Release

Split <console> into <console> and <media>

Some "consoles" such as Steam and XBLA are rather vague now, since Steam is available for three OSes (Windows, Mac, Linux), XBLA is available on two consoles (360, Xbone), and PSN is available for four (PS3, PS4, PSP, PSVita). In addition, "PC" should be split into individual operating systems.

This should be split into something like the following:

Old method: (using Sonic Generations as an example)

{{release|Steam|EU|2011-11-03}}
{{release|PC|EU|2011-11-25}}

New method:

{{release|Win|Steam|EU|2011-11-03}}
{{release|Win|Disc|EU|2011-11-25}}

Note that this example splits <console> in-place, so it will break all existing {{release}} uses until they're updated. ---GerbilSoft (talk) 13:37, 6 August 2015 (CDT)

Also: "Disc", or "CD", "DVD", "BD"? I know that the Windows port of Sonic Riders was available in two versions: the original two-CD release, and a later DVD release. ---GerbilSoft (talk) 13:39, 6 August 2015 (CDT)

If there's any ambiguity, you could just add a thing to the 3rd parameter - {{release|Steam|EU (Win)|2011-11-03}}. There's no benefit to breaking existing uses of this template. - Hivebrain (talk) 16:52, 6 August 2015 (CDT)

That's more of a workaround than a fix though. For more modern games there are multiple formats a game can be released on for each platform, with companies using the same service for digital releases on multiple systems or (in the case of PC) OS'. For example: Sonic the Hedgehog CD (2011) shows under releases that the game was released for PSN, Xbox Live and Steam. This doesn't show for which systems or OS' the game was actually released for, with for example PSN implying that it was possibly released on PS3, PS4, PSP or PSVita.

A separate issue is that Steam is more a form of DRM a PC game can use than a possible platform, and also not the only online store a downloadable PC game can be sold on. For example, they could also be sold on Amazon, Gamestop, GOG.com, Green Man Gaming etc. It'd be better to list these games as "Digital" than "Steam" releases. Same goes for consoles, as it's possible for the branding of the services to be changed. This actually already happened with PlayStation Network, which was changed to Sony Entertainment Network but was eventually changed back. - TimmiT 01:01, 7 August 2015 (CET)

I've been working on this on Sega Retro. I just finished Steam OSX/Linux (there were no Sonic games in that category), and GOG was done a while ago (only a single Atlus game there). Digital releases can't be combined in the way you're suggesting because they each have their own release dates and pricing. I'm leaning toward getting rid of the PSN/XBLA stuff and treating them the same as later console downloads though. - Hivebrain (talk) 21:54, 11 August 2015 (CDT)