In an effort to keep our listings clean and consistent, @scott has started to put together a style guide. Please refer to this when adding or updating any items. A more detailed version can be found here:
Advanced Style Guide.
Images:- Ideally the best option would be to scan your own items. Photo's are acceptable but should be taken straight on and have no glare. Poor or unevenly lit photos will be rejected.
- Images should be as high-res as possible, and without extra blank space on the sides.
- Watermarked images will be denied if they are submitted as an edit, and any items that were submitted with watermarked images will have those images deleted.
- Images must have a width greater than 200px and must be in JPG format. Files must be smaller than 2MB.
- Make sure that the image you are adding matches up exactly with the item you are adding. If you are not sure that the image you are using is for your item, then do not add it.
- Do not use North American ESRB covers on EU/PAL items, or vice versa.
- Do not add fan-made, fake, or replacement artwork from places such as The Cover Project to the site.
- After the release of a game do not upload covers that have a ESRB RP rating unless it is a demo disc/cart. For European games, do not upload images with the "Provisional" label under the PEGI rating.
- If the item has no outer packaging (pack-in items, unofficial releases, bootleg/homebrew games, merchandise, console accessories or controllers (without a separate retail release), the image of the loose item can be placed as Front Art/Image. Leave Back Art and Card Art images blank.
- For Steam and other downloadable games see section below
Collector's/Special/Limited Edition Box Art:Keeping in the spirit of accuracy: Collector's/ Limited Editions which are releases in a separate retail box should have the artwork depicting the retail packaging, rather than the DVD case's artwork. If the Special Edition is only a special DVD case and not in a different box, then the artwork will be of the DVD case. Also, any game that came included with a special controller, microphone, guitar, etc should have the full retail packaging as the box art.
Examples of Collector's Editions:Examples of DVD Case Only Collector's Editions:Example of Controller/ Accessory Packs:Game Titles:Most game titles can be determined by just using the words on the front of the case or box the game comes in. However due to publishers using fancy logos or additional words added for legal reasons, sometimes it can be difficult to determine a name. The same applies for items with non-Latin characters such as Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc. If you have trouble determining a name for a game, use the title that is used by one of these Common Name Sources:1.
GameFAQs2.
MobyGamesCommonly Accepted Name exceptions: click hereUse the item's commonly accepted regional release title, written in the language written on the case, but in the Latin alphabet (the letters we commonly use.)Latin character ASCII codes and (in)definite articles in non-English titles in post #4 (below) of this thread.
- Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (NA)
- Dragon Quest VIII: The Journey of the Cursed King (EU)
- Dragon Quest VIII: Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi (JP)
The Alternate Title field is used to list other titles that the game is known as in other regions, the game's full title as represented on the packaging, and other common names to aid in searching.- Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (US / EU) would have Castlevania: Byakuya no Concerto (its Japanese title)
- Gunbullet (Japan) would have Point Blank (its US title)
- Fahrenheit (Europe) would have Indigo Prophecy (its US title)
- SoulCalibur (US / EU) would have Soul Calibur (common error)
- Mega Man X4 (US /EU) would have MegaMan X4 (actual wording on game has no space)
English titles that begin with The, A and An should be written like this:- Legend of Dragoon, The
- Legend of Zelda, The: Ocarina of Time
- American Tail, An: Fievel's Gold Rush
Games that begin with "The" and have another "The" afterwards should be written like so:- Lord of the Rings, The: The Return of the King
- Legend of Zelda, The: The Wind Waker
Games with non-alpha symbols in place of letters: If the symbol replaces a letter, use the letter it replaces. If the symbol is not part of the word, it should not be put into the title- Gal Gun: Double Peace (omit the ✫)
- Watch Dogs (omit the _ )
- The Idolmaster (use a instead of @)
Games with subtitles: Subtitle should follow the main title after a colon.- Advance Wars: Dual Strike
- Bionic Commando: ReArmed
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Expansion packs: The title of expansion packs should follow the main title and be separated by a colon.- Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
- Roller Coaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies
- Sims 2, The: University
- Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising
Sequels with numbers in the title should be typed as shown on the box art:- Diablo II
- Final Fantasy IX
- Kirby's Dream Land 2
- Sims 3, The
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- SoulCalibur IV
Games denoting Special/Limited Editions, Box Sets, re-release series and/or special packs: The dash "-" is meant to show special releases, such as limited or collector's editions, greatest hits/ player's choice and any other special release or compilation. Of course, if a game is a special release with variations it would look something like this. Chrono Cross - Greatest Hits or Chrono Cross - Greatest Hits (Silver Backed Disc).
- Bioshock - Platinum Hits
- Castlevania - Classic NES Series
- Devil May Cry - 5th Anniversary Collection
- Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition
- Fallout: New Vegas - Collector's Edition
- Grand Theft Auto III - Greatest Hits
- Super Smash Bros. Melee - Player's Choice
- Warcraft III - Collector's Edition
Games with variants to Box Art, Cart Art or Discs: Descriptors use parenthesis "( )" are used to denote variations. First letter capitalization only on words that are present on the product itself. NFRs should be typed as "Not for Resale" with a lowercase f in for.
