How do you keep track of all your games?

[VACRMH]

I like collectorz.com's Game collector :)

What about everyone else?

[Dr. Retro Gamer]

I use an Access database. A table for each system. Queries for adding all the counts of games in each tables.

Reports showing all detail.

[RevQuixo]

I add em to my personal website.

[VACRMH]

Anyone ever try the program i'm using? I really enjoy it cause of all the extra features.

Such as telling what's lent out to who... when and where I bought it... and so forth.

Just really easy to keep everything organized :)

[Werewolf]

I have an Excel list with all my games... well most of them since I haven't updated it in a month or so -_-

[Sanriostar]

Brain.

[anagrama]

Anyone ever try the program i'm using? I really enjoy it cause of all the extra features.

Such as telling what's lent out to who... when and where I bought it... and so forth.

Just really easy to keep everything organized :)

So, in what way are you affiliated with said program?

[VACRMH]

Anyone ever try the program i'm using? I really enjoy it cause of all the extra features.

Such as telling what's lent out to who... when and where I bought it... and so forth.

Just really easy to keep everything organized :)

So, in what way are you affiliated with said program?

None at all... I haven't even paid for it yet :embarrassed:

But I know alot of people that have been looking for a good way to organize everything :)

[Balloon Fight]

DP Guides.

[sniperCCJVQ]

Cart Commander

[kainemaxwell]

Excel spreadsheets for me.

[ste]

DP Guide, PostgreSQL database, with a custom phpBB hack. Overkill, but it lets me and some friends keep our collections up to date and compare them.

[Scoots]

Most of mine is online at FatmanGames.com.

[Nature Boy]

HanDBase 3.0 on my PocketPC. There's nothing like having a list of what you already have with you as you scour for new stuff. Plus I have some rarity databases for the stuff I actively search for.

[tynstar]

HanDBase 3.0 on my PocketPC. There's nothing like having a list of what you already have with you as you scour for new stuff. Plus I have some rarity databases for the stuff I actively search for.


I agree. I have the same set up.

[AlanD]

I use an Access database which is linked to my Sony Clie through ThinkDb. Works great and I can update the handheld 'in the field'

[scottz29]

DP Guide, PostgreSQL database, with a custom phpBB hack. Overkill, but it lets me and some friends keep our collections up to date and compare them.

This is exactly what I want to do, but how to go about getting all the games in the DP guide into a database?

Keeping track of what I have is fine, but sometimes I want to know what I don't have, or what I have that somebody else doesn't have, etc. Only way to do this is to query a database.

Basically I'd love to have a databased version of the DP guide, where you could view everything online: my collection, a friend's collection (they would make it available to others at their option), individual game details, run queries, filter results, generate reports, etc. All that, along with additional fields for your own comments, condition, whether you have box, instructions, where purchased, price paid, etc. And online is key - I'd like to check these things while ebaying with friends at their houses, etc.

Thought about doing something myself, but where to get all the game info????? I'm *not* re-typing in the Digital Press guide! @_@

Also, don't feel like re-inventing the wheel - if someone has already done something this extensive already, please share the wealth. Anybody got anything to share, or interested in collaborating to create/improve upon something? I've seen Cart Commander and other similar software packages -- they've all got their limitations. I'm thinking about something online, and with no limits ... I'm thinking Digital Press guide on steroids.

Any thoughts on this Joe? (doesn't hurt to ask The Man) :D

[ehall]

I look at them. There they are! I suppose when I start putting together a *real* collection, I'll have to do better than that.

[scottz29]

I look at them. There they are! I suppose when I start putting together a *real* collection, I'll have to do better than that.

By no means do I have a collection as extensive as many people on this board -- I am humbled when I see or hear about some of the collections here.

All the more reason to have something online and flexible like I mentioned above.
- Good for the collector with the massive collection, so they can see what they have.
- Also good for the people who are working on building their collections to see what they need or want, at a glance.

