Ainem Enamas
Member
For me it's the interaction with the game world. If the game reacts to your thrown fireball and then the game world stars to burn... that's definitely the line
How about you?
How about you?
What starts to make a game - AAA, in your opinion? Simply in your own eyes, not by official AAA tag
- Thread starter Ainem Enamas
- Start date
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
AA and AAA have always been related to a game's perceived budget in my eyes.
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Budget. That's what it comes down to.
You can, for free, make a game where you throw fireballs at trees and they burn down. That wouldn't be a AAA game, right?
Look at this game coming to early access next year, for example. Not AAA, but fire interacts with the environment in real time and spreads.
You can, for free, make a game where you throw fireballs at trees and they burn down. That wouldn't be a AAA game, right?
Look at this game coming to early access next year, for example. Not AAA, but fire interacts with the environment in real time and spreads.
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EverydayBeast
ChatShitGPT Alpha 0.001
Shining moments like discovering a sword, NPC's available, moments that show the characters highs and lows.
TerribleAtThisGame
Member
I just perceive "AAA" as Michael Bay games. Presentation and cinematic aspirations over gameplay and design substance. AAA is a euphemism for blockbuster with absurd production values that therefore have to be recouped by appealing to as many customers as possible as main the design goal. Sometimes I enjoy a blockbuster just the same but I've zero interest in this type of thing in the past few years. I like friction and problem solving.
Maybe that's unfair and kneejerk-y but that's what I think when I read AAA.
Maybe that's unfair and kneejerk-y but that's what I think when I read AAA.
yurinka
Member
Definitions are definitions, they don't depend on opinions. AAA games are what AAA games are.
In the same way some person can identify themself as a trisexual green horse but in reality they're a male or female human being, you can wrongly think or say AAA games are a car, a blue monkey or something like that, but you'd be simply be wrong.
'AAA games' are the game with very high budget productions, just that.
AmuroChan
Member
Perception among gamers can vary greatly, but within the industry, the designation of labels like AAA and AA comes to the budget. Ultimately cost is what the publisher cares about. The scope and everything else are secondary. The final decision to greenlight a project comes down to how much is it going to cost and can we make money from this product.
xanaum
Member
For me it's pretty simple and obvious, you just have to look at the project's scope.
1 – Can I see design, visuals, graphics, physics, and enemy AI that actually match what this generation is capable of?
2 – Can I feel gameplay that clearly had a team spending a lot of time planning and refining it?
3 – Can I see professional, well-thought-out level design?
4 – Is the sound and music treated at a cinematic level?
5 – The story doesn't have to be complex, but is it convincing and consistent with the game's aesthetic?
None of this comes easily unless it's an AAA game, because it requires massive investment in people, time, and money. That's why it's expensive, that's why it has value, and that's the best the industry can deliver. At the end of the day, something like GTA VI is what will have the biggest impact and move the gaming industry the most, not only by inspiring ambition in the present and future, but by cementing in players' minds what a truly premium project looks like.
1 – Can I see design, visuals, graphics, physics, and enemy AI that actually match what this generation is capable of?
2 – Can I feel gameplay that clearly had a team spending a lot of time planning and refining it?
3 – Can I see professional, well-thought-out level design?
4 – Is the sound and music treated at a cinematic level?
5 – The story doesn't have to be complex, but is it convincing and consistent with the game's aesthetic?
None of this comes easily unless it's an AAA game, because it requires massive investment in people, time, and money. That's why it's expensive, that's why it has value, and that's the best the industry can deliver. At the end of the day, something like GTA VI is what will have the biggest impact and move the gaming industry the most, not only by inspiring ambition in the present and future, but by cementing in players' minds what a truly premium project looks like.
MiguelItUp
Member
Budget and scope, usually.
I say usually because the scope feels smaller than some AA and indies nowadays, lol.
I say usually because the scope feels smaller than some AA and indies nowadays, lol.
PlayStaytion
Member
A big world that speaks about the latest tech elegantly, a characters personalities that transcended the actual timeline like Geralt and Ciri, something unique about it you don't see elsewhere and it could be anything, has positive simping like Devil May Cry and Resident Evil.
ByWatterson
Member
1. Budget
+
2. Graphics, especially animation;
OR
3. Control refinement
But you likely need all three to really be considered AAA.
+
2. Graphics, especially animation;
OR
3. Control refinement
But you likely need all three to really be considered AAA.
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PauloRoberto
Member
Value Production, it's that simple. You can see, hear, feel and even smell and taste (so to speak, of course) that a company put a truck load of money into that product and money was WELL SPENT.
Poppinfresh
Member
Production quality and gameplay.
There are plenty of games that have a "AAA Budget" that are absolute crap.
Likewise, there are plenty of games with "AA budgets" that have amazing production quality and gameplay, and should be considered AAA
There are plenty of games that have a "AAA Budget" that are absolute crap.
Likewise, there are plenty of games with "AA budgets" that have amazing production quality and gameplay, and should be considered AAA
falconhoof
Member
The only true way to know if it's AAA or not.
falconhoof
Member
Dwarf Fortress
Trilobit
Absolutely Cozy
San Dan Glokta
Member
Game budget relative to peers and scope at time of release.
Edgelord79
Gold Member
Budget.
Knightime_X
Member
The quality of a game.
There is AAA quality, and AAA budget.
An AAA quality game doesn't mean it has to use an AAA budget.
There are absolutely AAA budget games that are inferior to AAA quality indie games.
