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[Kobun Heat]

Reading interviews with publishers, marketing managers, etc. through the years it's seemed to me that these distinctions went as such:

AAA: What a company would consider a monumentous release, a major game release that transcends everything else in the company's catalog, many years in development, all that.

A: At the top of the priority list, a major game release that was begun from the ground up to be a star in the company lineup, though not necessarily the most major of major titles.

B: Games deliberately set out to be produced on a limited budget, released as soon as possible, with high quality a secondary consideration. Movie licenses, etc.

My understanding was that 'B' game came from B-movie, Ed Wood style stuff, and that by extrapolation we got 'A' game, and then to further define some titles, 'AAA.'

My questions: Is this about right? Has anyone actually heard a publisher refer to a game as a 'C' game, internally? Do different publishers have different ways of using this classification system? Where and when did this get started? Etc. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[pilonv1]

As far as I was aware, it's all related to marketing.

AAA = massive marketing effort
A = some marketing, probably in store
B = Nintendo game

 

[Laurent]

This is about right. I think that the use of 'AAA' is only to make sure that, on an alphabetic list, the game in question will be on top of that list.

 

[Kobun Heat]

As far as I was aware, it's all related to marketing.

Makes sense.

 

[Alcibiades]

As far as I was aware, it's all related to marketing.

AAA = massive marketing effort
A = some marketing, probably in store
B = Nintendo game

and based on previous marketing efforts:

AAA = Halo 2
A = RE4
B = Echoes



and this is before anyone's even played the finished games...

 

[thomaser]

Bergsala, the Scandinavian Nintendo-distributor, has used this system for ages. First, they used it to hint at the quality of the game. Since that was a bit stupid and subjective, they changed it, so now it stands for sales-potential. As in, they recommend stores to only buy one or two of a B-game, or even skip it, while an AAA-game should be bought in large numbers.

 

[pilonv1]

I should add that under no circumstance does the quality of the game enter into this equation. For instance, Driver 3 is a AAA title for Atari.

 

[Alcibiades]

I should add that under no circumstance does the quality of the game enter into this equation. For instance, Driver 3 is a AAA title for Atari.

as was Enter the Matrix, and Angel of Darkness for Eidos...

 

[pilonv1]

Exactly, it ties into thomasers post about it being sales related too. No point marketing something that you cant fool people into buying.

 

[JackFrost2012]

I don't think that AAA is marketing related ... I think Kobun's original post is mostly correct. To me, at least:

AAA: Not just a good game, or a really good game, or a great game, but a game that is uniformly excellent and perhaps even pushes the boundaries of what we expect from games in a few departments. has lots and lots and lots of "polish."

A: A very good solid game with no major glaring faults, but that tends more towards competency than revolutionary. Perhaps a slight evolution in one or two fields.

B: An okay game that no one will remember next year.

 

[3rdman]

Actually its creation is a throw back to the old movie-making days where a film starring top talent with a high budget was referred to as an "A" picture. Films of lesser quality or standards were "B" pictures.

Gone With the Wind - "A" Picture
The Beast from 40,000 Fathoms - "B" Picture

 

[Dagon]

I'm working off ancient neurons here, so I may be off, but I think the whole AAA, A, B, etc. system originally came from the meat industry. Only the best cuts were (literally) stamped with an AAA grade. This whole idea of AAA being the absolute best was then appropriated by all sorts of industries to indicate a top-tier product.

Of course, the meat industry might have taken it from somewhere else before (my first exposure to this was in the '80s).

Or I could just be completely wrong.

 

[Laurent]

I'm working off ancient neurons here, so I may be off, but I think the whole AAA, A, B, etc. system originally came from the meat industry. Only the best cuts were (literally) stamped with an AAA grade. This whole idea of AAA being the absolute best was then appropriated by all sorts of industries to indicate a top-tier product.

Of course, the meat industry might have taken it from somewhere else before (my first exposure to this was in the '80s).

Or I could just be completely wrong.

No I think you are right... AAA grade for beef as been there for a long time...

 

[puck1337]

The origin is marketing/budget related. It often seems as though it refers to quality since, historically, most of the best games have also sold well.

The actual meaning really depends on context. If a VP from EB is talking about a AAA title, it's probably based on marketing/sales potential (ETM). If a games journalist is, they're usually talking about quality (ICO). When a publisher does it, it's a combination of both, plus a heap of bullshit (Army Men).

I kind of hate using the AAA/A/B designations because they're so poorly defined, but I do like JackFrost2012's simple definition of what they mean in terms of quality.

 

[human5892]

I always thought it was sales-potential. At least, that's mostly how I've used it and heard it used.

 

[borghe]

A and B came from the movies... Movies were typically shown as double features back in the day... The A movie would be the headliner.. Major stars, director, etc. B movies were the lead in movies.. Unknown stars, unknown directors, lesser budgets, etc.

Double features were used, and the B movie shown first, to generate concession sales, where to this day most of the money is made for theaters. Buy showing the B movie first they forced the audience to come for the first showing, go through their bucket of popcorn and soda drink, then go through another movie, many times buying more snacks.

Anywho, it wasn't long before B-movie, and by comparison A-list became a part of english language..

and it has never had anything to do with actual quality.. it was ALWAYS based on potential marketing, even in the movie days.. A B-movie wasn't a B-movie because it was made cheaply or with bad actors (even though this was often the case). It was a B-movie because it had nowhere near the marketing potential needed to headline a double feature. I am sure we can all name some great B-movies from the hey days of cinema and likewise some pretty awful A-movies..

and consequently, that is what it means today.. AAA came from somewhere, but the whole A/B thing came from the movies.. If it came from anywhere before that I don't know..

A B-game title is a budget title.. Today's B-movies are direct-to-video...

 

[Jesiatha]

We internally have games ranked A, B, or C. Probably 60-70% are B titles, and only 10% or so are A titles. So, yes, we do refer to titles as 'C' internally.

 

[Keio]

B movies were often shot on A movie sets when the "main crew" wasn't working there.

Maybe a B game is a quick cash-in using an existing set... I mean engine?

Seriously, I think that AAA came up as a way to put something on top of the distribution list. That sounds like the most plausible explanation.

I do remember a friend trying to claim that the name comes from anti-aircraft guns because the titles make such big noise when they come out :O

 

[Mr Mike]

It's definitely from marketing - I've heard marketing people refer to both AAA and A titles.

And, of course, it's total bullshit wankwordage that relates to the amount of money spent getting it exposure.

 

[FitzOfRage]

They may have pulled AAA from the system used by the major credit rating services to rate publically traded securities since the early 1900s. AAA is given out by Moody's or S&P to indicate an investment of the highest quality.

I don't know whether A and B are pulled form the moview business, but under the credit rating system, A would still be a stong investment (not as good as AA or AAA of course), while B would be low grade and not investment worthy (BBB is the lowest investment worthy rating under S&P).

 

[DDayton]

I think it's derived from movie use, which got the terminology from both the meat industry and (through finance guys) the market ratings...

Then again, "A-1" is a rating as well.

 

[Error Macro]

AAA means top quality, always has, always will. As has been mentioned, it's been used in meat packing and many other industries to indicate the highest quality standard. It's been around for at least 150 years or more, which incidentally, is much longer than video games have been around.

 

[belgurdo]

AAA=mega million selling blockbusters (Final Fantasy; Gran Turismo)
A=stuff with a big fanbase or repeatedly breaks a million sold/breaks even every game (Sonic, Tekken)
B=niche stuff or series that barely break even but have consistent sales (Disgaea, Dynasty Warriors)