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AA, AAA, and AAAA???
- Thread starter Big One
- Start date
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
amdnv said:
I've already shared my thoughts on the value of having contextual definitions for AAA, so here I will use AAA to mean "major quarterly or annual release by publisher" + "extremely high budget" without reference to genre, complexity, or theme.
Fable III got exactly an 80, a 75 for the PC release. Too Human got a 65--although it's hard to say if you would consider the final product to have high budget production values so much as it was an expensive game to make due to its development length. Lair got a 53--although Sony bailed on the game around release, undermining its ability to be AAA by virtue of publisher importance. Haze got a 55--although Ubisoft kind of bailed on the game just before release, undermining the game's ability to be AAA by virtue of publisher importance.
Most recently Duke Nukem Forever (not exclusive, so this is not a reply to you in specific) got a 45-50 Metacritic and similar user reception although it meets some of the definitions of a AAA game (significant PR, major release for publisher, extremely high budget, parts had very high production values for when it was made, from two high-pedigree teams and overseen by high-pedigree directors).
Isn't this just the hardcore/casual conversation or the next gen/current gen debate all over again?
The words don't have strict definitions; they're shorthand for some abstract set of concepts. People don't actually cut up games into 'AA', 'AAA', or 'AAAA' games. In general, 'AAA' just means 'big buget, tentpole games.' You can get into a pissing match about what games are or are not 'AAA', just like you can fight about whether the Wii is 'next gen' or whether you consider your friend who plays 'real games' but only for 2 hours a week a 'hardcore gamer.' Splitting hairs doesn't get anyone anywhere; when I say "'AAA' games are creatively bankrupt due to exceedingly large budgets" or "You'll never see the amount of experimentation an indie developer can do in a AAA game" you know what I mean.
Coming up with arbitrary 'tiers' of A-ness is just silly.
The words don't have strict definitions; they're shorthand for some abstract set of concepts. People don't actually cut up games into 'AA', 'AAA', or 'AAAA' games. In general, 'AAA' just means 'big buget, tentpole games.' You can get into a pissing match about what games are or are not 'AAA', just like you can fight about whether the Wii is 'next gen' or whether you consider your friend who plays 'real games' but only for 2 hours a week a 'hardcore gamer.' Splitting hairs doesn't get anyone anywhere; when I say "'AAA' games are creatively bankrupt due to exceedingly large budgets" or "You'll never see the amount of experimentation an indie developer can do in a AAA game" you know what I mean.
Coming up with arbitrary 'tiers' of A-ness is just silly.
Stumpokapow said:
Heh, never even knew about definitions 3 and 4, that just muddles things even further. I guess I feel that on message boards and in most of the enthusiast press it's difficult to determine the context, since people don't usually elaborate. This impedes good discussion since the correlations between all of these definitions is probably like .2 at best.
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
AAA = marketing bullshit.
It's akin to saying "it's a tier 1 SKU." At my job I sometimes make up new marketing lingo like "apex product" just to see if it sticks.
It's akin to saying "it's a tier 1 SKU." At my job I sometimes make up new marketing lingo like "apex product" just to see if it sticks.
Enosh
Member
the chances of a game someone realy likes getting a sequel depends on the sales of that game, so some coruosity about sales is to be expectedJarmel said:
and it's not just gaming, the OT has weekly movie box office threads and there is a lot of discussion about ratings for TV shows
Duke Nukem Forever is a good example (even though it's not exclusive). It's a rare case of "bad" ratings for a very high profile game. Its Metascores are 49, 53 and 54.Stumpokapow said:
Within 5 seconds I can come up with three big budget movies that have considerably worse scores. Scores that don't seem to happen for big budget games. Game ratings are horribly, horribly, horribly inflated.
Transformers Revenge of the Fallen = Metascore 35
Batman & Robin = Metascore 28
Battlefield Earth = Metascore 9
vareon said:
Yes, this. AAA games are the equivalent of Hollywood blockbusters. Some are good, some aren't. It's strictly a description of a large development and marketing budget. I like Persona 3 and 4 better than any other games this gen, and they are in no way, shape or form AAA games.
ElectricBanquet
Member
vareon said:
This is my feeling on it. If I use the term at all I use it to mean a big budget, high profile release. I never liked the use of AAA to mean "game I think is really good."
AAA to me is something used to describe one or more qualities on a game.
-big or relatively big budget
-big hype
-big quality
Not all AAA games hit all of those things. Deus Ex HR for example doesn't have a lot of press hype and I'm not sure how expensive it was, but from the leaked build it has definitely hit the big quality mark. It has a shot at winning some goty awards and really surprising some people, kind of like how Arkham Asylum kind of snuck up on people in 09.
