Btw, there are 3 termins:

AAA game.
Killer`ap.
System seller.

Guess, all three means same thing. =)
Game - reason, which makes MANY people to buy or want the system, where that game was released.

AAA to me means a game that manages all of the following:

a) game has that mysterious 'it' factor you know when you play it but is hard to pin down - or to paraphrase the judge commenting on recognising pornography the 'I know it when I see it' factor

b) game is marketed as a leading title (whether single platform or multi) with strong promotional activity

c) game sells well (at least 2 M)

d) game is pretty much unanimously praised by critics

e) game is pretty much unanimously praised by gamers

f) game is perceived to encourage sales of a particular console (although I think this one is sort of optional as late in a consoles life this might not happen. For example God of War 2 is a AAA title but I doubt it shifted that many extra PS2s globally)

So surprise hits don't count (although they could give rise to new IP and become AAA franchise).

AC is arguably a AAA title but I feel it just fell short with critics and general gaming public due to lack of overall gameplay finesse and repetition of core elements. I suspect AC2 will be a bona fide AAA title though.


Individual favourites don't count - sure I could be the only person in the world to love an individual game (and to me I guess its a AAA title) but to the gaming public at large its not a AAA title plain and simple.

Therefore, for me, very few games are really AAA titles.

This really is all it takes.  Give any game some hefty marketing and it will sell like crazy even if it's ultimately a crappy game or even just a disappointing one.

Great games + Poor marketing = Flop
Bad games + Great marketing = Success (financial anyway)

There are exceptions to this, but those are all too rare sadly.

I've always found AAA a pretty puzzling term, especially since it isn't used in my native language at all (school grades and such are done with numbers rather than letters in Finland).

For a while I figured it meant something like "rating 90+, sales 1M+", which seemed reasonable enough. However, that would've lead to the inevitable conclusion that the PS3 got its first AAA title in December 2007, but people were using the plural "the PS3's AAA titles" way back in the summer.

After more thinking/lurking it seems people are using it mostly to refer to a given console's/generation's/whatever's very best games, best being intentionally vague here.

"AAA" to me means a number of things.

1.) The game meets what the developers intended it to be. It was a completed work of art and they had plenty of time to meet their vision.

2.) A "AAA" game covers all the bases, Amazing Story, Great sound track, great flow, moments that constantly bring you happiness and wonderment, the games that really take you out of your reality and show you things only video games can :P

3.) Game play, I'm not looking for innovation at every damn corner of the world, I want a solid game. To me, Uncharted was a AAA title, I had an absolute blast playing the game and I never got that sensation of "been there, done that" because anything that could even remotely compare to it was simply a different game. Games can take anything they want from anywhere they can get it as long as it meets what they want out of the experience.

4.) Pizzaze! I'm so tired of generic games, games that just feel boring. I want a game that springs to life when I play it! I tried getting into Dragon Quest, but man the battles just felt so lifeless ;-; everything just felt so lack-luster, I don't mind repeated ideas, but man have some style! If it's a shooting game, give me some guns!!! Make them sound awesome! Give me some hit response! I want to feel empowered as a player, I'm playing the game! Not the other way around :P

Sales have absolutely nothing to do with how good a game is, so I just leave that out of the picture >_> 

a AAA title is a game a million fanboys stand up as say over and over again that this game will save the PS3.

/troll

Sorry, but that was funny.