For one, I have friends who don't mark the little boxes in their DP guide, as they want to keep it mint. Even if they did, would you want to lug it everywhere you go? So, HOW NICE would it be for that person to print a small report of, say, what NES titles they don't have, along with a rarity and DP price approximation alongside.

Also, have the ability to export those results as text for pasting into an email. Example: let's trade: I need these games... Lots of possibilities here.

[ste]

Thought about doing something myself, but where to get all the game info????? I'm *not* re-typing in the Digital Press guide!

I just located some guides on the net. I tried to stick to ones that say something like "This list is free to distribute", and in cases where I couldn't find something like that I don't have a rarity list for the system. I don't want to get in trouble :)

My database is a real hack at the moment - it's a work in progress. We won't go into the front-end, but let's just say some of my programming teachers wouldn't give me an A for Effort - I like to cut corners and used alot of special stuff I shouldn't have. But once I get some of the ugliness out of it I'll prolly make the SQL for the tables and some queries available.

[esquire]

Rumor has it a fellow DP member is developing such a program. I don't want to mention his name, but let's just say he's a real aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa............

I thought he would've had it completed by now, but he's been too busy "painting the walls" and snuggling with his fiancee. He also told me there was another setback when his network crashed, and he had to spend 3 days checking his cabling. In any event, he guarantees it to be up and running by the time he finishes restoring his Joust cocktail table or the year 2024, whichever comes first.

[Retsudo]

I only have about 100 games. So All I have to do is look to the left, and there they are LOL

[Drexel923]

I use a combination of IGN and Excel. I use the IGN site for a clean list of my games to show off...and I use Excel for a more detailed personal list.

[ehall]

You know, I am a web developer, maybe I should throw something together......

[Nicola]

My lists are on a notebook. A paper notebook

[gamergary]

I am currently writing everything collectionwise down on paper but that isn't working that so I am going to use excel.

[Nature Boy]

I am currently writing everything collectionwise down on paper but that isn't working ....

Maybe your pen has just run out of ink! :)

(Sorry, couldn't resist).

I'm impressed by the paper people. I'm *way* too lazy to actually write anything down. I'm all about typing it at 100 words a minute :)

[Jasoco]

I don't trust any external web databases so I taught myself a little PHP, set up my Apache web server, went to www.no-ip.com and got a free redirect, set up my router to send all incoming HTTP to my iMac and created some PHP files.

Viola! <My Game Collection (http://jasoco.no-ip.com/collection.php)>!

[Nature Boy]

I don't trust any external web databases so I taught myself a little PHP, set up my Apache web server, went to www.no-ip.com and got a free redirect, set up my router to send all incoming HTTP to my iMac and created some PHP files.

Viola! <My Game Collection (http://jasoco.no-ip.com/collection.php)>!

I like the graphical touch. Nice.

[Jasoco]

I like the graphical touch. Nice.You mean the part at the top with the game sprites or the photos of each system? (All mine except the Game Boy since I don't have one... yet.)

I have to do some recoding though. It's a sort of mess right now full of unneeded parts that I can probably weed out and optimize. One drawback to doing it yourself. But I enjoy doing it. :D

Keep an eye out, soon I'll be taking some pictures of my setup again. I'll probably submit them to Digital Press.

BTW, how did you get that custom status and the new images below your name? Post count?

[Nature Boy]

[You mean the part at the top with the game sprites or the photos of each system? (All mine except the Game Boy since I don't have one... yet.)

I have to do some recoding though. It's a sort of mess right now full of unneeded parts that I can probably weed out and optimize. One drawback to doing it yourself. But I enjoy doing it. :D

Keep an eye out, soon I'll be taking some pictures of my setup again. I'll probably submit them to Digital Press.

BTW, how did you get that custom status and the new images below your name? Post count?

