Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Crash Bandicoot (video game)/archive2

The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was archived by Gog the Mild via FACBot (talk) 16 March 2023 [1].

Crash Bandicoot (video game)

Nominator(s): Cat's Tuxedo (talk) 00:37, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This article is about a 1996 video game that kicked off an ongoing franchise and put its developer Naughty Dog on the map. The page had previously gone through a peer review and FA nomination a little over a year ago, but didn't make the cut due to a lack of input. I frankly blame my own poor timing for that on account of the nomination being made just before the holiday season, which would naturally have diverted everyone's attention. Now, having waited for a more opportune time of year, here's hoping for better luck this go-round. Cat's Tuxedo (talk) 00:37, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

First-time nomination

Hi Cat's Tuxedo, and welcome back to FAC. Just noting that as a first time nominator at FAC, this article will need to pass a source to text integrity spot check to be considered for promotion. Good luck with the nomination. Gog the Mild (talk) 11:32, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Image review by ProtoDrake

I've checked over the image licensing, and everything seems to be in order. I am a little sceptical about using a video for gameplay given some recent discussions in the VG WikiProject space on the subject, so that might come up and you might need to find a screenshot. Nevertheless, I think this is a nominal Pass. --ProtoDrake (talk) 22:45, 22 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@ProtoDrake: Thanks. Whatever the outcome of that discussion may be (if there is one), I got a backup image on hand just in case. Cat's Tuxedo (talk) 04:27, 23 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Coordinator comment - I'm sorry, but at about three weeks in without any general supports, this candidacy will have to be closed if there isn't a significant movement towards a consensus to promote over the next few days. Hog Farm _Talk 02:20, 14 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from Mike Christie

I hate to see an article archived for lack of comments, particularly twice in a row, so I took a look. I think there's some imprecision in the language. Just from the lead:

"The game's premise chronicles the creation of the titular Crash": the game chronicles Crash's creation; the game's premise is the creation of Crash. And I don't think you need 'titular'; it's not wrong but it's a bit ungainly and it's not like the reader can't figure out the connection.
"Uplift" is a science fiction jargon word; I'm familiar with it but for the non-sf-aficionado we need plainer language. in the lead at least.
"The story follows Crash as he aims to prevent Cortex's plans for world domination": one doesn't prevent a plan, one foils or opposes it.
"some levels showcase forward-scrolling and side-scrolling perspectives": "showcase" seems the wrong word: as a verb it means to make use of an opportunity to show off the good qualities of something. And forward-scrolling is not linked; I assume this refers to the scenes where Crash has to escape from a rolling boulder? It's unusual for a video-game character to run towards the player; I think this is clearer in the body, where you say it's the reverse of the usual perspective.
"set a goal to create a character-based action-platform game from a three-dimensional perspective, having observed the graphical trend in video games during a cross-country road trip". The source has "Jason and I had been debating our next game for months, but the three-day drive from Boston to LA provided ample opportunity. Having studied arcade games intensely (yeah, in 1994 they were still relevant) we couldn’t help but notice that 2 or 3 of the leading genres had really begun making the transition into full 3D rendering." This doesn't mean they studied the arcade games during the road trip, which would be pretty hard to do. And I think it would be worth connecting the dots for the reader: the road trip was because of the publishing deal, rather than some random trip -- they were moving to LA to work for UIS.
"Production ran under the working title Willy the Wombat": not an error, but I see the sources have both "Willie" and "Willy" -- are you confident this is the original spelling? And I'm not sure what "Production ran" means; the body says that was the working name of the character, not the game, but even if the two things are considered to be the same I don't know what "production" refers to. Do you mean "The working name of the game's lead character during development was Willy the Wombat"?

Both the web-archived and commercially published drafts of the production bible demonstrate the spelling to be "Willy", so it's fair to say that's the official spelling. Cat's Tuxedo (talk) 01:56, 16 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

"Joe Pearson and Charles Zembillas were hired to help formulate the game's characters and story": suggest "create" as simpler than "formulate".

I stopped reading the lead at this point and scanned the rest of the article, and found more issues:

"Donkey Kong Country was particularly influential in stirring the pair's curiosity as to how such a game could function in three dimensions." The source has 'They specifically loved the Super Nintendo smash-hit Donkey Kong Country. “We were like, ‘how would this work in 3D?’”' I don't think the source supports "particularly influential in stirring the pair's curiosity".
"The basic technology for the game and the Crash Bandicoot series as a whole was created somewhere near Gary, Indiana, and the rough game theory was designed near Colorado. Soon afterward, Gavin and Rubin discarded a design for Al O. Saurus and Dinestein, a side-scrolling video game based on time travel and scientists genetically merged with dinosaurs." The source has "Somewhere near Gary, Indiana, the driving technology behind the Crash Bandicoot series is born. By Colorado, a rough game theory is designed. The previous game design, "Al O. Saurus and Dinestein" based on side scrolling, time traveling, scientists genetically merged with dinosaurs, is thrown out." This is too closely paraphrased, and in any case I think you've got the order wrong -- the source mentions the discarded game design last, but it seems clear it was discarded because of the creation of the new design, so it's simultaneous, not sequential. I also think this sort of tongue-in-cheek summarization (i.e. see the source's crack about littering in the next sentence) shouldn't be treated as if it were a precise history. For example, it's not clear what they mean by "driving technology": probably the ideas for it, but surely not any actual code.

Given how vague the "driving technology" part is, I think it might be best to just omit that bit. Cat's Tuxedo (talk) 01:56, 16 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

"Because the main character was Tasmanian, it was decided that the game would take place on a mysterious island where every possible type of environment could be found, with the added reasoning that an evil genius like Cortex would require an island stronghold." The source has "Given that “Willie” was Tasmanian we set him on a mysterious island where every possible kind of environment lurked. Evil geniuses like Dr. Cortex require island strongholds." This is much too close paraphrasing.
"The character Ripper Roo was created to humorously demonstrate the dangers of the Cortex Vortex, as well as provide an opportunity for Naughty Dog's animators to practice overlapping action." The source has "Ripper Roo's character was created to show the dangers of the Cortex Vortex...in a humorous way. He also provided a great opportunity to use overlapping action in animation." Again too closely paraphrased, and again slightly inaccurate -- the word "practice" isn't supported by the source. Or if the intended meaning is "implement", it's not clear.

Oppose. I'm stopping there; if randomly choosing paragraphs to review keeps finding these issues, I think more work is needed before this is ready. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 00:38, 16 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Mike Christie: I've addressed all the aforementioned points. Cat's Tuxedo (talk) 01:56, 16 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

More than three weeks in and no general supports, but an open oppose. I am archiving this nomination for improvements to be made off-FAC. The usual two-week hiatus will apply.

Closing note: This candidate has been archived, but there may be a delay in bot processing of the close. Please see WP:FAC/ar, and leave the {{featured article candidates}} template in place on the talk page until the bot goes through. Gog the Mild (talk) 16:11, 16 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.