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Article: Draft of "How to write a good video game article".
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This page in a nutshell: Learn what video game articles are not Research the topic Organize the content Write prose in an encyclopedic manner Learn how to properly add images and citations Avoid common pitfalls

Writing encyclopedic articles about video games has proven to a difficult venture on Wikipedia; though it has been successfully done many times before. Writing about a video game is not hard. People do it all the time on the Internet and there are several professional and personal websites dedicated to video games. The tricking part about writing about video games on Wikipedia is adhering to the policies and guidelines of style and quality. Though these guidelines and policies may seem cumbersome, they are there for a reason; to maintain a certain level of quality, accuracy, and reliability.

This guide is a compilation of the knowledge and experience of editors that have improved video game articles to Featured and Good status. It aims to provide direction to editors interested in improving the quality of a video game article, and covers researching the topic, writing about the topic, and general pitfalls to avoid.

Misconceptions about video game articles

A number of readers and editors come to Wikipedia looking for information about video games and related topics with a certain expectation. Often times they expect to find something akin to a game/strategy guide or FAQ. However, this is not the purpose of Wikipedia, nor is it the purpose of any other encyclopedia. Wikipedia is not meant to serve as a how-to guide, which means video game articles are not meant to help a reader find the hidden item in the secret level, perform a character's special attack, or provide readers with every detail of the game.

An encyclopedic article is intended to define a topic and cover all the informative and interesting points on the topic. By including too much information about the gameplay and plot, the article becomes unbalanced. While avid video game players are interested in such details, an unbalanced article offers much less to a general reader, which is the intended audience of Wikipedia.

Common misconceptions

• Video game articles on Wikipedia are for "gamers" or video game enthusiasts

  While people who regularly play video games and general video game enthusiasts do read these articles, the intended reader of Wikipedia is meant to be a general reader. And while a general reader may have played some video games before, not all readers have. It is best to assume the reader has not played a video game before and write the article in a way that is accessible to all readers.

• Articles should include full lists of character, enemies, bosses, levels/worlds, and items.

  Articles should actually only briefly mention major characters that are important to the plot or prominent game mechanic. Enemies, items, and levels/worlds should only be mentioned if they can build upon the bigger picture of the article.

• Articles should detail every event that took place in the game.

  Articles should actually only mention major plot events in a concise manner. Anything beyond that provides excessive detail that does little to help the reader understand the topic. While the story is part of the topic, it does not trump the other sections.

• Articles should include every interesting bit of trivia.

  Articles can include trivia, but they should not be trivial details or in a "Trivia" section. Such content should be notable, properly sourced, and integrated into the article in appropriate sections. For example, in Super Mario 64#Development, the section includes "one character is based on assistant director Takashi Tezuka's wife, who, as Miyamoto explained, "is very quiet normally, but one day she exploded, maddened by all the time [Tezuka] spent at work. In the game, there is now a character which shrinks when Mario looks at it, but when Mario turns away, it will grow large and menacing." Though this sounds like trivia, it explains how a specific character was developed.

Researching the topic

While it may seem like a boring task, researching the video game you want to write about is vitally important to improving its quality on Wikipedia. While it may be easy to write about some aspects of a game, like the gameplay or plot, others require knowledge outside what you experienced while playing the game. Information like why the character designer chose to make a character's clothing a specific color or style, or why the game plays the way it does.

Researching serves two purposes:

1. Increase your knowledge of the topic to better prepare you to write the article.
2. Provides you with sources you can use as citations in the article.

Reliable sources

One of the keys to properly researching your topic is to search in the right place. Reliable sources are used simply because they are reliable; you can trust the information provided in it. The Video games Project has compiled a list of reliable sources for use in video game articles. If you are unsure about the reliability of a source, an inquiry can be placed on the talk page of that list; the Video games Project as had numerous discussion on the validity of sources, so your question may already have an answer. The Reliable sources Noticeboard is another page to place an inquiry, though it is good practice to leave a note on the Video games Project talk page to keep members informed.

Why do we provide citations and sources? Sources are used to give general readers a method of checking if the information in a Wikipedia article is factual. Even if you know the information is true because you played the game, a general reader who has not played the game does not know it is true. Using sources is important for Wikipedia's reliability. Unlike other reference works, Wikipedia has no editorial board, and editors bear no personal responsibility for the content they write. The only way to ensure all content is true is by requiring that all statements are verifiable.

Researching tips

Researching some topics can be easier than others, but most will require some dedication of time and effort. Game reviews are a good source to get information for an article. They can provide information about and citations for the reception, gameplay, plot, and sometimes even development. Game features are another useful source of information. They can take the form of small news articles, previews, interviews, or full feature articles that provide an overview of the topic. Features are good sources because they can provide information about and citations for development, legacy, impact, merchandise, and general information about the game. Game reviews, features, and other relevant information can be found a variety of ways:

General searches

• Gaming press network searches

  Normally typing in the full or partial title of the game will turn up a fair amount of articles. Other things to search for can be the developer's name (company or person), a character's name, and sequels/prequels. Most gaming networks divide articles up by reviews, features, and/or news, so it can be easier to find the type of information you're looking for.

• Magazine articles

  Printed sources are generally preferred over online sources, but the downside to them is it can be hard to do fact checking and copy editing without the actual magazine. Magazines can be found at bookstores, groceries, and convenience stores. Subscriptions can be obtained by mailing a subscription postcard found in the magazine or ordering online. The Video game Project has also created a magazine page to help editors gain access to magazine articles they may not have.

• Books

  Several definitive books written by video game historians, academics, and industry experts have been published about video games. Though most books discuss generalized topics and highlight only the more notable games, they can still offer good content in regard to some games' legacy and/or development.