Also Witcher 2 only cost around $10 million, which in this time is extremely low for a game of that quality. But it was still considered AAA.
-big or relatively big budget
-big hype
-big quality
Not all AAA games hit all of those things. Deus Ex HR for example doesn't have a lot of press hype and I'm not sure how expensive it was, but from the leaked build it has definitely hit the big quality mark. It has a shot at winning some goty awards and really surprising some people, kind of like how Arkham Asylum kind of snuck up on people in 09.
Also Witcher 2 only cost around $10 million, which in this time is extremely low for a game of that quality. But it was still considered AAA.
Die Squirrel Die
Member
AAA has nothing to do with quality. The analogy doesn't even work, because surely it would follow that if you wanted to denote something as being of higher than A quality you would refer to it as A+.
Houston3000
Member
AAA or "Triple-A" is either a term that comes from finance or baseball... in finance, AAA is the highest bond rating available which means it carries practically no risk. In baseball a Triple-A team is a minor league team that is so good it's considered pro-level and ready for major league (if not a team made up of major league players simply taking a break from the big-show). It's not a grade like in school.Die Squirrel Die said:
I think it can be applied to games pretty naturally. It just means really high quality.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
AA means anti-aliasing
AAA means over-hyped
AAAA is a typo.
AAA means over-hyped
AAAA is a typo.
True answer:
Each quarter stores get recommendations by suppliers on how much copies of a certain game they should stock. Those recommendations are AAA, AA, A, B, C, D if I recall correctly. AAA refers to the games that will have very, very strong consumer demand and thus should be ordered and stocked in high quantities with the following recommendations meaning less probable consumer demand respectively.
Each quarter stores get recommendations by suppliers on how much copies of a certain game they should stock. Those recommendations are AAA, AA, A, B, C, D if I recall correctly. AAA refers to the games that will have very, very strong consumer demand and thus should be ordered and stocked in high quantities with the following recommendations meaning less probable consumer demand respectively.
Cmd. Pishad'aç
Banned
From a developer standpoint:
AA - average e-penis
AAA - epic e-penis.
From an hardcore gamer standpoint:
AA - game worth of full launch price. 10 Karisma points for complaining on message boards about how a sequel could improve without even knowing anything about game development and marketing.
AAA - Its ok to scratch your social life and to gather up to 10 stinky pizza boxes in the fathers basement in order to play such a game 24/7. It's also ok to spend up to 100 on monthly fee/DLC, but not definitely on dental care for that rotten tooth, because that's too expensive.
From the casual Joe-gamer standpoint:
AA - average e-penis
AAA - epic e-penis.
From an hardcore gamer standpoint:
AA - game worth of full launch price. 10 Karisma points for complaining on message boards about how a sequel could improve without even knowing anything about game development and marketing.
AAA - Its ok to scratch your social life and to gather up to 10 stinky pizza boxes in the fathers basement in order to play such a game 24/7. It's also ok to spend up to 100 on monthly fee/DLC, but not definitely on dental care for that rotten tooth, because that's too expensive.
From the casual Joe-gamer standpoint:
Dedication Through Light
Member
faridmon said:
I dont think high production games that are always high quality gaming experiences doesnt imply a game is without flaws. AC has always had high production values and was a definitive game of the genre.
I guess Im confused on how something can be high production but not a high quality gaming experience. It reminds me of the games with great visuals but being bad games issue.
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
Aaaahh monsters!
The S-Word
Member
You know exactly what it is. You've never been confused when it was said so why even act?
polyh3dron
Banned
TheExecutive
Member
Saw "AAAA" used in a different thread. I am glad there is an official bitching thread about this because well, its stupid.
ShockingAlberto
Member
Haze?Dedication Through Light said:
Duke Nukem Forever?
Final Fantasy XIII?
You seriously can't think of a single one?
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Homefront?Dedication Through Light said:
WrenchNinja
Member
The A marker only indicates budget not quality.
les papillons sexuels
Banned
AAA is any game being backed by a major publisher, regardless of it's quality or quantity sold. It's just a buzz word. If you look at many studio's their applications ask for previous work on an AAA game.
SteveWinwood
Member
Totally off topic but does anyone have a link to the finished picture of this room full of Rare fans?Cmd. Pishad'aç said:
Frank Jaeger
Member
This OP spawned from this one: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=437663
Not sure if necessary...
Not sure if necessary...
revolverjgw
Member
AAAAy
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
Sometimes I like to take the tops off of two AA Stuffed and put them together to make AAAA Stuffed.