The “Perfect” Sega Genesis Database

[HappehLemons]

I’m trying to build what I’d consider to be the “Perfect” Sega Genesis database for finding new games and getting complete in box game docs.

What my “perfect” database trying to be?
Being able to find & browse games visually by box art or screenshots.
Being able to easily filter games with things like multiplayer options, release date publisher ect....
Most important of all, having all of the contents of games being complete (Manual, Cart, Front and Back Boxart) and easily accessible.

Right now I’m only supporting the letter A, and numeric games and remember, this is just a prototype

Check it out here:
https://www.vgcomplete.com/genesis-boxart-ntscu

Know bugs are:
Can’t stack filters after searching by name or letter

Would love to hear thoughts on this so far. I’ve always wanted to browse the entire Genesis library by box art and screenshots. And when playing a new game I have always wanted a place where I can easily get the manuals of said game. This is just something I’ve been doing in my free time and would love to build out the entire library if people care about this.

[Gryson]

This looks great! Excellent work.

I especially like the layout for the box art. It's nice to be able to browse through the covers like you would do back in the day at a store.

I assume you're just focusing on the North American releases now, but eventually, it would be cool to be able to select a region (primarily, North America / Europe / Japan) and have the games / box art from that region displayed.

[HappehLemons]

This looks great! Excellent work.

I especially like the layout for the box art. It's nice to be able to browse through the covers like you would do back in the day at a store.

I assume you're just focusing on the North American releases now, but eventually, it would be cool to be able to select a region (primarily, North America / Europe / Japan) and have the games / box art from that region displayed.

I'd love to do that. NA games are well documented so it's a good place to start though.

I'd love for this to encourage the completion of the NA Sega Genesis releases. We're still missing a bunch of manuals and bringing that to the forefront with the "What's Missing" page could help. I'd even like to setup a bounty system if possible.

[Goati]

That's looking very good!
A good platform where you can browse is definitely missing; search even, as segaretro is painfully slow.

I don't know if you'd have any use for this but here's my list, which needs an update on the bootleg/homebrew front but has 1k+ titles; it was originally lifted from the one on Guardiana and then added on or changed genres on some games, as you'll often find them not making any sense.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...gid=1179726476

[HappehLemons]

That's looking very good!
A good platform where you can browse is definitely missing; search even, as segaretro is painfully slow.

I don't know if you'd have any use for this but here's my list, which needs an update on the bootleg/homebrew front but has 1k+ titles; it was originally lifted from the one on Guardiana and then added on or changed genres on some games, as you'll often find them not making any sense.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...gid=1179726476

This is actually pretty awesome. I'm struggling with the concept of Action / Platforming games as most "Action" games involve platforming, so what is a true "Platformer" and what is a true "Action" game. At the very least at this moment I could deff use this list to guide me on that.

[Gryson]

This is actually pretty awesome. I'm struggling with the concept of Action / Platforming games as most "Action" games involve platforming, so what is a true "Platformer" and what is a true "Action" game. At the very least at this moment I could deff use this list to guide me on that.

I think you've already got a good list of genres (missing a few, though). This kind of database is best served by broad categories. That's much easier for users to sort. As you say, if you separate 'Action' and 'Platformer' it becomes unnecessarily complicated. I generally prefer the genre labels used in Japan:

Action
Shooting
Fighting
RPG
Adventure (the specific genre of story-driven point-and-click/dialogue games)
Strategy (this one is sometimes called Simulation in Japan, but I prefer Strategy)
Sports
Racing
Puzzle
Tabletop (e.g. mahjong)

And also two that you've listed: Educational and Compilation

I think that's very intuitive, although there might be a few games that are hard to place.

[HappehLemons]

I think you've already got a good list of genres (missing a few, though). This kind of database is best served by broad categories. That's much easier for users to sort. As you say, if you separate 'Action' and 'Platformer' it becomes unnecessarily complicated. I generally prefer the genre labels used in Japan:

Action
Shooting
Fighting
RPG
Adventure (the specific genre of story-driven point-and-click/dialogue games)
Strategy (this one is sometimes called Simulation in Japan, but I prefer Strategy)
Sports
Racing
Puzzle
Tabletop (e.g. mahjong)

And also two that you've listed: Educational and Compilation

I think that's very intuitive, although there might be a few games that are hard to place.

This is close to the direction I was going in.

Also some updates:

Games manuals are now populated
Devs and Publishers filters are now populated
Mobile version now functional

[Bear78]

Very cool! It would be great to get any extra stuff that was included with the game added also (Like posters, registration cards, other inserts). To me, that seems like one of the most undocumented areas.

[Goati]

I actually agree with Gryson, separacting Action/Platformer/Run&Gun gets dumb.
I've just never put effort in mine (yet), genre-wise, and kept what I was given.

Just in case anybody reading needs to know: don't trust SegaRetro too much on publisher/developer. Also not my list at all either, as it tends to list the publisher as the developer (again, Guardiana).

[Gryson]

Just in case anybody reading needs to know: don't trust SegaRetro too much on publisher/developer. Also not my list at all either, as it tends to list the publisher as the developer (again, Guardiana).

Could you give examples of why not to trust SegaRetro for publisher/developer info? I typically find it to be much more accurate than Wikipedia (which should definitely not be trusted).

Of course, games often had different publishers in different regions, so that's something that should be incorporated into a database (unless we're only ever focusing on the Genesis).

[HappehLemons]

I actually agree with Gryson, separacting Action/Platformer/Run&Gun gets dumb.
I've just never put effort in mine (yet), genre-wise, and kept what I was given.

Just in case anybody reading needs to know: don't trust SegaRetro too much on publisher/developer. Also not my list at all either, as it tends to list the publisher as the developer (again, Guardiana).

I decided not to separate things, but add an additional Genre onto games for more accurate sorting. So SHMUPS, Beat 'Em Ups, Platformers ect.. can have a sortable method and not all grouped into "Action"

[Arjak]

This looks really promising! I've actually wanted a site like this for a long time! Is there any way I could contribute?

[Goati]

Could you give examples of why not to trust SegaRetro for publisher/developer info? I typically find it to be much more accurate than Wikipedia (which should definitely not be trusted).

Sorry, I can't remember any examples, but there were definitely a few I've found over the years. It is a wiki after all, still a good source of info but I have sometimes found the correct developer listed on MobyGames and not on Segaretro.
As far as Wikipedia goes, I only consult the Japanese one from time to time and it's often got interesting lore bits hard to find otherwise!

[cowboyscowboys]

Looks sweet. I would say if possible to add box art spines that would be great. Also as far as platformer vs action platformer it's tough because most games fall into both. Generally I classify games as platformer only if you can jump on top of enemies to kill them. There will never be a consensus though so for something like this action probably works as a catch all.

I do think run and gun can be a pretty solidified sub group. Maybe I am wrong and they wouldn't be enough consensus on those games either.

[HappehLemons]

Bunch of bug fixes, added a roadmap and now all games have videos (And any new games will as well)!