Style Guide

Words, letters, abbreviations, companies, games, trademarks – meanings and correct usage.

This is a style guide for Games Toaster writers and contributors. It is mainly made up of on language used in computer games related context; it is based on the Guardian’s Style Guide, it is recommended that you visit their guide for more everyday use of language.

Other Style Guides of note are online at economist.com, BBCtraining.com (pdf), and timesonline.co.uk.

Atari
no longer in operation, Atari were a games systems and games creator; do not confuse with Infogrames re-branding using the Atari name (see below)

Atari (Infogrames)
never use Atari on its own, Atari was a different company

'bad' language
all ‘fowl’ or ‘bad’ language, such as slang words for body parts or functions, are banned with the exception of quoting; for example, in cases like a past article about the word ‘Fuck’ been found in a (pirate copy) of a Disney game, the full uncensored word should be published – beyond common ‘bad’ language the editor should be consulted   

Britsoft
the British games software industry (usage example - “Developer behind Evolva and The Thing is latest Britsoft casualty” – GI.biz, ), avoid use, if you wish to use it don’t when talking about a company based in Ireland or Northern Ireland – instead name the town/city and/or county where the developer the is based

Cannes Film Festival
‘Cannes’ alone is fine on second mention or in some context, for example when the film industry has been mentioned first - the film festival runs in the large town in the south of France of the same name, typically at the same time as the games industry is at E3 in LA

CHAVs
this slang abbreviation, and its long-form, are banned

Citywest
an area of south-west Dublin - 'Citywest Business Campus', 'Citywest Hotel', etc, not 'CityWest', or 'City West'

Counter-Strike
(not 'Counter Strike') Half-Life mod, do not use CS

currencies
if possible use duel euro and sterling pricing as this is site is for gamers from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland – “the console is currently priced at 100 euro and 85 sterling”, if the sterling price is not known convert from euro – “the console is currently priced at 100 euro (about 85 sterling)”

use lc - euro, sterling, dollars
(dollars = USD, sterling = UKP)

euro - never use 'euros'; there is no such currency

the old Irish currency was 'punts', not Irish pounds

(currency converter - http://www.xe.com/ucc/)

DS
Nintendo DS, never NDS

EC (European Community)
EC, no longer EEC. Do not confuse European Community (EC) with European Union (EU), both are still in existence. (06/09/2005)

Electronic Arts (EA)
games developer and publisher; use Electronic Arts at first reference and 'EA' then after (see http://www.ea.com/)

EA Games, EA Sports (etc)
brand names of Electronic Arts used for different types of games; just use Electronic Arts at first reference and 'EA' then after.

Earls Court
no apostrophe

email

fanboy
a fanatic of a game, console/format, company, or genre - avoid

first person shooter (FPS)
lc, a genre of computer games; use FPS on second mention

Game
first letter hc, UK computer games retailer, on first reference say “computer games retailer Game” or “Game, the computer games retailer, …”

game
lc for any other use then retailer

GameStop
GameStop is a US retailer; they purchased the Irish retailer Gamesworld, re-branded, and expanded

gamer
used to describe any person who plays digital games

gaming
(or computer gaming) do not use when talking about gambling; we would (like to) think that usage regarding computer games now far exceeds the gambling counter part

Garda
Republic of Ireland's police force
Police officer - garda (plural gardai)

Halo
A FPS computer game

hardcore gamer
used to describe a person who is "really into" digital games and plays them a lot

.ie
(ending of an Internet address) the top level domain name for Ireland

IE
(Internet Explorer) Microsoft’s internet browser; use full name and not the abbreviation

internet
(lc) or the net

Los Angeles
'LA' is ok after first mention or in headlines. - Yes, it is a city, and yes, the games industry show E3 takes place the LA Conference Centre, in the city. But not all E3 events do, they do however take place in LA county. If unsure, do not use ‘city’.

media alert
hyped word for a press release; do not use.

Microsoft Games Studio
the brand name for Microsoft’s computer games division; use Microsoft

PSP
PlayStation Portable

PlayStation / PSOne
Sony's first console

PlayStation 2
Sony’s second console – use PS2 on second mention

PlayStation 3
Sony’s third home console – use PS3 on second mention

 

real time strategy (RTS)
a genre of computer games; use RTS on second mention

press release
a document which normally contains information about a product or service that is given to the press freely

Sony Computer Entertainment
place name included (Ireland, Europe, North America etc) when and article is place focused; SCE (or SCEE) on second mention

Sony Computer Entertainment Ireland
SCE IE or SCE Ireland, never "SCEI"

Smyths Toy Superstores
Irish toy retailer and games stockiest; use Smiths

stealth consoles

Vivendi Universal Interactive (VUI)
games publisher and developer; use Vivendi Universal on first mention and VUI then after (see http://www.vivendi-universal-interactive.co.uk/)

world wide web
outdated - use internet or 'the net'

Xbox 360
'Xb306', or '360', in headlines or after first reference; not X360

Xbox
not “Xbox” or “X-Box” etc, Microsoft’s first games console. See http//www.xbox.com/

Xtra-vision
best known as a video rental retailer, its shops sell and rent games, the company is owned by Blockbuster - but there is no current plan to use the parent brand

Xtra-game
Xtra-vision's game stores

You, you’re
Should not be used in reviews, reviewers should not use a conversational style

Page last edited: 02/02/2007

Comments

[Cian Ginty]

[This post is in response to an anonymous viewer’s comment about our use of a lower case ‘the’ when writing about ‘the Movies’.]

Unlike what you may think or know many rules of the English are bendable, and evolve. Unknown to most readers, newspapers and other media outlets have their own style – usually outlined in a style guide, or style book.

For example, newspapers differ on capitals in headline. Practical examples would be - “After Riot, Sheriff Plans To Move Violent Inmates”, but a lower case ‘a’ “How a 'Fun' Priest Molested Boys” from LATimes.com, while theSun.co.uk uses “FALCONIO KILLER GIVEN APPEAL” and “HUGE HUNT FOR MISSING BABY”, and most UK and Irish broadsheets (and RTE etc) use the likes of “West Bank monitors to withdraw after attack” (from RTE) – with only upper case for the first word, along with the names of people, places, and things etc.

A more comparable example to our usage of ‘the’ would be the Guardian’s use of lower case for ‘the’ when it comes to newspapers, magazines, pubs, rock bands, and sports grounds. Although they use upper case for ‘the’ when it comes to books, films, poems, television shows, and place names - we made the apparently shocking move of extending the use of the lower case ‘the’ further they do.

Here’s a bit of what the Guardian’s Style Guide has to say about ‘capitals’ – “Times have changed since the days of medieval manuscripts with elaborate hand-illuminated capital letters, or Victorian documents in which not just proper names, but virtually all nouns, were given initial caps (a tradition valiantly maintained to this day by Estate Agents). A glance at the Guardian of, say, 1990, 1970 and 1950 would show greater use of capitals the further back you go. The tendency towards lower case, which in part reflects a less formal, less deferential society, has been accelerated by the explosion of the internet: some net companies, and many email users, have dispensed with capitals altogether“

“Our style reflects these developments. We aim for coherence and consistency, but not at the expense of clarity. As with any aspect of style, it is impossible to be wholly consistent — there are almost always exceptions, so if you are unsure check for an individual entry in this guide. But here are the main principles…”

As I say, we differ from them with some things, so please don’t go quoting them and say we’re wrong. [Further reading: the listings for ‘capitals’, and ‘the’, on the Guardian’s Style Guide.]