• Strategy guides and instruction manuals

  Though they focus mainly how to play and beat games, strategy guides and instruction manuals can be used to source information about the gameplay and plot.

• Google searches
  1. While doing a Google search will normally find most of the same articles in a gaming press network search, it can sometimes turn up a few hidden gems—though sometimes you'll have to search through a good deal of other articles before finding them. This should probably be used as a last resort when the above methods have been exhausted. Just make sure the article you find can qualify as a reliable source.
  2. Google's News search in timeline mode can be particularly helpful, as to identify articles before, around, and after a game's release to get more information on development, sales, and reception than just normal gaming sites will typically offer.
  3. When you are trying to find particularly in-depth discussions, for example of a genre or a technical concept, appending "filetype:pdf" to your search is a good method to find reliable and exhaustive reports on a subject. See WP:Search engine test for more tips on searching.
  4. If you use an RSS reader and are working on an article about a recent or future game, setting up a Google News custom RSS feed can help to track details of games in reliable sources as news is made available. However, remember to avoid presenting these stories as a news report; articles should be aimed towards discussion of the game after it has been released and reviewed, and recentism should be avoided.

Other search tips

• Search within your searches
  1. If you're almost done with an article and are looking to cite a specific statement, that can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. Narrow your search down by searching for certain keywords in web pages. A character's name, the name of a specific game mechanism, a developer's name, etc.
  2. Most browsers feature a search page function where you can look for a specific word or phrase on the page you're viewing. In most PC Windows browsers, this can be activated by pressing "Ctrl+F". In most Macintosh browsers, this can be activated by pressing "Command+F".
  3. Most general web search engines also allow you to search by website. For example, searching for "site:ign.com halo" on Google will provide the various pages in the ign.com domain space with the word "halo" in them. Keep in mind that this will also display results from the site's forum postings and article comments posted by users. Such result should be skipped over as they do not satisfy Wikipedia's definition of a reliable source. Another useful option is to search by file type with "filetype:pdf"; this can be used to find in-depth reports in PDF form.
• If you're looking for information about Kingdom Hearts (video game), check out information on Kingdom Hearts II.

  When a sequel comes out, it is normally compared to its predecessor. Often times there will be a brief mention of the previous title's reception and/or development, which can be used as a citation in the first title's article. This same idea can be applied to writing about a series or genre. Often times, an article about a specific video game will describe or mention common elements of the series or genre it is a part of.

• Check out aggregate review sites

  Websites like Game Rankings and Metacritic compile their scores from other published review scores. They also normally provide a link to some of the reviews. This can be a quick way to find multiple review sources in one location.

• Check your local library

  Though there may not be an entire section of books dedicated to video games, there are a good number of books on the subject that may be at your local library—finding info about a specific game may still prove difficult. Even if they aren't at your library, you can request that it be sent to your library via interlibrary loan. Libraries can also provide a quiet place to organize article content before editing the Wikipedia article.

• Bookmarks are your friend

  Bookmarks are meant to easily facilitate the return to it a specific location. If you find a good article in a magazine or online in a website, bookmark it. That way you won't waste time finding it again, or worse, lose track of it all together.

• Look through "What links here"

  For older games that may have influenced any type of media, you may be able to hit upon more sources by searching through the links in the game's "What links here" link in the toolbox. Often this may just be a passing reference, but you may also hit upon how the game significant affected the story of a book or the direction of the movie, among other details. A general "What links here" search can also be performed at Special:WhatLinksHere

Writing style

When writing about a topic in an encyclopedic manner, the style of writing must adhere to a level of quality so the material can be read and understood by experts and laymen. Though poor writing is not a crime by any means, it will limit how accessible the article is to the intended audience and limit how far it will progress up the quality scale. Below is any overview of the guidelines and policies to adhere to while writing about a video game on Wikipedia.

Organization

Articles are organized to help display the information in a manner that is easy to read and understand. If details are divided among several sections in the article, the flow of the article can be disjointed and it is more difficult for readers to see the bigger picture. Having the article divided into sections also helps editors fill those sections with the appropriate information. After earning numerous successful Featured articles and Good articles, the Video games Project has found a rather safe and reliable format to use in video game articles:

1. Intro
   • Lead paragraphs – Should be a short summary of the whole article.
   • Infobox – Should provide basic information at a quick glance. See Template:Infobox VG for a standardized infobox.
2. Gameplay
   • Should briefly explain the mechanics of the game and how the player(s) interacts with game.
   • Can sometimes include some subsections that explain a prominent game feature or mechanic. For example, "Multiplayer", "Combat"/"Battle system", etc.
3. Plot
   • Should briefly explain what happens in the game.
   • Setting – Should help give a little background information about the fictional or real life location of the game and the time period it is set in.
   • Characters – Should mention the major characters and briefly explain their role in the game
   • Story – Should briefly explain the story of the game and mention major events.
4. Development
   • Should explain how the game and its various aspects were created by the developers.
   • Depending on the amount of content, this section can include some subsections to further organize the information. For example, "Audio", "Promotion", "Hardware", etc. Sometimes, though rarely, the subsections are large enough to become a regular section that follows after the "Development" section.
5. Reception
   • Should explain how the game was received by critics in the gaming and other notable press. Sales information and awards should also be included.
   • Review score table– Should be a listing of review scores from prominent gaming press networks. See Template:VG Reviews for a standardized table.
   • Serves as a conclusion to the article.
6. Cultural influence/Impact/Legacy
   • Can include various types of content.
   • Should mention any sequels, remakes, or re-releases.
   • Should explain how the game has affected the video game industry and various aspects of society; change industry standards, created social controversy, health concerns, etc.
   • Should mention notable appearances in other media. Trivial details should be avoided.
   • Can also serve as a conclusion to the article.
7. See also
   • Should provide a list of internal links to related articles.
   • Links already included in the body of the text are generally not repeated in this section. Because of this, this section is often not needed in most video game articles.
8. External links
   • Should provide a link outside of Wikipedia that can provide information that wouldn't be in the article. For example, a game's official website done by the developing or publishing company.

