Real Gamers

• They'll play just about everything that's good/entertaining.
• They often make their opinions of games after playing these games through themselves.
• They have an open mind to everything.
• They're in just about every age group.
• They don't play games for appearances and place value in obscure and eccentric games.
• They play games for entertainment purposes.
• They are generally tolerant of Hardcore Gamers and Casual Gamers.

Hardcore Gamers

• They often avoid games that don't get high reviews from reviews sites/publications.
• They often make their opinions of games by watching trailers and reading reviews/impressions.
• They limit what games they play to specific genres, publishers, developers and console manufacturers.
• They're often 15-25 years of age.
• They like to be edgy and only like games that are cool to like.
• They'll often play games for entitlement; whether to say they beat it as they did other entries in a series, play to complete the story, play for online/offline rankings, or play for tournaments.
• They think Casual Gamers are a cancer that needs to die.

100 percent of those polled agree with me!

So you're 20% indifferent, 40% Not quite there and 40% Why did you make this thread?

Other people voted just to disagree with me......or I was the first vote.  I dunno.

I believe I'm a hardcore gamer, and according to your list, I do everything a real gamer does as well.

Very wrong word to use here. Define hardcore?

In all seriousness, I'm sure you were the first vote.

I think of everything gaming media makes hardcore gamers out to be.

Well, they're a bunch of liars in that case. They're fake hardcore gamers IMO because I'm the living proof I don't do any of this stuff you listed.

Then again, to me, a hardcore gamer takes gaming wayyy more seriously than normal, or casual, people. Hardcore gamers like to discuss about anything gaming (the key word here is complaining about stuff, not just graphics, but gameplay mostly). A normal gamer will just play a game and once he's done with it, that's it, no more discussion about it.

Maybe I should assess fake hardcore gamers and real hardcore gamers.

Also, based on anecdotal evidence, a casual person will talk about a game they like to someone else.  There's a reason there's social gaming.  They'll readily express their like or dislike for a game with their family and friends but not much beyond that.

Yeah, they'll say it's good for this or that reason, but I doubt they'll come up with technical reasons about game engines and stuff! I know word of mouth exists, but I really really doubt it goes beyond that. And if they start talking about games in a more serious way, then they're past the casual level IMO.