Looking at the wicks marked as Zero Context Example in the check. They all look correct.
By my count, that puts the checked wicks like so:
Correct
- [14 as previously noted]
- Headscratchers.Batman Arkham Asylum (Referring to the Riddler puzzles scattered around the setting)
- Classic Game Room (Discussed Trope)
- Crutch Character (Referring to an amusement park in Star Ocean with, like, bunny races and stuff)
- YMMV.Dragon Quest (Referring to a casino minigame)
- YMMV.Duke Nukem Forever (Referring to various sports minigames)
- YMMV.Final Fantasy VIII (Triple Triad is a card minigame)
- YMMV.Fossil Fighters (Why was this in the zero context category? It totally has context.)
- YMMV.Ganbare Goemon (Amusement park with minigames)
- Mildly Military (Same Final Fantasy XIII example as above)
- YMMV.The Movies (I thought this was misuse at first because machinima is emergent gameplay, not part of the actual game, but on closer inspection, the main game is a sim thing and there are actual machinima tools on the side, so it fits)
- Nazi Zombies (It's not a minigame, but it is a side mode that's not connected to the main story, so it's okay)
- YMMV.Pokemon Stadium (Various minigames that are IMO totally more fun than the actual battling)
- YMMV.Shenmue (There are indeed lots of distracting minigames, and the linked comic makes a joke about them)
- YMMV.Sonic Adventure (Yeah those Chao Gardens, I remember those, spent almost as much time there as in the main quest, good times.)
- YMMV.Soul Series (A Virtual Paper Doll can count for this trope, so this one should be fine.)
- YMMV.Sumotori Dreams (The main menu has a block-throwing thing, and there's a secret mode with a weird minigame in it.)
- YMMV.Test Drive (It's actually quite explicitly spelled out, not sure why it was marked as Zero Context.)
- What Were They Selling Again? (Noted as a related trope)
- YMMV.Yakuza (Explicitly refers to players spending lots of time in side games.)
Questionable
- Brave Fencer Musashi (Should be Collection Sidequest, but might also be this)
- Final Fantasy XIII (Sidetracked by the Gold Saucer is incorrect here, because the context refers to the main plot; it should be Heroes Gone Fishing. However, the location in question is an example of Sidetracked by the Gold Saucer—so it could be a misunderstanding of the trope, or it could be mere abuse of the pothole.)
- Hue Pixel Painter (As described, it seems to be a separate game of its own, but they're on the same cart? I don't know.)
Misuse:
- The Heavy (Loads and Loads of Sidequests)
- YMMV.Time Changer (Misapplied to a non-gameplay situation;)
There is some questionable usage here and there. However, the wicks are overwhelmingly correct, and there is no clear pattern of misuse; every questionable wick here is questionable for a different reason. We often see this when tropers intuitively grasp what the trope is talking about, but get mixed up on the details of how we define it and Square Peg Round Trope as a result.
Zero of these wicks referred to literal saucers or other obviously off-the-mark interpretations. It's abundantly clear the editors in this sample had no trouble associating the "Gold Saucer" with games, even those who ultimately got the definition wrong.
The high number of inbounds from gaming communities tells us that fans are connecting to the trope as is. Oftentimes having a Trope Namer gives the trope some traction among the namer's fanbase and helps it spread. This can cause trouble if the name is too opaque for non-fans, or if it's resulting in Trope Decay because the title is unclear. We don't seem to be seeing any clear Trope Decay, and the "Sidetracked" in the name is doing a good job of communicating the basic idea to non-fans. We also have Distracted By The Minigame as a redirect for searchability.
TL;DR: Very healthy page.
edited 15th Oct '13 12:45:15 PM by troacctid
For context, we want to know what the example is and why it's an example. "Minigame X is distractingly addictive" should be fine. It's YMMV, so there's not much point asking for further justification.
It meets the minimum amount of information to not be a Zero Context Example. "This is so addictive" tells you what the addictive thing is and gives you enough context to understand the gist of the trope without clicking the link. As with most tropes, there's room for more expansion if the editor is feeling eloquent.
edited 13th Oct '13 10:20:09 PM by troacctid

That said, is this about minigame zones or minigames in general?
I think it is about minigames in general, making the title less indicative even if one knows about Gold Saucer.
edited 13th Oct '13 9:38:36 PM by MikuruFan