Talk:Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior
Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior has been listed as one of the Video games good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it. | ||||||||||
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A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on January 2, 2010. The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that while recording swordfights for Barbarian, the video game's designer Steve Brown nearly took his eye out with the Web of Death, a move copied from the film Conan the Destroyer? |
This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
Survey
editThe following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
- Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with
*'''Support'''
or*'''Oppose'''
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Discussion
edit- Any additional comments:
- The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.
Fair use rationale for Image:Barbarian 2.jpg
editImage:Barbarian 2.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
Fair use rationale for Image:Barbarian the Ultimate Warrior - box.jpg
editImage:Barbarian the Ultimate Warrior - box.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
Requested move
edit- The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.
The result of the proposal was move. JPG-GR (talk) 16:24, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
Barbarian (computer game) → Barbarian (Palace Software) — For the reason that two other videogames sharing the same name —Willirennen (talk) 08:46, 7 April 2008 (UTC)
Survey
edit- Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with
*'''Support'''
or*'''Oppose'''
, then sign your comment with~~~~
. Since polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account Wikipedia's naming conventions.
Discussion
edit- Any additional comments:
- The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.
Barbarian I & II split
editRegarding the proposal to split this article into two - the second entitled Barbarian II (computer game). At present there is not enough detail for the sequel to support its own page and, unless someone gets a good hold of the article and starts contributing to it, doesn't look like improving any. As per article splitting it should remain the way it is. -- Nreive (talk) 14:39, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
- Given that Barbarian II was such a different game to the first it should really have its own article, however I agree that there's not much info on it at the moment. Cpc464 (talk) 06:10, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
- I created an article for it. Barbarian_II:_Dungeons_of_Drax Dream Focus 20:04, 18 March 2009 (UTC)
Women in skimpy bikinis
editIf it's the skimpy bikinis that are the problem with the controversy, they should just have left them out. JIP | Talk 17:55, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
Undid edits for the following reasons, november 12 2009
edit[1] Listing that two other games called Barbarian were released, and linking to them to avoid confusion, is important. Don't remove that. The name of the two models for the cover is important, since they both have Wikipedia articles to link to, they quite notable, rather famous back in those days. Dream Focus 15:31, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
The infobox should list what the US title was as well. title = Barbarian / Death Sword (US title) is perfectly reasonable. Dream Focus 15:36, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
- Hatnotes are explicitly not required on articles whose titles are not ambiguous, per WP:NAMB. There is only one game called Barbarian by Palace Software. As such, it is not possible for a user to end up on this article unless they have either specifically searched for a game called Barbarian by Palace Software, or followed a link in an article which goes to the game called Barbarian by Palace Software. While we're at it, hatnotes go above infobox templates, per WP:HAT. The models section was not removed, but added to the history section as part of a planned expansion into a real "production" section. In the process of reverting you removed the {{fact}} tag on the models. This is obviously required, as visual inspection of the box art is not an adequate reference. As for the infobox title, while WP:IBX does not give specific advise on how to title infoboxes for subjects with alternative titles, in practice video game articles go with whatever the article title is in cases of composites. A good example of this, with exhaustive discussion, is Mega Drive.
- I'll leave this for comment for a couple of days before restoring the new version. I do actually plan on working on this more in the future, but that obviously depends on motivation levels (which aren't helped by being told what to do by editors who haven't done their homework). Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 15:09, 13 November 2009 (UTC)
- Additionally, now that Barbarian II a separate article now (thanks to Dream Focus for that) it shouldn't be bolded in the lede here. But I'll catch that when I go back to the article. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 15:18, 13 November 2009 (UTC)
2009 Rewrite
editI have gone ahead and boldly rewritten the article to comply with the policies and guidelines of this project (primarily WP:RS, WP:V, WP:NOT, WP:VG/GL, WP:EL).[2] We should never link to copyviolations. Palace Software has been subsumed into Titus, so the game's copyrights are to them , not any anonymous uploader of a Youtube video. Chris's above points are valid, and have been implemented. Jappalang (talk) 02:31, 21 December 2009 (UTC)
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
GA Review
edit- This review is transcluded from Talk:Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs(talk) 17:06, 27 March 2010 (UTC) Overall, a very good article. I do have some minor things that I would like to see cleared up before passing, however:
- I'm concerned about over-generalization of critical consensus in the reception section. Rather than, for example, "Equally pleasing to reviewers was the simplicity of the game; they found that almost anyone could quickly familiarise themselves with the game mechanics, making the two-player mode a fun and quick pastime", sourced to two reviews, having the two critics explicitly mentioned. Also, I appended "Reviewers such as Richard Eddy and Robin Candy of Crash" to the sentence used, but I'm not sure if the quotes are theirs or not; any quoted material should be specifically cited, especially there where it is difficult to determine from which source the quotes came from.
