal crossing. You should see the hours i've clocked up on it.

edit: meh, never mind, I was just ranting

They were so hardcore that no one bought them

Suppose something could be too "hardcore" for the mass market but i have to say i was disappointed with the N64's sales particularly because it was an AMAZING console which gave me hours and hours of fond memories......

@ Ragebot. Rant away. I would be interested to hear your opinion.

I thought them both to be hardcore enough to compete with their rival consoles. Wii is the first casual console in my opinion since it attracts mostly non-gaming people.

The N64 had a very hardcore attitude. It just didn't get Metal Gear Solid, all of the 5th gen REs, or Square Enix RPGs.

Gamecube also tried to be hardcore but Mario Sunshine and WindWaker were a little too "kiddie" in appearance for quite a few at the time.

Fortunately for Nintendo, Mario has had a great resurgence in popularity in recent times (after starting to hit a low in the Dreamcast and early Playstation 2 years) that I think began with the Soda commercial and Mario 64 then New Super Mario Bros. on DS and has carried through to Galaxy and the upcoming New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Galaxy 2.

Well, my rant is about the fact that pepole throw around the term "hardcore" all the time, the N64 wasn't hardcore, also the PS1 wasn't, nor the Xbox, GC, PS2, Wii, PS3 or 360.
Pepole misuse the term hardcore these days, how come that pepole who play Halo, Gran Turismo, GTA or Zelda considered "hardcore"? Pepole misuse this term all the time, pepole who "play" Wiifit or Wii sports aren't "casual gamers", they are non-gamers, as nintendo sees them, even they don't see themselves as "gamers", so why gamers look at them as "casual gamers"? I don't know.

I just don't understand why every single person who likes to play normal games is considered "hardcore", is every single person who likes Metallica considered a "hardcore metalhead"? Maybe by pepole who only listen to Metallica and/or pepole who don't listen to Metal music at all.

So about the topic - I don't consider the GC or N64 any more "casual" than the PS1 or PS2, because I don't think that the way a game looks has any effect on it's "casuality", I only look at the gameplay.
But a lot of "hardcore" pepole look more on the fluff, like realistic graphics and/or gore to determine what is a kiddie game, since in their opinion a game that appeal to kids as well is a kiddie game

I don't think Nintendo has particularly tried to make any of their consoles particularly "hardcore" i think they just concentrate on making games. I agree with the Mario comment though. I think both he- and Nintendo are seeing a resurgance in popularity.

Did anyone even use the terms Hardcore and Caual before this generation?