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"Triple A"

Question that I’ve posed myself is what is classed as a triple A title? Simple answers will be fired at me, from a Nintendo point of view Triple A titles include Mario, Starfox Adventures, Zelda, Metroid and Eternal Darkness. But several confusions can occur as regards what IS a triple A title, do separate consoles class different things as Triple A and can our personal preferences determine a Triple A title.

Now the launch of the Nintendo Gamecube isn’t too far away and looking at the launch line up I can’t say that I’m not impressed. But many have pointed out that launch game, Luigi’s Mansion, is far from the triple A title that we come to expect from a Nintendo launch game (like lets say Mario 64 on the good old N64). But as far as I’m concerned the launch is littered with Triple A titles. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is one of these, so is Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3, but when I say these games I get laughed at claiming that these games aren’t triple A titles. Another game, which appears not on day one but certainly during the launch period is Super Smash Brothers: Melee, but again people say this is not a Triple A title. So now I get confused and ask, “what the hell is a Triple A title??”

My quest to find out what defines a Triple A title has taken me to the dead but not forgotten SEGA Dreamcast. This system was filled with class games such as Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventures and Jet Set Radio. A system that had its fair share of amazing triple A games. Phantasy Star Online Version 2 is a prime example of a triple A Dreamcast game, the game really has shown what a console game can do with the Internet! SEGA RPG’s do normally turn out to be spectacular take the critically acclaimed Skies of Arcadia for example, one of the Dreamcast’s best Triple A titles. Now here is where a problem arises - the above Triple A titles have appeared or will appear on other systems. Crazy Taxi has got released on all formats, but why was it a Triple A title on the Dreamcast but a simply good game on other systems? Well the fact that a sequel has since appeared on the Dreamcast makes Crazy Taxi seem very much outdated but what about the others? Sonic has always been a Triple A, first rate SEGA game, it has been the game that SEGA use to show of their wares on more than one occasion. So why is it then that the awesome Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast is no more than a good game on the Gamecube? Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is an upgraded Dreamcast game but a damn good one, but that is all it is, what has caused this game to get demoted? Phantasy Star Online version 2 is about to get a release on all formats (looking at how its updated I think it should be called Phantasy Star Online version 3) but although it has generated some excitement it isn’t looking at being a Triple A title on the Gamecube, on the Playstation 2 or the X-box but it was on the Dreamcast… why? Skies of Arcadia is now going multi-format, one of the best RPG’s of all time but again this won’t get the prestigious triple A rating.

So the mystery deepens, and so my quest continues. The next part takes me to Sony’s Playstation 2 one of the most successful consoles of all time (except maybe Gameboy) and so I look why. And it isn’t hard to work that one out, the end of last year saw a wealth of triple A titles hit shores worldwide. Triple A Playstation titles seem to include Tony Hawks series, Tomb Raider series, Tekken Series, Final Fantasy series, Metal Gear Solid series and Grand Theft Auto series (I would of added Resident Evil to that list once upon a time). Now Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 is a huge game, it deserved Gamespots game of the year award beating competition from Metal Gear Solid 2 and Grand Theft Auto 3, but the game is a multi-format game with both Gamecube and X-box versions - but on these systems it isn’t a Triple A title and why is that? I could say that what Playstation fans class as Triple A and what Nintendo fans class as Triple A are different, but I’m not here to make cheap digs at the opposition I’m here to find out what a Triple A title is and I am not going to lie. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 is a Triple A title on the Playstation 2, but the Gamecube is a different console and the Tony Hawks series although popular, is no where near as popular as its Playstation counterpart. And for Christ’s sake how can you call a port a Triple A title? Sonic Adventure 2, yeah good but it’s a port, so is Crazy Taxi as is Tony Hawks 3. Imagine if Nintendo went around parading Tony Hawks 3 as one of the “BIG” Gamecube launch titles, a game that has been around for over 6 months on the Playstation 2 that would be quite frankly embarrassing. Which is why when the X-box make a big deal out of GTA3 and Metal Gear Solid 2 I feel like laughing, you call yourself the greatest console on the market but your best games are games that came out on the Playstation 2 6 months before?

