Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Video games

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Summary of Video games WikiProject open tasks:

You know what? Let's do it. Let's bring Mario to GA[edit]

Hey everyone! I have had this article on my radar for quite some time and it's one that's been nagging at me, especially recently. So why not, in the year of our Lord 2024, why not bring Mario to GA? I'm talking full overhaul, because he needs it. I haven't done any big projects as of late, except for the ones I've been ignoring.

I'm leaving this message to see if others in the project are interested in teaming up and taking this one on as a team. Something along the lines of divvying up the work+collaboration, I mean. This is not one I would want to take on myself, especially since I don't have large bursts of time anymore. Such a project scares me to take on alone and I'm not the most experienced, anyhow. So, if anyone is interested let me know; this isn't something I want to hit the ground running on right away, so this is here to spark motion for those that are interested. Panini! • 🥪 21:13, 19 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I might help copyedit a bit. I would help more if I had any idea how to bring a character article to GA. QuicoleJR (talk) 21:28, 19 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
As you know, it's already on my watchlist, and I'll be around to help review, guide, etc. Sergecross73 msg me 22:08, 19 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I might also be able to help with bringing this article (and Luigi) up to GA status. Lord Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 03:10, 20 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I really hope you can pull this off! It's an exciting prospect but a daunting project. ~Maplestrip/Mable (chat) 07:39, 20 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I don't have much free time at the moment, at least for the near future, but I can try to help out where I can. Feel free to ping me if you need any help. DecafPotato (talk) 04:39, 22 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I could may work on the reception section which is mostly just listicles and trivia, and I also have articles I wanted to GA such as Rayman 2 and M NatwonTSG2 (talk) 12:27, 22 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm thinking about adding cosplays of Mario to the legacy section. I have found two celebrities cosplaying Mario. Seth Rogen [1] and Kendell Jenner [2]. Just need a third one. Kazama16 (talk) 5:38, 23 March 2024 (UTC)
Thank you for all the kind words; I don't want to pull any major triggers without consensus, so as I work I will be detailing my progress and any pending changes on the Mario talk page. Feel free to leave comments or pitch in as well! Panini! • 🥪 00:49, 24 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'll help with more minor issues (ref formatting), but I may do some major copyediting here and there. TWOrantulaTM (enter the web) 00:23, 9 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Arcade cabinet images[edit]

At Daytona USA, today’s featured article, a user tried to upload a photo they had taken of a bank of the game’s arcade cabinets. A cool addition, but I was reminded of something I was told at the article’s FAC in this diff: [3]. The reviewer, who is probably the most tenured reviewer of images in featured articles, expressed that arcade cabinets fall under utility objects and that an image of an arcade cabinet with its stickers or any imagery on it is inherently copyrighted by the maker of the game. What happened today reminded me of that, and brought up a couple of questions for members of this project:

  • Is any image of an arcade cabinet actually copyrighted unless it has no stickers, identifying marks, or video?
  • Do we need to consider removing all arcade cabinet images with any labeling or graphics from all arcade game articles and nominate “free” ones for deletion?
    • I’ll point out as well that many arcade flyers, which we usually allow one of for fair use identification, picture at least one model of their games’ arcade cabinet, but not all do.

I would like to hear the opinions of experienced project members on this, as it seems a serious question that will have repercussions for our arcade game articles. Red Phoenix talk 21:53, 3 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

