LeoneFamily's VGC Database Work

[leonefamily]

I'm following
expanding
I'm taking inspiration from

I'm stealing dhaabi's format / idea to make a thread about my work in the VGC database to boast myself to improve the website to let others know about what parts of VGC's DB (talk about abbreviations!) could be considered as "under construction" to kind of make regular users aware that these sections are kind of a mess and to be more careful about the listings they create since a lot of them will be corrected for consistency and anti-redundance purposes. I think it's also a good way to let the admins know about what I'm generally up to, and it serves as a way to show what I'm generally going for when I make edits. No admin has asked me to do this thread, I'm just doing it on my own.

- Canadian & [CA][MX] releases. I consider myself an expert on the subject at this point. There is no real end to this project due to the insane amount of items it includes. I just post canadian releases as I add them in my collection.

- Xbox / Xbox 360 Demo. Started cleaning up that section in late 2019 but have took a break from this project for a while. But still have the whole project in my backlog and it will be complete at some point. Some info here: https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,10473

- 3DO Hardware & Accessories. I am currently doing a lot of work and research on the 3DO hardware and accessories, and I even have a close contact with the founder of archive3do.com, a true big time expert of the 3DO who gives me crucial information about it every day. My backlog has become an absolute treasure of 3do information and it's all just waiting to be all added/edited to VGC. To a lesser extent I also get help from a close facebook community of 3do fans with some members being people who have worked on the 3DO back in the day as well as ex game devs of some 3DO titles.

My mild knowledge of Korean also means that I know a thing or two about korean releases and I can write / read Korean Hangeul characters without any help. Naturally, I have no problem writing down the box text and titles of korean releases using the korean keyboard, but otherwise I don't consider my work in the korean releases to be a project in itself. I'm sure even dhaabi must have redacted more korean entries as I did at this point.

That's about it for now!

[jason]

Thanks so much for the help! 

[koemo1]

Thank you so much man!

[leonefamily]

From now on I will publish notes intended for admins when I'm about to make edits that may look fishy. This will let me explain why the edits are being done in the hopes they will pass better.

I'm about to add the [UK] TLD to this item:

https://www.vgcollect.com/item/60071

Because I have found a "general" english release for mainland Europe and I'm about to upload it to the database.

Also, I'm unsure about the following item:

https://www.vgcollect.com/item/60324

Despite the back text being in English, you can see that there's the Netherlands flag on the back cover (and the text inside that box is in Dutch). There exist a english release for the UK, which looks like this (notice the UK flag):

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/203399365044

Should it be considered as the "general" english release or as the [NL] release? As usual with every edit I make and every item I add, I have a copy of this variant irl.

[dhaabi]

Also, I'm unsure about the following item:

https://www.vgcollect.com/item/60324

Despite the back text being in English, you can see that there's the Netherlands flag on the back cover (and the text inside that box is in Dutch). There exist a english release for the UK, which looks like this (notice the UK flag):

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/203399365044

I can confirm finding one copy for sale in Netherlands through marktplaats, three copies for sale in Belgium through 2dehands, and zero copies for sale through eBay UK. It seems likely that a TLD of [BE][NL] is correct.

Should it be considered as the "general" english release or as the [NL] release? As usual with every edit I make and every item I add, I have a copy of this variant irl.

However, entry 60324 is for the general Europe release. I've updated the back art. The [BE][NL] item will need a new entry, if that's the version you own.

[leonefamily]

Well yeah technically I own the [BE][NL] but there's no Belgium flag on the artwork and the text remains in English, except in the box where the flag is, there's some dutch. That's why I would only call it [NL] and not [BE][NL]

[tripredacus]

The people who design the covers use the flags to indicate which languages are in either the game or the manual. Our use of TLD is where the item is sold, not what flags are on the cover or what languages are in game or paperwork.

[leonefamily]

The people who design the covers use the flags to indicate which languages are in either the game or the manual. Our use of TLD is where the item is sold, not what flags are on the cover or what languages are in game or paperwork.

Yes, I'm aware of that. What I meant is: isn't using the [NL][BE] TLD redundant given that there is no french on the artwork like you would expect with a [BE] release? In my eyes this is just a [NL] release, it just happens that they sold it in Belgium as well. If we follow this logic, the vast majority of PS2 NTSC games would have a ridiculous [US][CA] TLD since lots of [US] releases were also sold in Canada. Some games did of course have a unique Canadian release which is why the [CA] TLD is common. Given that this game only has english and dutch on it I would just call it [NL] and I would only use [BE] for copies that have both Dutch, French and no "Attention" red label. Otherwise literally 99% of [NL] releases would by extension become [NL][BE].

But if you agree with dhaabi I'll go ahead and create it as [NL][BE] and will keep this in mind for when I upload more european releases.

