What's the deal with all the numbers being added to so many Nintendo titles?

[haloofthesun]

I was looking through my collection, when I started to see many of my Nintendo titles now had a series of numbers in parentheses after them.

Example 1: https://vgcollect.com/item/2163
Example 2: https://vgcollect.com/item/117965
Example 3: https://vgcollect.com/item/8167
Example 4: https://vgcollect.com/item/141215'

That's just a few... there are so many more! I understand keeping track of variants to a degree, but seriously? This seems like the sort of thing that those who wish to keep note of could do so in the "Notes" field in their collection. I don't even know if the version I have is correctly listed now because I was just assigned these, and I would have to go look through all of these games to see if what I have actually matches what is now in my collection here. But also I don't really care enough to do that. Yet now when I get a new game, I can't just have "Animal Crossing", I have to look to see "Do I have Animal Crossing (00101), or Animal Crossing (00100), or just Animal Crossing (00000)?" Why can't I just have "Animal Crossing" in my collection? Everyone who had Animal Crossing was dumped into 00101, all 1000+ of us, but surely not all of us actually have that number printed on the box that seemingly is meaningless. The other two are only in one collection each. Are they rare? Is this accurate? Does it even matter?

The database seems cluttered enough as it is, and now my collection is becoming cluttered with random numbers and letters. I know I'm probably in the minority, here, and at some point it was probably decided on by the community that this should be done, or at the very least it just doesn't bother anyone except me. I just wanted to throw this out there and say maybe this is unnecessary clutter.

[Bluemoon]

yeah I'd be inclined to agree that item number variants just belong in the notes section to avoid cluttering the database, there is seemingly very little difference between these extra entries

[dhaabi]

I was looking through my collection, when I started to see many of my Nintendo titles now had a series of numbers in parentheses after them.

Example 1: https://vgcollect.com/item/2163

I don't even know if the version I have is correctly listed now because I was just assigned these

Incorrect. You were not "assigned" to have one variant added over another. You willingly added it to your personal collection. Both the front and back artwork are original to the entry, where the back artwork easily reads EAN-5 00101. The information has always been present as long as the entry has been created. As such, when it came to adding variant entries to the database, the original entry was given the 00101 descriptor.

Everyone who had Animal Crossing was dumped into 00101, all 1000+ of us, but surely not all of us actually have that number printed on the box that seemingly is meaningless. The other two are only in one collection each. Are they rare? Is this accurate?

It is up to users to pay attention to what item they are adding to their own accounts. However, whether they pay attention to the finer details is up to them. That there are 1,000+ users with one variant in their collection over another is unlikely; however, if users are concerned with adding the correct item to their account, they are more than willing to create separate entries for variant items of their own volition, if necessary. How many users are connected to entries is unimportant.

The database seems cluttered enough as it is, and now my collection is becoming cluttered with random numbers and letters. I know I'm probably in the minority, here, and at some point it was probably decided on by the community that this should be done, or at the very least it just doesn't bother anyone except me. I just wanted to throw this out there and say maybe this is unnecessary clutter.

It was decided by the community long ago when users began discussing how to treat items that were released with both 3 screw NES cartridges and 5 screw NES cartridges. I can't quickly find when that discussion was made official, but the earliest coversation I can find regarding the topic was over a decade ago.

I can't just have "Animal Crossing", I have to look to see "Do I have Animal Crossing (00101), or Animal Crossing (00100), or just Animal Crossing (00000)?" Why can't I just have "Animal Crossing" in my collection?

Ideally, users should be able to have the control for a basic or expanded view of entries. However, our system doesn't have such features now. So, we work around the limitations where descriptors are necessary in the event of items having variant releases.

there is seemingly very little difference between these extra entries

In some instances, the differences are just a change of number. However, in other instances, the differences are much more apparent and complicated. I imagine that you are also only considering variants from the terms of outer packaging, as well. In many instances, subsequent prints have different or fewer packaging materials included. With all that said, because there are times when items have both major and minor variances, they are all allowed to be submitted as entries.

[tripredacus]

The issue is that everyone wants something different. Some want to just track "games" some want to track exactly what they have. Some like to collect variations and some don't, some collect loose, boxed or sealed. Unfortunately with all of the different ways people collect, the site only has one way to view it.

As for the numbers being in descriptors, when a variation is found we have to determine what is the best way to describe it. Unfortunately with some variations, only a number is different or is the easiest to describe.

There are worse titles like these:
Transformers: The Game - Greatest Hits (81977.207.US)
Transformers: The Game - Greatest Hits (83851.207.US)

And I think there is at least one set that has only a barcode difference, despite that we do not really want to have barcodes in descriptors. And it is further likely that the content on the media itself is different for these different revisions, which is something that is of great interest to archivists and data collectors, although we try to minimize the usefulness of the site in regards to data collectors.

[badATchaos]

I despise all the extra goofy numbers added to the end. And yes, you are assigning numbers to peoples collections retroactively. it makes no sense. I might have willingly added Super Mario Bros 3 years ago but how does the staff know what version number I have?  Couldn't someone just add the extra numbers on their "notes?" You are allowed to add more than one copy of a game to your database after all.