I meant the photos of the systems. They're even nicer knowing they're your actual machines :)

The custom status can be edited in your profile (under "Rank" I believe). The images were a 'gift' of sorts from our esteemed leader :)

[qbertandernie]

ive got mine on excel. keeps track of each individual system and what i paid for it, as well as rarity for each game. i kept track from the beginning, so i know exactly how much ive spent..

[Steven]

You guys should think about getting a FREE account at Video Game Rebirth!

Great place to keep track of what you got! Plus there are forums and members can submit info of games not there already.

www.vgrebirth.org

That's where I maintain my Saturn collection (173 at the moment)
But all systems are available!

[nesman85]

i finally typed up my nes collection in excel the otherday. it took me forever but at least i'm caught up now so i can just add games as i get them. i've still got to do the rest of my systems but i don't have nearly as many games for them so it won't be too much of a chore.

[Jasoco]

I wish I knew how I could get PHP to read an Excel sheet so I could use that to manage the lists easier.

I'm sure someone has made a way.

[§ Gideon §]

Hmm... I thought I was the only one who keeps a list...

Right now, I write things down in text files. I used to do Excel files, but that is no longer... convenient.

[ste]

I wish I knew how I could get PHP to read an Excel sheet so I could use that to manage the lists easier.

I'm sure someone has made a way.

You need to familiarize yourself with SourceForge (http://sourceforge.net/)!

http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpexcelreader/

This one only reads, but feel free to search for one that writes excel files too :) I've used this one a lot to convert plain text files to excel to SQL. Works quite well.

[Jasoco]

:(

Doesn't want to work.

I guess I'll have to look for a read-me that actually tells me how to use it.

It says "Safari could not load any data for this page."

[Kejoriv]

I use excel spreadsheets. They work great. I print them out and carry them in a small binder when Im out scouring for games.

[chrisballer]

I found along time ago on some site i cannot remeber for the life of me. They had it setup for nes had all the games with 3 boxes next to each game for c/i/b also had the rarity next to the name had it set up so 3 rows of games on each sheet it could be printed out on 4 sheets of paper was great way to keep track on the go what you had and did not have. Anyone else know what i am talking about or know where i can find this again?

[Ruffie]

Oddly enough, I am in the middle of my weekend (Sunday and Monday) project to do a complete, up to date inventory of my collection. I am doing a database using Microsoft Works. Sunday was the classic systems - RCS Studio II through Commodore 64 , and today I started on NES and hope to finish.

I was thinking on printing it out, but had another idea that I was wondering about. Does anyone know anything about PDAs and other handheld devices that can connect to my PC to share data - would it be possible to use one as a portable inventory? I'd much rather get one of those than carry around a printed version of my list.

Would this be possible, and how much do those things run?

Ruffie

[Nature Boy]

Oddly enough, I am in the middle of my weekend (Sunday and Monday) project to do a complete, up to date inventory of my collection. I am doing a database using Microsoft Works. Sunday was the classic systems - RCS Studio II through Commodore 64 , and today I started on NES and hope to finish.

I was thinking on printing it out, but had another idea that I was wondering about. Does anyone know anything about PDAs and other handheld devices that can connect to my PC to share data - would it be possible to use one as a portable inventory? I'd much rather get one of those than carry around a printed version of my list.

Would this be possible, and how much do those things run?

As I said earlier, I have all my collections on my PPC. Maybe what I didn't mention is that HanDBase 3.0 is also installed on my laptop, which means I can updated my databases on either machine.

When creating my 'rarity listings' I simply create a csv file and then import it. Next time I sync it's on my PPC.

As for pricing you're on your own - just check around some web sites (like Best Buy - they carry PPCs). You can also get programs like HanDBase (and HanDBase itself) for the Palm OS. Actually I find that there is *way* more Palm freeware out there than PPC freeware. But I still like my PPC more (maybe playing a VCS emulator on it helps :) ).

