Forum:Main series and spin-off distinction

I would like to propose that we stop using our completely subjective (and arguably arbitrary) distinction between 'main series' games and 'spin-off' games. It's a relic from the bad old days of SNN before it really got its act together, and it's about time we got rid of it. Specifically, I want us to get rid of the following categories: Note that we already don't have a 'Handheld Spin-Offs' category, so it's already inconsistent. (For that matter, why are there two different 'main series' depending on the type of platform? That's dumb too.)
 * Category:Console Main Series
 * Category:Console Spin-Offs
 * Category:Handheld Main Series

The difference, as far as I can tell, is 'spin-off games have slightly different style of gameplay that main series or feature different characters'. But that's not rigorously applied. Why is Shadow the Hedgehog a main series game but Knuckles' Chaotix not? Why are racing games in the Sonic Riders series spin-offs, but not the Sonic Rivals series. Why are the Storybook series games considered spin-offs but other games with gameplay gimmicks like Sonic Heroes (with its team play) considered the main series.

It seems to be that the real difference is 'the main series games are more popular', and that's a terrible basis for a category structure in my opinion. -- Supermorff (talk) 22:42, January 13, 2012 (UTC)