  • I think you're maybe misunderstanding the implications of what Nikkimaria said. They're saying that an arcade cabinet's shape itself can't be copyrighted, but that the graphics on it can be (and likely are). So, A photo of an arcade cabinet can't be free-use, because it's still a photo of copyrighted content. It's the exact same argument for why taking a photo of a physical game box isn't a free-use photo- the box design/shape may not be copyrighted, but the box art is still copyrighted whether it's a photo or a direct jpg.
  • I don't understand why that would lead to removing all arcade cabinet images, any more than it would lead to removing all box art images. It just means the photos are fair-use, not free-use. That typically means, if it's not the infobox image, that it should be adding something specific to the article (just like gameplay screenshots have to have a purpose). Usually, the actual shape of the cabinet or physicality is discussed, so it should be fine. --PresN 22:37, 3 April 2024 (UTC)
  • I disagree a bit with your assessment in that the comparison of box art images are a more exact parallel to arcade flyers, which all are absolutely tagged for copyright, than cabinet pictures, which at this moment are not. As far as I have ever seen, all of the arcade cabinet images I have seen used in articles are tagged as free use and not as copyrighted; I have yet to see a single occurrence of a non-free image of an arcade cabinet being used here. That may be because of a community misunderstanding of the copyright, and that’s the largest part of what I’m getting at. Even then, per the WP:NFCC, I’d have a hard time saying that both an arcade flyer and a picture of the cabinet are justified as minimal use in illustrating a game. I’m not saying a justification of the NFCC to include a cabinet picture couldn’t be done, but there are a lot of articles that have cabinet pictures tagged as free that truthfully aren’t. Red Phoenix talk 00:54, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This is a discussion for Commons. But, I'll say this: consider that U.S. de minimis laws protect photos "where a technical violation is so trivial that the law will not impose legal consequences". In the case of arcade cabinet photos, the copyrighted artwork is typically a small portion of the photo, is skewed, maybe discolored, and/or blurred. The main intent of most arcade game photos is to capture the cabinet utility (the seat, the controls, cabinet size), which is acceptable. The cabinet artwork will be so warped that I don't think you can call it a derivative work. That's my interpretation. But as is with copyright laws, there's no fine line. You'll never know what's OK unless you take a photo to court. TarkusABtalk/contrib 02:46, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, de minimis is what allows us to have photographs of arcades in general, as these photos are of many machines with little direct focus on any specific cabinet so that while there may be some copyrighted art shown, its not the essence of the photo nor can the photo be used to extract high quality versions of the art. Masem (t) 02:55, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
There may be more recent examples that came to a different conclusion but at [[4]] a singular Donkey Kong arcade cabinet was kept as de minimis in 2011.--67.70.101.200 (talk) 23:43, 6 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

New Articles (March 25 to March 31)[edit]

Main page: Wikipedia:WikiProject Video games/New article announcements
 A listing of all articles newly added to the Video Games Wikiproject (regardless of creation date). Generated by v3.19 of the RecentVGArticles script and posted by PresN. Bug reports and feature requests are appreciated. --PresN 22:56, 3 April 2024 (UTC)

March 25

March 26

March 27

March 28

March 29

March 30

March 31

Changelog: Now tagging articles that were previously drafts or userpages as being AfC submissions or moved to article space by the original creator, if applicable. --PresN 22:56, 3 April 2024 (UTC)

Category that needs deletion[edit]

I noticed that Category:Video games featuring male protagonists was non admin closed as delete on the 28th of March but had not actually been deleted yet over six days later. Can an administrator please do the honours since I’m assuming the lack of deletion is an oversight? 67.70.101.200 (talk) 01:54, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I see you're referring to this discussion and . Yes, you are correct, it should be deleted. While its pretty open and shut, I'd still prefer someone else performs it since I was a participant in the discussion. Sergecross73 msg me 17:24, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I tagged it with speedy G6 using {{Db-xfd}} since it was closed as delete but not implemented. In the future, feel free to tag things that have closed as delete through a consensus process (AFD, CFD, etc.) in this manner. Axem Titanium (talk) 19:39, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Sakura Wars[edit]

So, back in March, the localized title for the Sakura Wars PS2 remake was changed from "To My Heating Blood" to "In Hot Blood" as per the discussion over at Talk:Sakura Wars#Localized Title for Sakura Wars: Atsuki Chishio Ni. Given that, any thoughts from other project members on this? Thanks, Lord Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 04:33, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with that decision, to be honest. But then, Sakura Wars titles are a hot topic due to none of them being officially localized outside So Long, My Love. --ProtoDrake (talk) 22:47, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Atomic Heart talk[edit]

Hi everyone! Idiot that I am, in my nearly 18 years on Wikipedia I was legitimately blocked for the first time the other day, edit warring over Atomic Heart. I should've asked for input sooner and not continued reverting of course, but better late than never, right? The discussion concerns mentioning another game as a comparison. See Talk: Atomic Heart#Bioshock. Input is appreciated. soetermans. ↑↑↓↓←→←→ B A TALK 19:47, 5 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation[edit]

Any opinions are welcomed here at this canvassed afd. GreenishPickle! (🔔) 11:00, 7 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Splitting discussion for Kingdom Hearts χ[edit]

