Some Ireland Information Guide users have formed a project to better organize information in articles related to arcade games. This page and its subpages contain their suggestions; it is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Ireland Information Guide users. If you would like to help, please inquire on the talk page and see the to-do list there.

News

August 13 2004: Completed Infobox and started adding to arcade game articles.

Information

Goal

This WikiProject aims primarily to set a baseline for the improvement and expansion of articles related to arcade games. This project was started from my disappointment in the state of articles on arcade games, and the fact that they tended to lack standarization. This WikiProject provides a meeting place for improving articles on arcade games.

Hierarchy

The parent of this WikiProject is the WikiProject Games.

Similar Wikiprojects

• WikiProject Computing
• WikiProject Entertainment
• WikiProject Computer and Video Games

Participants

• Frecklefoot
• Tjansen
• ChicXulub

Structure

The structure presented below is just a suggestion. It doesn't have to be adhered to, it is just being presented because it was useful for others when creating articles on arcade games.

Below is an outline of sections arcade articles should contain:

• Opening
• Overview
• Description
  • Cabinet & controls description
• Legacy (only applies to some)
• Ports (only applies to some)
• External link(s)

Of course, an article can include any other sections deemed necessary. Below are desciptions of each section.

• Opening: Just your standard introductory stuff. The opening sentence should mention the name of the game (it should be bold and italicized), the year it was released, who developed it and that it is an arcade game. This follows the Manual of Style guidelines. This section should also give an idea of the type of game it is (e.g. shooting, jumping, etc.).
• Overview section: This first-tier section (that is, it is indicated in Wikimarkup with two equals, i.e. ==), should give a brief description of the game. It should be no more than a few sentences. Think of it as the "executive summary" of the game.
• Description section: Another first-tier section. This section is where you can give a long, drawn-out description of the game, mentioning levels, bosses, tricks, etc. I've been using the last paragraph of this section to describe the game's cabinet, controls and number of supported players. If you think it warrants it (i.e. the cabinet requires more than one paragraph to discuss), you can make another section for it.
• Legacy section: This section should list any sequels (or prequels) and any other games it inspired. Not all games will require this section.
• Ports section: Most arcade games are ported to home systems at some time or another. List the systems and the dates they were developed here. Not all games will require this section either.
• External links section: All games should have this section. Every arcade game produced is listed in the KLOV and a link to its entry should be included. See below for more information. Going against the Manual of Style--this is a pet peeve of mine--if you just have one link, the section should be called External link not links. If you only have one, the section should say so!

Lastly, please write your article in the present tense. Whether or not you've seen a game in the last 20 years or not, it still exists, so say so. For example:
Not:
Slippery Slam had five modes of play.
But:
Slippery Slam has five modes of play.

Also, don't address the reader. This is a common mistake in arcade, video and computer game articles. When talking about gameplay, talk about the player or user's experience. For example:
Not:
In Slippery Slam you grab the goodies while trying not to slip on the floor. You have two shots at completing each level.
But:
In Slippery Slam the player grabs the goodies while trying not to slip on the floor. They have two shots at completing each level.

Resources

The Internet has two excellent sites for information on arcade games.

The first is the Killer List of Videogames. This site is a database of every friggin' arcade game that has ever been produced! Most games have pictures of the game cabinet and screenshots of gameplay. Some even have images of the control panel and 3D models of the cabinet. Most entries have in-depth descriptions of games, including... well, everything. You can use these entries as resources when creating or editing a Ireland Information Guide article on the game, but please don't plagiarize. Also, don't lift screenshots from this site unless you get specific permission from KLOV (it is usually easier to just use MAME).

The second site is really not for arcade games, but for video and computer games. MobyGames is a database of many games released for any home systems (home computers, video game consoles including handhelds and classic systems) with the notable exception of the Macintosh. This site is a good resource to see if an arcade game has any ports. As with the KLOV, don't just lift images from this site and upload to Ireland Information Guide--go through the correct process to obtain images.

Also Ireland Information Guide has a good resource for arcade games. Use the List of arcade games for inspiration for a game to write an article on or to investigate articles others have written. If you create an article via a link not from this list, please make sure to add it if it doesn't already have it.

Frecklefoot has written a fair number of arcade game articles which adhere to this structure. See thelist of arcade game articles he's written for examples of how an arcade game article should look.

Categories

Make sure to add the appropriate categories to the article. Make sure the category indicator is located below the External links section, but before interWiki language links and template messages (such as {{stub}}).

All arcade game articles should belong to the Arcade games category: [[Category:Arcade games]].

