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Super Smash Brothers 4 is a bit of an odd game. It is currently out on the 3DS and is coming to the WiiU, but there are apparently going to be version differences. An example from the link above,

The 3DS version features an exclusive mode called Smash Run

The 3DS version also includes a StreetPass thing, which the WiiU is unlikely to have since it is not a handheld system that gets carried around in your pocket.

So far, the questions about the released 3DS version have been using the following tag:

If naming continues this way, then when the WiiU version releases, it should have this tag:

There currently exists this question which is, at the moment, off topic because it discusses WiiU version functionality. It contains the tag:

I doubt we need 3 tags for a single game, so I think it should be discussed now, as 3DS version questions are coming in. This way, if the result is that we have a single tag for both versions, we can avoid having to do a wave of edits.

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  • Yeah, I wasn't sure what to do. I hadn't realized the Wii U version wasn't out, so I just made that tag.
    – Frank
    Oct 3, 2014 at 17:17
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    The problem that I see here is that if we make separate tags, then there's a lot of information overlap that would either be duplicated or require both tags, but if we combine the tags, then there is a lot of information only pertinent to one version or the other which is then essentially mistagged. Lose lose.
    – Invader Skoodge
    Oct 3, 2014 at 17:52
  • @StrixVaria hence the discussion. While I'd prefer to not make a decision on the "lesser of 3 evils" principle, I'm unable to think of a third option.
    – Batophobia
    Oct 3, 2014 at 17:59

4 Answers 4

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We should have a single tag for the game: If the question is about version-specific functionality, it should be included in the question, as per this meta answer

but should instead make a note of the version in question in the body of the question when relevant.

I think we can consider this similar to Team Fortress 2. While the game exists for Xbox 360 and PS3, they are very different from the PC version (consoles don't even have hats in the world-famous hat simulator). However, we have not labeled the tags at and .

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    I agree that we should have a super-smash-bros-4 tag for most questions, but I disagree we should use platform tags to mark questions which only apply to one version (see here). However, I'm not sure if I prefer having 3 tags for smash bro or just having the one tag.
    – Wipqozn Mod
    Oct 3, 2014 at 17:26
  • @Wipqozn Then we should continue following the TF2 style of ignoring system tags and assuming system when the system-specific questions arise. After all, if there is a TF2 questions about a hat, we are unlikely to ask them if they are playing the 360 or PS3 version.
    – Batophobia
    Oct 3, 2014 at 17:40
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    Based on following the development blogs and impressions, I don't see any problem with consolidating them. Cases where they are different should be clear ("How do I do X in Smash Run?" is clearly only 3DS), and most other cases are platform-agnostic ("How do I perform a wall-tech?" most likely has the same answer for both platforms). There are a few questions that might have different answers depending on the platform ("How do I unlock character Y?"), but it should be easy to clarify in the title/body, or answer both, and these would be rarer.
    – Mr. Zero
    Oct 4, 2014 at 4:29
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    I have made tag synonyms for -wiiu and -3ds to point to the base tag. Tag the system if your question is system specific. System-specific game mechanics (i.e., smash run) need not be tagged with the specific system UNLESS there is a different but identically named mechanic in the other one: If Smash Run is unambiguous in the first place, it doesn't need an additional tag to unambiguate it.
    – Raven Dreamer
    Oct 7, 2014 at 17:36
  • @RavenDreamer I'm glad to see we're acting on this decision. On the other hand, the sentence indicating that we shouldn't tag consoles for console-specific features seems to go entirely against the reason console tags are used for games at all.
    – Brian
    Oct 8, 2014 at 21:28
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    @Brian Tags exist to unambiguate and categorize. See Mr. Zero's comment above: if there is no ambiguity, there is no need to specify a tag. (This is why, for instance, we don't use additional expansion-specific tags for the Starcraft 2 campagins, or the WoW expansions)
    – Raven Dreamer
    Oct 9, 2014 at 0:08
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    @RavenDreamer Expansions or different campaigns within the same game are completely unrelated to console-specific versions of the same game. We should not be assuming that everyone knows all of the differences between versions. In the future, someone with just the Wii U version could easily see a question about Smash Run and think that it's simply a mode that they have not yet unlocked, because there's no indication that the question doesn't actually apply to their game.
    – Brian
    Oct 9, 2014 at 15:22
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    Specifying which game you're talking about in the question body can clarify that, but makes no sense for the format of this site. We've always used tags to show which game a question refers to, so a user shouldn't have to open and read the question to find out which game it's about.
    – Brian
    Oct 9, 2014 at 15:25
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    Without clarification, questions like Have two shield buttons will mislead users looking for questions about the Wii U version, and questions like How do I change the text for taunts? will seem to make sense, but the answer (which is correct for the 3DS version) will appear to be wrong.
    – Brian
    Oct 9, 2014 at 15:28
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    @Brian As per this meta the general community seems to be in favor of having platform mentioned in the question rather than the tags. Until further notice, this is how we should proceed. Until the WiiU version is released, there are a lot of questions that we cannot confirm are system-specific. If you see one that is 3DS only (for example, involves streetpass) then feel free to edit the system into the question so WiiU players will not be confused.
    – Batophobia
    Oct 9, 2014 at 16:08
  • @Batophobia 11 of the 12 votes for this suggestion were cast when it said "If the question is about version-specific functionality, we can add the appropriate system tag", including my own. The meta decision that you just linked indicates that the correct way to handle the situation is the way that you suggested in your other post. If we follow this decision, it means using super-smash-bros-4-3ds and super-smash-bros-4-WiiU rather than super-smash-bros-4, not using only super-smash-bros-4.
    – Brian
    Oct 9, 2014 at 16:33
  • @Brian On the contrary. The highest voted and accepted answer states: "Questions about a specific version or port of that game should not be tagged based on the platform, but should instead make a note of the version in question in the body of the question when relevant"
    – Batophobia
    Oct 9, 2014 at 16:45
  • @Batophobia Since SSB4 isn't simply a port or a slightly different version of the same game, the part of that accepted answer that pertains to this says: "If the two variants are that different, they should have separate applicable tags, such as dungeon-defenders-pc".
    – Brian
    Oct 9, 2014 at 17:12
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Note: This is added simply for the opposing viewpoint. Feel free to edit if you agree with this position and have points to add.

We should keep the system in the tags, leaving us with: and

This is not much different than how we did Minecraft and Terraria. For Minecraft we have (PC), (360, PS3, etc.), and (mobile version).

This format also falls better into this accepted answer

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I think, much like we do with other games, we should just use the tag , and then include a platform tag or when the question is about something specific to one of those platforms (i.e. streetpass, or the Wii-U gamepad)

Presumably much of the content will overlap.

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    Apparently we decided to stop that in this meta, though I don't agree with that decision.
    – Batophobia
    Oct 5, 2014 at 21:51
  • That's what I was thinking, too. Seems like the sensible solution.
    – No. 7892142
    Oct 15, 2014 at 7:16
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We should have a vanilla tag that covers all games and which may cover a specific platform: . If there are other versions of the game that have specific differences, a platform specific tag (e.g. ) should be used for those questions.

This is how we did Diablo 3. We have (all and PC) and (360, PS3, etc.).

Note: I don't play this game, so I have no opinion on what platform should be covered under the base tag. Whichever one it is should have its platform tag made into a synonym of the base tag.

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    I don't think it's a good idea to have "...-4" mean "both or the main one" because conceptually neither is (supposed to be) the main one.
    – Toomai
    Oct 4, 2014 at 17:52

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