Wikipedia:WikiProject Arcade games
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Some Wikipedians have formed a project to better organize information in articles related to arcade games. This page and its subpages contain their suggestions; it is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians. If you would like to help, please inquire on the talk page and see the to-do list there. Lists of games that need work can be found on the lists page.
Contents |
News
August 13 2004: Completed Infobox and started adding to arcade game articles.
Information
Goal
This WikiProject aims primarily to set a baseline for the improvement and expansion of articles related to arcade games. This project was started from my disappointment in the state of articles on arcade games, and the fact that they tended to lack standarization. This WikiProject provides a meeting place for improving articles on arcade games.
Hierarchy
The parent of this WikiProject is the WikiProject Games.
Similar Wikiprojects
Participants
- Frecklefoot
- Tjansen
- ChicXulub
- Cvaneg
- Sum0
- Silverfish
- Woohookitty
- Mee Ronn
- Mr.Do!
- Poiuyt Man
- Spottedowl
- Felsir
- larsinio
- Herzog
- spamguy
- Static3d
Structure
The structure presented below is just a suggestion. It doesn't have to be adhered to, it is just being presented because it was useful for others when creating articles on arcade games.
Below is an outline of sections arcade articles should contain:
- Opening
- Overview
- Description
- Cabinet & controls description
- Legacy (only applies to some)
- Ports (only applies to some)
- External link(s)
Of course, an article can include any other sections deemed necessary. Below are desciptions of each section.
- Opening: Just your standard introductory stuff. The opening sentence should mention the name of the game (it should be bold and italicized), the year it was released, who developed it and that it is an arcade game. This follows the Manual of Style guidelines. This section should also give an idea of the type of game it is (e.g. shooting, jumping, etc.).
- Overview section: This first-tier section (that is, it is indicated in Wikimarkup with two equals, i.e. ==), should give a brief description of the game. It should be no more than a few sentences. Think of it as the "executive summary" of the game.
- Description section: Another first-tier section. This section is where you can give a long, drawn-out description of the game, mentioning levels, bosses, tricks, etc. I've been using the last paragraph of this section to describe the game's cabinet, controls and number of supported players. If you think it warrants it (i.e. the cabinet requires more than one paragraph to discuss), you can make another section for it.
- Legacy section: This section should list any sequels (or prequels) and any other games it inspired. Not all games will require this section.
- Ports section: Most arcade games are ported to home systems at some time or another. List the systems and the dates they were developed here. Not all games will require this section either.
- External links section: All games should have this section. Virtually every major arcade game released is listed in the KLOV and a link to the appropriate entry should be included. See below for more information. Going against the Manual of Style--this is a pet peeve of mine--if you just have one link, the section should be called External link not links. If you only have one, the section should say so!
Lastly, please write your article in the present tense. Whether or not you've seen a game in the last 20 years or not, it still exists, so say so. For example:
Not:
Slippery Slam had five modes of play.
But:
Slippery Slam has five modes of play.
Also, don't address the reader. This is a common mistake in arcade, video and computer game articles. When talking about gameplay, talk about the player or user's experience. For example:
Not:
In Slippery Slam you grab the goodies while trying not to slip on the floor. You have two shots at completing each level.
But:
In Slippery Slam the player grabs the goodies while trying not to slip on the floor. They have two shots at completing each level.
Resources
The Internet has three excellent sites for information on arcade games.
The first is the Killer List of Videogames. This site is a database of just about every friggin' arcade game ever produced! Most games have pictures of the game cabinet and screenshots of gameplay. Some even have images of the control panel and 3D models of the cabinet. Most entries have in-depth descriptions of games, including... well, everything. You can use these entries as resources when creating or editing a Wikipedia article on the game, but please don't plagiarize. Also, don't lift screenshots from this site unless you get specific permission from KLOV (it is usually easier to just use MAME).
The second site is Arcade History Database which contains additional information which may not be found on KLOV.
The third site is really not for arcade games, but for video and computer games. MobyGames is a database of many games released for any home systems (home computers, video game consoles including handhelds and classic systems) with the notable exception of the Macintosh. This site is a good resource to see if an arcade game has any ports. As with the KLOV, don't just lift images from this site and upload to Wikipedia--go through the correct process to obtain images.
Also Wikipedia has a good resource for arcade games. Use the List of arcade games for inspiration for a game to write an article on or to investigate articles others have written. If you create an article via a link not from this list, please make sure to add it if it doesn't already have it.
