Template talk:Nintendo developers

message: Given the recent edit conflicts regarding teams beyond first-party developers, I'm starting this discussion so we can reach a consensus. Historically, this template has had various terminology to address those. Here's a rundown of the main ones, and my reasoning as to why they're appropriate/not appropriate for use:
* Second-party: As discussed in the past regarding other articles, this definition is the "weakest" of all. There doesn't seem to be a consensus among WP:RSs as to what qualifies a developer to be classified as second-party or not. There are multiple conflicting opinions out there, and give that this is a table, it's hard to make a good point of theses views.
* Affiliated: By definition, "companies are affiliated when one company is a minority shareholder of another". Although this could be a nice solution, it's very hard to track which companies are affiliated with Nintendo as that information is not freely available for every single case. Furthermore, it doesn't include companies that have had historical ties with Nintendo such as HAL Laboratory or Intelligent Systems.
* Partners: Although it looks like a good solution at first side, in that it includes teams that could be classified as both "second-party" and "affiliated", there are some issues with this classification. The classification is vague and can't be reliably sourced for all cases.
* Publishees: By definition, "one to whom something is published". IMO this is the best classification for the fact that it includes all previously stated cases for development teams, while classifying them in a factual way, easily backed-up by WP:RSs, and avoiding crossing into WP:OR altogether. All without removing notable development teams, such as exemplified before. As a video game publisher, Nintendo has worked with different studios in the past, just as for example a movie production company works with different film studios to developed its published works. This is notable information, and should be included in the template.
TL;DR: IMO, adding the Publishees category is the only way to avoid WP:OR while including notable development teams tied with Nintendo. Other categorization has issues and omission altogether doesn't cover the whole picture. 
What do you think? ~ Arkhandar (message me) 15:49, 17 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Pinging for input. ~ Arkhandar (message me) 16:42, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Why exactly have I been tagged for this? I made like two edits here back in January and have never touched it since. Namcokid47 (Contribs) 17:14, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Similar, I don't watch this template and have no particular opinion or deep knowledge of Nintendo development structures. WP:VG may provide a better opinion than the set of pings done here. -- ferret (talk) 17:18, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I think we're here because we are active members of WP:VG. As for the discussion at hand, I don't have an opinion on this at the moment. Captain Galaxy (talk) 17:24, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text:  Precisely, thanks! And especially since this has been a topic that has spiraled into a lot of discussion with me and  as the main (and sometimes only) debaters. Outside input is crucial to crack this. ~ Arkhandar (message me) 21:56, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

text:  But what you're suggesting is WP:OR in itself, as explained above. As editors, we should not be the ones making judgements on notability, especially in a template which has the goal of aggregating related articles. ~ Arkhandar (message me) 21:53, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Then omit them entirely. You are the only one who seems to prefer this, as seen by the same discussion we had a year ago. ~ Dissident93 (talk) 23:39, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

text: With the current consensus, no, as they're not owned by Nintendo. ~ Arkhandar (message me) 15:26, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Beyond first-party development teams