I'm gonna say I'm probably a little of both. I used to be hardcore, but than started college so that I can make the games that you all will be playing :)
Also, I just want to add a little something.

In my game design class, casual and hardcore are defined like this:
Casual: someone who plays games when they get the chance in between other things.
Hardcore: someone who changes or makes their schedule somewhat based around gaming.

I'll use WoW as an example. A casual player would play the game and could even be in a guild and play frequently. They just wouldn't put things in RL aside for raiding and such. A hardcore player could play for maybe even as little as an hour a day, but have a set time everyday that he does it and will put other things aside during this predetermined time.
The amount of time and skill doesn't matter and there is nothing wrong with being casual or hardcore. Also, the timing of getting games doesn't matter. I've only bought like 4 games on the release date.

1 more thing :P
I don't like the term "having a life."
Who is to say what a "life" is? Is it going to college? Having a job? Going to parties? Some people think things differently that others and enjoy different things. Why should someone who plays games a lot not "have a life," whereas someone who goes out to parties does?
Just something to think about.

i am a hardcore gamer i suppose - not one of those "PAWN'D YOU NOOBZ I AM EL33T!" or any of that shit xD
i mean i play games alot~
like team fortress 2 - play it ALLL day

Hm... I really wouldn't call myself either one, though I suppose you could say I lean more towards a hardcore gamer.

I'm a casual player, but I can easily fall into a pattern of doing almost nothing but playing for days. Particularly with new, single player games.

I used to be a hardcore gamer and literally played a game from morning till the very next morning with little rest when I was a bit younger but the older and older I get the less and less time I have for games. Being a child was awesome D: I miss my lazy days.

I think i am more of a casual gamer now. I used to be hardcore. Saving up my money for games and everything. But now college is here and i'm trying to live on my own, and i'm pretty happy with the games i got right now too ^^

Depends how one defines hardcore, but I'll let that rant go for a different time >>

I consider myself quite a hardcore gamer. When I'm not playing a video game, I'm probably doing something video game related, like writing fanfiction, thinking about the game into depths most people stay away from, and/or discussing them with other people

I play games all the time so I probably count as "hardcore" though I play things casually. I get kind of obsessed with completeing all quests or getting all achievements on some games though...

I'm a bit of both. As my life forces more of a casual gaming habit but my mind wants to be completely hardcore like my friends and like my father was when he was younger. So I'm trying to get more games and have time to play them, but I work over 40 hours a week.

Currently I'm looking into buying a gamin desktop computer since I got a Mac for my schooling and I can't game worth anything on this. WOW is pretty much the only one compatible unless you go in and change the OS. but whats the point of that when I got a Mac for a reason.
-sigh-
**back to gaming

I have ps3, xbox360, wii, DSi, psp, and some of the older systems.
Right now my favorite game is Folklore. But I'm sure that will change as soon as portal2 comes out~

Casual. We were more hardcore before.. but then we started reading more manga, watching more anime... and ofc the time when we had NO internet or any connection with the world at all. Those 4 weeks changed our mind... somehow.

Now we're mostly into the Kingdom Hearts games, which is: Kingdom Hearts II (PS2), Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded (Nitendo DS), Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days & Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. LOVE all of them ❤

I wouldn't consider myself hardcore. I don't buy a lot of games for myself but my fiance tends to buy me something if I really want it. I love games but am by no means a completionist. I like playing for their fun and story, I don't have to get every item/every quest in the game. We own a Super Nintendo, N64, Genesis, Dreamcast, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox, and have 2 desktops and a laptop in the house. We each also have our own DSs and PSPs. I just played through Dante's Inferno last week, one of my favourite game series is God of War (we own every GOW game) and right now I'm playing through Final Fantasy 7 on the PS2 ('cause we dont have a PS One anymore but had the game still). My fiance is actually sitting beside me playing Castle Crashers as I'm typing lol.

Depending on the definition, I'm a bit in between. Playing video games is fun and stuff, and I do my best to keep up on current events, but that doesn't mean a real hardcore gamer won't be able to enlighten me on something that I missed.

I'd say casual. I play games a lot but I really don't care if I get the newest game as soon as it comes out or that I know what's on the docket for next year. I'm quite satisfied with what I have, which is a Wii, PS2, and a DS Lite. When I play though, I play for extended periods of time, often hours and occasionally days before I'll drop it for a while. This has left me in a few predicaments. I am in the middle of Devil May Cry, right before a boss fight but since I haven't played in a while I'm out of practice and keep getting my ass kicked, and I can't leave the scene easily without dealing with the boss.

Used to be hardcore, now am casual due to time and funding constraints. I used to love pwning noobs hardcore on CS like megahard, but now I spend most of my days, if anything, playing single player or cooperative games with the fiance.

I think I used to be hardcore, getting various magazines and following development news online, purchasing multiple games each month, but in recent years I've almost entirely stopped buying games.

I'll still play the ones I have, often for hours and hours at a time, I just find nothing to get excited about in the industry anymore. The only sort of games I even buy anymore are remakes of games that I loved on older systems.

I go in phases, too. I'll play for two weeks straight and then not pick up a controller for a month. I find I'm more likely to play on my laptop, though, especially if I can run the game windowed, as I use it almost all day, usually.

I'm definitely a casual gamer, but I like to joke that I'm a hardcore casual gamer because while the frequency in which I play is definitely casual I play my games with the intensity of a hardcore gamer. :U

LOL. > w <

I'm a casual gamer only because I don't have money to buy my own systems and thus mooch of my friends. Namely Ulti who has gotten me more than one video game in the past. ^^;;

I would love to a little more hardcore when it comes to gaming, not a lot, just a little bit. However, it's not very plausible right now because of school (time wise or money) and it makes me kinda sad. There is a group of friends that I can't really hang out with because they are all hardcore gamers and when I go and sit with them I have no idea what they are talking about....even though they are some of the nicest people I've met.

I'd say it depends on the games im interested at the time, cuz some i'll get really into and play for hours a day most everyday, but then others i might not touch for a few weeks at a time, so i'd be in the middle but leaning a bit toward casual gamer.

I'd say I'm more of a casual gamer

definitely casual, I often won't touch a game for months, sometimes years. but woe be it to any that take my games, I will know, and I will hunt them down LOL

I'd be casual too, i only play games from time to time, never alone though only if its multiplayer i'll play xD

I've always been a super obsessive hardcore gamer. It's a problem. XD It hinders my social life (lolwhatsociallife) and pretty much everything else. If it wasn't for having to work, I would literally spend 24/7 playing the game nonstop until I passed out from exhaustion. Just to continue as soon as I wake up.

I caused myself to have a grand mal seizure from playing games too much once. Hospital and all. @o@

I DON'T HAVE AN ISSUE. REALLY.

Totally casual. I think some hardcore gamers are admirable but then I realize just how much work it is to be good at so many, not to mention the money it takes. lol!

I am confined to the few games we have, or that I borrow. Many of which are first person shooters that are okay, but I love rpgs the most. So maybe that's why I haven't played much.

I am a Casual gamer but could easily step it up to in between. If I get into a game I can spend hours on it before realizing it's dark outside. Normally I don't do this since it's hard to find games I like to play with that dedication.

I am A MidCore Gamer