- Clarified the quoters, are there any more quotes that are of concern? Jappalang (talk) 18:23, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
- The statement I feel needs some disclaimers are "Equally pleasing to reviewers was the simplicity of the game; they found that almost anyone could quickly familiarise themselves with the game mechanics, making the two-player mode a fun and quick pastime". Also, "Reviewers such as Computer and Video Games's Paul Boughton and Crash's Richard Eddy wrote that it was the little touches like the "hypnotically gruesome" aftermath of a decapitation that "[makes] the game worthwhile."—who said "hypnotically gruesome" and "the game worthwhile"? It's still not clear. Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs(talk) 21:01, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
- Righto, and Done Jappalang (talk) 00:37, 28 March 2010 (UTC)
- The statement I feel needs some disclaimers are "Equally pleasing to reviewers was the simplicity of the game; they found that almost anyone could quickly familiarise themselves with the game mechanics, making the two-player mode a fun and quick pastime". Also, "Reviewers such as Computer and Video Games's Paul Boughton and Crash's Richard Eddy wrote that it was the little touches like the "hypnotically gruesome" aftermath of a decapitation that "[makes] the game worthwhile."—who said "hypnotically gruesome" and "the game worthwhile"? It's still not clear. Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs(talk) 21:01, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
- Clarified the quoters, are there any more quotes that are of concern? Jappalang (talk) 18:23, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
- Does the single-player story mode need a subheader, considering its only 3-4 lines long?
- It proved rather cumbersome to plop it in the middle or simply without a header at the end of the Gameplay section. The header helps to delineate a sub-section that is too small to qualify for a section (Plot) found in most other game articles, but quite notable (its where Whittaker, one of the two remembered characteristics of the game, is evoked ito memory) part of the game. Jappalang (talk) 18:23, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
- I performed some proofreading and copyediting changes, and reorganized the lead to (what I think) is a more simplified and logical progression. You should check the diff to make sure I didn't introduce dastardly AmEng spelling or any factual errors :)
- There appear to be some redirect issues according to dispenser. Links check out and no dabs were found.
- I have no idea what is with the redirect tool since none of the
Guitar HeroRock Band talk pages have any links that redirect to any Barbarian-related page. I suspect it is a bug. Of the other three redirects, they are perfectly correct. Jappalang (talk) 18:23, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
- I have no idea what is with the redirect tool since none of the
- Images non-free, but are low-resolution and have complete and reasonable rationales. References look good, there's alt text, and there appear to be no obvious neutrality/layout issues. Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs(talk) 17:06, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
- Ok, with the updates, the article looks good. I'm passing it as GA. Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs(talk) 15:45, 28 March 2010 (UTC)
A-class assessment
editI am requesting for an assessment of this article against A-class requirements; the aim is also to succor for review on whether this article could be an FAC. Jappalang (talk) 02:12, 2 April 2010 (UTC)
Jinnai's comments
editAs there are only 2 issues, assuming a second impartial reviewer does not have the same or other major concerns I won't hold it up.
Resolved issues 1
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- Gameplay
- The second paragraph starts to creep towards getting a bit too WP:GAMEGUIDE issues.