Because each game is different, each article's organization will differ slightly from the outline above. When organizing content, it is best to use common sense and consolidate content where it seems to fit the best. Some games have very little plot, and any information related to it could be explained in the "Gameplay" section. Though a game's mechanics are normally described first, some times having the "Plot" section before it can better frame the descriptions.

Having multiple sections that are too small to stand on their own adds unnecessary length to table of contents and undue importance to the sections. For example, if an article contains two very small sections like "Versions" and "Merchandise", it might be best to combine the two together into one section titled "Versions and merchandise". Another example is if there is not enough information to form an "Audio" or "Music" section, the information can be integrated into the "Development" section.

Grammar

In-universe verses Out-of-universe

Video game articles inherently deal with fictional material, and the content of the article should be treated as such. Though a game can provide an engrossing story and memorable characters, they are not real and they should be referred to in the article in an "out-of-universe perspective". Specific in-game names, dates, and time should be avoided as much as possible. In fiction, just about everything has a name, but when only referred to once or twice in the plot summary, consider omitting the fictional name. Avoid times as much as possible. If the setting is in the real world, name the time period, but that's all. When describing gameplay, it is best to write from the perspective of the real-life player rather than the in-game, fictional character.

Examples of in-universe writing (discouraged)

• Phrases like "in the year 3049... later in 3050"
• Depicting emotional events as if they really happened; "Soma Cruz cried out in frustration", "Sora, Donald, and Goofy hoped to be reunited with their friends"
• Describing gameplay the character does; "Link can attack and use abilities in battle." and "Mario jumps around the stage."

Examples of out-of-universe writing (encouraged)

• Phrases like "depicted as", "in this video game", "the character did", "the game is set in New York of the 1980s", etc.
• Literary terms such as "protagonist", "antagonist", and the various plot devices (e.g. quibble (plot device) and character shield).
• Describe from the player's perspective; "The player controls Link's attacks and abilities in battle.", "The player controls Mario from a side-view perspective."

Active voice verses passive voice

When writing on Wikipedia, editors sometimes try to write in a more professional manner by inadvertently writing in the passive voice—where the subject is being acted on by something else. The complexity of a sentence using passive voice can sound more professional and intelligent, but it normally serves to only clutter a sentence. Active voice, where the subject of the sentence is performing some action, is preferred over passive voice. Writing in active voice will generally keep the sentence structure more simple and concise, and reduce the chance of misplacing a modifier.

Examples of passive voice (discouraged)

"Coins and hearts are used by the player to improve the character's powers".

"The character's powers are improved by coins and hearts collected by the player".

Examples of active voice (preferred)

"The player can collect coins and hearts to improve the character's powers".

Also, be careful of placing too many phrases before the subject/verb of the sentence. Following the above example, "By using collected coins and hearts, the player can improve the character's powers." should be avoided.

Verb tense

When describing a video game or console in the abstract, use present tense unless a reliable source proves that no instances of the product exist or the product was never released.

• "The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console."
• "Star Fox 2 was a flying shooter game in development for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was canceled prior to the release of Star Fox 64."

However, when describing a specific event related to a console or game, such as production, advertising, reviews, etc., use a tense appropriate for the time period in which the event occurred. Be careful to avoid phrasing that may confuse past and present tense.

• "The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console designed by Nintendo, which was released in 1985."
• "The PlayStation 3 is currently being sold worldwide."
• "Crush was developed by Zoë Mode studio and published by Sega."

Similarly, use the present tense for describing things happening in the games (including gameplay), not the past tense. This is logical; even if a game was released decades ago, it still performs the same today as it did on release.

• "Throughout the game, Pac-Man is chased by four ghosts."
• "The Prince rolls the katamari around various areas."

Writing tips

Writing encyclopedic articles is not the easiest activity in the world. An article on Wikipedia strives to give you a large chunk of information in a concise, yet engaging manner. Including excessive details about gameplay and plot can make reading the article difficult and/or less enjoyable for the general reader. User:Tony1 has written a very in-depth guide to writing well-written prose that is engaging, even brilliant, and of professional standard.

General tips

• Look at other articles for examples

  If you want something to become a Featured article or Good article, the best thing to do is to emulate articles that are already obtained that level of quality. The Video game Project has numerous examples of quality articles that can serve as a template to work from. Examples can be found at Wikipedia:WikiProject Video games/Good content and Wikipedia:WikiProject Video games/Featured content. It is also a good idea to look at other Featured articles from other WikiProjects. Maybe they are doing something that might work very well on a video game article.

• Save the lead for last

  The lead is an important part of the article. So you don't want to jump into it unprepared. Because it summarizes the rest of the article, you can't really write it if the rest of the article has holes. After the other sections are written, the lead can write itself sometimes.

• Add a citation for everything; better safe than sorry

  The inclusion of content on Wikipedia relies on a couple things. The two things most video game content fails to satisfy are verifiability and notability. In short, the content needs a source to verify its accuracy and to show that something other than Wikipedia felt the information is "worthy of notice". Sourcing everything with a reliable source ensures content will not get removed or the page deleted.

• Use your Userspace

  Editors have the option to create subpages of their User page. Consider making drafts in your own personal sandbox (see Wikipedia:About the Sandbox for info). This way you can edit at your leisure. For example, this guide started out as a sandbox page. See the first draft.

