A AAA game is that one game or franchise whose note passes the 90 points (AA: 80 points, A: 75 points)

means you need AAA batteries to run it.

Like AAA Beef you find at a supermarket, it refers to quality AND cost.

So big budget and/or a 90+ meta

First of all, Metacritic has absolutely nothing to do with it. AAA status is assigned months before a game is ever reviewed.

This is from a post I made in another thread--

"No, AAA rank is just a projection of how well a game is expected to sell. Things like production and marketing budget can certainly factor into the analysis but that certainly isn't the whole of it. Retailers don't care how much a game cost to make, they care about what kind of profit it will generate. It's a system designed to tell them what to invest in. When I used to order for my store, looking for AAA beside the name of a game was a fantastic way to separate it from the clutter--and there was a LOT of clutter, especially for the Wii.

People put too much emphasis on AAA status. It's basically just an educated guess about how well a title will perform. A game can cost 5 million but they'll give it AAA rank if the experts believe it will make a lot of money for retailers.

It never was intended to be a way for fans to rank games."

and--

"This is an example of the order form I used to get from Engram Entertainment -- http://www.docstoc.com/docs/58754489/Where-to-Purchase-Money-Orders-in-Phx

Look at some of the "AAA" titles, like Kirby: Squeak Squad, Eragon, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, a Dragon Ball Z game, a Gundam game, and Red Steel--not to mention the game Cars. Not really what most people would think of as AAA."

In short, it's NOT Metacritic and it's NOT budget; it's really just a projection by some analysts somewhere.  It might even be different based on where you order--I'm not sure about that, though, as I've never ordered games from anywhere but Engram.

Definitions of words are known to change throughout history....like the word Fag going from "pile of sticks" to "homophobic slur" to "a motorcycle rider" being the most current definition.

Why are people such as yourself clinging to the current definition? If others want to refer to a AAA game as a 90+ meta, what do you care?

Ever heard of AAA meat? Refers to quality as much as its premium cost.

Following numerous discussions about the subject i came to the conclusion that AAA is a magic term that can mean whatever you want it to.

He asked what the term meant, not your personal, made-up definition.  That's like someone asking what "nuclear fission" means and someone else saying "chocolate pudding".  AAA is a real term used within the gaming retail industry for a specific purpose.  Like it or not, it has nothing to do with Metacritic.  Why even try to corrupt the term when you can just say "Metacritic 90+"?

AAA refers to the quality of the expected investment potential.  I'm sorry if you don't like that but it's still true.