On Why Organizing Alphabetical by System Sucks...

[justin8301]

So to bounce off the previous thread by oldgamerz I wanted to discuss why I hate organizing alphabetically. Now to preface this, I want to clarify that I DO organize all my games alphabetically by system because clearly it's the best method (j/k) BUT there is one thing that bugs the living shit out of me and that's when games in a series change their naming scheme... Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I've got Tomb Raiders all over the place, and its not the only series that does it either; Star Tropics/Zoda's Revenge anyone??

But the one that pisses me off the most, and the one I REFUSE to separate is The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure's of Link. These proudly sit together in their golden glory, right in the middle of my NES shelf, totally out of alphabetic order and will always stay that way.
/endrant

[ignition365]

Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat II.  This is alphabetical order according to VGC.

No thanks.

[kashell]

Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

They're next to each other and will stay as such.

[bikingjahuty]

Street Fighter IV
Super Street Fighter IV
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition
Ultra Street Fighter IV

[ignition365]

All this being said, my shit is in VGC order so when I inventory I don't have to jump around.

[kamikazekeeg]

I don't have a big collection anymore, but if I was organizing by alphabetical labeling, I'd just break that rule for those reasons you brought up.  Tomb Raider on one system would be all three games there, because it's the whole series, so it's more about keeping them under the Tomb Raider part.  It would be a mixture of alphabetical and series organizing, which might end up looking a little weird, but would be much better for keeping track of games.

[justin8301]

I don't have a big collection anymore, but if I was organizing by alphabetical labeling, I'd just break that rule for those reasons you brought up.  Tomb Raider on one system would be all three games there, because it's the whole series, so it's more about keeping them under the Tomb Raider part.  It would be a mixture of alphabetical and series organizing, which might end up looking a little weird, but would be much better for keeping track of games.

I've been thinking about making some changes to my collection, like I mentioned the only one I currently do this to is the zelda games on NES, but the more i look into my games the more i can find that's annoying lol. I mean, it doesnt really bother me nearly as much as im sure it sounds like it does; but in the end i guess theres really no perfect way of organizing ones collection. Just what ever works.

[oldgamerz]

The main reason why I sort the games by genre is so I can find them faster, I don't remember game names. If for example I want to find a racing game I know where to look. I don't have a proper shelving unit, but if I did I'd imagine I would tape a note to the shelf. All PS2 sports games for example with a sticky note telling me it's sports games.

now I could put the racing game in alphabetical order if I had a proper shelving unit.

If I'm in the mood for a type of video game, like a first person shooter or a sports game as an example I know exactly where to look. But that's just me and @justin8301 I guess as of right now.

for example all my Call Of Duty PS2 and PS3 games are together

[hoshichiri]

I don't think anyone who says they keep their games alphabetical, actually do 100% perfect alphabetical. I know I don't- off the top of my head, I keep Katamari Damacy and We Love Katamari together in the 'K' section. I guess I'd call it Keyword Alphabetical... I tend to sort by whatever word of a title is what I think of when I recall the game. It's what lets us ignore 'The' at the beginning of titles to keep our T-sections from overflowing. For example, I usually have any Legend of Zelda games in the Z section, becuase if I want one I go look for 'Zelda'. I've absolutely confused myself in game stores that don't do the same cheats I do.

[tripredacus]

My PC games are not organized, so my largest collection I can't even have any input. For my second largest collection, the Genesis games, the boxed ones are grouped by package design with no secondary sort except that variants are grouped together.

For my movie collection, it is in alphabetical order. The qualification being that VHS and disc-based movies are on separate shelves and not mixed together.

[vivigamer]

Well I use Alphabetical as a basis but I apply some logic when needed

- All games beginning with 'The' in the title go by the following letter.
- Call of Dutys are matched by type - on PS3 I have CD3, CDWaW, MW1-3, BO1&2.
- I tend to place series within chronological order - so if a game has a PREQUEL like Halo Reach, I palce that before Halo 1 Anniversary Edition. So yes, Lighting Returns is after Final Fantasy XIII-2.
- If it's a bundle box, I go by the name of the collection or if it's just games by the 1st title on the box.
- If a game is a Spin-off I tend to put it within the Series it is connected to still Dissidia & Crisis Core still go with Final Fantasy ports on PSP.
 

[oldgamerz]

Just a couple of days ago after this thread was created, I started to re-sort my collection. As of right now most of my PS1, PS2, Xbox, and N64 racing games are all together neatly in a detached dresser drawer. I believe, out of all my game genres Golf and My Racing game sections seem to be the biggest of them all.

But I may have just as many 3rd and 1st person shooter games I am still working on my war game section which in fact might be actually bigger then my racing game section and that is saying a lot.

[pzeke]

The only thing about organizing alphabetically that truly annoys me is when you get new games and you have to reorganize to accommodate them; I ended up putting empty cases as placeholders for games I intend to get. Other than that, I have no other issues.

[hoshichiri]

The only thing about organizing alphabetically that truly annoys me is when you get new games and you have to reorganize to accommodate them; I ended up putting empty cases as placeholders for games I intend to get. Other than that, I have no other issues.

I'll be perfectly honest- I like the organizing, and since my back-to-front rows aren't too hard to shuffle, the reset to add new games is one of the fun parts I enjoy seeing which games end up displayed on the ends of the rows, and dealing with lil' spur of the moment issues- stuff like a series getting split across rows & deciding if I want to break the alphabetization to keep it together, or special edition boxes ending up next to the cabinet door latch & not fitting right, and having to shuffle things around to accommodate that. It's like a lil' puzzle game!

[betelgeuse]

I keep my games alphabetically by system, but keep the sequels together as well.
I do the same thing for my movie collection. The Creed movies go right next to the Rocky movies etc.