Hardcore vs. Casual: Are All Players Equal?

Cheat Code Central's Austin Wood writes: "Let’s try to put our finger on the definition of a hardcore gamer, shall we? Are you officially hardcore when you own dozens of games across several consoles? Maybe it’s based on what kind of games you play, with RPGs, with their immense depth, comprising the hardcore market. Do I have to invest a certain amount of hours per week into gaming, or play on the highest difficulty to be hardcore? If I find beating a game gratifying and don’t just 'play for the fun of it,' am I hardcore now? Do I have to be of a certain age and still enjoy older titles?"

[StrongMan]

Of course not. You can't count on casuals to buy lots of games and new hardware. Compare the sales of the biggest core console game(COD) to the sales of the biggest casual console game.