- Not really, no explicit directions (D, DF, F + B) were given. The general directions were necessary since later critical content (reviewers' remarks for the joystick controls) are based on them, and tells readers how the game is played. Jappalang (talk) 05:17, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
- Well if the commentary was problematic, then its fine, but it should be (re)stated here. It does feel a bit gameguide-like otherwise.陣内Jinnai 23:58, 5 June 2010 (UTC)
- Not really, no explicit directions (D, DF, F + B) were given. The general directions were necessary since later critical content (reviewers' remarks for the joystick controls) are based on them, and tells readers how the game is played. Jappalang (talk) 05:17, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
- Try to remove the one-paragraph subsection here.
- See the GA review up above for my comments. Jappalang (talk) 05:17, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
- It doesn't need a seperate section. I have had similar issues with games (see Popotan#Gameplay which has different types of gameplay modes. I do not separate them. There is no reason to separate them here.陣内Jinnai 23:58, 5 June 2010 (UTC)
- See below. Jappalang (talk) 08:01, 6 June 2010 (UTC)
- It doesn't need a seperate section. I have had similar issues with games (see Popotan#Gameplay which has different types of gameplay modes. I do not separate them. There is no reason to separate them here.陣内Jinnai 23:58, 5 June 2010 (UTC)
- See the GA review up above for my comments. Jappalang (talk) 05:17, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
- The second paragraph starts to creep towards getting a bit too WP:GAMEGUIDE issues.
- Gameplay
Resolved issues 2
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- Second review -- after looking this over and seeing fixed reviews and rationales for things remaining as is, I'm posting my support for promotion to A-Class, and am assessing it as such. Nice work! --Teancum (talk) 13:40, 10 August 2010 (UTC)
Cover models
editThe article rightly discusses Maria Whittingham featuring on the box cover art, but doesn't say anything about the male model playing the eponymous Barbarian - it's Michael Van Wijk, later to become famous as "Wolf" from Gladiators. Is that not worth at least a passing mention? 90.201.136.12 (talk) 00:29, 4 April 2011 (UTC)
- "Doesn't say anything" is incorrect; the Development section (and the caption of the box cover) already mentions him. If you are talking about mentioning him in the lede, the truth is the game is not notable because of him; his fame, as Wolf, was a later achievement and did nothing to affect the performance or development of Barbarian. Jappalang (talk) 01:09, 4 April 2011 (UTC)
Superior Software
editI recently (re?)added "Superior Software games" as a category and it was removed with the reason that porting a game doesn't make it theirs and when I pointed out that it already had the category "Epyx games" (when Epyx only published the game in the US), that category was also removed citing Wikipedia:Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point - now it could be argued that removing both categories is indeed disrupting Wikipedia to prove a point... should it not be discussed?
Personally I don't see how having these categories in any way degrades this very good article but it does greatly improve the category and coverage of Superior Software (and to a lesser extent Epyx, as they released it under a different title) and it means anyone clicking on the link to that category expecting to find one of Superior's biggest games will find it. I would agree that Superior, as porter and publisher of the game to minor systems, are not as important to the article as Palace or even Epyx so for example I would argue that the Superior template shouldn't be added here but Superior possibly should be in the publishers section of the infobox. Again, I wouldn't want anyone to go around undoing the many other examples of this (WP:POINT), but generally these boxes do contain all original publishers. Similarly, Barbarian and Barbarian II are the only ported Superior games with articles that are not included in the category.
Barbarian is an important game in the history of Superior - it was the first of a string of highly successful conversions of games carried out by Peter Scott in the late 80s and early 90s that virtually single handedly kept the market for BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games viable. Superior licensed, developed, published and heavily marketed the Acorn versions of the game (indeed the article opens the reception section with a reference to an Acorn magazine based on Superior's advertising). I plan to rewrite the Superior article (which currently is little more than an advertisement for their current PC remakes) which will make all this clearer and will be properly sourced. For now though, I would argue that Barbarian is very much a Superior Software game... although I would agree it is of less importance to this article, that doesn't make it entirely irrelevant. I would appreciate a discussion or being pointed to some kind of policy or consensus of what constitutes a game becoming a particular company's game.Retro junkie (talk) 16:38, 4 December 2011 (UTC)
- I do not see how "it could be argued that removing both categories is indeed disrupting Wikipedia to prove a point"; if one category is wrong, why should it be left in (or another inserted). However, a consistent attempt to knowingly introduce an error would be pointy. It is my fault I let the Epyx games category slip in (I deliberately excluded such categories in my rewrite[3]); that does not mean I cannot correct such errors.