 Frankly just going to delete my account. It's gotten ridiculous. 

[jason]

I think one of the great parts of our database is the fact that we also keep track of the varying regions and different variants of the games themselves. I know that some people won't want to track at that level of detail, but I think it's important to keep that as an option for those that do. Perhaps there would be a way to keep that in another field instead of the game title itself?

[leonefamily]

I just have to agree with dhaabi, trip and jason. Some of us (such as myself) are looking to track every single variant and this kind of stuff is very important to us. No, it absolutely does not belong in the notes section because ultimately these items will have slightly different box art within eachother, so it wouldn't make sense to have all these items being one single item when they're actually different.

If you don't like the numbers being added to avoid confusion, just pick any item. At the end your own collection list does not matter to us, but having an accurate database does.

* Note that I am not a staff member of VGcollect and have no affiliation with the website. Just want to make sur people don't think I'm speaking on behalf of VGcollect considering the mildly rude wording of my post.

[Cartagia]

It should be noted that the basic TL;DR of dhaabi's post is: Even if the numbers weren't there, that was the version the listing was for.  The numbers have only been added to clarify that.

So, yes, you are always adding one of the multiple versions, even if the title didn't immediately reflect that.  The title is only being updated to help differentiate from the other potential versions later.

[tripredacus]

We would really like to resolve this by changing how the site works, and giving the users the ability to decide for themselves on how to view the site.

Ceasing to track this type of information isn't going to happen and VGCollect is the only site that is this complete with information regarding all the variations and retail releases. We would even want to go further in the future, but we also know not everyone is onboard and hope to come up with a solution that works for everyone.

But in the meantime, this is going to mean that item names are going to look like this for awhile.

[nathan776]

I tend to agree with the sentiment that the addition of numbers within titles can get fairly overwhelming when you additionally consider various TLD's which are especially prevalent In European categories. A standard game could have 20 or more (I'm sure it could be much higher) variations if we were to list them all. It can make navigating the database very annoying.

Ideally, I'd love it if the database was able to be sorted in a way in which you could click on a game when browsing to open a drop down menu with all the listed variants in the category. It would make it so much easier to view and find what you need. That being said, something like that I would imagine would take a significant amount of work and a lot of time to work out. For now I think what is currently being done is apt as it helps prevent confusion between listings of the same name.

[weirdfeline]

Frankly just going to delete my account. It's gotten ridiculous.

Deleting your account because a small amount of entries have numbers in their title is certainly not ridiculous though.

[badATchaos]

Frankly just going to delete my account. It's gotten ridiculous.

Deleting your account because a small amount of entries have numbers in their title is certainly not ridiculous though.

You can have your idiosyncrasies and I can have mine 

It's also more than just this issue i have a beef with.

[raggerreadfish]

This change made the search feature a lot more annoying to use. If I do a search for "animal crossing" then now all you get are PAL versions that don't have numbers in the title, and a flood of 50000 amiibo cards. I had to scroll through five pages just to find a single American listing of this game whose official title matches my search query perfectly.

This is just a terrible user experience. Sure, there are advanced search features that would narrow it down quicker than scrolling through page after page, but why should we have to rely on that when previously all I had to do was type the name and the right item would come up right away?

Also, it's really ugly. Like Wii Sports (C\RVL-RSPE-USA-2)? That's almost double the length of the game name itself!

[62gaming]

I use VGCollect specifically because we track all the little things, including variants with small differences here. If I wanted to use a site or app that only tracked one general variant there are plenty of other services I could use. I would never want to see that sort of information omitted from the site in favor of adding notes to titles we add to our collections. This is a database, one that aims to be as accurate as possible. The whole point is to provide information on what exists out there. However I can see, even for someone who would want to track every little thing, that the general search can really be annoying to wade through.

Obviously changes take time and effort to implement, but what if variant information was moved to it's own field that would display as a sub-title below the main title in smaller font so that you could still see it without hiding it within the entry itself. That way it would shorten the title in a way that would make it more pleasant to look at and also make it easier to find within searches.

Stuff like the general search could also be spruced up a bit. Perhaps a simple option could be added to the drop down to help specify if you were searching for a game or an accessory so that a million Amiibo cards didn't show up under an Animal Crossing search.

[leonefamily]

This change made the search feature a lot more annoying to use. If I do a search for "animal crossing" then now all you get are PAL versions that don't have numbers in the title, and a flood of 50000 amiibo cards. I had to scroll through five pages just to find a single American listing of this game whose official title matches my search query perfectly.

This is just a terrible user experience. Sure, there are advanced search features that would narrow it down quicker than scrolling through page after page, but why should we have to rely on that when previously all I had to do was type the name and the right item would come up right away

That's why I often just use the Browse section. I just go straight to the appropriate category and from there I scroll in alphabetical order. It has the added advantage of making sure I'm adding the correct variant because they literally all pop up there which may not happen with a search.