COA numbers

[SilverBow]

Someone please explain COA (Certificate of Authenticity) numbers as it relates to video games.

The COA 14-digit number appears meaningless for identification purposes.

Identical Xbox 360 games have different 9999x-xxx-xxx-xxx numbers. I've seen at least 10 different 14-digit numbers for the same game.

The other number, Xxx-xxxxx, is definitely not unique. For example, X11-40710 appears on at least 100 different Xbox 360 games.

[nathan776]

The other number is a part number, presumably for the label itself.
Most parts of an Xbox item will have it's own number, for example Project Spark has

Inlay: X19-38061-01
Disc: X19-38063-01
Insert 1: X19-38060-01
Insert 2: X19-38059-01
COA: X11-40709

The last part of the part number is usually used for additional editions or rereleases. The COA Part number does not need this so it is excluded.


The Part number can also be used to help identify where an item came from in some instances.
Puerto Rico COA: X17-90979
Mexico COA: X17-90978

So for example while searching I could see this listing was edited: https://vgcollect.com/item/157809 with a Mexican COA which would separate it from a version such as https://www.ebay.com/itm/374473653776 which is made in Puerto Rico.
Personally I haven't done much research into which Part numbers relate to which location but it could be a fun thing to look into at some point.

I don't have much knowledge on the 14 digit number. Personally I would speculate its relating to how many copies are printed as the numbers after the first 8 vary wildly. The first 3 digit combo seems to relate to the region (?) .
Eg in the case of Project Spark. 99991-292-000-000 - 99991-293-000-000 could be assigned to Europe while 99991-544-000-000 - 99991-545-000-000 Could be assigned to ntsc versions.

[dhaabi]

I'm not really sure what the specific information on Xbox Certificate of Authenticity (COA) is supposed to indicate as the information is only briefly mentioned on Xbox's site. From my observations, though, it seems that information found on the Xbox COA labels are related to the actual label itself and not the game product. As you said, they seem to provide no useful information for us regarding item identification.

Here are a few sealed copies of Dance Central 3 we can use an example:
99991-510-518-763 / X11-44970
99991-522-454-827 / X17-90978
99991-528-779-335 / X17-90978
99991-532-640-619 / X17-90978

It seems as if, aside from the label itself, there are no other differences between the four items above. The four items also differ from what you originally provided information for to Dance Central 3 and later retracted.

The other number, Xxx-xxxxx, is definitely not unique. For example, X11-40710 appears on at least 100 different Xbox 360 games.

X11-40710 is even used for some Xbox One games, such as this sealed copy of Battlefield Hardline.

In the Advanced Style Guide, the Xbox COA labels are used as an example for items with unique outer seal information. As we can see from above, that example should probably be replaced. While the style guide mentions it is fine to submit this information to the Description field, it does not seem beneficial. If there are any actual differences such as in the four Dance Central 3 items, we really don't have the resources or expertise in cataloging them all as variant items. If anything, I suppose that something like "Xbox Certificate of Authenticity label item numbers: 99991-510-518-763, X11-44970 observed" may suffice, but I've not encountered any identical 9999N number strings for the few items I searched for. This would mean that this number string may all be unique on an individual copy level, so contributing that particular piece of information should be not be done, if that is the case.

[nathan776]

It definitely seems like some of the part numbers vary more than others. For example X11-44970 seems to be a standard label which is occasionally Printed(?) on. Many examples of the label without additional text but instances such as the dance central 3 linked by dhaabi and https://www.ebay.com/itm/334459602056 the text can be seen coming off/ sticking to the wrapping.
A standard X11-44970 label appears to be the one in https://www.ebay.com/itm/284378721725

[tripredacus]

Modified that post in the Adv Guide to note to not put the 99991x number into the site. The P/N on the COA can still be used.

[dhaabi]

So, if a user were to update Dance Central 3 to Dance Central 3 (X17-90978) while also submitting a new entry for Dance Central 3 (X11-44970), that would be acceptable?

I am not suggesting we go to these lengths in submitting new label variant entries necessarily but am instead asking in regards to how we handle duplicate entries.

[tripredacus]

I don't see why not.

BUT, this description is not acceptable

Requires Kinect Sensor

back item number: 0812 Part No. X18-45777-02

Xbox 360
players 1-2
co-op 2
5 MB to save game
HDTV 720p/1080i/1080p

Xbox LIVE
game-content download
leaderboards
achievements
Xbox SmartGlass enabled

KINECT
Kinect sensor required
voice enabled
activity level: standing-active
players 1-8
co-op 2-16

The physical desciption info should be at the top and the box text should not be in description. The name of the console should not be present and words should not appear in all-caps.

Appropriate Description would be

back item number: 0812 Part No. X18-45777-02

Requires Kinect Sensor

[tripredacus]

I don't see why not.

PS: I wanted to make sure I clarified this. If a person wanted to add such a variant because they own it, they could, however we should not go out of our way to add these variants ourselves as part of our general database updating efforts.

[tripredacus]

Wanted to bump instead of editing the previous post so people can know there was a change if they already read this. Also because I left a piece of that I wanted to make sure I covered. I didn't want to leave the impression that there was no place for such information, just that it was not in the correct place.

The other text from the back can be put into Box Text field. You can decide to put it the same way you had it above or if you want to have it more compact and/or arranged how it looks on the cover itself.

Xbox 360 players 1-2 co-op 2 5 MB to save game HDTV 720p/1080i/1080p
Xbox LIVE game-content download leaderboards achievements Xbox SmartGlass enabled
KINECT Kinect sensor required voice enabled activity level: standing-active players 1-8 co-op 2-16

Of course this way it isn't as good since there is no punctuation and they are visually separated by the design elements of the cover.

Same goes for Playstation game infographics that exist on back cover if you choose to have those present or not, as well as System Requirements info from PC games.