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I think one important aspect of history is putting it in context. One
reason discussions on "how important", "how good" and "how popular"
things are/were is that they are important things to note. :)<br>
<br>
I'm an "inclusionist" - if it was a game database for historians, there
would be no field left un-added (at least in a generic "notes" or
"tagging" fashion). Why would a database leave out readily available
information if someone has the time to add it?<br>
<br>
I could list a whole load of areas that I would think are important,
and certainly necessary to do any kind of historical research into
games though a database :) at least from my perspective.<br>
<br>
Then again, if it is a pure database - relational, limited inputs
(think "checkboxes" versus "text" fields), then well, there's probably
some interesting ones centred around categorising a game - what people
think the genres it fits into, the related games to it (in series,
influence, etc.), the age it is aimed at, the people it is aimed at,
the lasting effect of it (categories of sales figures, outreach,
influence...) and so forth.<br>
<br>
Anything perhaps more specific, I mean, like what you already have and
what kind of database it might be, if you're really interested in a
list? I'm assuming of course that there is all the data Devin has said
already - it'd be next to useless if it couldn't tell when a game was
released, where, by whom, etc. to start with :)<br>
<br>
Andrew<br>
<br>
On 27/12/2009 04:51, Devin Monnens wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:9d1cf2d50912262051n9a08432sd8acec45020768c6@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">This is a good question. I can put these in two categories.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>1. Essential Information</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>This is for identifying the games: title, year, publisher,
developer, region, version number, platform, region, and alternate or
translated titles.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>2. Additional Information for getting content to run</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>This would include what kinds of accessories work with the game,
any issues or compatibilities it has with hardware (i.e. GBA-GC link
cable; In the Hunt won't work using a Pro Action Replay unless you
either have a controller in port 1 only or a controller in both ports),
if on OS, hardware and software requirements (both recommended and
minimum).</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>However,
metadata is also important: what kind of game is it, for instance. Maybe someone wants to look at RPGs, or specifically action-RPGs like Secret of Mana. However, this feels more like information that is in Mobygames. Conversely, collectors would be interested in rarity and cost. Other databases might want images of boxes, games, and manual PDFs. Each database would have its own goals. My personal goals would be 'how do I identify the game?' and
the second is 'how do I get it to
run?' and so for this reason, 1 and 2 are the most important for me.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Devin<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Dec 26, 2009 at 3:04 PM, Jan Baart <span
dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:jan_baart@yahoo.de">jan_baart@yahoo.de</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">As
I'm in the process of building up a metadatabase for video game
collectors I just have to ask. Exactly what kind of data would you like
to see in such a database in general and which data is most crucial for
historians? Now's the right time for me to still easily add things like
that to the database!<br>
<font color="#888888">
<br>
Jan</font>
<div class="im"><br>
<br>
On 23.12.2009 00:58, Andrew Armstrong wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div class="im"><br>
I'm highly interested in this too, having some common ground on
searchable metadata fields would mean the world for researching the
history of games -<br>
</div>
<div class="im">Andrew<br>
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<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
Devin Monnens<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.deserthat.com">www.deserthat.com</a><br>
<br>
The sleep of Reason produces monsters.<br>
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