AAA Games and Other Buzzwords

I've been following this industry for some time in a variety of fashions, as a gamer mainly, as a retail peon who specialized in game sales, and as a freelance writer (okay, that's exclusively her on BitMob, but I digress) and one thing has been sticking at me. Okay, not only one thing, but those aren't the focus of the article. As I was saying, one thing's been getting my ire up consistently, and that's the use of terms like AAA, indie, casual, hardcore, and the like, often in a biased discussion.

For example, I hear people saying that they will not buy any game apart from a AAA title because they are the best. I also hear people using the term indie title as a club to beat down games that don't have $50 million devoted to their making. That's not to say that it's only one way though. I have heard just as much bashing on a big production game as a disappointment or smaller team titles getting free passes for major flaws because they're “indie”. Of course, the less said about the casual vs. Hardcore debate the better (though my observations seem to say that people define “hardcore” as drab military shooters or sport titles and casual as anything else) though it's just as prevalent when people like to park themselves in a particular camp.

One person is making the new virtual crack.

Here's the problem with the abuse of those terms: they mean nothing. All they are is buzzwords that publishers and developers coined garner attention for a particular title that the rest of the industry picked up on, then subsequently, the gaming populous took to heart. You can ask a dozen people to define the terms I mentioned and a few more,and you will find at least totally different responses, and a variant on those 5 for each person. These are the definition of buzzwords. They are terms that mean nothing that are used for marketing yet people try to define them to make themselves important.

“But Bobby”, I can hear you crying out. “It's an indicator of quality and devotion to a game by the development team.” No it's not. Red Alert 3 and Fallout: New Vegas were considered AAA releases, yet they could barely function on launch and are really nothing more than cash ins on an established brand. Magicka and Space Pirates And Zombies are literally a few people in a building (the latter is 2 roommates even) yet the former uses a publisher so it's not independent and both games are relatively well polished for their contents. I'm sure you can give examples disputing mine, but that just furthers my point that the terms are meaningless.

$200 million and hundereds of people can still make a poor quality game.

There was a time when such terms did not exist. “AAA” was a side of beef and “indie” was a director who made artistic movies with no plot. As far as games though, there was only one definition scale: Good games downward to Bad games. Honestly, it should be that way again, not whether a game is regarded as AAA or indie, and there shouldn't be allowances granted in either case. Don't be fooled by buzzwords. Judge the game on it's own merits, not something a PR person threw out there.

Tags: Red Alert 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Minecraft, Magicka, Space Pirates And Zombies

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Jason Lomberg

May 22, 2011

I disagree that terms like "casual," "core". and "AAA" mean nothing, but they are misused.

I'd define a "casual game" as one with an easy learning curve, is always a pick up and play experience, and lacks depth (for better or worse). Games that fit this definition: Wii Sports, Angry Birds, Wii Fit, Kinect Adventures, etc.

I'd define a "core" game as one with a steeper learning curve, a deeper experience, and one that assumes a basic foreknowledge of gaming skills. Games that fit this definition: Modern Warfare series, Madden Series, Tactical RPGs, JRPGs, Mass Effect series, Portal 1 & 2, etc.

"Core" is more than sports and shooters, and whether we acknowledge it or not, developers make the distinction between core and casual when they design their games. There may be a fine line at times, and some games straddle that line, but one can usually distinguish between the two.

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Bobby Krell

Though one can say "yes, that's a hardcore game" or "that's a casual game" in their own observation, the very next person you meet might not have the same answer. I have seen Mario and Mega Man games, both fitting your definition as "core" referred as casual (okay, I have seen mega man games referred to as $^%#$% as well, but that's beside the point) and I have seen people say that if it's not a military "me vs the world" FPS or franchised sport title, it's not hardcore. That's my point. You're definition is not the standard definition, because there isn't one. People try to give it one to rally behind or against, which just adds to the confusion.

And as for AAA, I've seen it used as a reference for quality, when a fair number of games just don't pass muster yet are allowed to do so because of the "prestige" of being a AAA title. The only real common theme I've seen around that is that it's big budgets by big name publishers who use it to generate hype.

It's akin to a writing/filming/design rule. If used too much, it becomes worthless. In this case, they're used too much without any real universal definition for them, which renders them meaningless when they had no real meaning in the first place.

I don't worry myself with what others think, especially when their opinions are entirely subjective, and based on personal taste. My definitions, imperfect as they are, attempt to objectify such terms. The people you describe seem like they're merely recounting their favorite games, not giving an objective analysis. Objectivity transcends personal taste.

Yes, different gamers may define "core" and "casual" differently, but I'd bet developers have a pretty clear idea. I doubt Zynga would market their titles to fans of Final Fantasy Tactics, nor would Bioware market Mass Effect 3 to Wii Sports fans (if that's not a contradiction). The latest 'Ville title is aimed at a very specific audience, as is Modern Warfare 3, Yakuza 4, and Tactics Ogre Gaiden.

Ryan Knutson

May 29, 2011

Thanks for writng this! It's given me a lot to think about in terms of the languge we use in our gaming community every day, and how we promote each 'buzzword' on an individual basis, only to make it grow with each use (sometimes for the worst... 'gamification' anyone? No? Forget I mentioned it.)

You're welcome, and it does seem overused, especially in marketing circles. Publishers often announce their next big budget "AAA" title, when they don't make anything that has a budget less than $50 million, which renders it moot. Likewise a team that started off indie announce their next "indie" title and subsequently say they've teamed up with a particular publisher, which according to one definition means it's not an indie game anymore.

Worse still, it's taken over references of genre when being described. I've seen Half Life 2 described as a "AAA hardcore game" more often than I've seen it described as a FPS, which tells me nothing apart from it had a big budget to make. It's just become a major headache.

Staci Krause

June 03, 2011

The words casual games are extremely misused, and mostly it's by the hardcore gamer (most casual gamers just call the games they play 'games'). However, I think there's a very clear definition, when you sit down and think about it. Casual games are accessible, simple, and cheap. I disagree that the lack depth - Plants vs. Zombies has a surprising amount of depth, as does Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials and Diner Dash.

The problem we have now is that social gaming has cropped up and bred an entirely new group of gamers who are neither casual nor core gamers and we aren't yet sure how to define that type of game, so we call it casual. I think the industry will eventually figure it out and stop lumping casual and social gaming together, because they really don't work well in a group.

Andrew Lasater

Your examples are spot-on. A game can be "casual" and still have a certain depth that entices even the most jaded of "core" gamers.(see my avatar for another example)

Great comment on a great article. I think I'm starting to like these BitMobber people and their discussions.