[Tarrek]

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.