The purpose of this page is to help you locate and identify the various pieces of information we want when making game submissions to us. Please read through this page to understand how to find each piece of information or click the links below to jump to a specific section. Some items will have additional information in platform and region specific popup windows.

• Game Title
• Japanese Title (Foreign Title)
• Platform
• Region
• Developer
• Publisher
• Item Number
• Barcode
• Alt. Barcode
• Release Date
• Players
• Box Text
• Genre
• Peripherals
• Images

Game Title

The game title is the proper name of a game and not a common name. Do NOT translate the title into English and leave it in it's original language. When determining the title of a game make sure you include any subtitles that might exist (e.g. "Galaxy Fight: Universal Warriors" and not simply "Galaxy Fight"). One good place to get the game title from, if you can't read it well on the cover, is in the manual. Usually the full title is mentioned in the first few pages.

Avoid submitting titles with abbreviations (e.g. "Mortal Kombat" and not "MK"), unless of course the abbreviation is part of the title itself (e.g. "MSR: Metropolis Street Racer"). Some games contain the company names in their titles as well (e.g. "Disney's Tarzan" and not simply "Tarzan").

When dealing with game titles that start with the word "the" use the following form: "Game Name, The". If the game has a subtitle as well, use this form: "Game Name, The: Subtitle Name". Do not move the word "the" in subtitles to the end of the subtitle like you do with the game title. Some games (especially Japanese in origin) can have two or more distinct subtitles. Just list them in the order they appear, separating the subtitles with a colon (e.g. "Game Name: Subtitle 1: Subtitle 2").

If the game is a special edition or contains a special peripheral bundled with it then add the name of the peripheral or the type of edition to the end of the full title with any of it's subtitles (e.g. " 18 Wheeler Dreamcast Collection" or " Heisei Mahjong Shou with Microphone", the red part is the title of the game in both examples).

Japanese Title (Foreign Title)

When submitting a game from a region outside North America the title will often be in a language other than English. If the game title is written using English language characters (or accented characters) submit the title exactly as it appears (including case and punctuation) in the "Game Title" field of the submission form and leave this field empty.

For titles written using character sets other than English (e.g. Japanese, Chinese, Russian, etc), submit both the original language form of the title in the "Japanese Title" field of the submission form AND an English character set transliteration of the title in the "Game Title" field of the submission form. Make sure you use the appropriate Unicode character set for the original language form title you submit.

When making the transliteration keep this in mind. The transliteration should be an exact match for the original language title but using English characters. (e.g. サクラ大戦 becomes "Sakura Taisen" and not "Sakura Wars" as is commonly translated).

NOTE: For transliterating Japanese titles. If the word is written using Kanji or Hiragana, then write the Romanji version of the word (e.g. 大戦 becomes "taisen" and not "wars"). If the word is written using Katakana, then most likely the word is a Japanese version of an English word. In this case use the English word, instead of the literal Katakana translation (e.g. ファースト becomes "first" and not "faasuto"). If you are not sure if a word written in Katakana is an English word or not just leave it in the original form and we will check it.

Platform

The game's platform should be simple to figure out. The only hard ones to figure out usually are handheld systems that had games made that could be played on the old and new versions of the system. In such a case select the platform to be whatever the OLDEST platform that game plays on is.

Region

The region of a game is the primary country or geographical region where that particular game was sold originally. The region does NOT include imported games that were not specifically sold in that region. You should select the region from the list that matches the games sale region the closest, whether this a specific country or geographic region (whichever is larger or encompasses more area).

For games released in North America (which includes the United States, Canada and Mexico) the region you select should be "United States of America". If a game was released in Canada with bilingual packaging (both English and French) then select "Canada" as the region, unless the packaging is in French only, in which case select "Canada French" as the region.

For games released in Europe the region should be "Europe", unless the games packaging is in only one language and that version of the game was released in only one country. In such a case select the country that matches the language and region it was released in. For games that have two or three languages, select "Europe" for the region unless we already have a version of that game with the "Europe" region, in such a case select the primary country that is featured on the packaging.

For games released in Asia it should generally be easy to tell which country that game was released in. Most games will either be released in the "Japan" or "Hong Kong" regions. If a game was released in a different country, select it from the list.

For games released in Australia and/or New Zealand, select the region "Australia" for games that were released in both regions (a game released in Australia is also typically released in New Zealand). Games released in New Zealand only (or with unique packaging) should use the "New Zealand" region.

Selecting the proper region can be tricky sometimes, especially for European or Asian releases. If you're not sure what region a game is in or the region is not in the list, use the notes box to tell us what region you think it should be in and why. Submitting images of the games of the front and back covers can also help us in selecting the correct region for the game.