Style tips

• Prose verses lists

  As a rule of thumb, do not include any lists. Some lists certainly have their place, but prose is favored when there is an option. If there are lists currently in the article, it would be best to convert it to prose, and then see whether any of them need to be lists. Usually there's none.

• Player verses character

  When describing the gameplay or other aspects of the game, one needs to consider the distinction of the character and the player. The player performs the actions that control the character in the game, while the character responds to those actions.

• Remember to format titles

  Every instance of video game, movie, and magazine titles should be in italics. This is done by placing the two single quotation marks ( '' ) around text. If the title is wikilinked, the square brackets go inside the single quotes.

  Most text will not be in bold letters. A general rule of thumb is the first instance of the video game the article is about should be the only text in bold. This is done by placing the three single quotation marks ( ''' ) around text.

  See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (titles) for more information

• Eliminate redundancy

  Writing in a concise manner will strengthen the quality of the prose and improve readability. For practice in eliminating redundancy, try Tony's Redundancy exercises

  Things to avoid:

  • Additive terms—"also", "in addition", "moreover" and "furthermore"
  • Temporal terms—"over the years", "currently", "now", "from time to time"
  • Vague terms of size, number and proportion—"some", "a variety of", "a number of", "several", "a few", "many", "any", "all".

• Avoid long sentences

  There is no competition to write long sentences on Wikipedia. Consider breaking up complex sentences into two or more smaller sentences; these can be easier to read.

• Use terminology meant for a general reader

  Avoiding using common gaming terms and abbreviations, or if necessary, make sure to introduce these terms once before using the abbreviation. Avoid terms like playable and downloadable. Use terms like "Nintendo Entertainment System", "Health", and "Role-playing game" instead of "NES", "HP", and "RPG".

  • If a term is used frequently in the article, it acceptable to introduce the abbreviation and use it throughout the remainder of the article. For example, the first instance should be "Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)", and subsequent instances can simply be "SNES".
  • See the article guidelines for a list of common gaming jargon that is to be avoided.

• See other examples of copy editing

  The Video game peer review can provide examples on how to improve an article. The Video game peer review archives can provide more examples of past peer reviews.

• Check out grammar tips

  Several websites and organizations offer general grammar tips to improve writing. Some will post a daily tip on their website while others having mailing lists that will email you tips.

Writing the article

Now for the part you probably came here for; how to actually write the video game article. The reason the above sections (Researching and Writing style) were presented first was to make the following section as easy to accomplish as possible. Having knowledge of the topic, how to write about it, and how not to, means you'll spend less time doing revisions and take bigger steps in improving the article's quality. The guide lists the sections as they should appear in the article after you have written it. This does not mean you have to or should write them in that particular order. To the right are quick links to take you to a specific section.

The lead

The Lead is one of the most important parts of any Wikipedia article; its job is to summarize the article in 2 to 3 paragraphs to familiarize the reader with the structure of the content that you will be providing them, as well as to give a quick one-minute overview of the topic. Many articles that are processed through Good Article or Featured Article assessments are heavily scrutinized for a poor lead section.

For articles dealing with video games, a common practice has developed for leads, being a 3-paragraph discussion.

• First paragraph

The first paragraph should state the name of the game (using both bold (to identify the article's name) and italics as per the manual of style), along with any other alternate names the game may go by. The genre of the game should be clearly identified as well as the developer and the publisher. If a notable person has been cited by the game as having worked on the game's development (such as Tim Schafer, David Jaffe, or Tetsuya Nomura), this should also be noted. Release dates should be given, along with the release of any ports, remakes, or sequels.

• Second paragraph

The second paragraph should summarize the plot briefly in one or two sentences; a high level overview is only needed to set the stage for further discussion. One or two sentences should be included to discuss the gameplay, including any notable features of the game.

• Third paragraph

The third paragraph should cover the reception of the game, citing its general critical reaction and any significantly notable successful or failing elements in the game. If the game has won awards, this aspect can be noted, but specific mention of any award is discouraged.

This approach should help you to write a good lead for nearly any game, though this may need to be altered for other games. If there's not a lot of reception information for a game, it may be worthwhile to combine the listed first and third paragraphs into one paragraph. Older video games, which featured simple gameplay and little to no story, may not have enough information here to warrant the second paragraph. In such cases, the information should be combined with another paragraph in the lead. There may be need to talk more about an aspect not normally covered in video game articles (such as with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Atari 2600)) which should be noted in the lead.

There is a yet established guideline on providing references within the lead section; however, the style must be consistent: if one or two statements are sourced, then other statements must be sourced, otherwise, no sources should be provided though it is expected that the more detailed sections in the body will contain sources. If sourcing is used in the lead, the use of named references can help to easily provide sourcing of existing references. (See Citation tips further down for more information.)

The Infobox

An article about a specific video game should use ((Infobox VG)) to display relevant information in a easy to read format. It should be placed before everything else in the article, including the lead paragraphs. The Infobox VG template has several different parameters that an editor must fill in to display the information properly. Here are some of the more commonly used parameters.

