Strange thread.
It's not really based off budget and it certainly isn't based off Metacritic (seriously?). It's a RETAILER designation that has to do with sales projections.
It doesn't matter if a game costs $100 to develop, if the expected sales are high, it gets an AAA rating. Likewise, a game can be horrible, but if the sales are expected to be high, it doesn't matter, it's also AAA. It's for retailers to look at to determine investment potential.
Yes, it's true that AAA games are often high quality and have large budgets, but that's beside the point. No one in the retail industry really cares about that (other than perhaps advertisement budgets). While those are good indicators, they are NOT definitive.
I used to get the listings every week from Engram Entertainment. I was in charge of purchasing, I decided what our store did or did not buy. It has to do with projected sales potential. "AAA" is nothing but a way to designate blue chip products.