[PapaStu]

Ive got an Excel sheet goin for everything, but i only keep the modern (Disc) systems up to date, Ive also got an IGN page... but ive got enough on there that it loads horribly... lookin into getting an Acess database up

[Nicola]

You can also get programs like HanDBase (and HanDBase itself) for the Palm OS.

Which version of HanDBase should I buy? Plus, Professional or Enterprise?

[DigitalSpace]

I just keep a list on my personal freewebs page. I assume if someone wants more information on a game, they'll ask me or look it up somewhere.

I had been keeping an online CD list (see my sig for a link) for a year or so. The CD list came to mind one night when I was really bored. I just wrote down every CD I could find and arranged it alphabetically when I typed up the list, which took about 45 minutes. A while ago, I decided it was time to make an online list for video games too. So I wrote those down and typed them up. Since I have more CDs than I do video games, it took a lot less longer to type them up! LOL

Btw, you're more than welcome to view my video game list. Click the "Game Collection" link in my signature.

[Nature Boy]

[quote=Nature Boy]Which version of HanDBase should I buy? Plus, Professional or Enterprise?

I think it's just Plus (the cheapest version) that I bought. All you want is a good database progrgam for the PPC - one that you can create the DBs on your PC and then sync down to the PPC. The other programs, I believe, are useful if you're syncing with multiple users.

I've actually just changed my DBs from "one database per medium" (which just contained the games I owned) to "one database per console" (which has *every* game listed, it's rarity, if I own it or not, and if it's on my want list or not - it's *fantastic*). And yes, I *manually* entered a *lot* of rarity values (I'm quite *clearly* insane)...

[Nicola]

And yes, I *manually* entered a *lot* of rarity values (I'm quite *clearly* insane)...

X_x

That's a HUGE work!

And thanks for the info!

[Naiera]

I use Collector at playright.dk. There's an english version of the site at uk.playright.dk. Still in Beta though.

I only have about 260 games in all to keep track of, though... ;)

[v1rich]

I use a SQL Server 2000 database with a vb 6.0 sp5 front end. Works good but it bombs every now and then. No data lost.

Just last week I started working on a Web interface for this using ASP.Net. I plan to finish this up sometime this summer. I keep track of everything and since I have sold a lot of stuff I also keep track of what I have sold and how much for. I have a personal goal of breaking even on my collecting by 2005 :) Selling as much $ value as total cost, and having my collection for free. That would be nice :).

I have thought about making my app open source and freely available, but the thing is it won't run on just any computer. It is a server based app which the complexity of a server based app puts a lot of people off. They won't use it. It would need extensive work if it was going to be made multi user. I am putting searches into the database, so that any time I want to look for something I can just click on a link and get that item on Ebay, Half.com, and Amazon.com (well 3 links, one for each site). This is a lot of work though and so I have recently taken a break from it.

DP, PM me if you think that you can use this in some kind of way.

Vic

[frodo2968]

I use IGN...very nice way to organize the list...the link is in my sig, but I just bought like 40 games that aren't on there yet...

[BoosTDIt]

Just last week I started working on a Web interface for this using ASP.Net. I plan to finish this up sometime this summer. I keep track of everything and since I have sold a lot of stuff I also keep track of what I have sold and how much for. I have a personal goal of breaking even on my collecting by 2005 :) Selling as much $ value as total cost, and having my collection for free. That would be nice :).

I have thought about making my app open source and freely available, but the thing is it won't run on just any computer. It is a server based app which the complexity of a server based app puts a lot of people off. They won't use it. It would need extensive work if it was going to be made multi user. I am putting searches into the database, so that any time I want to look for something I can just click on a link and get that item on Ebay, Half.com, and Amazon.com (well 3 links, one for each site). This is a lot of work though and so I have recently taken a break from it.

DP, PM me if you think that you can use this in some kind of way.

Vic

I very much like what you say in both paragraphs...
Braking eaven is my goal too..

Intrested in learning more about your program too.