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[Africa's Toto]

I think the AAA, AA and indie quality brackets are kinda shit and not representative of several games. Good for shorthand, but not really definite. That's a separate discussion though.

What is the most significant expectation from you when a game is described as AAA?

Probably everything in the poll all at once, but there are exceptions for each. There are games with smaller maps or a modest marketing campaign, that are over in a few hours that people would still consider AAA.
I think high production value is the major quality AAA connotes

 

[Urban]

Sony first party titles are the definition of AAA for me.

 

[Wildebeest]

Games that cost a lot to create, but the confidence in them is such that the marketing budget is even bigger than the development cost.

 

[Belthazar]

High development cost (and marketing). It doesn't have to (and often doesn't) mean a high quality product, as we've seen time and time again

 

[TLZ]

Ass Ass Ass

 

[Matt_Fox]

Sony first party titles are the definition of AAA for me.

10 min play
-3 min cut scene
10 min play
-3 min cut scene
10 min play
-3 min cut scene
(repeat for 8-10 hours, game ends)

I think its tempting to see the 'cinematic' games as AAA because they bask in the gravitas of cinema, however I will always go out to bat for arcade games. The racers, the beat em ups, the shooters, the puzzle games. This is what gaming does so well.

 

[Kuranghi]

AAA sized bums

 

[Husky]

Expensive. I don't see AAA as a mark of quality, it's more like the gaming equivalent of a blockbuster. They're expensive, and sometimes you get The Lord of the Rings, most of the time you get the MCU.

 

[Sentenza]

It's a combination of the first two. Basically it means "high investment with the expectation of high returns".

 

[Con-Z-epT]

Jokes aside i think production value is key here.

Cutting edge graphics together with fluid animation, stellar sound design and a well written story is what should set AAA apart from AA.

 

[Magic Carpet]

High production cost. Hopefully = Value but dose not guarantee.
Remember the movie 'Water World' was once one of the most expensive movies ever made.
Titanic Made Billions - AAA Movie (Millions to make billions earned)
The Blair Witch Project - Indy Movie (Thousands to make Millions earned)
Blair Witch project probly made more money for every dollar put into it. (maybe not but just example)

 

[Mr Hyde]

Broken, bloated, unfinished games with huge day 1 patches.

 

[Bartski]

there is no subjective meaning of AAA, it's games of highest development and marketing budgets according to current industry standards.

 

[TonyK]

High production quality. It's because that reason that Bethesda games, for example, even if I like them, they don't seem AAA to me. They are good games but ugly as shit. Another example: I never have perceived any Nintendo game as AAA. In fact, almost no japanese game neither. And again, I love Nintendo or japanese games.

 

[Elder Legend]

I think the AAA, AA and indie quality brackets are kinda shit and not representative of several games. Good for shorthand, but not really definite. That's a separate discussion though.

What is the most significant expectation from you when a game is described as AAA?

Probably everything in the poll all at once, but there are exceptions for each. There are games with smaller maps or a modest marketing campaign, that are over in a few hours that people would still consider AAA.
I think high production value is the major quality AAA connotes

There is no real such thing as "what does AAA mean to you" lol. Stop trying to make well known defined Industry terms and meanings into subjective opinions. Disingenuous.

By industry standards AAA simply means its from a well known studio with very high development and marketing budget such as Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Ubisoft, EA, Rockstar and so on.

This is an awkward poll and kind of spreads misinformation as it doesn't really matter what it does or doesn't mean to other people when it already has its own definition in the video game industry regardless of someone's opinion...

Silly low effort thread. No offense.

 

[skit_data]

I’d say its a mix of the production cost and quality, but since some games cost a ton and still look shit and vice versa it’ll have to be the production budget because a big shit game can still be considered AAA.

In my head it pretty much only indicates cost, rather than quality. High cost is a probable indicator of quality though.

 

[CitizenZ]

You forgot, remaster, remake, nothing new, copy/paste, hand holding snooze fests

 

[kyliethicc]

AAA = highest budget
AA = medium budget
A = low budget
Indie = lowest budget

 

[Herr Edgy]

You lack the correct option. Boring unoriginal bloat.

 

[Kilau]

MTX, season pass, always connected.

 

[ReBurn]

There is no real such thing as "what does AAA mean to you" lol. Stop trying to make well known defined Industry terms and meanings into subjective opinions. Disingenuous.

By industry standards AAA simply means its from a well known studio with very high development and marketing budget such as Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Ubisoft, EA, Rockstar and so on.

This is an awkward poll and kind of spreads misinformation as it doesn't really matter what it does or doesn't mean to other people when it already has its own definition in the video game industry regardless of someone's opinion...

Silly low effort thread. No offense.

Nice gatekeeping. Thanks.

 

[fermcr]

AAA = highest budget
AA = medium budget
A = low budget
Indie = lowest budget

You forgot AAAA = stratospheric budget.

 

[AJUMP23]

I Would say high production values and it leads to all the other things like high cost and so on.

 

[NahaNago]

It is simply means a large budget for development and a large budget for marketing.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

You forgot AAAA = stratospheric budget.

Only Perfect Dark has reached AAAA status.

 

[Tg89]

High production value/budget.

Though I always instinctively associate it with the early 2000s Gamespot System Wars definition of it scoring 9 or higher.

 

[Elder Legend]

Nice gatekeeping. Thanks.

It's called stating facts. Don't even try to deny it, you just look like a goof.