((Infobox VG
| title        = Should be the title of the video game
| image        = Should be the cover art of the game
| caption      = A caption describing the image
| developer    = The company/studio that created the game
| publisher    = The company that commercially released the game (may be same as developer)
| composer     = The composer of the game's music (if its a notable person)
| series       = Should be a series the game is an installment of
| released     = The initial release date(s) of the game
| genre        = The type of game it is; shooter, adventure, etc.
| modes        = Is the game single player, two player, online multiplayer, etc.
| platforms    = The video game system(s) the game was released on
))

Gameplay section

Gameplay sections should give a high level overview of the game's mechanics from the standpoint of someone that has never and may never play the game. To approach this, gameplay sections should be written assuming the reader may know general concepts of video games, but will not be familiar with the field. Only top-level details of gameplay should be provided to establish enough of how the game is played so further discussion in the Development and Reception sections can be understood. However, Wikipedia is not a game guide—gameplay and other similar sections of a game article should not include lists of in-game elements The article can mention such features are available in the game, and specific instances can be called out if there is specific coverage of those elements from reliable sources.

This section should mainly describe what the gameplay is. While it is acceptable to include a brief explanation of why the gameplay was implemented a certain way, such content is meant to be discussed in the "Development" section. Any mention of such content should be as brief as possible and the practice should be minimized to keep information organized.

The gameplay section should be sourced with references. While the game manual is generally acceptable, most modern review articles highlight key features of gameplay, which can be used for sourcing as well. These reviews may also help focus on certain aspects of the gameplay that should be discussed; a feature of the game that is never discussed by reviewers may not be necessary to include within the gameplay. For games that are part of a series, consider moving the gameplay discussion to a common "series" article. There should still be a brief summary of the gameplay within each game, including any changes from the general series gameplay, but it is not necessary to repeat all the details.

Things to remember

• It is best to not include lists of levels, maps, vehicles, characters, monsters, items, weapons, power-ups, secrets, and the like.
• The genre(s) of a game should always be listed and wikilinked in the first sentence of the first paragraph to establish the general frame of the game.
• While the basic mechanics of the genre(s) should be summarized, the gameplay should focus on what makes the game different, unique, or an improvement on the basic genre(s).
• Wikilink to basic gaming terms whenever possible, such as Game Over, New Game Plus, and Boss (video games); however, avoid replacing clear text with video game jargon that may not be clearly understood without following the wikilink.
• Avoid the use of any abbreviations such as "RPG", "RTS", "NPC" and so forth; it is appropriate if such terms are used throughout the discussion, to spell out the term fully and then use the abbreviation. For example "Final Fantasy" is a turn-based computer role-playing game (RPG). The game established many of the trends seen in modern RPGs today.
• Wikipedia is not GameFAQs, nor is it intended to function in a similar manner.
• It is often better to re-read the game's manual to figure out how best to describe a difficult gameplay topic, even if you have played the game and believe you can explain it, the manual may be able to explain it in simpler terms. The manual may also provide suggestions for terminology to use to avoid confusion.

Plot section

Plot sections may be divided into a maximum of three parts: Setting, Characters, and Story; however, not all of these may be necessary. The need and amount of information for this section is determined by the type of game, and may not be necessary for certain games. When the article is near completion, all elements of the plot section should be evaluated in terms of the overall article length; if the plot is roughly more than 20% of the total article, it may be necessary to consider condensing the plot; the focus of the game article should be on the aspects of the game's real-world influence, and not in the game itself.

Note that plot sections should be sourced. While some can be taken from the game manual, it is preferable to use secondary sources, such as reviews, or game guides provided from reliable sources whenever possible. If this cannot be done, then another option is to cite dialog within the video game using the ((cite video game)) template; such dialog choices should be limited to key lines that demonstrate the most significant points of the game's plot. For more information on this, see the citations section further down.

Setting subsection

The Setting should only be used if the game's "world" cannot easily be described in line with the Story, or if describing the Setting would help to improve the language and conciseness of the Story. For example, BioShock's back story establishes a series of events that lead up to the plot as seen through the player's experience; to describe this back story as experienced by the player would make the Story section too long and difficult to understand. Instead, it was opted to create the Setting section to make both sections much easier to understand. However, a setting section for a game that takes place in a historically accurate era or present day, such as the Call of Duty series, would not need such a section. If the game is part of a series of games, using the same setting, the Setting section can be relocated to the series article.

Characters subsection

The Characters section should be presented in prose form to identify the player's character(s), main companions and major antagonists in the game. If there are a number of characters, it is sometimes appropriate to create a spinoff article to list the characters. However, care should be done with this as such articles, if they lack notability, may be deleted. Characters that are common to a series may be moved to the series articles.

Story subsection

The Story section should concisely describe the events of the game, incorporating elements of setting and/or characters if these sections aren't used. While there is no length restriction on the story, it is best to use a high-level overview of the game, skimming details as needed. Some games have minimal plot elements, such as Doom or Quake and can be summed in one or two paragraphs, while some role-playing games may have a longer plot that takes four or five to describe. Regardless of the section's length, it is best to be as concise as possible. There is no need to hide spoilers or use spoiler warnings within plot sections, nor is it appropriate to write the plot as to avoid spoilers; Wikipedia's general disclaimers include that users may be spoiled of information within games.

Development section

Development content is very important to include in an encyclopedic video game article. It provides a history of how the game came to be and real world information needed for an article to claim comprehensiveness. However, writing this section can be difficult because the amount and type of information available will vary by game. One of the best sources for such information is a developer interview. These can provide insight into the thought process of the designers and give examples of influences and obstacles encountered. Previews can be helpful by giving a snap shot of the game before it was released and may mention development issues that were still being addressed.

When writing about development, common sense should be used to organize content to maintain a sense of flow for the reader. Most times, it is best to give the information in a somewhat chronological order—though information can also be grouped by topics like audio, promotion, graphics, etc. If one such topic gets large enough, it can be split off into its own subsection or regular section. For example, Kingdom Hearts#Audio is a separate section from the rest of the development information because it focuses on the game's musical score and voice acting. Portal (video game)#Soundtrack, however, does not have as much content and is a subsection of the main development section.

