What makes a AAA game AAA ?
by Damien Calloway · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 02/13/2011 (12:51 pm) · 26 replies
Surely, it can't be just money. I have been doing "research" into many roguelikes and other indie games, yet comparing them even to older commercial releases, there seems to be a layer of polish missing. Is there a checklist somewhere to get that layer of polish consistently ? How can one get a smooth AAA experience on a shoestring ?
#22
Who would have thought in the age of Halo Reach, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and World of Warcraft, Farmville would be the most played game. I think Farmville is a AAA game along with all the others. For indie games, the same can be said for Minecraft. For iPhone, Field Runner is AAA both because it sold great, but also because the early release on a new platform made it look great in comparison to the competition. I would throw Plants vs Zombies PC into this bucket as well.
On the era point, I remember when Tetris was a big hit in the home and Pacman was AAA in the arcade. I just finished playing the graphic shooting fest House of the Undead 4 in Sega Gameworks and it is a different era with different standards for AAA compared to the 80s.
On the what's cool point, GTA 3 made open world game play a AAA feature. Open world play was not a new concept (Elder Scrolls Arena and Ultimas)but tying in action, story and open world game play combined to make a AAA feature.
This may all be great news for small developers, because mobile platforms and the App Store showcase many games that are AAA but don't have huge budgets and teams.
07/29/2011 (1:00 pm)
I think AAA is best defined by its peers. AAA games are different on various platforms, in gaming eras (80's, 90's...) and even perceptions of what game genres are cool at the time. Who would have thought in the age of Halo Reach, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and World of Warcraft, Farmville would be the most played game. I think Farmville is a AAA game along with all the others. For indie games, the same can be said for Minecraft. For iPhone, Field Runner is AAA both because it sold great, but also because the early release on a new platform made it look great in comparison to the competition. I would throw Plants vs Zombies PC into this bucket as well.
On the era point, I remember when Tetris was a big hit in the home and Pacman was AAA in the arcade. I just finished playing the graphic shooting fest House of the Undead 4 in Sega Gameworks and it is a different era with different standards for AAA compared to the 80s.
On the what's cool point, GTA 3 made open world game play a AAA feature. Open world play was not a new concept (Elder Scrolls Arena and Ultimas)but tying in action, story and open world game play combined to make a AAA feature.
This may all be great news for small developers, because mobile platforms and the App Store showcase many games that are AAA but don't have huge budgets and teams.
#23
It simply means in the modern era that the title has become nothing more than a marketing or CV/resume buzz word.
07/29/2011 (2:31 pm)
AAA has been defined in an article on gamedev.net (that i cannot locate now) as a game that has greater than a $10 million budget, which of course as everyone knows doesnt mean jack about quality of any kind.It simply means in the modern era that the title has become nothing more than a marketing or CV/resume buzz word.
#24
EDIT: Yes, I know this is a 4 year old thread. I had something to say. lol.
06/24/2015 (1:25 pm)
OK, so AAA by itself simply means big budget. I get that. However, that being said, there is a phrase in gaming land where people say "AAA Quality." Is a game AAA quality or not sort of thing. Now, if you're using it that way then I think you've just thrown money out the door and are purely looking at the quality aspects of the game as in art, animation, sound, features, etc. So, when someone says AAA Quality, then that has nothing to do with $$$.EDIT: Yes, I know this is a 4 year old thread. I had something to say. lol.
#25
I'd honestly have to throw this to the wolves - if the general public grabs a game and says "AAA" then it is, regardless of any other factor. I can't define it - you'd literally have to just drop someone in front of it and say "Is this AAA?" and if the majority says "yes" then you're in.
07/12/2015 (11:20 am)
Yeah, but what's "AAA quality?" How many "AAA" studios drop beautiful failures? Or sometimes great games that are plagued with bugs for a few months before they really get up and solid? Recently, the Batman Arkham Knight move to PC showed that a "AAA" console title can turn into a "AAA" PC failure. (My opinion is that it's generally easier to go PC -> console than the other way - coming to PC from console means too much additional testing on diverse hardware where as going the other way means retesting on a single hardware platform after all of the diverse stuff is already done).I'd honestly have to throw this to the wolves - if the general public grabs a game and says "AAA" then it is, regardless of any other factor. I can't define it - you'd literally have to just drop someone in front of it and say "Is this AAA?" and if the majority says "yes" then you're in.
