PART 2:
Casual Gamer:
How can you recognize a casual gamer (without asking the obvious question)?
They are the most difficult to recognize and describe. They seem to know many things about games but they lack the only one thing that is so defines the hardcore gamers, and is: dedication.
There is no effective way to certainly say about a person that he is a casual gamer.
But let's try a few things:
Start a conversation with someone that is standing or sitting near the person you want to know about. Make sure the person is within hearing range and he doesn't looking at you nor he pays any attention to you and your conversation. Mention a name of a certain game that was quite a hit and raised some followers in your conversation, then quickly see if that person has stirred his glance and got interested.
Okay, if he glanced at you even for a split second but didnt say anything, it's cool. This person might be living in denial. Continue your conversation but now mention another game that was released recently but was not a hit, maybe even a bad one or one that was disappointing (not just in your opinion), also try to mention a game that you think would suit the persons' attitude or your first impression about him, you might get surprised at your guess effect. For example, try "Duke Nukem: forever" or other bad game (please, don't judge me). If after saying this the person looked at you again. It means that he might be the one you looking for. Otherwise, he might be shy or he might don't even know what you talking about. Anyway, move to plan B.
In this case you'll have to make a direct contact, nothing to do about it. Start a conversation and ask him about computer devices that are converted to gamers. For example: "I was reading this article about this super sensitivity for a mouse and the ability to change its weight, what do you think about it?"
Another one: "Why and is it helpful to own a keyboard in which you can change and replace the buttons and almost each button can be assigned multiple functionalities?"
If his answers were: "I don't care about this mouse. Just give my one for 10 bucks and I'm settled" or "A convertible keyboard? blah. Who the hell need this stuff anyway, better someone solve me the patrol problem", this type of answers reveals you that the glances that he was giving you were just because he didn't had the slightest idea of what are you talking about. He is definitely not a gamer, leave him be.
Otherwise, if that person is telling you one of the following: "This kind of mouse would be awesome to play Counter Strike or other shooter game, where you need precise accuracy" or "This keyboard can solve my problems when I play Starcraft or other Strategy game".
If those where the answers, the last thing to ensure is that it's not a shy hardcore gamer. This part should be simple; and you already know what to do. The simplest thing is to ask "what do you do in your free time?" if he answers: "I don't know, maybe I'll watch a TV or read a book or something" Then this is a casual gamer.
If the answer was one of the following: "I'll finish the game I started yesterday, I've left the last boss fight for today" or "I'm gonna blast some aliens tonight" and the last one "I'll probably will be writing/filming a complete walkthrough guide to one of my favorite games" so you should know, you hit the hardcore one.
Description of a casual gamer:
There are actually two types of those casual gamers.
The ones that live in denial about it, and the ones that accepted the fact.
Those who live in denial will not tell you or anyone else about it, nor will they reveal it somehow, unless you are a true friend of them and you ask them directly about it.
You can be friend with him couple of years and you would never guess if he is a casual gamer or not (note to myself to check on my mates).
Those gamers are afraid or worried about what might the others think about them. Like prejudices and stuff.
They don't want to be called nerds among their friends and they want to be accepted among the circle of those around them but at the same time they won't quit the gaming which they enjoy a lot. Frankly, they don't have to tell anybody about it as long as they are fine with this arrangement.
The ones that accepted the fact that they are gamers won't think twice about speaking about it. They may irritate some people and lose some friends first, but they'll quickly gain others, more like themselves, speaking the same language. Those people will gladly reveal you the plans for the upcoming game night launch and the website with the best prices for preordering a game. They won't hide the facts but also they won't be telling it in publicity.
The common between the two:
Those people have a great amount of knowledge about games.
Although, they wont be playing any game you give them, in this case they are slightly selective and will only go to those game launches which are so huge that the president himself would be there too.
They'll be spending their evening time watching movies or reading a book or walking outside with friends, but if they might happen to have even half an hour for themselves they'll sit in front of their screen, adjust the speakers volume just so it will be heard slightly outside their room and play some games until very late.
Unlike the hardcore gamers, casual gamers are well aware of the time and space. They realize that in about 4-5 hours they'll have to go to work/school so they almost always know when to quit and get a rest but often they miss this time by telling themselves: "Just another level/mission" or "just another fight" or "until the next checkpoint". They'll always quite the game if they have something more urgent to do. They usually don't have a problem to leave the game for a better time to play it.
They probably won't be playing the same game twice. Unless is classic. And most likely they will not want to search the entire day for collectibles or beating challenges again and again to platinum the game they play. Finishing the last level, and defeating the last boss is good enough for them.