Things to remember

• Avoid proseline. Though maintaining a sense to chronology is important, this section should not read like an ordered list of events.
• Images in this section should be relevant to the information given and should add on to it.
• Source everything to avoid information being tagged as original research.
• Do the best you can with the available information.

Reception section

Reception content is very important to include in an encyclopedic video game article as it provides real world information needed for an article to claim comprehensiveness. A game's reception is one of the easier sections to add content to, but can be difficult to comply with guidelines and policies. Reception sections should give a high level overview of how the game was received by the gaming press, general press, and general public. This section may be divided into a maximum of three parts: Sales, Critical response, and Awards; however, not all of these may be necessary. For example, Wii Sports won multiple awards around the world and thus had enough information to create a subsection, Wii Sports#Awards. Vagrant Story, while a critically and commercially successful game, did not win as many awards and does not have any such subsections in Vagrant Story#Reception.

It is often helpful and convenient to provide a table listing the review scores obtained by reliable gaming sources, though this is not required or even feasible for some games. The template ((VG Reviews)) provides a useful starting point for most games, though this template is not required, a similar format should be followed. It is strongly recommended to include the cumulative ratings from both Metacritic and Game Rankings as these will provide further links and ratings to other review sources for additional information. However, listing every possible review from reliable sources is not recommended; the table should list 5 to 8 review sources, at most, including aggregate ratings. Any score listed should be properly cited with a reliable source.

Typically, a good representative range of reviews should be picked based on the reliability of the source and the rating itself; reviews from reliable sources that are far different from the average of other reviews should be included and their praise or criticism that led to that review. For example, in Ōkami's release for the Wii, the score provided from Nintendo Power (7.5 out of 10) is significantly lower than other scores for the game (around 9.0 of 10), and thus this review score is included in the table and the reasoning behind it noted in the text. An effort should be made to minimize repetitive review scores in the review table. A string of scores like 8 of 10, 4 of 5, and 7.9 of 10 are virtually identical and provide little to the reader. An exception to this might be a game which received several "perfect" scores: 10 of 10 and 5 of 5.

When writing about the reception, it is best to mention the author's name and publication to provide context to the reader. For example, "REVIEWER NAME of PUBLICATION stated that..." or "PUBLICATION's REVIEWER NAME commented that...". If a publication has reviewed a game more than once, it may be necessary to include additional information to provide more context. For example, if a PlayStation game is reviewed upon its release and again ten years later in a "retro review", dates and/or time frames should be added so the reader doesn't assume the newer review took place ten years ago. However, dates may not be needed if the different reviews are within a few days of weeks of each other. Another example would be if a game is released on multiple platforms and certain reviews focused on a single version. The Nintendo DS and Wii consoles tend to have different control schemes than traditional consoles and may include features exclusive to them. Also, some consoles provided online components while others do not.

Things to remember

• Maintain a neutral point of view. Wikipedia does not endorse the products in its articles.
  • Give proper weight to negative and positive content
  • Entirely separate sections like "Praise", "Controversy", "Negative comments", etc. are strongly discouraged as troll magnets.
• Summarize content from game reviews.
  • Generally, talk about what the reviewers say rather than speaking for them.
  • Avoid using too many quotes; the fewer the better.
  • Avoid long quotes.
• Include sales numbers if available.
  • List the date the sales number were complied to help give a frame of reference.
  • If possible, list sales number by region. (e.g. North America, Europe, Japan, etc.)
• Reliable print sources are preferred to online sources whenever possible, particularly for older games released before 2000.
• Mention awards received from the media.
  • There's no need to mention every single award; mention enough to give a general idea of its reception.
  • Avoid simply listing awards; prose is preferred.

Impact/Legacy

A small subset of games may achieve a larger status as being the influence for other works, including other video games, television, movies, and songs, or as a influence in the real world beyond its critical reception and sales. Such games should include a section about the game's cultural influence, impact, and/or legacy. For the influence of a video game on certain aspects, such as its use in gaming tournaments, or phenomena such as Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero, these require accurate sourcing from reliable sources. Like other sections, this one may have enough content to create subsections, such as "Sequels and remakes", "Merchandise", "Printed adaptations", and/or "Film adaptations".

Most of the time, this section will contain how the video game was used within other works. However, there is a large difference, from the standpoint of an encyclopedic treatment of a video game, between a homage to a video game, and a passing reference. In general, the appearance of a video game appearing in another work should only be mentioned if it would otherwise be impossible to describe that work concisely without mentioning the video game. An acceptable culture influence would be the inclusion and use of World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero in two different South Park episodes, "Make Love, Not Warcraft" and "Guitar Queer-o" respectively. On the other hand, the brief appearance of Gears of War in Live Free or Die Hard, or Final Fantasy VIII in Charlie's Angels, in which the contents or names of the games are never mentioned or referred to, are not appropriate to include. Other cases that fall in between should be discussed by editors to determine if inclusion is appropriate.

Sequels, spin-offs, remakes, and adaptations should be mentioned, but remember the article is about a specific game. Information about them should be restricted to similar gameplay and/or plot elements that were carried over. Other information can include companies involved with the project (developers, publishers, etc.), and release dates. Excessive details about such related titles should be avoided and mentioned in their own separate articles. For instance, if a video game leads to the development of a movie or other non-video game related work, such information is generally included as part of the Development section within its own title (see Resident Evil (video game) and Resident Evil (film)).