#27
wikipedia defines it as the following
"In the video game industry, AAA (pronounced "triple A") is a classification term used for games with the highest development budgets and levels of promotion. A title considered to be AAA is therefore expected to be a high quality game and to be among the year's bestsellers."
Often times AAA is some significant IP, like Halo, Marvel, CoD, etc. a well known successful franchise.
A lot of assumptions are in there, like a well done visual art direction with consistent application of what the game will look like. so in a AAA game all the art should look like it belongs, you don't have hi res characters and low res environments, you have a well balanced well thought out presentation, story, and a high level of polish.
that is all very generalized with some mundane examples, but since its subjective you will get a lot of different answers.
I think for most a AAA title is a well done game on all fronts. all systems are done well (remember that saying 5 systems done really well instead of 100 systems done half ass?) It really is about fit and finish and a quality bar that usually stands out above or in line with your competition.
for some AAA means you get more players than your competition, or make more money or spend more money.
I don't think its fair to say indie developers can't compete. Sure you can, but since you don't have the funds you will have to spend a lot more time to make up for it.
If you have the money you can shorten the time, if you don't have the time you need more money. But if you have the time you can make just as awesome a game as anyone else, in some way, maybe even a better game since you wont have the publisher pressure, or the constant involvement of tons of people from all over a company telling you what you should do, change, pivot, etc.
that being said you also don't have the marketing research. it is amazing how much money a company spends just to figure out the best icon to make for the apple store or google store. Or all the research that tells you the best ways to monetize, or all the BI infrastructure that tells you what players are doing which gives you information on what to update in your game and what to fix that is not working right or monetizing correctly.
That infrastructure is invaluable and your not going to have it as an indie, but with a lot more time and internet searching you can find free reports for lots of this stuff, might be a bit dated, but still valuable.
No doubt money helps, if spent wisely, and if you don't have it plan on taking a lot more time to accomplish what the big companies get done by hiring tons of people or outsources over seas, using internal already existing tech, tools, etc.
As an indie that best thing to remember is, don't try and build a Ferrari if you have never built a go-kart.
Have a vision, understand the market, and the tech and then make it happen.
07/14/2015 (1:54 pm)
AAA definition is highly subjective.wikipedia defines it as the following
"In the video game industry, AAA (pronounced "triple A") is a classification term used for games with the highest development budgets and levels of promotion. A title considered to be AAA is therefore expected to be a high quality game and to be among the year's bestsellers."
Often times AAA is some significant IP, like Halo, Marvel, CoD, etc. a well known successful franchise.
A lot of assumptions are in there, like a well done visual art direction with consistent application of what the game will look like. so in a AAA game all the art should look like it belongs, you don't have hi res characters and low res environments, you have a well balanced well thought out presentation, story, and a high level of polish.
that is all very generalized with some mundane examples, but since its subjective you will get a lot of different answers.
I think for most a AAA title is a well done game on all fronts. all systems are done well (remember that saying 5 systems done really well instead of 100 systems done half ass?) It really is about fit and finish and a quality bar that usually stands out above or in line with your competition.
for some AAA means you get more players than your competition, or make more money or spend more money.
I don't think its fair to say indie developers can't compete. Sure you can, but since you don't have the funds you will have to spend a lot more time to make up for it.
If you have the money you can shorten the time, if you don't have the time you need more money. But if you have the time you can make just as awesome a game as anyone else, in some way, maybe even a better game since you wont have the publisher pressure, or the constant involvement of tons of people from all over a company telling you what you should do, change, pivot, etc.
that being said you also don't have the marketing research. it is amazing how much money a company spends just to figure out the best icon to make for the apple store or google store. Or all the research that tells you the best ways to monetize, or all the BI infrastructure that tells you what players are doing which gives you information on what to update in your game and what to fix that is not working right or monetizing correctly.
That infrastructure is invaluable and your not going to have it as an indie, but with a lot more time and internet searching you can find free reports for lots of this stuff, might be a bit dated, but still valuable.
No doubt money helps, if spent wisely, and if you don't have it plan on taking a lot more time to accomplish what the big companies get done by hiring tons of people or outsources over seas, using internal already existing tech, tools, etc.
As an indie that best thing to remember is, don't try and build a Ferrari if you have never built a go-kart.
Have a vision, understand the market, and the tech and then make it happen.
Patrick David West
Once in the AAA spotlight, many companies start looking at what makes the best profit. Independent studios make games because they LOVE the games they make (mainly because they have not seen the millions that some of the AAA companies work with every day).