[game_preservation] Game catalog and listings

[Captain Commando]

Jim,

Thank you for the information - it's good to hear from you!

Here's one question that came to mind. While I note that you list serial
numbers and UPC codes of game listings, these appear to be just the first
printings in each country. While this is great information (really, it is!),
sometimes when a successive printing is made, some changes might be made to
the game. The example I am most familiar with is Metroid Prime, where later
releases have altered narrative and gameplay content. While a lot of later
game prints issue patches to fix bugs, sometimes content is changed, and the
log entry changes to Prime were pretty significant. The serial numbers are
usually printed on the bottom side of the inner disc ring in hologram
(making it somewhat difficult to read) like so:

DOL-GM8E-0-00 USA (Original US print)
DOL-GM8E-0-02 USA (from the Echoes promo disc Gamecube bundle)

Of course, I don't think anyone else seems to have information like this
either...

I was wondering if you Moby Games had intent to list individual disc
printings, or at least serial numbers. It probably won't be an issue for
most games, though sometimes it is notable (which is why books list print
numbers).

About the only other thing I can think at the moment is a list of known
games that currently have no data. Such a list would be quite large, but
would fill a large chunk of missing information. I mention this because one
of the key things I see with a game catalogue is at least a note that this
game actually exists somewhere even if we don't have all the necessary
information on it. Currently about the only place to find information like
this is through something like Digital Press's collector's guide. If such a
listing were to exist in the digital catalogue, then users could know
exactly what information is missing and contribute it. For something like
MobyGames, I could see games on the list having a disclaimer that it is
incomplete and unverified information.

Thank you for the information; hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,

Devin Monnens

-- 
The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

"Until next time..."
Captain Commando
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