h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

CCG or Customizable Card Game is a term used for some card games which have the mechanic of being able to decide which card you play with in a deck. CCG is also used with Collectible Card Game for those games who focus one making card with varying rarities which make the cards collectible because they gain value due to rarity and the license they carry. TCG is known as a Trading Card Game and focuses on the ability of players to trade cards amoungst themselves to develop their personal collections. Games like Magic: The Gathering TCG, Star Wars CCG, Star Trek CCG, Overpower and can be consider a part of all the categories above. It is the marketing behind it which decides the category it falls in. This is so businesses can focus its marketing and promotions in a certain direction to grab the attention of its intended target audience. Companies like Decipher, Inc. (Star Wars and Star Trek CCG) trademark this designations also so that they can further promote the brand of the company. Game players then will hopefully become loyal to the company and follow those games branded with CCG or TCG. Wizards of the Coast uses the TCG category for most of its games and so gamers expect to see TCG after every game title (i.e. Magic, Harry Potter, Star Wars)

What's in a name? CCG and TCG seem to be interchangeable. They are labels - and are used referentially. You can't talk about anything without it having a name...

Is there is really any difference between the two?

There is no difference. It is simple a marketing term that different games companies have come up with to differentiate there games from others and to explain what the product is(i.e. collectible game, trading game, customizable game).

In reviewing the original CCG post, I wanted to clarify to acronyms because to the manufacturers it makes a lot of difference even though from a game play perspective it makes no difference.