Talk:The Space Bar

Latest comment: 5 years ago by JimmyBlackwing in topic GA Review

Merger edit

I Merged the other Space Bar article with this original as it had useful information. I also made other general improvements to the page and removed the stub marker as the article is more filled out.

Lando242

Number of CDs edit

I seem to remember this game having -ten CDs-. I couldn't find any verification. Anyone? 68.0.59.178 (talk) 06:24, 8 July 2008 (UTC)Reply

I've only found a few references but they all say it came on 3 CDs. Considering its age I very much doubt it used 10 CDs, most big adventure games of that era came on 2-4 CDs. Lando242 (talk) 00:45, 9 July 2008 (UTC)Reply

Source edit

Orphaned references in The Space Bar edit

I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of The Space Bar's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "gamespot":

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT 13:41, 8 May 2018 (UTC)Reply

GA Review edit

This review is transcluded from Talk:The Space Bar/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Anarchyte (talk · contribs) 08:50, 24 June 2018 (UTC)Reply

This game looks interesting. I'll take a look at this article soon. Anarchyte (work | talk) 08:50, 24 June 2018 (UTC)Reply

Lead edit

  • No need to mention the names of critics in the lead. That information can be saved for the reception section.

Gameplay and plot edit

  • What is a node location?
  • I found this concept very difficult to describe. It's something from the Myst games, and the "node" language was used in the FA Myst III, so I thought it might work here. Basically, movement through the game isn't smooth-scrolling. You're clicking through a series of pre-rendered (and panoramic) still images that represent each scene, so there are natural jumps between the screens. I did my best to make this clear while sticking to what the sources actually say about it, which is always limiting in these cases. JimmyBlackwing (talk) 02:56, 26 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
  • Page-lurker here. Hi! I've written articles on various Myst-like games and I've considered describing them as "static screens" (if you can only see a still image), "Panoramic static screens" (if you can spin the screen around and that's it), and "360° static screens" (if you can move the camera anywhere like those 360° YouTube videos).--Coin945 (talk) 03:10, 26 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
  • I like this solution! I'll have a look at my sources and see if this language fits. Thanks for the tip. JimmyBlackwing (talk) 03:22, 26 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
  • before it escapesbefore they escape
  • Is mentioning Vedj and Zzazzl important? Calling them aliens may suffice. However, if you want to keep it, write that they're races. (i.e. "Seedrot of the Vedj race")

Development edit

  • design for Boffo's Hodj 'n' Podjdesign for Boffo's previous game Hodj 'n' Podj
  • GameSpot and Gamasutra should be in italics
  • I understand this rule as a general practice, but I feel like the price mention is justified in this case. Firstly, the price isn't cited to a review—it's part of a news story. Secondly (and most importantly), price was used by publishers in the late 1990s to separate between premium ($50+) and budget releases ($20-35) on store shelves. Especially given SegaSoft's controversial handling of The Space Bar pre-launch, I think how they released it is an important aspect of its coverage. It says something that SegaSoft chose to sell it as a premium title, just as the decision to sell it as a budget game would've been important to note. Game publications were aware of these distinctions at that time, and reporting the price by itself was enough to convey the game's premium/budget status to readers. As a result, I would argue that this is not an instance of WP:DIRECTORY. JimmyBlackwing (talk) 02:56, 26 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
    • @JimmyBlackwing: Fair enough. Might I suggest adding some of that information (about premium costs and pricing) to the article? This way it gives it relevance. Anarchyte (work | talk) 06:36, 26 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
      • Not sure of any sources specifically about this practice—it's something I picked up from passing mentions in sources about other things. For now, I'll just remove the price for simplicity's sake, and re-add it if I find a source on game pricing. JimmyBlackwing (talk) 18:46, 26 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
        • Cool. I think this marks the resolution of all the issues I found. If you've got nothing more to add, I'll pass this. Anarchyte (work | talk) 04:22, 27 June 2018 (UTC)Reply

Reception and aftermath edit

  • Publications (such as Adventure Gamers and GameSpot) should be italicized.
  • on the market", he said. Remove "he said".

References edit

  • These are fine. I ran IABot to see if there were any additional deadlinks and none were found.

Files edit

  • All meet the required criteria. There are not too many and all are tagged as they should be.

Overall edit

@JimmyBlackwing: Superb work! I was hard struck to find issues, but those that I did find are mentioned above. Once they're resolved, I'll happily pass this. Anarchyte (work | talk) 07:59, 25 June 2018 (UTC)Reply

Many thanks! I'll go over the issues soon. JimmyBlackwing (talk) 17:53, 25 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
I've gone through the article and made the requested tweaks. Two notes above (regarding "node" movement and the price). JimmyBlackwing (talk) 02:56, 26 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
Great! I've replied to the pricing issue above. Anarchyte (work | talk) 06:39, 26 June 2018 (UTC)Reply