Re: VideoGame proposal

I think the proposal for exploring video game modeling in Schema.org is
very interesting and could have very significant implications.  As Dan and
others pointed out, there seems to be some good general properties that
could be applied to higher level Classes (such as Thing).  As Aaron also
pointed out, there might be some subjective issues in classifying very
granular types of video games (such as Role Playing).  I do think that
granular classes are important but it might be better to defer to something
like Product Type Ontology for this. For example one could use a generic
schema:VideoGame class and associated properties to describe a game and add
an additional rdf type of
http://www.productontology.org/id/Role-playing_video_game. The problem with
this approach would obviously be if there are specific properties that are
unique to a certain sub-class of video games.  I think that mocking up
enough use cases could help sort out some of these issues.

An aspect that I have been exploring/thinking about that was not directly
addressed in this proposal was modeling the management of video game.  This
could allow video game producers and more importantly service
supporters/content providres (such as Steam or BattleNet) to manage users
and the relationships they have across games.  For example Steam acts as a
universal online platform for disseminating games and Steam users have
usernames that are linked to their Steam accounts.  There are though some
games (available through Steam) that require separate accounts to be
created for online play.  It would be very interesting if there were a way
connect users (arguably schema:Person instances) across games and service
providers.  I have thought a bit about this and it could be done using
primarily existing classes/properties.  If there is interest, I could mock
up a few examples and send them out.

This topic is very interesting to me and if there is continued interests in
the modeling of video games, I would jump at the opportunity to contribute
either ideas of data examples.

Thanks,

Jeff Mixter
440-773-9079
mixterjeff@gmail.com


On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 1:38 PM, Aaron Bradley <aaranged@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for this Yuliya, and for your thoughtful feedback Dan and Owen.
>  Some intial thoughts...
>
> Does it makes sense also to have MobileGame, as a more specific type of
> MobileApplication - the properties of which it would inherit?  Aside from
> that property inheritance, mobile games bear the same relationship to video
> games as mobile applications do to software applications, so it makes sense
> IMO to carry over that logic (e.g. [1]).
>
> OnlineGame is, I think, a little problematic insofar as the bulk of
> packaged video games published these days have online components to them.
>  For example, Battlefield 4 [2] would be classified as a VideoGame if
> played offline, in single-player mode, but would be classfied as an
> OnlineGame if played in online mode.  I'd opt for simply rolling those
> OnlineGame properties into VideoGame.
>
> In the spirit of both those comments and following the *Application path,
> if one were to drop OnlineGame because its mode-dependent, might one wish
> to instead to have WebGame, which is a game specifically played on a
> browser and - like WebApplication, often has specific requirements, like
> Flash support, or use of a specific browser [3].
>
> +1 to all of Dan's comments.  In particular, I like the idea of making
> "playModes" (or "playMode") an enumeration.  And yes, "playersNumber" is
> ambiguous and would almost certainly end up being confused by some with
> max/minNumberOfPlayer:  either of Dan's suggestions are preferable.
>
> Big +1 to Owen's suggestion to reconstitute "RolePlayingGame" simply as
> "Game".  On one hand what does and doesn't qualify as a "role playing" game
> is a highly subjective judgement.  On the other hand, as Owen points out,
> some of the proposed properties are applicable to broader categories of
> games, which would also make this type more broadly useful.
>
> As this proposal for VideoGame just barely forestalls my own (which, in
> light of this excellent work by Yandex, won't be forthcoming:), I can
> confirm that Electronic Arts - one of the world's largest video game
> publishers - enthusiastically supports this proposal.
>
> Aaron Bradley
> SEO Analyst, Electronic Arts
>
> [1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ea.game.simpsons4_na
> [2] http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield-4
> [3] http://chrome.angrybirds.com/
>
>
>
> On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 9:36 AM, Owen Stephens <owen@ostephens.com> wrote:
>
>> RolePlayingGame seems specific while at least some of the properties
>> (min/max players at the very least) seem common to other types of game.
>> Would it make more sense to simply have /Game as a creative work?
>>
>>  Owen Stephens
>> Owen Stephens Consulting
>> Web: http://www.ostephens.com
>> Email: owen@ostephens.com
>> Telephone: 0121 288 6936
>>
>> On 15 May 2014, at 11:48, Yuliya Tikhokhod <tilid@yandex-team.ru> wrote:
>>
>> This is proposal from Yandex (one of the schema.org sponsors).
>>
>> There are many sites dedicated to games (for example,
>> http://store.steampowered.com/app/244850/,
>> http://www.gamespot.com/eve-online/,
>> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zeptolab.ctr2.f2p.google).
>> They contain some specific information, for which we have no specific
>> classes and properties in schema.org.
>>
>> We made separate class for game as a creative work (with  complicated
>> rules, characters, narrative). And called it RolePlayingGame. Maybe this is
>> not a very good name and we will be thankful if you suggest better name for
>> class describing games with complicated rules, fictional characters and
>> specific locations.
>> Then VideoGame class is a child of two parents -  RolePlayingGame and
>> SoftwareApplication.
>>
>> We also added some additional properties to SoftwareApplication class.
>>
>> This is test build of schema.org with this proposal
>> http://sdo-yavg.appspot.com/VideoGame
>> http://sdo-yavg.appspot.com/RolePlayingGame
>> http://sdo-yavg.appspot.com/OnlineGame
>> http://sdo-yavg.appspot.com/SoftwareApplication
>>
>> In attachment you can find pdf version of this proposal
>>
>> --
>> Yuliya Tikhokhod
>>
>> Yandex
>>
>> <VideoGame.pdf>
>>
>>
>>
>


-- 
Jeff Mixter
jeffmixter@gmail.com
440-773-9079