I think it makes for an interesting read, but the only thing that gives me pause is this:
A true hardcore gamer is a person who has love for ALL games and ALL game systems. They might have preferences but are never "fanboys". They understand that every system was good and bad in it's own ways and don't make lame excuses for why a system is doing good or bad.
I wouldn't disqualify someone from "hardcore" status just because they're a system-specific fanboy. I think you can be a hardcore gamer and still think the Xbox 360 is a joke because of the Red Ring of Death or that the PSP has a crap library or that the Wii is just for kids.
I think hardcore is a state of mind, and to me it's more wrapped up in how much time you spend dwelling on games when you're not playing them. I eat, sleep and breathe video games, and I keep track of them via web sites and podcasts and all the rest. I think that qualifies me as hardcore.
My mother, in contrast, has been playing video games as long as I have. She got addicted to the Atari 2600 version of
Pac Man and achieved scores on it that I could never hope to touch. She regularly plays
Zuma on the PC and whips my ass when I try it. I consider her a casual gamer because when she's not playing the games, she's not really thinking about them too much.
A similar point was made recently at Penny Arcade:
I was going through a thread earlier this morning full of those who couldn't understand why people keep buying the 360, and part of it is almost certainly because of people like my sister. She doesn't define herself spiritually by her console choice and doesn't track hardware failure rates. She is only a "gamer" during the time the console is on, the same way she ceases being a "toaster" once her toast is complete. She is utterly devoid of the received wisdom we amass as enthusiasts, and the joy she wrings from the medium is not diminished as a result.
I love my Wii and use it regularly, but I'm just as guilty of not labeling it a hardcore system because most of the people I know who've bought one fall into that same casual category. The system is non-threatening to them. I would not want it to be my only game system because the controls and software tend to be a little too specialized to give me the gaming experiences I want.