So if a NES game was released with both a 5 screw cart or a 3 screw cart, it would be listed something like Burgertime (3 screw cartridge) or Burgertime (5 screw cartridge), or if a game has variant cart or disc labeling, like a lot of Atari games... such as Adventure (Sears picture label) and Adventure (Sears text label). Of course Atari games can have up to 5 or so variations, which means a separate listing for each one.
- Paperboy (oval Seal)
- Paperboy (round Seal)
- Super Mario Bros. 3 (Bros over Mario's head)
- Super Mario Bros. 3 (Bros on Mario's hand)
- Ridge Racer (Not for Resale)
Color Descriptors. Colors should be in lower-case when used as descriptors unless that word is printed on the item.
- use "gray" for North American items and "grey" for items released outside of North America.
Games released in multiple countries within the same region/category: No two items within a category should have the same item name. For categories that reflect continents such as North/South America or Europe or general categories such as Hardware or Accesories, etc, the item title may use a suffix to indicate which country/countries an item was released in. Brackets
[ ] are used to enclose this information, and for each country we use the appropriate TLD (Top Level Domain) Identifier. Our list of common TLDs are located here:
https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7009.0.htmlThe TLD is not to be used to represent which languages are printed on an item.
Examples: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker has five regional releases within Europe on the PS2.
- Released in England or general English EU release does not require a TLD: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker
- Released in Germany: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker [DE]
- Released in Spain: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker [ES]
- Released in France and Netherlands: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker [FR][NL]
- Released in Italy: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker [IT]
TLD is only required on items to prevent a situation where two or more items would have the same name, but are actually different items and not duplicates. Games that have a regional title difference does not require having a TLD added to the title unless it would cause a duplicate name.
Some countries in Europe require specific things on the packaging in order for retail release and this can be used as a guide to determine what TLDs to use.
Known requirements for European releases:
-
Germany: Games released after 1994 should have the USK rating label on the front or back. A game with German text but with ELSPA or PEGI rating typically indicates the game was released in Austria or elsewhere in Europe and should not have the [DE] TLD in the title.
-
Italy: Media released in Italy require an Italian SIAE label to be present. On older items, this may appear as a stamp or paper label, more recent releases have a rectangular hologram label with the SIAE logo on it. If a game has Italian text but lacks this label, it was likely not sold in Italy and should not have the [IT] TLD in the title.
-
France: Games released after 1996 should have the red rectangular box on the back with the words ATTENTION printed inside. If a game has French text but lacks this Red Attention box, the game should not have [FR] in the title.
Item Numbers:- Item numbers are the factory assigned number given to each product. Item number field priority is: Package spine, Package back, or that which is printed on the enclosed media. Additional item numbers can be put into the description field, including where that item number is located.
- Sony items must have a dash between the four letter prefix and the five digit code. PS2 Example: "SLUS-21690" PS4 Example: "CUSA-02134". If a physical PS4 game does not have the CUSA-type number on the spine, use the decimal code instead and put the CUSA-type number from the disc into the description field.
- Item numbers MUST be the official number given by the Manufacturer. Reference numbers from other sources, such as Amazon.com, RFGeneration or any other source will be deleted, as these are numbers those companies/websites use for their own reference purposes.
- Items in the Swag Print Media sub-category can have the ISBN put into the item number field.
Barcodes- UPCs are used across the U.S., Canada, and a few other countries. They are twelve digits long. Enter the numbers only, without spaces or dashes.
- EANs are used in Europe and South America and are thirteen digits long. Enter the numbers only, no spaces or dashes.
- JAN codes are used in Japan and are a variant of EAN codes. These may have a T prefix. Leave the T out of the product code, only add the numbers.
- ISBN codes are normally used on books and other products. These can be 10 or 13 digits long. If an item does not have a UPC, then enter the ISBN code
- Some products (like Electronic Arts games) may have both an ISBN and a UPC code. In those cases, only use the UPC code.
Descriptions and Box Text:- The Box Text is the synopses that is on the back of the game packaging. This should be written into this field, and no other notes, or descriptions. If the game is a download title from services, such as Steam, XBLA, PSN, GoG.com, etc. Then the synopsis would be found on those service's official pages.
- The Description field should be notes about the games packaging variants/ pack ins/ collector's edition details. Or trivia about the games release, such as if it is a launch title, last title, a very limited release, etc. This should not be filled with store descriptions describing the gameplay or hyping up the title. Plagiarizing descriptions from other sources will not be tolerated and will be deleted.
RatingsMaster Ratings List:
https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,8623.msg145212.html- For now, we only have support for ESRB (US and Canada), PEGI & ESLPA (Europe), BBFC (UK), ACB (Australia), CERO (Japan), and Sega's VRC.
- If your item has no rating of any kind, choose "None". This applies to all consoles and systems.
- If your item has a rating which we do not currently support, do not edit the rating. Leave it alone (as "Select...", the default). Do not use the "blank" option.
- If your item was release before rating systems existed, but a later re-release added a rating, do not add the re-release's rating to the old version. Example: Virtual Console release of Super Mario Bros. 3 was rated Everyone by ESRB. SMB3 for NES cannot be rated E.
- Bootleg or reproduction carts that have a rating should not have it listed in the database entry, since the rating was not granted by ESRB/PEGI.
- If your item has no rating anywhere on the package, do not make one up.
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