Talk:List of Game Room games

Future releases

With Microsoft's release schedule picking up, and also with a possible premature launch of Game Pack 006 (which appears to have been shut down), perhaps it's time to discuss just what sources we'll consider reliable enough for posting here. In my opinion (and to start the discussion), the following sources should be considered reliable:

• Posts from Microsoft's official "Game Room" Facebook account
• Posts from Microsoft's official "LIVEGameRoom" Twitter account

Both of these addresses are from Microsoft's own website, so that should verify who owns them ...

• Posts by notable gaming websites (GameSpot, Kotaku, 1Up et al)

News story appearing in a magazine or newspaper (these should fall under WP:RS by default)

Lately, Microsoft has been plugging upcoming releases within the Game Packs themselves, either in preview videos shown at the main menu (and on the "TVs" between each room in the virtual arcades) or in the info tickers seen throughout the software. I think this can be a reliable source, provided that the editor provides a brief methodology of how they found out; in other words, tell us how you know so we can verify it.

Per WP:RS, forum posts are generally not reliable, although I think there could be exceptions made in very limited cases, such as where the poster definitively has a connection to Microsoft (for example, Larry Hyrb, Xbox Live's "Major Nelson"). What say you, my fellow editors?

--McDoobAU93 (talk) 17:20, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

A way around this would be to change the title to "Future and Rumored Releases", like what they did on the Rock Band Song DLC back in the day when people would crack the code and find song titles that weren't available yet or mentions on band websites. Then it'll cover both the reliable sources as well as those that aren't as easily confirmed like the hidden achievement icons confirming Pac-Man/Mega Man, or the email with Double Dragon/Galaxian, as well as when they pull the switch too early and release Pack 006 for Windows and several people claim to have the games. If this is the case, maybe a screenshot showing the store with the available titles would be enough evidence to say that these games at least exist, but who knows when they'll actually be available, like the Pac-Man/Mega Man/Double Dragon/Galaxian titles still in the list.

--SlimGoodbody (talk) 12:31, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Game Pack 006

The saga of Game Pack 6 continues. Not only does it pop up early last week for PC users, only to be taken back down hours later, but when it's officially released on June 23, everything's unlocked. I'm hearing reports that the free mascot promotion doesn't seem to be working, which suggests this may be a fluke again, and it's certainly possible for Microsoft to relock everything else until it's supposed to be released. So if Microsoft locks things back down, feel free to move stuff back to the Future Releases, but know that everything listed in Game Pack 6 is there, even if officially it's not supposed to be. --McDoobAU93 (talk) 14:18, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

List challenges

Editor SlimGoodbody posted a good idea on the talk page for Game Room itself, and since there are possibly editors working on this article that aren't working on that one, I wanted to post them here as well. Slim suggested that we work on creating articles for the games that have been released that are currently redlinked in this list. I completely agree, and I also wanted to add a second suggestion. For the games that do have articles, we make sure that their re-release on Game Room is included there, as well. This should increase editor traffic between these articles and give people ideas on how to improve them. --McDoobAU93 (talk) 00:00, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

I went through each game in the Released section and if it didn't already have Game Room listed... it does now. The only ones missing are those that have no page at all. These include:

Finalizer, Jungler, Mega Zone, Motocross, Mountain Madness Super Pro Skiing, Mr. Goemon, Rack ‘Em Up, RealSports Tennis, RealSports Volleyball, Sky Jinks, Soccer, Space Armada, Space Hawk, Spider Fighter, Strategy X, Sub Hunt and Video Hustler.

It would be real swell if this could stay up-to-date, as in, whoever moves the games from the Future Releases section to the List of Games makes sure Game Room is listed on the Game's page if it has one. --SlimGoodbody (talk) 19:51, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Updated the Pack 006b titles. --SlimGoodbody (talk) 14:53, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

I made my first page from scratch: Jungler. Can someone that knows Wiki better than myself double check my work to see if I did everything correctly (I used Battlantis as my template)? Also, the rules for uploading images was pretty extensive, so I just didn't bother with it. Can someone add a picture to the Jungler page and let me know if images from www.arcade-history.com are allowed in Wiki? I'm assuming they are, but just want to make sure in case I want to go through the list and add in images in the future. Thanks. --SlimGoodbody (talk) 15:54, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