An article that this project has been involved with (Kingdom Hearts χ) has content that is proposed to be removed and moved to another article (Kingdom Hearts Dark Road). If you are interested, please visit the discussion. Thank you. (Oinkers42) (talk) 16:34, 7 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

New Articles (April 1 to April 7)[edit]

Main page: Wikipedia:WikiProject Video games/New article announcements
 A listing of all articles newly added to the Video Games Wikiproject (regardless of creation date). Generated by v3.20 of the RecentVGArticles script and posted by PresN. Bug reports and feature requests are appreciated. --PresN 15:57, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

April 1

April 2

April 3

April 4

April 5

April 6

April 7

Category:Windows-only freeware games and all the year-based categories under it seem awfully WP:OVERCATty and like a non-defining intersection. ~ A412 talk! 16:26, 8 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have to admit, I didn't expect the Waluigi effect article to be what it was. Figured it was going to be a meme thing. Sergecross73 msg me 19:33, 8 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Yuuki (Sword Art Online Character)[edit]

Opinions requested on this controversial afd (last req). GreenishPickle! (🔔) 22:09, 8 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Greenish Pickle! Probably wasn't necessary. Bludgeoning aside the consensus is pretty clear. Edit: Or well, I thought so. Looks like it's relisted. -- ferret (talk) 23:41, 8 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Goals update[edit]

Well, it took a few weeks more than I expected, but as of today our goal of 75%+ of articles Start-class or better has been reached! (and our goal of 10% of articles B-Class or better is at 101.2% done). As such, based on the poll at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Video games/Archive 174#Goals, I'm replacing them both with two new goals:

Congratulations, everyone! --PresN 18:49, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

That is some fantastic work. I think the lowering of the amount of stubs we have is more important work overall. I count 13 articles in that Vitals list that isnt already C+.Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 18:52, 9 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Updated the link to a better list page- there's a bunch that aren't under "#Video games" that we have tagged, so we're actually at 35 to go (286/321). That includes Home video game console, though, our only List-Class Vital article- does that count as less than C or does it need to be FL-Class to count? --PresN 19:08, 9 April 2024 (UTC)
And since someone asked on Discord- the way I set up the goal for stubs is that it starts at the number of stubs we have today (8832) and tracks the progress from there to 7500. So, we start at 0%, unlike most of our goals which start at some percentage in the middle. --PresN 20:30, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

Looking for Further Input on Merge Discussions[edit]

I recently opened merge discussions for Snorlax and Greninja at Talk:List_of_generation_I_Pokémon#Snorlax_Merge_Discussion and Talk:List_of_generation_VI_Pokémon#Greninja Merge Discussion respectively. The merge discussions have been up for a week with very little discussion, so I'd appreciate some additional input from other editors in regards to the proposed merges. Has one ever considered Magneton? Pokelego999 (talk) 17:06, 10 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Rewriting the List of the Legend of Zelda Characters page[edit]

Hello, I'm trying to figure out if it would be a good idea to rewrite the list Legend of Zelda characters page. That page is very confusing to navigate, but I think I know how to make it better. If we could categorize all the characters into their race, perhaps it would be easier. For example, have Link under the Hylian tab, and Ganon under the Gerudo tab. All I want is to make this article better, and I hope you do too! Thank you for your time and consideration. 2601:48:C601:5550:E549:7E42:A0FC:52F4 (talk) 18:15, 10 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That would be significantly more confusing for anyone who is not already a Zelda fan, and most of our audience are probably not Zelda fans. QuicoleJR (talk) 18:18, 10 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Additionally, we do not write articles from an in-universe perspective. We order lists like this either by character type (protagonists, villains, supporting characters, etc.) or by game they first appeared in. QuicoleJR (talk) 18:20, 10 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, agreed it needs cleanup, but we don't want to organize it by in-universe story traits. We'd want to do something easily understood by fans and non-fans alike. Alphabetical order, chronological order by introduction, by game release, etc. (Not advocating any particular way, just giving examples.) Sergecross73 msg me 19:39, 10 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Would it be better to organize it like List of Mario franchise characters or List of Animal Crossing series characters? The first one demonstrates sorting by type, the second one demonstrates sorting by release. I think that sorting them alphabetically is a bad idea. QuicoleJR (talk) 19:54, 10 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
For whatever reason, most of the Zelda game articles lack a Characters subsection under Plot. A lot of these characters should probably be exported to their respective game pages, leaving only the most major recurring characters on the list page. The BotW/TotK section is also far too long and includes many minor characters who probably don't even warrant inclusion post-export/cleanup. Axem Titanium (talk) 21:37, 10 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
That's was exactly my problem. So perhaps we should reorganize the characters into their own games instead? 2601:48:C601:5550:E549:7E42:A0FC:52F4 (talk) 12:20, 11 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yes absolutely. If you're up for it, feel free to be WP:BOLD and start the process. Axem Titanium (talk) 17:43, 11 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you so much! One other question, would it be better to fix the actual page or the page for each individual game? Either way, I will need help to add information, because I don't want to take all the credit! I want this to be a team effort. Thank you again! 2601:48:C601:5550:E549:7E42:A0FC:52F4 (talk) 18:55, 11 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, Wikipedia is a collaborative effort though sometimes that collaboration manifests in the form of large changes instigated by one editor, followed over time by numerous edits that fix or adjust things. If you feel comfortable doing so, I would encourage you to register an account so people have an easier time communicating and collaborating with you. As for the article at hand, I'm sure improvement will take the form of not only fixing/improving the actual page, but also exporting relevant information to other pages and improving them as well. Axem Titanium (talk) 19:50, 11 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Link for convenience: List of The Legend of Zelda characters QuicoleJR (talk) 19:55, 10 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Pocket Ants[edit]

