Keeping up in the wild

[Raven1280]

ok ive almost gotten every US sega master system game that ever came out but i find it hard to remember which ones i need when im in the wild. i know that i could write them down and carry it with my. i was wondering how you guys all keep up with which games you ahve and dont in some of these much larger collections such as NES and 2600

[Nez]

I write it down, but even that doesn't work every time. Some times you forget to check one off, or figgured that check when this game. Luckily I havent purchased too many doubles thanks to my stupidity.

[sisko]

Palm Pilot + Excel = pwnage

Not only can I keep track of my collection, I have a convenient searchable DP and DP Advance guide in my pocket!

[Ronfar]

I keep a text file of the games I need. As long as I keep it up to date, I'm able to keep pretty good track of it all.


Congrats on the SMS collection, I'm working on it and the Sega CD but I've got quite a ways to go yet.

[Ed Oscuro]

Wow, it looks like you came to the right place! You see, there's this thing called the Digital Press Guide, you should see this site, it's http://www.digitpress.com/ for more info about that!

Amazing technology!

It can display millions of polygons at one time!

I definitely need it, as soon as possible!

Funny, I still haven't gotten one myself... :S

[Goodwill Hunter]

You gotta get a handheld of some sort, unless you have a photographic memory like DP. If you don't need color, a camera, or an MP3 player, you can pickup an older 8MB model of a greyscale Palm unit or Handspring Visor for about $25 on Ebay, and it will have room to record every game you could ever hope to own. I don't leave home without it (and haven't bought something I already had since).

Rich

[Raven1280]

Wow, it looks like you came to the right place! You see, there's this thing called the Digital Press Guide, you should see this site, it's http://www.digitpress.com/ for more info about that!

Amazing technology!

It can display millions of polygons at one time!

I definitely need it, as soon as possible!

Funny, I still haven't gotten one myself... :S

Well smart guy i have both the 7th guide and the advanced guide but that doesnt help me when im at a garage sale or a thrift store and my guide is in the car or at home.


On another note how do you guys put the guide on your palm where it is searchable.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Once thing I have is a great memory for remembering what I have and don't have..plus a photographic memory .. :)

[Poofta!]

well since youve got most of them, its better to write down the ones youre looking for , or remmember. personally i have a list of all games i have/need/cost a lot in my pda, and since my pda is always w/ me.... it makes this easy.

[poopnes]

I sometimes keep a text file in my N-Gage.

[Moon Patrol]

Ya know what sucks? I can never find anything in the wild, and when I do, I end up buying a game I thought I didn't have, but I had anyway.

Edit:
After looking through this thread with a little bit more "coherency" (if thats a word) It makes a LOT of sense to buy a cheap little PDA and load a long list you can use to match up stuff, that would rock. Do they offer the DP guide in an electronic form like a spreadsheet by chance?

[Jumpman Jr.]

I have a complete list of all the NES, SNES, N64 and Intellivision games in a duotang that I bring around with me.
As soon as I get a game, I cross it off of the list.
Actually, its even more sophisticated than that... If I get just the cart of the game, I cross it off in pencil. If I get a game boxed or complete, I cross it off in pen.
Now that is sophisticated.

Also, everytime I get a game, I have to cross it off my list, then go to DP and add it to my list. And then I have to go back upstairs and find a place for it. Therefore, doing all that usually helps me remember what games I have.

[PapaStu]

Palm Pilot + Excel = pwnage

Not only can I keep track of my collection, I have a convenient searchable DP and DP Advance guide in my pocket!

I do this as well. One excel file covers most of what I own. (Ok it covers the systems i've put into it, which are the ones that I collect for at least. I still havnt gotten around to my NES and GB-GBC-GBA stuffs). However in all my time of PS hunting. I've only bought something like 5 or so doubles on accident and with my PS collection... thats no small feat, though with the Palm, ive saved myself from getting more.

[Cauterize]

Palm Pilot + Excel = pwnage

Exactly the same, however:

HP Journada PPC + Excel :P

[Daria]

I have my want list entered into my ngage. I always have my cell phone on me so it's convienent. It also handy when sosmone asks me what games I'm looking for.

[pr8cjb]

Palm Pilot + Excel = pwnage

Exactly the same, however:

HP Journada PPC + Excel :P

Ditto - iPaq + Excel, though my totals page doesn't seem to work right on Pocket Excel for some reason . I've had a few funny looks at car boot sales etc. when people have thought it's a price list. I seem to remember a thread about people getting grief when taking the paper DP guides out on the hunt. An electronic version would be a godsend.