 

[01011001]

mediocre games with good graphics

 

[Andodalf]

High production quality.

 

[Astral Dog]

It does not have anything to do with content or lenght.

for me AAA is mostly about a high quality production, and bigger expensiver scope than indie, thats all.

Though in the case of Nintendo, i consider games like Xenoblade, Bayonetta and Astral Chain to be 'AAA' (AA?) from them as they still have high production values compared to their other games. Yet compared to AAA from Sony they are niche and modest.

Because its rare to see gamers talking about AA, A or B whatever that means its always about the AAA

 

[Infested Goblin]

Unfinished, buggy, long ass game with good graphics and skill tree

 

[Danjin44]

All means it has big budget behind it.

For me it doesn’t matter, most favourite games this generation and last generation are from AA games.

 

[Punished Miku]

Just budget. AAA is not a review score. It's a description of the scale of the project.

AAA games can be good or bad, which is why it's not "high production value." It's literally just a description of budget. There's no debate about that.

 

[Africa's Toto]

There is no real such thing as "what does AAA mean to you" lol. Stop trying to make well known defined Industry terms and meanings into subjective opinions. Disingenuous.

By industry standards AAA simply means its from a well known studio with very high development and marketing budget such as Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Ubisoft, EA, Rockstar and so on.

This is an awkward poll and kind of spreads misinformation as it doesn't really matter what it does or doesn't mean to other people when it already has its own definition in the video game industry regardless of someone's opinion...

Silly low effort thread. No offense.

Meh, you do you, my man

 

[Fuz]

Homogenized shit for simpletons.

 

[Fuz]

You forgot AAAA = stratospheric budget.

You forgot AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA = scream of terror.

 

[speedomodel]

Development cost/budget.

 

[Gameplaylover]

High developement + high marketing cost. In terms of quality i often prefer AAs and Indies over AAAs with tens of millions marketing budget.

 

[fart town usa]

I said production value and that doesn't necessarily mean cutting edge stuff.

Lamentum and Murderhouse are two games I've stumbled on recently. They're indie games with tiny teams. Lamentum was 2 people. But the games are incredibly solid, don't seem buggy (so far) and play how they should. That to me feels like a AAA package.

Essentially, if a game plays well and isn't a buggy mess, I personally view it as a AAA experience, regardless of the budget.

 

[Guilty_AI]

You forgot AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA = scream of terror.

theres also AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAXAAAAAAAAA\AAA = asleep on the keyboard

 

[Elder Legend]

Meh, you do you, my man

I mean... it's reality whether you like it or not. You can keep living in pretend world if you wish.

 

[The Cockatrice]

High budget, high production value, high costs. Theres no other definition.

 

[MiguelItUp]

• High development cost
• High production value/quality

It's funny to me because that poll doesn't really work IMO. A lot of those things are connected to what a AAA actually is. What makes it so.

It all revolves around big budgets. Big names have big budgets which means big production, quality assurance, marketing, and just overall big development.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Whats the term for when they are putting everything on one game. Make or break game for company?
Like the old first Final Fantasy, or the recent Anthem (which they seem to be trying to recover)
Spin the Roulette wheel budget.

 

[Vick]

I'd say most of Sony output would fit my definition of AAA; titles made with big focus on production values usually free from jagginess of any kind, unlike things commonly expected from Ubisoft or Bethesda for example.

Then there's Rockstar's output, which i consider in this regard above everyone else and more close to a AAAA kind of definition. Only thing in the same league which i could think of is TLoUII.

10 min play
-3 min cut scene
10 min play
-3 min cut scene
10 min play
-3 min cut scene
(repeat for 8-10 hours, game ends)

It's not like 70% of Sony FP titles are free-roams with big focus on gameplay mechanics/loop, afterall.

 

[Africa's Toto]

I mean... it's reality whether you like it or not. You can keep living in pretend world if you wish.

Look man, you took this thread the wrong way. It would take too long to make you realize that I'm not trying to stretch the definition of a AAA game or pretend it doesn't have quality associations

 

[lame gag1990]

'AAA' to me means 'great visuals, boring games'. Am I ok to say that?

 

[Elder Legend]

Look man, you took this thread the wrong way. It would take too long to make you realize that I'm not trying to stretch the definition of a AAA game or pretend it doesn't have quality associations

There is nothing for me to realize on what this thread is.

Asking what does AAA mean to you is like asking asking what does water mean to you.

Whether you are trying to change the definition of AAA or not is also irrelevant. You're asking a question based on a term that already has its place and definition of what it is. And whatever people say is completely irrelevant because it is already defined.

Trust me, I get what you are trying to do with this thread. It just comes off funny.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

There is nothing for me to realize on what this thread is.

Asking what does AAA mean to you is like asking asking what does water mean to you.

Whether you are trying to change the definition of AAA or not is also irrelevant. You're asking a question based on a term that already has its place and definition of what it is. And whatever people say is completely irrelevant because it is already defined.

Trust me, I get what you are trying to do with this thread. It just comes off funny.

You make plenty of garbage threads. Let the man have his own

 

[Africa's Toto]

There is nothing for me to realize on what this thread is.

Asking what does AAA mean to you is like asking asking what does water mean to you.

Whether you are trying to change the definition of AAA or not is also irrelevant. You're asking a question based on a term that already has its place and definition of what it is. And whatever people say is completely irrelevant because it is already defined.

Trust me, I get what you are trying to do with this thread. It just comes off funny.