Is it possible to make a wikipedia page about it? It's a mobile videogame where you can control an ant colony, but I don't know if there is enough information to make an article about it. And this website tends to be specific about what sources can be used and which can not, i do not know if an article about this is acceptable. Oixyplanet (talk) 06:13, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Oixyplanet, from a quick search through the list of reliable sources own custom search engine, there is very little to go on. One result is the Metacritic entry, but there is nothing really there either. Doesn't look notable enough. Hope this helps. soetermans. ↑↑↓↓←→←→ B A TALK 12:27, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Shame. Can I still try making a draft though? Oixyplanet (talk) 22:29, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Oixyplanet: You can try, but there's no guarantee it becomes an article. QuicoleJR (talk) 01:36, 13 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Alright! Thank you! I am aware of that and will try to back up everything I can, even if that means unpermitted sources, so I am not expecting it to become an article. I am thinking of using the wiki for it. Oixyplanet (talk) 08:29, 14 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 GA / Clean-Up[edit]

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is well on its way to being a GA. It was previously nominated by User:Zekerocks11, who I thought was doing good work until they left Wikipedia. (And I hope they one day return.) Most of it is well sourced and well researched, and would benefit from a cleanup (in discussing the plot, music, and battle system). If a few editors take a crack at it, I'm sure it could reach GA with only a bit more work. Shooterwalker (talk) 17:23, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Is it really usual to have a somewhat uncited gameplay section? Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 18:19, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I agree, the amount of sourcing in the gameplay section is definitely quite distant from GA level. The writing could also be improved; e.g. just mentioning the DLC without further elaboration isn't very clear. ― novov (t c) 05:19, 13 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

User:A particle for world to form/Potential copyvio[edit]

Hello. I've wrote a script that compares Wikipedia videogame articles with Steam descriptions (Steam link is obtained via Wikidata). Initially I've developed it for Russian Wikipedia, but I've decided to run it on enwiki as well.

The script found more than 50 potential copyvios. I've cleaned some of them, but there're too many cases to handle alone. I've published the list there, hope it would be useful.

Careful, there might be some false positives. A particle for world to form (talk) 10:41, 14 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for putting this together! Axem Titanium (talk) 18:02, 15 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

AU release info initiative[edit]

Hi, can we start paying more attention to pages that don't have any Australian release info? Many older games are missing this information. I will be adding dates I find from Nintendo Magazine System (Australia), retail websites such as The Gamesmen, and contemporary Newspapers.com sources, but it'd be great if everyone else could look out for this as well. Thanks! Venky64 (talk) 19:59, 14 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