Trivia sections

Trivia sections in articles are strongly discouraged, though are generally acceptable during the initial creation of the article to help newer editors provide information. However, before an article can become a Good Article or better, it is expected that the trivia section is removed by appropriately incorporating the trivia details into the body of the article. Note that trivia items should always be sourced. Statements such as "An assassination gig in the game directs Travis to kill the CEO of a fast food restaurant chain looking to open in Santa Destroy called "Pizza Butt," a reference to Pizza Hut." (taken from No More Heroes), can be considered speculative and original research. Trivia items that can not be properly sourced are also not notable. Once trivia items that lack any sourcing have been removed, the remaining items can usually be merged into parts of the Development, typically as part of talking about art style, story, or other creative elements of the game. Another possible section is Cultural influence.

Adding images

Images can help identify statements about the game to the reader in a clearer manner, and make an article more pleasing to the eye. One thing to keep in mind is that Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia and as a result its contents are considered to be free. As most games are commercial properties, screen captures of the game and its contents are not free (generally called "non-free images"). Wikipedia has strict rules on usage of copyrighted material and require a "fair use rationale" (FUR). A FUR is a declaration explaining why a non-free image is essential to further a reader's understanding of the related topic. If you are adding a non-free image to an article, please take care to properly add an appropriate FUR by using the Non-free use rationale template with your uploaded images. An alternative is to check Wikimedia Commons' Video game category for free media, which do not require a FUR.

For a more in depth guide to reviewing images for an article, see the Wikipedia Signpost dispatch on non-free images and dispatch on free images.

Fair use

• A separate FUR is required for each article the image is used. A screen shot used in two articles should list two separate
• The reason for using the image must be related to real-world criticism/commentary of the game, or to identify the game or a prominent component of the game.
• The number of images in an article should be kept to a minimum. (See numbered list further down.)
• Low resolution means the product of the width and breadth of the image in pixels should be around 100,000 or less. For example:
  • An image with dimensions of 300×330; 300×330 = 99,000 is less than 100,000 and therefore acceptable.
  • An image with dimensions of 400×600 would probably not be acceptable because 400×600 = 240,000 and is considerably larger than 100,000.
  • If you are uploading a larger image, please explain why.
• If there are no adequate and properly filled out fair use rationales with your images, do not be surprised if an administrator or fellow editor delete your uploaded image for Wikipedia:Non-free content criteria (NFCC) violation.

  Note that some game companies (Ubisoft in particular) have granted special use of screenshots of their games within Wikipedia, and are not limited by other non-free image criteria.

• While PC users are able to create screenshots on their own, screenshots for many console games will only be available through gaming web sites and press materials. Whenever possible, non-watermarked images should be used. For reference, some gaming sites like Shacknews and Jeux France provide non-watermarked screenshots. Make sure, when using these images from such sites, that you include the site, and ideally the exact url of the image, within the "source" portion of the fair-use rationale.

Examples

While there is no exact number of acceptable images for video game articles, the following images are generally acceptable within a video game article, assuming the images have proper rationale and copyright notices:

1. The game's front box cover as part of the infobox.
2. A screenshot to demonstrate gameplay elements, preferably elements unique to the game.
3. A screenshot to supplement the story, setting, and characters. Elements of the image should differ from those mentioned above. For example, if the main character is already shown on the cover art, don't include a screenshot with just the main character.
4. If there is a unique physical aspect to the game, such as the guitar controllers for Guitar Hero or the "Trance Vibrator" for Rez, a free photo of the unit is appropriate for inclusion.
5. If there is a notable media event for the game that is covered in the article, such as Halo 3's launch, where free media exists, such inclusion is also appropriate.

Captions

• Captions for images should also follow an out-of-universe style and should help to explain its context to the article (e.g. an image of the cast of a game who have gained international fame through merchandising, would have the caption "The cast of Example game who appear on merchandise such as crackers, beanbags and textbooks")
• Example using extended image syntax: [[File:Example.jpg|thumb|This is an example caption.]] (see image to the right)
• Most captions are not real sentences, but extended nominal groups. In short, if it is not a full sentence, then a period is not needed. For example, "ColecoVision port of Donkey Kong" (no final period), and "Donkey Kong was ported to many systems, including the ColecoVision, shown here." (full sentence with final period).
• There is no maximum or minimum length for captions. Text should follow normal style guidelines, and convey the intended information in a clear and concise manner.

Alternative text

• Alternative text (alt text) is used as a replacement for an image, whenever the image cannot be seen. It is required for Featured articles.
• Example using extended image syntax: [[File:No free portrait.svg|thumb|alt=Square image of a grey outline of a portrait with the text "No free image" at the top and "Have a free image? Click here!" at the bottom.|This is an example caption.]] (see image to the right)
• Every visible image should have alt text. The alt text should be concise and should emphasize the image's most important visual aspects: it should summarize the essence of the image rather than describing every detail.
• Its main audience consists of visually impaired readers who use assistive technology such as screen readers. It should also make sense in a graphical browser with images turned off, and it should fit with the surrounding text when viewed with a text-only browser.

Get feedback

While it is possible to write a well-written, comprehensive video game article by yourself, it is also a lot of work that requires knowledge of and experience in copy editing, grammar, and other issues related to Wikipedia's Manual of Style. To help share the work load and cater to different needs, there are several methods of obtaining feedback from Wikipedia.

• Assessment: Assessment is a quick way to get some general pointers on where to go next in writing an article, particularly if the article is around B-class. Assessments are written on the talk page of the article itself.

• Video games peer review: The video games peer review is a good process to go to if you cannot find any things to improve in your article yourself. It allows more direct questions on the side of the author ("What do you guys think about this section?") and generally involves more interaction and discussion than an assessment.

