"In the video game industry, AAA (pronounced "triple A") or Triple-A is a classification term used for games with the highest development budgets and levels of promotion or the highest ratings by a consensus of professional reviewers. A title considered to be AAA is therefore expected to be a "high quality" game or to be among the year's bestsellers."
- AAA (video game industry), Wikipedia
Notice the apostrophes on the two words "high quality" game? Well, I put them there myself. I find it absolutely fascinating the fact that people think great quality when they hear a term 'Triple A title' when it's been proven for quite some time now that it's the complete opposite. It does feel like I'm one of the minority who has noticed this, so I really want this to spread if it's a possibility.
Last triple A title I played was Far Cry 3 & from the gaming news, I've heard a lot of either lazy or sloppy game developments from Ubisoft. Glitches out the butt, nonsensical game designs, modern FPS disease & list goes on & on. Last time I finished Far Cry 3 was last week on Tuesday 8 March 2016 & I've found many more bugs & faulty game designs, it literally made me sick to the point where I just wanted to finish it & bury it into a grave & name it: 'RIP Far Cry 3; 1. 1. 2015 - 8. 3. 2016 (the day I bought it & the day I ceased playing it)
Now, The Division, again, the wrongfully hyped title, takes the spotlight, and as of writing this rant, it is still a hot thing, has the EXACT same issues as the previous Ubisoft titles, (one of them even being the same exact 'glitch man' as from Assassin's Creed Unity) & people still buy into their products? Never for the love of my life will I ever figure out the consumer's mindset that has experienced the same thing in the past but falls for the exact trap. Really, the only thing I can come up with, is the term "battered wife". Look it up & you'll understand my thoughts.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, made by "Lord" Kojima, is a game I haven't played but heard issues left & right from the biggest fans to newcomers about bugged AI, simple difficulty, cut content or unfinished production & developers have the guts to charge it 60 dollars plus additional for the DLC? Digital?!
The last example of bullshit I'll give you is the new Hitman episodic pack or whatever. So, first we got DLC, now, we'll have a game chopped in pieces for some cash-grab techniques. I hope to God this won't continue as I do have some preferences in very few Triple A titles & if it does infect it, then my interest will fade away like a ghost in a darkness. But hey, people won't speak against it. I mean I swear, I looked at the Steam reviews of this game & literally 90 % of the reviews are about performance issues which is nice that you tell devs the issues but what about cut content? Not many mentioned about it.
So, lately, I've been playing some indie titles & what do I exactly get? Well, none of the BS I mentioned above, except for maybe some small bugs & DLC but DLC that is worth a damn. This is why I decided to turn into a different direction & continue my journey to enjoy my games & support the indie developers that won't screw us over because Triple A developers & their laziness & sloppiness is covered by the hype of the morons out there which in indie's case, it probably happened but not that often.
As I said, consumers are also to blame about the failing Triple A gaming industry. You don't speak with the words unless the game hasn't been released yet. Speak with the WALLET. Before the release (stupid pre-orders) & after the release. Do research & see for yourself if the game is a big pile of mess.
Oh, I forgot to mention Fallout 4. Well, the title & Bethesda's history speak for themselves. I won't type another separate essay about it.
So yea, Triple A meaning is completely pointless to me. While the Wiki description is accurate to some degree, it's also the lie proven by the state of gaming nowadays.
These so called "professional reviewers" are a joke. Nothing about them is professional except pushing their political agenda & subjective sentences about games that, unfortunately, people fall for it thinking that the essay is a factual document about video game's quality or something. (Trust me. I wanna slap my teenage self for that mistake.) And this happens mostly in the AAA gaming scene. Why? Well, higher promotional levels. That's why.
Bestseller? Yea! Let's buy broken, half finished products we're gonna pay for more later on, riiight? And wait till they fix it or try to fix it. Street Fighter V. A perfect example.
I hope Deus Ex Mankind Divided won't fall for this. Same with DooM 4 but if they do, I guarantee Square & Bethesda won't get a dime out of me.
Time to play some actual HIGH quality indie games & wait for more to be released.
Freedom Planet 2 & Shadow Warrior 2. High hopes for them. Why? Because the devs actually put love & care to them. They have proven themselves in the past & they thrive to improve it from there.
Just to point out something. Indie scene ain't perfect either. But trust me. You'll get more value out of spending money in that scene that Triple A.
