GamerWiki:Village Pub (policy)
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Using GamerWiki Content
Please be aware of new policy at GamerWiki:Policy and GamerWiki:Copyrights regarding the use of GamerWiki content. -- tyagi 02:17, 12 Aug 2005 (UTC)
CERO
We had PEGI and ESRB already; CERO is the Japanese equivalent. I've put it into the GameInfoBox, which means that all existing games will show it as a sort of error ... thats progress, I suppose! Xevious 12:28, 30 Aug 2005 (UTC)
BBFC
How about BBFC also (same certification body as movies)? It is legally binding in the UK. --Barthax 10:05, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
BBFC sort of replaces PEGI/ELSPA in situations where such a certificate is given. Certainly, the PEGI rating has always matched the BBFC one. I'd be tempted to not include it. Xevious 10:14, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
Notebars for multiformat
I've previously said that we should include a notebar in the multiformat games template pages to point to where these can be edited. However, I've just noticed that if you try and edit one of the pages that these templates feed into (say, Rugby Challenge 2006 (PC)) then it gives you a link to the template anyway. Should we get rid of the notebar, since it is just clutter on the page really? Xevious 18:26, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
No comments, so I've decided it goes. Any existing templates should have to removed as and when they're edited. Xevious 10:14, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
Principal designer
I vote we get rid of this from the GameInfobox. Very few games have it, and it's pretty ambiguous. It should be included in the credits anyway. We don't need to go through and remove it from every listing, just remove it from the template - so not much work at all. Who agrees? Xevious 18:32, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
I agree. I don't think the principle designer field really adds much that can't be contained in the game's credits field. -- tyagi 05:44, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
List of XXX games
(Originally seperate discussions on individual's talk pages, so timeline & responses may seem a little odd in places.)
Is it worth having a List of ... page for those platforms with large quantities of games (similar to List of Sony Playstation 2 Games)? Also: is it worthwhile defaulting the template to use a List of ... link in the Games section? --Barthax 22:32, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
Actually, with the system that's in place, there will eventuially be no need for pages such as List of Sony Playstation 2 Games. Instead, all the games will automatically be listed on the PlayStation 2 category - and this is already linked to tat the top of the system page. But for now, since we've not created pages for every game, I've left that List in, and the lists of games on each console page too. Xevious 23:04, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
Ah, of course - as the game page gets created so does the link. Things slot into place automagically. :) --Barthax 15:19, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Xevious pointed out that the structure is in place to auto-created the categories *as the game pages themselves are populated*. --Barthax 15:23, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
You got it! The only problem comes with the fact that at the moment we don't want to get rid of the big lists because they help us to know which game pages we need to create. I was going to stick that PS2 list on the Games to be Added page, but you already get a warning about page size if you try and add anything to it! Maybe I'll just stick a link on the page to the List page. Xevious 15:50, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
So for the larger lists (that haven't been added yet) it'd be easier to create a manual List of ... page until it's content gets manageable - until then have these single pages & reference them from the To Add page.
Yes, probably - but I'm not sure which consoles you're referring to - short of PC and maybe PlayStation lists? Oh, by the way, watch the capitalised S in PlayStation. I know I've missed it a few times too. Xevious 16:15, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
GamerWiki obviously has a concentration on modern stuff currently, but there's massive amounts of older stuff (obvious statement!). Making lists of what is known is far easier than filling out those game pages (again obvious - just building up the background). The current To Add page has very few older platforms, yet many platforms on GamerWiki have quite large lists on their platform-specific page already. My thoughts were aimed at giving all platforms a consistent layout for games (pointer to the specific category). Naturally this means moving the current lists on those platforms to somewhere else so that work isn't lost. Most convenient seems a temporary List Of page for each platform where large lists occur (the "Other titles" section on ZX Spectrum for example) and smaller lists on the main To Add page - creating the necessary category where applicable. --Barthax 16:29, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Actually: quick concern - is removing a page simple? Otherwise I can see precaution is required for such temporary pages. --Barthax 16:30, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Ah, OK, I understand. Yes, when I created the Games to be Added page, I only copied across a few formats, and haven't bothered to finish that with the rest - mainly because up until now there's been little evidence of them being used. I think your idea is a good one, and if you want to set up similar "List of" pages for formats where there are lots of games, please do so. Don't worry about deleting pages at some point in the future - yes, it's easy to do if you're an admin (like I am!), you just need to check all the links to that page before deleting it. I think if you do do this, then it would be very beneficial. Maybe where such a "List of" page is created, the first line of the entry should be a pointer to that page? This would then act as a secondary pointer under the "List of Games" in the blue top bar. Xevious 16:47, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Cool. Unfortunately you lost me on those last two sentences though. :( OK, "List of" page is the temporary pages and the first line of that should be a pointer to the relevant Category or to the To Add page? I'm not sure what you mean at all by the "secondary pointer [...] in the blue top bar" bit though. :(
I lost myself too! At the top of each system page, there's a blue bar which contains stuff like: Systems | Sega | Category:Sega | List of Games That last link goes to the category page, and will eventually be a complete list of the games for the system. But for now, we need a "secondary" 'list of' games. The pointer to that will be a "secondary" pointer. I think that maybe ought to go at the start of the description so that the blue bar is not implied to be the only games for the system. Maybe the pointer could be called "Other games" or something? Tell you what, I'll do it for the PS2 ... Xevious 17:10, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Superb, got it. :) --Barthax 17:17, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
I'm of the opinion that the List of... pages should be automatically generated using categories. That's what categories are for. Maintaining the list is just another job on top of actually adding useful content that we can do without. Can we move this discussion to the Village Pub? Could you kick it off? -- tyagi 19:22, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
(Combination of "private" discussions finished.)
Two platforms now altered to the "new" format: Sony PlayStation 2 and Sega Dreamcast. Both platforms have a normal (auto-generated) categories: Category:Sony PlayStation 2 and Category:Sega Dreamcast. Both platforms have a manually-created awaiting list: List of Sony Playstation 2 Games and List of Sega Dreamcast Games which both state the same philosophy from the latest video game releases and games to be added page. --Barthax 19:40, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
I think the point to make is that the "List of ..." pages are only a temporary measure, to try and cut down on firstly the long lists of games on system pages, and secondly the massive length and unweildiness of the Games to be Added page. As games are added, then the list of games will be on the category page - and the systems page will always point to that category page due to the template used. So, the PS2 page has a link to "List of Games" in the blue bar - this goes to the category page. Currently (and temporarily) it also has a link to "other games available" - this goes to the 'List Of PS2 Games' page. This latter page is a temporary thing and once all the links there are blue it will be removed. Xevious 21:23, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Platforms within platforms
This is particularly a problem with Arcade, but is likely to pose as an issue on other platforms to a small extent too. Under the arcade systems, there are some games which were released on multiple variations of platforms which turn out to be significantly different and other titles which are completely different games. As an example of both, Double Dragon on arcade has three releases (that I'm aware of): the original Double Dragon, the Playchoice release (crappy NES-port into arcade box) and the completely different versus fighter style game on the Neo-Geo platform. Springing to mind, I am aware of two different titles on the Commodore 64 both called Barbarian - IIRC, one is a scrolling fighter and the other is a versus fighter (there may be a minor variance in title which would negate this example). --Barthax 23:10, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
Interesting point. Maybe we will need to make these a special case, and change the game titles ourselves - so we would label them as Double Dragon (original) (Arcade); Double Dragon (Playchoice) (Arcade) and Double Dragon (NeoGeo) (Arcade)? It would need to be done on a case-by-case basis. There could be a disambig page at Double Dragon (Arcade). Unless anyone has any better ideas? Xevious 15:21, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
- Changed my game names to reflect what Barthax used to make sure it's clear from a policy point of view.
