No, this is not a rhetorical question.
I've been reading all sorts of articles where people claim that certain things are for "hardcore gamers", but I've never been able to grasp the line between "hardcore" and "casual".

Is a hardcore gamer someone who is obsessed with gaming? The person who stays up until five in the morning playing Smash Bros, Call of Duty, and the like?

Is a hardcore gamer someone who plays "mature" games, with plenty of blood, sexual themes/nudity, violence, profanity, and drug abuse?

Is a hardcore gamer someone who sees gaming as their primary source of entertainment, and plays "quality" titles?

Or is there something else that defines what a hardcore gamer is?

Help/clarification would be great.

I'd say someone who considers gaming a serious hobby and they put time into it. They often know developers names, game history, and industry happenings the same way a film buff would know directors, producters, and Hollywood news and happenings.

A casual on the other hand is someone who occationally plays games, the same way people go see movies but couldn't tell you who J.J. Abrams is.

There are hardcore FPS players, hardcore MMO players, hardcore RTS players, hardcore platformers (just look at those speed runs!). People who treat it like a hobby, and generally their primary source of leisure.

Being hardcore means not being casual. Casuals will buy a console just because everyone has it, will play only the most extremely main stream games like the newest CoD and make fun of people who play Nintendo

That makes sense. I haven't really thought of it like that.

Added after 3 minutes:

Well, I don't know about the Nintendo part, but mainstream games seems like a good point.

Then again, mainstream games might be popular because they deliver quality experiences. o.o
I haven't played much CoD, so it's out of my subject range.

A game that takes weeks to complete is a hardcore game.

A hardcore gamer is someone who will spend weeks trying to complete a game.

Don't confuse Elitists with Hardcore Gamers. There's a difference. Elitist PC gamers will say all console gamers are casuals who are RUINING GAMING. Elitist MMO Raiders will mock pretty much everyone else in the game even if someone plays tons of hours and accomplish impressive feats (like the psycho who did the 85 level pacifist run in WOW, never killed anything but got to level 85, that's hardcore no matter how you slice it).

Elitist FPSers will consider everything else kiddy, Elitist RTSers will consider everyone else idiots who can't handle complicated games... then you have console fanboys and that's an entire different kettle of fish.

Me? I consider gaming my hobby, I'd say I'm hardcore, but I'm not one for multiplayer games, some Elitists would say that disqualifies me right there, but on those single players I love so much I go for 100% completion with no guides, which so far as I can tell would qualify me.

A hardcore gamer is defined by their love of games and gaming. You can't brand someone as hardcore or casual for the games they play as it is possible to play a hardcore game casually or to play a casual game in a hardcore way.

Yeah just like those hardcore Farmville gamers . If someone were to only play Farmville and maybe some other casual games on their phone or something then i would say that they're a casual gamer regardless of how much they play them. By only playing casual games it makes them a casual gamer, though i would say it is possible for them to be a hardcore casual gamer.

The way I see it is like ah-this:

Hardcore: Someone who spends a ton of mullah every year on games. Plays them non-stop. A true gamer, as in gaming IS their life. They participate in competitions, they stand outside in line for a new game/console. etc

Casual: Someone who just comes home from work, sits and decides to play a game. Plays games when company is over in a party mood. Gaming is NOT a priority more or less a pastime. they get only certain games. Ya know what I mean.

That be-eth my definitions.

In my experience, it's a title insecure people who play games give to themselves so that they can look down their noses at other people who play games a bit less frequently or play games they don't happen to like.