It needs a short lead section, summarizing the contents of the article. The next section generally should be "Gameplay," where you discuss how the game works and is played. If any production information is available (such as info on the designer of the game, etc.) this would be next. Last is the ports section. Other than that, a good start. --McDoobAU93 (talk) 17:09, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

UPDATE: I just went through and made a number of modifications. After checking the references, I found that the copy in the article was taken almost directly from some of the websites used, so I went through and revised everything to eliminate any possible charges of plagiarism. I also added some additional info on previous ports of the game, and added a better citation for the world record score for the game. --McDoobAU93 (talk) 18:01, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Two thoughts ...

As this article grows, a couple of points come up that need some discussion.

First, the superscripts on the game packs. I know I added it originally, in order to distinguish it from the earlier game packs where everything was unlocked at once. Now, I'm wondering if it's redundant, or even that important. After all, the date the game was released to Game Room is on the chart, as well. So, should we remove the superscripts, or perhaps change up the game pack names on those with multi-week releases, say "Pack 006a", or just not worry about it?

Second, categories. Whenever a new article-less game is released, I take a look and, if I have time, go ahead and write something to get it started. I've noticed that there are categories for games on Virtual Console and other such services, so I'm thinking that a "Game Room games" category might be warranted. Thoughts?

--McDoobAU93 (talk) 03:07, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

1. I'd say just get rid of the of the superscript, it isn't needed. Calling the packs "Game Pack 006a" wouldn't be accurate either.

2. I don't like the category idea. In the past, similar categories have been deleted as overcategorization.

--Wean0r (talk) 19:05, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Done and done. --McDoobAU93 (talk) 16:37, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Game Pack 11

Looks like Game Room has hit another stumbling block, with the reported closure of Krome Studios and no availability of the next game pack on Live Marketplace ... at least on a server accessible in the United States. However, there have also been reports of issues with a recent site update on Xbox.com, meaning that it's possible the pack could be released on some servers but not appearing on others. If you can provide proof from Microsoft that these games are available, please provide it. The Facebook citation only indicates an announced date; there's been no follow-up post saying the games are out there. --McDoobAU93 15:09, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

List of future releases

As this has now boiled over into a full-fledged content dispute, I'd like to open the floor to discussions about the sources used for a half-dozen games. Each source is used to reference two games:

Source 1

Games linked: Double Dragon and Galaxian

Analysis: The games are indeed listed in this promotion for all things from the 1980s on Xbox Live. However, both Double Dragon and Galaxian have been available on Xbox Live Arcade, and there is nothing linking these two games to Game Room. The only reference to Game Room is that it's also "retro".

Source 2

Games linked: Pac-Man and Mega Man

Analysis: This is a summary of a blogger's looking into the various Game Room resource files and finding some unusual pictures, notably an achievement styled with what appear to be pictures of Pac-Man and two Mega Man characters. The article itself says it's speculating as to why the image is there, and whether or not that's what it means. For that matter, there is no Mega Man arcade game, per se, although there are arcade games set in the Mega Man universe.

Source 3

Games linked: RealSports Baseball and RealSports Basketball

Analysis: This one, frankly, is pretty easy. The two titles linked here are not mentioned AT ALL in the article.

In the final assessment, there are arguments to be made to indicate that each game here (with the exception of Mega Man) could be released on Game Room, but nothing saying that they will be released anytime soon. Since Wikipedia is not a place for rumor or speculation, it would appear that the only game that should be listed is the only one that Game Room itself mentions, which is Sunset Riders.

--McDoobAU93 19:38, 16 December 2010 (UTC)

Not that it makes any difference now, especially since RealSports Baseball came out yesterday, but the Source 3 you mentioned doesn't list those games in the article, instead they are shown in the video at the bottom of the page briefly. I'd say that is enough proof, but now it will only show that RealSports Basketball exists/existed.--SlimGoodbody (talk) 15:30, 23 December 2010 (UTC)

I watched the video in the link, and didn't see anything directly referencing either game (and yes, the question regarding RealSports Baseball is now moot). Can you include a time index for the video, in case I overlooked it? --McDoobAU93 15:33, 23 December 2010 (UTC)