• General peer review: The main difference between the video games peer review and the project-wide peer review is the focus of the reviewers. If all video game specific conventions are followed, but prose and language require improvement, this is a good venue to go to. There may also be more expertise with peripheral articles like video game-related companies and biographies here. Getting your article peer reviewed is normally not a quick procedure. This is because it allows as many people as possible to read the article and provide feedback.

• League of Copyeditors: The League of Copyeditors is a project that aims to improve the style and formatting of Wikipedia articles, including their grammar, punctuation, wiki links, paragraph structure, diction, tone, and flow. League members work on two main projects, as well as offer advice and contribute to articles across Wikipedia. There is often a backlog and thus a waiting period to get a response from the League. It is best to put in a request before you need it; for instance, during a Good article nomination or Featured article candidacy.

A quicker—though sometimes less thorough and effective alternative—is to get a single editor to give it a copy edit. A copy edit is where an editor will read through an article and alter the text to improve the reading flow, grammar, and spelling. It is best to get an editor that has not contributed to the article so they will have a less bias point of view while reading.

Proper citations

Proper citation is essential to writing quality articles on Wikipedia. Citations are used to connect specific content in an article to the source it originated from. In regard to video game articles, the most common reasons to add citations are to establish credibility and accuracy of the content, show that your edit is not original research, and reduce editorial disputes.

There are several styles that can be used to properly add citations. The most commonly used form in video game articles is to use footnotes. Footnotes use reference tags (<ref> and </ref>) in conjunction with a "References" section. The information in the reference tags is the source's information: publisher, author, date, etc. The "References" section should contain a ((Reflist)) tag. This will display all the information in the reference tags in an organized manner.

To help an article progress up the quality scale, citations should be properly and consistently formatted. There are several templates that make formatting citation information uniform. The most generic template is ((citation)). It is designed to cite books, periodicals, contributions in collective works, patents, and web-sites. There are also several more specialized templates that are more commonly used in video game articles: ((cite web)), ((cite journal)), ((cite video game)), and ((cite book)). However, per Wikipedia:CITE#Technical details, ((citation)) should not be used in an article if ((cite web)), ((cite video game)), ((cite book)), or any other ((cite xxx)) template is also used. In short, use either ((citation)) for all sources, or different ((cite xxx)) templates for all sources.

Examples

Citation tips

• A reference list can be split into multiple columns.

  ((Reflist)) has an optional parameter that can divide the list of references into two or three columns. Using ((reflist|2)) will create a two-column reference list, and ((reflist|3)) will create a three-column list. Two-column lists are more commonly used as three-column lists are inaccessible to users with smaller/laptop monitors. Generally, once an article has 15–20 references in the list, it should be divided. Note that the columns do not display in Internet Explorer, but including them is nice for readers with other browsers.

• A single reference can be used to cite multiple sections of content.

  The <ref> has an optional parameter that allows it to be used in multiple locations in the article. The first instance of it should be written as <ref name="Xxxx">Source information...</ref>. All subsequent instances can then use <ref name="Xxxx"/>. This is useful when a game review, developer interview, or feature article has information that pertains to multiple sections like reception, development, or gameplay.

• Use intuitive names

  Sometimes staring at wikicode can be difficult, especially when you are looking for a specific citation you added in. Using an intuitive name for a citation not only makes it easier on yourself, but on other editors. A good rule to follow is to name it after the source. Abbreviations can sometimes be helpful, but make sure they aren't too abbreviated. For example, <ref name="NP-140"> can refer to issue 140 of Nintendo Power and <ref name="IGN-DirectInterview"> can refer to an interview with the director from the IGN website.

Obstacles to writing

Lack of sources

For various reasons, very little academic research is done on the subject of video games. Sometimes the information you need is either just not out there, or in a format you can't use; unreliable source or another language. That means that some articles will not have any content for a "Development" and/or "Reception" section. What this amounts to is that those articles do not have the necessary information to be considered comprehensive and cannot progress up Wikipedia's quality scale. This has happened to plenty of editors and will continue to happen.

There are a couple of solutions to this, though not all are desirable to editors.

• The worst case scenario is the article gets deleted. Without enough real world information and reliable sources, the article cannot assert enough notability to stay on Wikipedia. Though many people believe Wikipedia to be the website with all the information in the world, Wikipedia is meant to only cover notable topics. In short, not everything is meant to be on Wikipedia.
• If there is not enough real-world information for the article to stand on its own, it can sometimes be merged into a related article. While this is not always considered ideal by the primary contributors, it allows the content to remain on Wikipedia and normally helps the related article become more comprehensive. For information on how to merge content, see Help:Merging and moving pages.
• If there is enough real-world information for the article to stand on its own, it can stay where it is. However, without enough real-world information to cover the major aspects of the topic, it cannot be considered comprehensive and cannot obtain Good or Featured status. All you can do from here is to be on the lookout for new sources to emerge that can help fill in the gaps.

Edit wars

Wikipedia editors edit articles to improve them. However, sometimes editors have a different view of what is best for an article. This can lead to disagreements among multiple editors which normally manifest as back and forth edits that alter/add/remove content. When this happens, it is best to stop reverting the other party's edit, and open a discussion on the talk page. While on the talk page it is best to follow talk page guidelines to maintain civility.

Sometimes editors cannot find common ground this way and it is best to get outside assistance. There are several Wikipedia pages that can help resolve edit wars, listed below. In most cases, it is most efficient to notify the project at WT:WikiProject Video games first, before seeking any other intervention. This is because many disputes are part of a bigger problem that is seen often, and consensus may exist on the issue. Many of the things listed in the WikiProject's guidelines are there as the result of a past dispute that was solved.

Venues for dealing with edit wars

• Wikipedia:Dispute resolution
• Wikipedia:Third opinion
• Wikipedia:Requests for comment
• Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Video games