Retrofrogg Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 (edited) Game Database Comparison Project - auditing online game media databases & resources Situation The Launchbox Games Database is very good when it comes to finding game metadata and media (box art, cart art, manuals, videos etc), though it is not complete and lacking various organisational features. There are a number of alternative online sources of similar information, though it can be difficult to know which ones to use or what kind of search strategy to employ. Having all these disparate, competing and overlapping sources of similar information seems inefficient, confusing and lacking in joined-up working. When directing time and energy into improving this, it is unclear whether this is best done by contributing to the Launchbox Games Database or pursuing other options. Ideally there would be some form of unified master database where gold standards can be set and where the various communities can contribute more collaboratively. Background Various online games databases exist, as do other sources of similar information including forums hosting media packs, media repositories and more general gaming related websites. The aim of this project is to review what is out there, catalogue these and then audit them, examining their remit, scope, quantity of material, quality, general organisation and ease of use. They will be scored based on various criteria including their performance against a random list of 30 games. This will allow clear comparison of these resources, help clarify search strategies and identify scope for improvement. It is worth noting also that various improvements are planned for the Launchbox Games Database this year. Assessment I initially had a small table posted below, though as this project has increased in scope, I've moved to Google Sheets (see link below). The main sheet is the main comparison of resources, though every resource then has its own sheet where it is given a "score" out of a maximum of 261, based on its cover for a random selection of 29 games (only Launchbox scored so far). The header rows and columns don't seem to lock in this published version, sorry. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR2Ec1EqS3igbaAaawu9EUmb7DoNHhZEkKoB6goPshSfcuS8zz-8jCM_5sFHePF2yt9w7hpRBgas8uF/pubhtml Keep an eye on this as I'll continue working on it. I would hope that other users can contribute by posting any good links below that they know of. I will keep it all updated in the above spreadsheet. If this gains traction then perhaps the thread could be pinned for the benefit of others. @hydef I lost your comment due to creating a new thread, but I've added your suggestions to the spreadsheet, thanks! Edited May 3, 2023 by Retrofrogg 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydef Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 Awesome, I'm glad you haven't given up on it. I spend a lot of time looking for resources and never really find what I'm looking for. google is full of rubbish and many sites have very low quality and outdated images. Even though I think emulation is in a great state, the preservation of original art is somewhat disorganized and behind. For me, as you might agree, the box art is just as much part of the game and it's still something we haven't quite nailed in some areas. It's surely a difficult job. To be done right, any format would have to all be done by the same person with the same settings to give consistent quality. I wish there was a master, grand repository somewhere to link to or host both scans and remakes. Speaking of something like this, I read about Near's lossless SNES scans, which I haven't downloaded yet. Hopefully there's PAL scans in the 70GB DL like it says https://www.patreon.com/posts/nears-original-57250631 and I found another for PAL SNES at snesboxes.com/snes-box-art (all remakes, you be the judge of quality). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofrogg Posted May 3, 2023 Author Share Posted May 3, 2023 (edited) I've just significantly reformatted the database. A few items have been added, a few removed, and the scoring section has been improved. The only issue is that when I publish it (i.e. via the link above), the header text that was vertical has returned to horizontal - this looks a bit odd; I'll see if I can find a way round it. See image above for what it should look like! If anyone is keen to contribute to this project, please let me know! Edited May 3, 2023 by Retrofrogg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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