So why isn’t Super Smash Brothers Melee classed as a Triple A title? The game will be one of my most favourite games of all time and Famitsu magazine awarded it 37/40 which is about 93%. Does personal preference not influence what is classed as a Triple A title? Super Smash Brothers is one of my favorite N64 games, beating Triple A Playstation 2 title Tekken into a cocked hat but Melee isn’t one. A game that has so many options that you would be playing it for years to come, a multiplayer game so addictive that your friends will be around everyday and it looks sooo good. And as I’ve already pointed out a high scoring game as well, so what did the game not have that lets say Mario and Zelda does? One of the things I noticed is lack of hype, it is very good game and it sold very well, the first Gamecube million seller but compare the hype Luigi’s Mansion got compared with Smash Brothers, it pales in comparison. And again I get back to what the Gamecube is, look at virtually all of the Triple A games DUE out this year, they are adventure games something Smash Brothers is not. But Resident Evil doesn’t fit in with the Gamecube image, in fact less than Smash Brothers. But do you class Resident Evil as a Triple A title, a game that got 39/40 from Famitsu, about 98% higher than what Zelda was scored. It is topping the Game charts, millions are buying Gamecube’s simply for this game but do you guys class it as Triple A? Back to Smash Brothers though the simple system although effective and original isn’t spectacular or clever and it didn’t require any huge teams to work with it in order to get over any complicated hurdles, the game although packed with options is very simple and very similar to the N64 version… does this prevent it getting the prestigious Triple A rating?

What I have deduced from my quest is that how good a game is doesn’t honestly matter originality, how the game is made, the look and the ideas, that is what makes it a Triple A title. Animal Forest + is a brilliantly huge game, amazingly original and complicated with the in built clock (Famitsu scored it 37/40) but it has graphics borrowed from the N64 version, does this stop it being Triple A game. If a game is a port then it can’t be called a Triple A title on the system it was ported on to and no matter how much you like the game, if it doesn’t obey the above rules then it isn’t a triple A title… What a load of crap! Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 is a port ok, but it was the game of last year, it is brilliant, it is fun, it is good looking and so therefore it is a Triple A title port or no port. Grand Theft Auto 3, one of the best games of all time can’t be classed as AAA on the X-box because it was on the Playstation 2 first, now that is just rubbish. Super Smash Brothers melee, yes it is similar to the first game, but this one has an adventure mode, tones more characters, more spectacular arenas, tones of extra Gameplay options and for major Smash Brothers fans a Triple A title, it has sold over 1 million copies it got 37/40 a brilliant score and it is absolutely amazing… this is a Triple A title. Why isn’t Sonic Adventure 2: Battle a Triple A title? Simple, the Dreamcast is not up to par with the Gamecube, a Triple A title on the Dreamcast but the Dreamcast is old now and so Sonic Adventure 2 really isn’t that good, a Sonic Adventure 3 maybe but not an enhanced Dreamcast port. Triple A titles, are the biggest, most enjoyable, best looking games in the world and weather it is a port or relatively unpopular title like Jet Set Radio it doesn’t stop it being as good as it is. So the Gamecube launch may not have games people call Triple A it does have titles that are Triple A standard, like Tony Hawks 3. And so in conclusion a Triple A title is a damn good game.

Here’s to the future.

Dringo.

Dringo, I disagree- even people who HATE 3D platformers will admit that Mario 64 is one of the most influential games ever. Those people who do not are either arrogant, stupid or both.

And I agree- SB is probably a really good game. But you are saying that AAA titles are a subjective thing- some people think one game is AAA, other people think it isn't. Basically you're saying that an AAA game is one that a person loves- basically people's favourite games and their AAA games are the same (making the whole point of branding a game as AAA completely pointless!)

Now, onto Meka's question about Pikmin...
Although I have yet to play the game, I'm sure it's excellent. A lot of fun, very original and possibly a must have. However, it is not AAA. The reason is simple.

