As someone who sometimes spends most of the weekend playing Xbox 360 games, or sometimes spends the weekend doing other things and plays no games at all, and is certainly impartial to the occasional game of Angry Birds on the iPad, I'd certainly describe myself simply as a gamer - not hardcore or casual (whatever those terms mean).

i'm still upset the term was stolen by video game players. a gamer plays REAL games - actual pen and paper RPGs or boardgames, face to face with real people. The word meant that years before it was co-opted by you lot!

go to www.boardgamegeek.com and discover some proper games!

uhhhh, no! The mother of three who tootles away on bejewelled is most definitely NOT a gamer! I think you have to make a distinction between those gamers who use a genuine "platform" to game on (ie: PC or console), and those that use tablets or mobiles to "tootle" time away between Days of our lives and Dr Phil.

I definitely don't distinguish between casual and hardcore, if you're gamin', you're gamin'. But people who play the odd round of Angry Birds or mahjong on thier phone can't legitimately claim to be gamers. It'd be like playing fantasy rugby and telling everyone you manage a super 15 team!

Great topic to raise. I used to play games for a lot of hours. I am now the father of a 5 week old baby and as you mentioned there is just not enough time in the day. I guess i'm still a gamer though, i play my ps3 now and then on the odd night where bubs is settled and doesnt need much seeing to. I play the same games but maybe just in watered down time frames! :)

Call of duty Nuff said

I like to define the difference between a casual gamer and a hard-core gamer more from the games they play, rather than the time they play. I class most smart phone and tablet games as casual. The majority have no real substance or depth, are very short, and often push the social/viral aspects. PC and console games generally have a steeper learning curve, longer play times, better graphics, and a much bigger development budget.

I have searched for a decent iPad game that I like, but the closest I have come is Civ Revolutions. I think tablets are tailor-made for deep, turn-based strategy, rather than action games, due to the interface. Back to Civ though, the original game was one of my favourite games of it's era, but the iPad game has dumbed down and shortened the game for improved graphics. A direct port of the original would have been better for me! All this for mass-market appeal to "casual" gamers.

I fear that the distinction is far too entrenched to be redacted. I love games, and sink hours in when I get a chance to play them. Does that make me a hard-core, casual, casual hard-core or a hard-core casual? Much of the casual / hardcode debate centres on the elitist attitude of what constitutes a good game, that and trying to enforce their brand of a good game on others. To turn what you have posted around slightly Gerard, would you yourself call someone who played bejewelled eight hours a day hard-core? Someone who played Battlefield 3 for 30 minutes while they were waiting for their washing to be done casual? I think you might, but a lot of people wouldn’t.

Just another pointless 'school yard' argument like the Windows vs Mac or Xbox vs PlayStation debates. Why would you feel superior to someone just based on the amount of time you spend gaming?

If someone told me they spent 20 hours a week at the hospital reading stories to the sick children then I would be genuinely impressed. If someone told me they spent 20 hours a week playing Call of Duty I would just think "meh, so what?".

@#3 couldnt have put it better,thats exactly what i was thinking. @#2 Noone cares about boardgames,i dont think anyone who plays boardgames has ever been called a gamer,my mum and nana arnt gamers and they smash cludo.

I think its just they people who dedicated to a few games that they cant stop playing and sink days into,(for me reach,and COD)that want to be called hardcore,but i agree with gerard,Were all on the same page here,gamers are generally a level headed bunch.we should be working together

Agree with Karlos, also i really dislike the term 'gamer' i prefer to call people video game enthusiast