User:JCAW1/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article: Game & Watch series
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. I chose this article because I found reaching into the roots of gaming history an interesting endeavor. As I do hold aspirations of becoming a game designer in my near future, I believe looking into the past of both consoles and games alike would be an insightful experience.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? For the most part, but not completely.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? No.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? Concise.

Lead evaluation
The lead does a good job introducing just what the pseudo-gaming system is, as well as a brief overview of its history; however, though the lead touches on practically all the topics later discussed within the article, it took me a second read through it to understand that. This is mainly because the topics themselves are mentioned in passing which, in some cases, is likely a good way to limit the number of words in the lead to more easily draw a reader's attention. It talks about its origin, how it was developed as a series between 1980 and 1991, its legacy of success as Nintendo's earliest gaming product, and... well, what the lead doesn't mention is "Mr. Game and Watch", a character who appears as a cameo throughout a variety of other Nintendo games and acts as an homage to the product series of the same name. On the bright side, all of the topics discussed in the lead are further discussed throughout the article, and, overall, the lead is concise without being overly detailed.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes.
 * Is the content up-to-date? Yes.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? Yes.

Content evaluation
While all the information within the article is relevant, I do see one glaring issue; funnily enough, it's again regarding the "Mr. Game and Watch" character. On December 7th, 2018, the latest game in Nintendo's highly-renowned "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" was released with Mr. Game and Watch as a playable character; the article doesn't mention that whatsoever. Therefore, while all the content proceeding this ending section is up-to-date, this is something of a missing issue. The section regarding his character does mention his involvement in the series, but gives information on his role in each of the games; it gives none concerning the aforementioned "Ultimate" game, though it does fall under the umbrella of "subsequent Super Smash Bros." titles mentioned in said section. There are also a few other Smash games he was involved in that this subsection doesn't depict his role in.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? Yes.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? No.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? No.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? No.

Tone and balance evaluation
The article maintains a neutral tone while also showing no bias one way or the other, as all articles should be; in a similar vein, no viewpoints are really over or underrepresented, and the article doesn't seek to persuade the reader to favor any position over the other.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? No.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? Yes.
 * Are the sources current? Yes.
 * Check a few links. Do they work? Yes.

Sources and references evaluation
While there are many instances where the article has proper enough sources to back up its information, it isn't perfect; for one thing, take into consideration the fact that, again, Mr. Game and Watch's appearance in Ultimate isn't stated whatsoever. For instance, if you look at the lead, literally in the first paragraph, there's a needed citation for the simple fact that the "Game and Watch" can function as both an alarm and a clock; if you need a citation before you're barely even three sentences in, then it doesn't look too well. The sources are somewhat current, if only a bit dated considering the fact that most them seem to have come from the early to mid 2010's. The links do seem recent enough that a couple of them work.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? Yes.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? No.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? Yes.

Organization evaluation
The article is fairly easy to read, as well as concise; it admittedly helps that the Game and Watch is so old a system that there isn't so much to be said about it, but thankfully that makes keeping things brief all the easier. There also don't appear to be any spelling or grammatical errors, and the sections are properly broken down into a good order with each section making for a good reflection of their corresponding topics.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? Yes.
 * Are images well-captioned? Yes.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? Yes.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? Sorta.

Images and media evaluation
While I can't say the page will be winning any artistic awards, I can say that, where it does use images, it uses them well. It has three: an image of the "game and watch" itself (at least, one rendition of it), an image of its eventual "flip", multi-screened design (this image could have been more properly located where the text actually talks about how this version of the Game & Watch could be scene as a predecessor to other "flip" game consoles such as the Nintendo DS), and an image of "Mr. Game and Watch" as he typically appears in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. Each is well-captioned with just what the image is meant to represent, while also adhering to Wikipedia's copyright regulations. Aside from the image of the multi-screen design for the Game & Watch, I'd say the other two images are properly placed: the image of the single-screened (and likely more recognizable) "G&W" is towards the beginning where the lead is, and the image of "Mr. G&W" is towards where it talks about his avatar's appearance in other game media.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? Good; focused.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discussfes this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation
The conversations within the talk page all seemed focused on rectifying and adding correct information to the article; all in all, pretty good. I honestly wasn't expecting this number of people to be committed to getting the facts straight concerning a not-so-well-aged video game console, but it was refreshing to see that that was the case. The article itself is rated as "Start-class" and is part of the "Video games" WikiProject. I'd say the way Wikipedia itself discusses this topic as compared to how I've generally learned them through classes isn't how I figured it; while I did understand that different WikiProjects had different, typically independent groups of people working together, I didn't expect there to be "a collaborative [group] effort to improve the coverage of video games on Wikipedia", as it describes itself. I did notice that people speaking in the talk section didn't seem as formal, though, such as not using proper indentation or capitalization in some areas.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation
I'd say the article's overall status is that, while it's fine, it could benefit from some more information and citations. While, if you look at the article, it only says "citation needed" twice, there are some instances where it does state some facts without backing them up with proper secondary sources. For instance, if you look at the "Legacy" section, there isn't a single citation to be had; I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I will say that, considering how the section introduces itself ("the Game & Watch made handheld video game consoles vastly popular. Many toy companies followed in the footsteps of the Game & Watch, such as Tiger Electronics and their Star Wars themed games"), I was suspecting a citation to back up this claim. The article's strength is that, where it does have the information, the information holds true, it's brief, and it's straight to the point. No words seem to be spared, all while maintaining a neutral point of view. Though, when it comes to improvements, I reiterate that I personally believe it could benefit from more cited sources, and more specific information in some areas (such as, with how I discussed earlier, how Mr. Game and Watch's role in Super Smash Bros. games after Brawl changed, and also how it literally opens the "Origin and design" section with "it is said" without an actual cited fact). All in all, I'd say it is well-developed, but could do with some improvements.

Optional activity

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

with four tildes — ~


 * Link to feedback: Talk:Game & Watch series ; specifically under "Game and Watch as inspiration for DS?"