AAA games should be completely reserved for games that are truely completely industry shaking. As good as Pikmin is, can you honestly say that it's had the reprocussions of Mario 64?

If you allow a game like Pikmin to be classed as AAA, then I could give about 1 hundred equally as fun, original and playable games that should also be AAA...

And the whole point of AAA games is that they are the cream of gaming- if you have hundreds of games that bear the title then you're kidding yourself.

So, basically, to be an AAA game it just has to have impact. BIG impact. As big as Mario 64 or Goldeneye. And that doesn't happen often!

Okay, so just out of interest, does this make Pikmin a AAA title, as it has attempted to redifine the RTS genre for a console?

Or would it only be considered AAA if it has imitators? WHich we won't see for a while yet anyway...

NO! I wrote this post because of being unsure of AAA titles, people who hate 3D platformers and loved 2D ones would not see Mario 64 as a revolution! People perception changes but most agree on what is a good game and what isn't. Super Smash Brothers Melee is excellent for reasons i have mentioned, it is one of the worlds greatest multiplayer games, it is addictive, long and fun and i don't care if it didn't impact the industry as hard and i don't care if it is a sequel it is one of the worlds best games and therefore it is a triple A title to go with the other worlds best games, like mario, like Zelda, like GTA3, like Tony Hawks 3, like Resident Evil...

That is what a triple A title is a damn good game, not a good game, a damn good game.

And you don't get my point?

Look, by your method there would be loads of AAA games, that would differ from person to person. Not olny does having lots of AAA games completely destroy the entire point of having the system (since it's impossible to determine between Zelda OOT and SA2- both are AAA after all!), but because it differs from person to person it's EXACTLY the same as saying what your favourite games are!

In my method you have a list of a few, undisputed, revolutionary games that define perfect gaming. You also have people's personal favourite games that vary from one bloke to another.

Get the point?

I didn't read it again.

HOLD ON!

How did Smash Bros (SM) have as big an impact as Mario 64?

EVERY 3d platformer steals bits from Mario 64. In fact, EVERY 3d platformer is based on the game, and then compared to it by reviewers!

Add to that lots of other genres have used ideas from mario: the 3d control, the camera, the gameplay.

Can you say that SB is a game that has made an impact in gaming anywhere near as big as Mario? Are there loads of features that other games have copied? Are there lots of wanna be copy cat games trying to better it?

I disagree, Smash Brothers was just as fun as MArio just Mario amde a bigger impact. both AAA titles therefore.

So now there are AAA games that are "bloody brilliant" and AAA games that are totally redefining for the industry.

Maybe we should call them AAAA games, thus making the AAA system defunct!

I disagree completley, Halo is supposidly the Triple A X-box title, because it is bloody brilliant... mario sunshine is an update of mario 64 but it is still stunning, as mario world was to mario brother 1, these are all AAA titles as they are the pinnacle of gaming excellence, years of hard work and good ideas. Goldeneye, Mario etc... aren't just AAA titles they are games that have redefined the industry... but AAA titles are in fact the best games ont he market.

Dringo, if a game is you favourite, it doesn't make it a AAA game. The point of AAA games is that you can definatively say game X is AAA... there is no subjectiveness in it!

Example: Mario 64 is a AAA game because it's effects in the game scene can be seen. Every platformer since Mario 64 is complared to it, and almost every platformer copies ideas from it. Thus it is AAA- it has made a HUGE impact on gaming.

Sonic Adventure 2: Although I hate this game, let's pretent I love it, and it's my fave game ever. But what has it done for gaming? No game will be compared to it- of anything, reviewers will take SA1 as the defining game in its genre. The game has NO new modes or ideas that other games will copy, and if SA2 never existed games in general would be no different!

If, on the other hand, Mario 64 never existed, we could well be playing 3D games that have 2D gameplay, with poor camera and controls. That is why Mario 64 is a AAA game!

It's objective- not subjective.