To the matter at hand, Wikipedia:Categorization#Defining characteristics state categorization should be "one that reliable sources commonly and consistently define the subject as having". Practically every source I know of refers to the Barbarian games as Palace Software works, not Superior. "Barbarian is an important game in the history of Superior ... that virtually single handedly kept the market for BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games viable" would be your personal belief unless backed up by reliable secondary sources. Even then, it does not quite make the software a Superior Software game in terms of actual development. Superior ported the algorithms and designs over to another platform; its team did not conceive the idea, draw up the graphics, integrate and test out the concept, published and marketed the initial product that proved to be a hit.
If the categories added had been "Category:Video games published by XXXXXX (Epyx or Superior Software)" or "Category:Video games ported by XXXXXX" (and the game was indeed such), such issues would not have arose in the first place. Jappalang (talk) 01:01, 5 December 2011 (UTC)
- My point was not that removing 'wrong' categories was disrupting but if the categories are not 'wrong' than it could equally be argued that removing both was just proving a point. While virtually all references to the game do refer to it as a Palace game (which of course it is), none of the Acorn press would have done so in Electron User, A&B Computing, The Micro User etc it was always referred to as a Superior game. I still don't really see how the category doesn't fit - it is not "Category:Video games designed by XXXXXX" either. I totally understand where you are coming from but I don't see how it harms this article at all.Retro junkie (talk) 01:25, 5 December 2011 (UTC)
- "My point was not that removing 'wrong' categories was disrupting but if the categories are not 'wrong' than it could equally be argued that removing both was just proving a point.": The categories are wrong, and how am I suppose to interpret that summary of yours then? If you are trying for sarcasm, then it backfired on you. Defining characteristics state "commonly and consistently define". Niche magazines do not apply (and I suspect they refer to it in a manner that acknowledges the publishers, not as the game designers). The world does not refer to Barbarian as that Superior Software game, or that Epyx game, that Kixx game. Even in the computer industry, common parlance does not refer to the game as such. Barbarian (and its sequel) to the world at large is simply that Palace Software game. That the categories are wrongly defined and other articles include them so is not my problem. As per above, if any categorization with relation to those other companies are to be done, then creating/renaming existing categories to "Category:Video games published by XXXXX" is the more constructive first step to move on with. Jappalang (talk) 01:53, 5 December 2011 (UTC)
- Surely that would be overkill and lead to a ridiculous number of pointless categories. Are you saying if there was a category "Games published by Superior Software", that would be left here? Incidentally, Electron User isn't that 'niche' of a publication and it is cited here as the first quote in the reception section but that's beside the point. I can see you are not likely to change your mind but would appreciate a wider discussion to see other people's opinions.Retro junkie (talk) 19:20, 5 December 2011 (UTC)
- What overkill? What pointless categories? Precise, unambiguous categories are much better than vague and ambiguous categories that mislead. Category:Video games published by Superior Software, Category:Video games published by Epyx, and even Category:Video games published by Kixx would be more applicable here than a category that leaves one wondering if this game was developed by Palace or Superior. Not all video game companies do publishing, some just develop the games, some just do graphics, some distribute certain games but develop others, others just port games without creative input in its making. To class a game as their product without considering the context is failing the "defining characteristics" demanded here of categories. If you want a wider discussion, then I think this is the not the venue since the crux of the matter is about "defining characteristics". Jappalang (talk) 02:31, 6 December 2011 (UTC)
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