Developer

We categorize game developers into four types:

• Developer: This is the original main developer of a game. This developer was responsible for making the original version of a game. (e.g. id Software was the "Developer" for the Sega Saturn Doom port even though they never touched it, but they were responsible for the original PC version.)
• Co-developer: This is one of the major developers of a game. Sometimes a game is developed by more than one team, each sharing a fairly equal amount of the job. In case of these joint efforts each of the main developers is listed as a "Co-developer".
• Support Developer: This is a minor developer of a game. At first it may seem that this and a Co-developer are the same. However, a "Support Developer" is only responsible for a small part of the development. For example if a game contains an engine written by another developer but adapted by the main developer, the developers of that game engine would be the Support Developer.
• Port Developer: This is a developer who ported the game to another console. If a game was originally written for one console but ported to another then the developer who took the original and ported it is the "Port Developer". (e.g. Doom for Sega Saturn would have Probe as the Port Developer because they took the original game developed by id Software for PC and ported it to the Sega Saturn.)

Most games will indicate the developer by "Developed by" text on the back of the box or in the manual. Otherwise try looking in the credits section of the manual. Some games do not specify this information in the manual or box but may have it on one of the opening title screens in the game. When looking the in the credits section of a game manual generally the first company listed is the main developer and any others following are either Co-developers, Support Developers or Port Developers. If a game appears to only have one company listed EVERYWHERE on it's packaging and in the game itself, it's usually safe to assume that the developer and publisher are the same.

Publisher

The publisher of a game is the company that has the production staff for the game (e.g. marketing, distribution, beta testing). Most games will have the publishers logo and/or name prominently displayed on the packaging. They may also have the company listed in the credits section of the manual or game. Most games will not specifically say "Published by" but some do. Another good source of this information is the company website (especially for newer games). Typically the company that displays the game on it's site is the publisher (unless they specifically indicate they developed it).

Item Number

The item number of a game is a unique identifier used and assigned by the manufacturer of a console to each game licensed for that system. In most cases (especially for later systems) the item numbers follow specific patterns. Some may be just numbers while other can be just letters. Most however are some combination of numbers and letters. Very often the item number appears on the game media (cart or disc) so they can be identified if you are missing the game box.

Use the table below to find out how and where to find the item number of a game for each console and region.

Barcode

Barcodes are used to uniquely identify products in a machine readable form. They are not very people friendly but are a great way to track and catalog many items. We use them as another form of identifying the games we have in our database. The primary purpose is to allow quick scanning (either with a barcode scanner or manually typing in) and searching of the database. Barcodes on games come in two main flavors: UPC 12 digit barcodes used primarily in North America and EAN 13 digit barcodes used in Europe and Japan. Both sets of barcodes can also contain an additional 2 or 5 digits. These supplementary digits are used as extra check digits to allow more accurate scanning of the barcodes.

When submitting barcodes please submit both the 12 or 13 primary digits as well as the extra 2 or 5 digits. If the barcode has any letters in front or after it, ignore them as they are not part of the barcode.

Use the table below to find information on the different barcode types you may encounter and how to submit them.

Alt. Barcode

Occasionally a game released in the same general region will receive a different or second barcode in certain countries. Aside from the extra or different barcode the rest of the game and packaging is identical to the game in that region from a different area. One common location for these different barcodes is Australia, the majority of games in Australia are simply the European version of the game but with a different barcode (often a simple sticker over the original). In these cases we list the Alt. Barcode for these kinds of cases. If the game you have matches exactly to the game we have in the database except for the barcode then submit the different barcode to us.

Release Date

The release date is the only piece of information we ask for that you cannot get from the game itself. If you know the date that the game was OFFICIALLY release on in the region it was intended for sale in, then submit it to us in year/month/day format. The date when you could import the game is NOT the release date for a game. Try to be as accurate as you can. At the very least submit the year and if possible the month and day. For newer games you could try getting this information from the company who published the game (check their website or give them a call if possible).

Players

The number of players a game supports is generally easy to determine. For most games the maximum number of players a game supports is printed on the back of the box. When submitting this number for systems with online or multi-system capabilities, please only include the maximum number of players in offline or single console mode and not when you are connected online or to other consoles. Keep in mind that some games may have more players then the console has controller ports, usually these games feature some sort of turn system where one controller is shared among the players. For some systems, games only mention the number of players if they support more than one player.

Use the table below to determine how and where to find the number of players a game supports.

Box Text

Box text is generally the description of the game story and/or features that is found on the back of most game boxes. It should include all text present and with as much of the original formatting intact as possible. Keep the case (UPPERCASE, lowercase, etc) of the text the same as what appears on the box. Do not include any magazine quotes in the box text. You can include screenshot captions in a bullet list as long as they do not rely heavily on the images themselves.