There is AAA quality, and AAA budget.
An AAA quality game doesn't mean it has to use an AAA budget.
There are absolutely AAA budget games that are inferior to AAA quality indie games.
Zacfoldor
Gold Member
IIRC the current meaning of AAA wasn't what the original term meant.
Back at the beginning of the Internet when we talked about games, AAA meant a game with a high average review score.
It's wild that it now simply means how the game is funded.
You can tell by the name AAA that at one time this was a reference to the percieved quality of the game and not who published it, keke. At one time more recently "goty" meant who won the most goty awards and not who won at TGA. TGA been around a while but only gotten exponentially huge the last bit. Before that goty just meant personal opinion. and goty wasn't really an abbreviation, we wrote everything out back then except mmo abbreviations.
Back at the beginning of the Internet when we talked about games, AAA meant a game with a high average review score.
It's wild that it now simply means how the game is funded.
You can tell by the name AAA that at one time this was a reference to the percieved quality of the game and not who published it, keke. At one time more recently "goty" meant who won the most goty awards and not who won at TGA. TGA been around a while but only gotten exponentially huge the last bit. Before that goty just meant personal opinion. and goty wasn't really an abbreviation, we wrote everything out back then except mmo abbreviations.
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Solarstrike
Member
Looks excellent! In relation, Far Cry II's fire propagation is still impressive and that game was made in 2008.
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Far Cry II was a special game. It definitely holds up today.
Laptop1991
Member
In the past you could see the quality and high prodution values of where the money went and in gameplay, now we are not seeing where these millions are going or what they are being spent on. So the answer is, im not sure anymore, i cant tell now
CamHostage
Member
Nope.
You're mixing up the public understanding of the term with the actual definition of the term.
Back in the day, there was this peak golden era of blockbuster games pushing boundaries, sales, and acclaim all at the same time. The greatest games came from the greatest designers working for the greatest publishers, leading to the greatest success in the market. So the Final Fantasies, the Metal Gears, etc, the games which were huge in scope and hired actors instead of just displaying text and showed a perceivable no-expense-spared approach to production, those games were dominating or influencing the market.
Because publishers saw that gamers recognized the production investment into a title as a seal of quality, marketing started mentioning part of the internal production and distribution alignment letter grades in product promotion. (It's worth asking though whether the term "AAA" was first used early to greenlight a project or if it was cheekily added later as an obnoxious exclamation point on the distro chart, as it was usually only A/B/C; my guess would be the latter?) Similar to how Disney fans started to equate "E-Ticket Ride" with top-tier experience even though it was only meant to regulate park flow and offset budget on expensive productions, magazines and eventually websites (both quoting press releases) started telling consumers about big "AAA" games coming down the pike.
And because a good number of those AAA games actually lived up to their hype (even though many, many, many forgettable ones did not) , the concept stuck in the populace as "AAA = Greatness".
AAA has always meant how a game is funded, or at least marketed (and this funded on the tail end.)
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Unknown Soldier
Member
An obvious focus on big budgets and showing on the screen the budget was big
Ainem Enamas
Member
If you would compare Hellblade 2 to Skyrim, which one would you consider AA, and other AAA - but both cannot be the same?
Magic Carpet
Gold Member
Tripple A has multiple investors. Lots of hands forking over money and getting a cut of the pie.
To me it is about budget and normally the best way to tell a game had a relatively high budget is through the quality of character animation detail (mocap) and voice acting in the game. AA and indie games are just as fun to play but that's when I know they put in the big bucks into the game.
Rocinante618
Member
Obviously money and multiple side studios/contract work but also:
- polish and tutorials/easing the gamer into the game
- accessibility options
- hardware scaling, optimization (even if some don't, they fix it after a few years)
- long term support
- deeper discounts imo
Borderlands 4 runs bad today but give it couple of years, MH Wilds as well.
This isn't always true.
Counter example: GTA Trilogy and RDR remake. GTA Trilogy as of today still runs ass and has terrible KBM controls, aggressive vertical auto-center but RDR1 remake is flawless, smooth and stunning even today with DSR 2.25x and DLAA. GTA trilogy is a shame, truly one of the worst games I have ever played, it looks like some school project lol, performs and handles similar. Like some fucking UE asset flip.
- polish and tutorials/easing the gamer into the game
- accessibility options
- hardware scaling, optimization (even if some don't, they fix it after a few years)
- long term support
- deeper discounts imo
Borderlands 4 runs bad today but give it couple of years, MH Wilds as well.
This isn't always true.
Counter example: GTA Trilogy and RDR remake. GTA Trilogy as of today still runs ass and has terrible KBM controls, aggressive vertical auto-center but RDR1 remake is flawless, smooth and stunning even today with DSR 2.25x and DLAA. GTA trilogy is a shame, truly one of the worst games I have ever played, it looks like some school project lol, performs and handles similar. Like some fucking UE asset flip.
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Ainem Enamas
Member
This what I meant. It feels like AAA because of fire expanding, at least for me. That's the AAA thing in there which feels like that
Ainem Enamas
Member
Definitely this, it gives that feel
Ainem Enamas
Member
From AI: In video games, AAA (pronounced "triple-A") is an informal classification for high-budget, high-profile games typically produced and distributed by mid-sized or major publishers. It is the gaming equivalent of a Hollywood "blockbuster".
The definition is there but for me it's the smaller elements in the game world
Robb
Gold Member
Pretty much.