Games with the same title
A similar point here. I'm working through a list of Spectrum games, and there are four with the title "Aliens". I propose we have pages for Aliens (Electric Dreams) (Spectrum), Aliens (Professional) (Spectrum) and so on, and a disambiguation page at Aliens (Spectrum). Any objections? Xevious 12:10, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
Looks much better with the spacing than how I started. :D --Barthax 18:44, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
An example disambig page is at Tower of Hanoi (Spectrum) ... Xevious 09:17, 7 September 2006 (UTC)
Game Credits
I've editted a couple of articles today, and noticed the way the credits were requested were different for each. I think the one for Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain? (DS) is the more recent template, but the one for Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (GameCube) makes more sense to me, and would probably take up less space. Just wondering which one should be used? Jonster 23:11, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
- I think echoing the credit format of the game would be best - it avoids inadvertent interpretation when left unmodified (if the manufacturer can't get it right, then how are we supposed to?). See Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (PlayStation 2) and Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo-Geneva (PlayStation 2) for cases where seperation by position is a poor way (single individuals are mentioned in multiple places) and see the Hydro Thunder pages for how seperation by position is a good thing! However, in each case these examples are how those games are represented in the manual (Gran Turismo) or on-screen (Hydro Thunder) where no credits are available in the manual. --Barthax 09:51, 23 June 2006 (UTC)
- I agree with you that having the position first works better. I've changed the template to reflect this. However, as Barthax says, it depends on the game as to which way around works best. Xevious 10:45, 23 June 2006 (UTC)
Xbox Live Arcade
Is GamerWiki going to include Xbox Live Arcade games? Will they be listed as Xbox 360 games or will they have their own category? I'll make a start on them at some point when I know how you'd like them organised. Jonster 22:25, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Absolutely - we should definitely have the Xbox Live Arcade titles in GamerWiki. I'm happy for them to have dual-category. This means we have a category for Xbox Live Arcade and also put the articles in (for example) Xbox 360. This will extend to cover future Microsoft platforms which use Xbox Live Arcade. -- tyagi 08:17, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think for now just list the platform as "Microsoft Xbox 360" and the media as "download". Maybe also we'll add another category as well. Xevious 12:33, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Game Title Priority
I was curious if there's a set policy on what title is used for same games that have different names in different territories, for example Lylat Wars(Eur)/Star Fox 64(US) or Final Fantasy 3(US)/Final Fantasy 6(Jap). --DWhitney 21:00, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
- GamerWiki:Policy - third bullet point down, alternative titles are redirected. -- Iceydragon 23:15, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
Non-game entries
Continued from the discussion at Talk:Lucky Wander Boy about setting guidelines for non-game content such as books, movies, TV, websites, events, merchendise or other things that may relate to video games. Any ideas? --DWhitney 22:17, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
My opinion is that GamerWiki should first and foremost be a catalogue of games. Directly related to this are gaming magazines and websites, which feature on the "reviews" section of each games page; games developers and publishers; consoles and manufacturers; and storage media. I suppose what I mean is that if you start with a page about a game, anything linked from that page is fair game. I just don't think it works the other way around, though. Xevious 13:58, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
Grammar in game titles
I've just been changing some stuff but now I'm worndering whether I should. Basically, grammar rules state that if an abbreviated word ends with the same letter as the full word, there should not be a full-stop after it. Therefore it should be "Mr" and not "Mr.", "Ms" and not "Ms.", but "Rev." is correct. So I was just changing "Ms. Pac-Man" to "Ms Pac-Man". But then was the original name actually with the dot? If so, it shouldn't be changed, should it? I'll stop now while it's easy to revert everything if people agree! Xevious 13:55, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
- We've got to stick to the original titles, IMO - many titles are purposefully incorrect and others (like Ms. Pac-Man) may have been simple oversights. As Japan have released so many games overseas the likes of Engrish is common too. :) --Barthax 15:28, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
- I'll revert everything then! :( Xevious 16:00, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
Archiving the pub
Some of these pages are getting pretty long ... will anyone be able to automate archiving the pub? Xevious 14:05, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
Vandalism warnings
I've created three vandalism templates - GamerWiki-vandalism-1, GamerWiki-vandalism-2 and GamerWiki-vandalism-3 - to be used if and when users need to be warned. Xevious 11:41, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
- Useful templates. -- tyagi 21:59, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
Formats lists for single-format games?
I've just noticed that for God of War, this calls a formats list which only contains one format. I suppose this will be useful if the game ever gets ported to the PC or so on, but for now shouldn't we just say on the God of War page that: "God of War is only available on the Sony PlayStation 2." ... and then carry on with the rest? Xevious 10:57, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
It does seem very redundant when stated as it is on the God of War page. --Barthax 18:46, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
Yes, you're both right. I was filling in some God of War 2 stuff and completed a multiformat template as part of doing a chronology thing. I realised at the time that it's wrong, as I was thinking it would apply to the forthcoming PSP release, but that'll be under a different title, just part of the chronology? -- tyagi 20:33, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
Ah, yes. Never mind, it's not hurting anyone! And when the PS3 fails, and Sony becomes a multi-format publisher, and ports God of War to the Wii ... Xevious 09:42, 1 May 2007 (UTC)
Right. Just for that, I'll revert the edit. :-P -- tyagi 11:09, 1 May 2007 (UTC)