[fazerco]

The people who design the covers use the flags to indicate which languages are in either the game or the manual. Our use of TLD is where the item is sold, not what flags are on the cover or what languages are in game or paperwork.

Slight mistake there. When flags are on the cover, they are usually sold in those countrys. And you can choose out of more languages in the game.

[tripredacus]

On the [US][CA] example, it is not a valid comparison. US is to NA as UK is to EU. US releases never get their TLD on an entry into NA category, same as UK. UK can sometimes but only because EU categories are way more complicated than NA. NL isn't the same there.

As for whether our entry needs [BE] in it, the answer is no. Using just [NL] is fine and would be just the minimum requirement.

Regarding Fazerco comment, it depends. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Since sometimes no is valid then we cannot use a blanket statement such as "flags mean the game was sold there" because it is sometimes wrong. So we disregard the flags having any connection to where it is sold, but can use then to help identify it. Such as, we know many games that have the flag for France but do not have the government required Attention text indicate that the item is not sold in France but instead sold in a French speaking country such as Belgium or Switzerland.

[leonefamily]

Would like to point attention to the following items:

https://www.vgcollect.com/item/207702
https://www.vgcollect.com/item/95299

Item 207702 I have created myself. It has exactly the same text, barcode, item number, e.t.c. than the other. I called it "early box design" because it seems to follow the box style of the very first japanese model (SCPH-1000) while the other design looks more like the later revision boxes. If "early box design" is not a good name, go ahead and change it. I'm sure dhaabi must know something about it? (given he's our PlayStation connaisseur god) 

[dhaabi]

Well, you're certainly giving me way more credit than I deserve regarding my knowledge of PlayStation, I think. As far as I can tell, the packaging information between color box designs and sepia box designs are (almost always) the exact same, but there may be instances of that not being so. I'll try to gather some concrete information relating to when the designs changed or if there actually is anything different aside from the box design. At the very least, I'm sure that the item numbers found on the back of the memory cards are different, as memory card item numbers changed frequently as additional print runs debuted.

Other first-party PlayStation accessories such as RGB Cable SCPH-1050 have two different designs as well. I've even encountered a third-party Hori accessory with sepia and colored boxes also. Sometimes there are notable differences between items like these, such as Mouse Set SCPH-1030, where the sepia box item was made in Japan while the color box item was made in Malayasia.

I did change the entry name, though. "Early box design" isn't an ideal descriptor as that would require someone to know what the physical characteristics of later box designs are too.

[leonefamily]

Well, you're certainly giving me way more credit than I deserve regarding my knowledge of PlayStation, I think.

It's my way to thank you for your amazing contributions to the database over the years but especially in recent times 

I did change the entry name, though. "Early box design" isn't an ideal descriptor as that would require someone to know what the physical characteristics of later box designs are too.

Oh yes! Sepia is a perfect way to describe it, I totally agree!

[leonefamily]

This is the SNES-2-3DO (Black/Gold variant). It can be purchased here:

https://controlleradapter.com/products/snes23do

I'm going to add it to the database, but I'm unsure about a few details. These accessories are made by one guy with his 3D printer, so obviously it's going to go in the Unofficial Release category. But I'm wondering, could the shipping box it comes in be considered as the actual "item box"? On one end, it's just a shipping box, but yet there's the ControllerAdapter logo on it. And also, there's a sticker of the ControllerAdapter logo inside (as well as candy). Should I consider this as the item box when I create the item in the database or should I disregard this and just consider this item as a loose artisanal accessory? Also, we have to keep in mind that there are different color variations but that difference is not indicated on the box itself, only on the shipping slip.

[dhaabi]

This is the SNES-2-3DO (Black/Gold variant). It can be purchased here:

https://controlleradapter.com/products/snes23do

I'm going to add it to the database, but I'm unsure about a few details. These accessories are made by one guy with his 3D printer, so obviously it's going to go in the Unofficial Release category. But I'm wondering, could the shipping box it comes in be considered as the actual "item box"? On one end, it's just a shipping box, but yet there's the ControllerAdapter logo on it. And also, there's a sticker of the ControllerAdapter logo inside (as well as candy). Should I consider this as the item box when I create the item in the database or should I disregard this and just consider this item as a loose artisanal accessory? Also, we have to keep in mind that there are different color variations but that difference is not indicated on the box itself, only on the shipping slip.

Unless the outer shipping packaging is unique to SNES-2-3DO specifically, then I don't see any reason for any of the entry art slots to feature it.

Regarding the bundled sticker and candy, individual entries may be submitted for each in the swag categories if you're wanting them to be a part of your collection. Or, alternatively, you may just detail in the SNES-2-3DO entry that they were included inside the shipping packaging but not the actual item packaging.