In addition, add any other appropriate categories to which it belongs. For example, if the game had a Commodore 64 port, add it to that category ([[Category:Commodore 64 games]]). And if it had a port, add it to that year's category of games (e.g. [[Category:1984 computer and video games]]). Each year should have a category, so don't worry if it doesn't--it should.

Infoboxes

I started an infobox on a personal articles I had written on "Tips for writing arcade game articles." After some really good input from Stormie, I made some changes. Please discuss any further ideas on the Infobox on the talk section.

Explanation

Most of the information for the infobox can be obtained from the Killer List of Videogames. If you don't know it, check there.

• Title: The top of the infobox contains the game's name.
• Image: (optional) Use an example image of gameplay if one is available (using MAME to capture screenshots is one good method). If not, omit this section. If you upload an image, upload the full-size version in a lossless format like PNG, because the images are relatively small and formats like JPEG do not work very well with video game graphics. It should show gameplay, and not the title - the title does not help the user getting an impression of the game. Use the "225 px" attribute for the image so it fits into the infobox. Do not forget to mark the screenshot as fair use. There is a special tag {{screenshot}} that can be used instead of the standard {{fairuse}} tag.
• Developer: The company that developed the game. This is not necessarily the game that manufactured the game.
• Publisher: This is really the company that manufactured the game. In this example, Midway licensed the game from Namco and manufactured it.
• Game designer: (optional) The designer of the game. For the example here, the designer is notable and famous for creating the most popular arcade game of all time. Another example would be the designer of Donkey Kong. However most designers of arcade games are unknown or were not one single person (for example, who designed Spy Hunter?). Usually this line will be omitted.
• Release date: Just as the line states
• Genre: Many game don't fit into just one genre. If the game you're doing fits in two categories, list them both seperated by a slash (/). A link to the genre's explanation is preferable. A list of most accepted genres can be found at Computer and video game genres.
• Game modes: Usually the number of players the game supported, such as single player, two player alternating turns, two player co-operative or two player versus. If a game has to be played with two players, say so.
• Cabinet: Just a short description of the game's cabinet. The usual choices are Standard, Sit-down, Cocktail and Custom. Details on the cabinet (if any) should go in the Description section.
• Controls: On this line, just mention the number of controls. Details should go in the Description section.
• Monitor: Information on the monitor. I debated whether or not to have this section which just discusses the game's monitor(s). Since the information on these is usually on the KLOV, I decided to have it.
• Orientation: Choices are Vertical or Horizontal.
• Type: Choices are raster or vector. If the monitor is black and white (B&W), you can mention it here too. Mention resolution if you know the information. Most Atari Games have this information on the KLOV. If you don't know it, just leave it out.
• Size: Size in inches of the monitor(I guess you can include it in centimeters also if you know it). Include this line even if you don't know it with just a question mark. Chances are, someone will come along and will fill it in.
• Notes: In this section, you can add any important or significant information for the game. If there is nothing especially noteworthy about the game, leave these lines out (the heading and the note section). For Space Invaders, you could mention that the monitor was B&W, but it was projected onto plastic with colored bands, so it looked color. You could mention its position in the KLOV's "Top 100" or "Reader's Top 10." Like in the example, you could mention it was developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games.

Source

The source for the box shown here is below. Just copy and paste it into your article and replace the pertinent text.

{| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=2 align=right border=1 width=256px style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; padding: 6px; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 10px; background-color: #f7f8ff; border:1px solid #8888aa;"
|- bgcolor=#99B1FF
| align=center colspan=2|<font size="2">'''''Pac-Man'''''</font>
|-
|align="center" colspan=2|[[Image:Pac-man.png|225 px|Pac-Man screenshot]]
|-
|Developer:
|Namco
|-
|Publisher:
|Midway Games
|-
|Game designer:
|Iwatani Toru
|-
|Release date:
|1980
|-
|Genre:
|[[Computer and video game genres#Retro|Retro]]/[[Computer and video game genres#Puzzle|Puzzle]]
|-
|Game modes:
|Up to 2 players, alternating turns
|-
|Cabinet:
|Standard and sit-down
|-
|Controls:
|joystick
|- bgcolor=#99B1FF
|align="center" colspan=2|<font size="2">Monitor</font>
|-
|Orientation:
|Vertical
|-
|Type:
|Raster, standard resolution
|-
|Size:
|?
|-  bgcolor=#99B1FF
|align="center" colspan=2|<font size="2">Notes</font>
|-
|colspan=2|Considered the #1 arcade game of all time; Developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games
|}

Templates

Any suggestions for a standardized template for every arcade game article are welcome.