For older games, it is effectively the EU release date because they are both PAL territories. TarkusABtalk/contrib 21:20, 14 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Not exactly. I've seen many cases where the dates between the two differ by anywhere between one day to ten. And Australia usually receives games on Thursdays, while regions like the United Kingdom get them on Fridays. In any case, it is worth looking into. Check out the recent edit I did on Turok: Dinosaur Hunter for just one example of this. Venky64 (talk) 22:05, 14 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Australia is almost a full day ahead the US and half a day ahead of Europe. Could that be the reason for the discrepancy? Axem Titanium (talk) 21:06, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It's not just that, and when that is the case, the official release listings for the two regions are different.
Here are more examples of games with distinctly different Australia release dates that I've edited in recently:
Driver 3, Icewind Dale, Diablo II, Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Dungeon Keeper 2, Commandos 2, and Eternal Darkness. There really is a distinction, especially as you go further back! The homogeneity seen in release dates between both regions has closed with time, with PAL regions only being a common catch-all release listing with the advent of the digital release era around the early to mid 2010s. Venky64 (talk) 22:46, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I am all in for including Australian release dates!
In fact since I am from Australia myself (despite not being born here), this is exactly what we all needed! NakhlaMan (talk) 13:09, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I think it’s a little situationally dependent, but in general I think it’s a good idea as long as sources can be found, and especially if the date differs quite significantly. Working in video games from the late 80s and early 90s as I often do, for instance, worldwide simultaneous releases weren’t really a thing for a while and the release date for Australia can vary wildly even from Europe (which in itself isn’t always one solid date any often varied from UK to other countries). Other regions are also situationally dependent - Master System and Genesis era Sega releases, for instance, I will sometimes include Brazil because it was a notable region for those systems. Red Phoenix talk 13:24, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Fanbyte[edit]

Hey, I just thought I'd let people know that some Fanbyte pages are down, and it seems that, even though they're archived, they don't play well with archive.org. [5] [6] The site itself is not down, and other articles like this seem to work fine, but it may be that the site is having issues or going down. - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 19:57, 15 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Oh that's super weird. Do you happen to have the old, "non-legacy" url to see if it's on archive.org? Must be something weird about how IA is handling the request. Axem Titanium (talk) 21:03, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah I checked with Kung Fu Man, it turns out it's just some weird handling with legacy stuff. I was able to find it archived properly. Still, would be good to fix the Fanbyte links, just in case it does go down. - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 21:45, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Good article nominations[edit]

Whilst the WP:VG GAN backlog isn't that bad, there is quite the influx of nominations recently - for example, seven Pokémon articles are nominated, six from the same user! Just a light touch encouragement to consider trying out reviewing good article candidates if you haven't done so already. Happy to provide advice on the process. ＶＲＸＣＥＳ (talk) 22:03, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I thought you weren't allowed to have that many GANs open at the same time? Axem Titanium (talk) 04:21, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Probably not ideal, no. I'm guilty of it: I've nominated a second GAN as The Sims Online is a larger one that's sat dormant for some time, but agree that many is a bit much and probably not worth encouragement. ＶＲＸＣＥＳ (talk) 05:21, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I try to nominate only as many articles as I review myself, so as to avoid something like this. - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 05:26, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I would definitely recommend User:Pokelego999 willingly withdraw the majority of the nominations they made until the existing ones are out of the way. It is simply not realistic to be able to address all of them in a reasonable time if they were all reviewed at the same time. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 05:48, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Just as an aside, I've confirmed on the GAN talk page that there's no limit to nominations, so really this stuff is just a matter of courtesy and community views on how best to manage. ＶＲＸＣＥＳ (talk) 06:22, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not expecting editors to lay down what they're doing to cover these. Editors can cover them when they wish to cover them, I'm not exactly trying to rush anything, both for myself and other editors. In any case, one of my six has already passed, and another is in the middle of the review. I'm planning to hit up some of the backlog in any case, and I'll be trying to get on those as soon as possible. Has one ever considered Magneton? Pokelego999 (talk) 20:07, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
No worries, as above definitely not doing anything wrong, just wanted to encourage some momentum by raising the discussion. I'll pick one up too. ＶＲＸＣＥＳ (talk) 20:22, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed, in fact I think that editors should be encouraged to nominate as many as they can realistically support as the nominator- it doesn't serve Wikipedia to not participate in the process as fully as possible. That said, editors should also take care to review at similar volumes to what they nominate, in this and every other process, which Pokelego999 does, so no worries there. --PresN 21:23, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I will have much more time in a couple of weeks, so I could potentially take a few then. I tried it out for the backlog drive recently, and it was not as hard as I thought. QuicoleJR (talk) 20:14, 17 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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