Frecklefoot has written a fair number of arcade game articles which adhere to this structure. See the list of arcade game articles he's written for examples of how an arcade game article should look.
Categories
Make sure to add the appropriate categories to the article. Make sure the category indicator is located below the External links section, but before interWiki language links and template messages (such as Template:Tl).
All arcade game articles should belong to an Arcade games category. TheDotGamer has created year-specific categories for arcade games. So, add the year category that is appropriate for the games, such as [[Category:1982 arcade games]]. If you don't know the release year of the games, just add it to the topmost category, [[Category:Arcade games]].
In addition, add any other appropriate categories to which it belongs. For example, if the game had a Commodore 64 port, add it to that category ([[Category:Commodore 64 games]]). And if it had a port, add it to that year's category of games (e.g. [[Category:1984 computer and video games]]). Each year should have a category, so don't worry if it doesn't—it should.
Infobox
This infobox template is based off Template:Infobox CVG (see that template's talk page for credits), and was modified to include fields relevant to arcade games. It is designed to replace the previous non-template infobox designed by Frecklefoot. Because this template may be used on a large number of articles, any changes that affect its appearance should first be discussed at WikiProject Arcade games/Infobox.
Certain fields are optional; just leave them blank if they do not apply to the game, or if the information is not available.
The Notes field of the former infobox has been removed due to a consensus on the infobox discussion page. When converting the old infobox to the new template, the contents of the Notes field should be incorporated into the main article text, if it is not already present. The lead section is a good place to place pertinent information.
The use of the infobox is not compulsory, it is strictly voluntary and provided here for convenience. Many variations on this archetype are in use in various articles.
Explanation
Most of the information for the infobox can be obtained from the Killer List of Videogames. For more hardware data, check the Arcade History Database or System16 - The Arcade Museum.
- Title: The top of the infobox contains the game's name.
- Image: (optional) Use an example image of gameplay if one is available (using MAME to capture screenshots is one good method). If not, omit this section. If you upload an image, upload the full-size version in a lossless format like PNG, because the images are relatively small and formats like JPEG do not work very well with video game graphics. It should show gameplay, and not the title — the title does not help the user getting an impression of the game. Use the "225 px" attribute for the image so it fits into the infobox. Do not forget to mark the screenshot as fair use. There is a special tag {{game-screenshot}} that can be used instead of the standard {{fairuse}} tag.
- Developer: The company that developed the game. This is not necessarily the company that manufactured the game.
- Publisher: This is really the company that manufactured the game. In this example, Midway licensed the game from Namco and manufactured it.
- Designer: (optional) The designer of the game. For the example here, the designer is notable and famous for creating the most popular arcade game of all time. Another example would be the designer of Donkey Kong. This can be omitted if the game has multiple designers, or the designer is unknown.
- Release date: An exact date is preferable, but a year will suffice if it is not available. Multiple release dates for different countries may be listed here — just place short links such as (NA) or ([[Japan|JA) to designate the country.
- Genre: A list of most accepted genres can be found at Computer and video game genres. Link to a section on that page that describes the genre. If the game fits into two genres, list them both separated by a slash (/).
- Modes: Usually the number of players supported by the game, such as single player, two player alternating turns, two player cooperative or two player versus. If a game has to be played with two players, say so.
- Cabinet: Just a short description of the game's cabinet. The usual choices are Standard, Sit-down, Cocktail and Custom. Details on the cabinet (if any) should go in the Description section.
- Arcade system: (optional) Specific technical information related to the arcade hardware.
- Monitor: Information on the monitor. I debated whether or not to have this section which just discusses the game's monitor(s). Since the information on these is usually on the MAME or KLOV, I decided to have it.
- Input: On this line, just mention the number of controls. Details should go in the Description section.
- Ports: A list of consoles the game has been ported to. Arcade game should not be listed as a platform in this section; leave this line blank if the game is only available in arcade form.
Infobox code
Copy and paste the following code into an article and simply fill out the fields.
- Note: All fields must be present regardless if they're used for the template to function properly.
{{Infobox Arcade Game |title =
|image =
|developer =
|publisher =
|designer =
|release =
|genre =
|modes =
|cabinet =
|arcade system =
|monitor =
|input =
|ports =
}}
Stub
Template:Tl is the stub for this project.