When submitting the box text please use some of the following basic html formatting to help us read the box text better. Ignore all colors in the text. Also please please please make sure your spelling and grammar match what is on the box. If the box text contains obvious mistakes or misspellings include them as they appear, but do not add your own.

Use the following table to figure out what html tags to use to achieve specific formatting. Please note the tags are enclosed in < >, also some tags need a closing tag enclosed in </ > as well. If you are not comfortable or sure how to use these tags, you can use any html editor to write and format the box text, then cut and paste the resulting html code into the submission form.

Genre

The genre of a game is the type of game play you find in the game. When specifying a genre try to be as accurate as possible. Look at some other games in the database that have similar game play to the game you are submitting for ideas on what genre it should be. You are of course free to create new genres or combine multiple existing ones to fit the game play of your game better. A special note on sports games, in general all types of sports (traditional, extreme, etc.) are simply grouped into the "Sport" genre. Below you will find a list of all the genres currently used by us.

Peripherals

All games must have at least one peripheral attached to them (generally this is the Standard Controller peripheral that comes with each system). In addition to the Standard Controller list all the peripherals that the game supports either by mentioning it on the box, in the manual or inside the game itself.

Use the table below to determine which peripherals each system supports (some systems use standard icons to identify various peripherals). NOTE: There may be additional peripherals to those listed below, please submit them as well.

A special note on handheld systems. These systems DO NOT have a Standard Controller peripheral. If the game does not support any extra peripherals (link cables, etc) then simply write "N/A" in the Peripherals field.

Images

Images are a great way to identify specific versions of games quickly. They are useful for showing unique identifying features of games, especially for variations of the same game. For the most part we use a standard set of four images for each game we list. These four images are the front and back covers of the game, the in game title screenshot and a gameplay screenshot. For some games that include special features or additional hardware, we also include an additional image of these items. Generally we won't have more than four or five images per game profile, unless there is enough unique items in the game that would benefit from being shown in more images.

All of our images have maximum dimensions of 200 by 200 pixels. All game images fit within this 200 pixel box, while also maintaining the original aspect ratio of the source image. What this means is that when you have an image for us to use it's largest dimension should be 200 pixels and the other dimension should be 200 or less pixels that maintain the look of the original image. Keep in mind that if you submit images to us we can resize them ourselves when we add them to the database. For screenshots submitting images that are already resized is fine, but we prefer to have scans of the front and rear covers at a larger size (preferably with readable text) so that we can verify and check the information you have submitted and possibly weed out duplicate submissions.

Some examples of common image sizes are 200x150 pixels for console screenshots and 200x200 pixels for front CD cover scans. Most console screenshots are captured at either 640x480 or 320x240 pixels (for NTSC systems) which would be resized to 200x150 pixels while maintaining the correct aspect ratio. For PAL screenshots squashing the height would be required since most PAL screenshots would not be in the correct 4:3 width to height ratio that is used on the TV screen. Handheld games have various size ratios for their screens and as such should be resized without any adjustment to the width to height ratio. Game front and back cover scans should be resized without any change to the width to height ratio.

When scanning the game boxes make sure that you eliminate any extra blank space around the box image and make sure that the image is aligned properly. Use an image editor program to crop the image and if possible adjust the colors and contrast to match the original box as closely as possible. If the game cover is in a plastic case, taking out the paper cover will usually produce a better quality image.

If you do not have access to a scanner but have a digital camera you can use it to take pictures of the games front and back covers. In this case place the game cover on a white background and try to take the images as close to the cover as possible without blurring the image. Also make sure you hold the camera straight on the cover and not at an angle. Standing the game up against a wall will generally help eliminate any glare that might occur from room lights, also MAKE SURE YOU TURN THE FLASH OFF! If you take pictures instead of scanning the game covers MAKE SURE YOU LET US KNOW, we may need to tweak them before posting them. Any images take with a camera will rarely look as sharp and detailed as scanned images. But with some editing they can look fairly close and good enough for our uses.

If you provide us images from other sources on the web make sure they do not contain any watermarks or logos in them. We cannot use such images for our database.

We prefer that you upload the images to some webspace you own (or have access to) and the provide us links to the images. This makes it simple for us to be able to view and add the images. Most ISP's provide a couple megabytes of webspace with their accounts that you could use for this purpose. Once submitted we'll try to add the images as soon as possible. You can check the game profiles you submitted images for to see if we added your images before you delete them from your webspace. If you do not have access to any webspace you can sign up to any of the free web hosts like Yahoo or Geocities. Just make sure you are able to directly link to the images as some hosts prevent this and would require you to make up a temporary webpage with all the images in it. As a last resort or if you have a large amount of images you can contact any of the site staff by email to arrange an alternate method of getting us the images.