[sisko]

Palm Pilot + Excel = pwnage

Exactly the same, however:

HP Journada PPC + Excel :P

Ditto - iPaq + Excel, though my totals page doesn't seem to work right on Pocket Excel for some reason . I've had a few funny looks at car boot sales etc. when people have thought it's a price list. I seem to remember a thread about people getting grief when taking the paper DP guides out on the hunt. An electronic version would be a godsend.

Oh mine has the Guides with rarities and prices. They don't know that :P

[shvnsth]

is there anyway to transfer a saved html onto your palm if you have one of the newer palms? then i could just save my ign collection on my palm phone.

[Push Upstairs]

You gotta get a handheld of some sort, unless you have a photographic memory like DP. If you don't need color, a camera, or an MP3 player, you can pickup an older 8MB model of a greyscale Palm unit or Handspring Visor for about $25 on Ebay, and it will have room to record every game you could ever hope to own. I don't leave home without it (and haven't bought something I already had since).

Rich

Any particular models i should look for?

Support for Excel and/or Word would be a plus.

[Nesmaster]

about 375 games to go for a full nes collection.... it isnt difficult to know what i need now, but in the last 50-100 games im sure im gonna need a list or something.. palm pilot sounds perfect :D

[Half Japanese]

If you've got an iPod, don't forget that those hold text files also via the "notes" function.

[Spartacus]

You could let somebody else do the work of organizing, printing and price tracking your collection for you so that you're only concern becomes - do I have it, do I want it, or should I get it?
For $6 you can purchase a back issue of Video Game Collector magazine that will give you a complete list of games for most every system out there plus a price guide for each title- in many cases both complete and loose. Also, you'll find a checkbox next to each title for you to do with as you please. I've recently taken to using a highlighter pen and marking the title's for every game I've bought a strategy guide for because I run across cheap ones so often and can never remember what I've got. It's a very small magazine so you'll find it very easy and convenient to carry around. A full years subscription is only $15 (quarterly). I've tried just about everything else - paper and electronic wise and this has beat them all hands down in speed, effectiveness and cost. And I will never worry about it being lost or stolen at less than $4 an issue. Oh, and by the way, there's articles in it too.

At home I use the DP guide as my reference of choice because it contains far more information! You'd be doing yourself a disservice to be without it.

[shvnsth]

also, when im in the wild, i can't really look up reviews of games, so when i pass by a game i have nevre heard of for the psx, i don't know wheather it is good or not. is there any site that has reviews for systems all together, so i could copy and past them into text files and save them on my palm.

i want somthing like this:

13 dalmations- 7.5
ardvark- 5.5
blue dragon-7.0

this site is nice: http://www.videogamecritic.net/ , and it has a lot of systems, but there are only 216 reviews in the psx section, and only 50 in the n64 section, and i would like a close to complete list.

[Cauterize]

Palm Pilot + Excel = pwnage

Exactly the same, however:

HP Journada PPC + Excel :P

Ditto - iPaq + Excel, though my totals page doesn't seem to work right on Pocket Excel for some reason . I've had a few funny looks at car boot sales etc. when people have thought it's a price list. I seem to remember a thread about people getting grief when taking the paper DP guides out on the hunt. An electronic version would be a godsend.

Oh mine has the Guides with rarities and prices. They don't know that :P

Heh exactly the same again, downloaded Acrobat reader for ppc and have all those rarity guides in PDF format!

pr8cjb would you liek help on the totals forumla? its been imprinted on my brain since GCSEs @ school in I.T.!

[pr8cjb]

@ cauterize - The formula works OK on my desktop machine, it just doesn't seem to want to play on my PDA for some reason. Plus it's not an essential, it's just nice to know!

PM me if you'd like to share those PAL pdf lists though!

[Ed Oscuro]

Okay, so I see you've got the guide :)

My secret is - I keep it ALL in my head; what I've got and what I don't, as well as what I want (I'm an imports-centric guy, but even so there's tons of domestic stuff I'd snag given the chance). I would buy any game that I think would be a good purchase, however, even if I wouldn't necessarily play it. I try to keep tabs on relative rarity of games, so I can figure out if a buy's worth the asking price. You'll get underpriced deals often enough that you don't need to know the exact price, anyhow.

[Red Hedgehog]

There are PDF or Excel versions of the DP Guide?

I would so put 'em on my Palm if I knew about that. Where do I get them?