Collector's Guide App - Project Updates

[Nz17]

Have an Android-based phone or other mobile device? How about something with iOS such as an iPhone or iPad? A Blackberry? How many times have you wished you could look up a game's price or rarity while out in the field hunting for bargains or just checking your personal collection but without having to fumble with a printed listing or needing Internet access?


YouTube Video

That day might soon arrive on your favorite platform. Sean "Nz17" Robinson in collaboration with Digital Press is going to create an "app" version of the Collector's Guide. Or rather, it will be the whole kabob including the Collector's Guide (8-bit gen.), the Advance Guide (16, 32, & 64-bit gen.), and the Neo Guide (128-bit and newer) all rolled into one *Mega Guide*. The price? A paltry $5... or it will be if you can help make it happen.



We need to raise capital to fund the creation of the Portable Rarity Guide. Every bit you contribute, whether only $1 or $10000, will help.

But how will that money be used? What's the breakdown of the cash flow? And is there even a plan here for future maintenance and growth?

Where is my cash going?

The overall goal is to raise $4600. This will be done in two ways: $2600 through Kickstarter and $2000 through PayPal.

The $4600 breaks down into these needs:

1. $800 per month for 3 months (the period of development) for the programmer's basic needs of food, utilities, and rent for housing
2. $500 per month for 3 months for additional and unforeseen needs including insurance, care for illness or injury, automobile costs, the unexpected, and additional development time if needed
3. $400 for a computer for development - the programmer's current computer is outdated for this purpose
4. $300 for an Android-based device for debugging and quality assurance

Kickstarter uses Amazon Payments for payment processing. As Amazon Payments only accepts payments from a limited array of countries, PayPal is also available as an option for donations from international contributors and those who would prefer not to set up an account through Kickstarter or Amazon Payments.

These processors (Kickstarter, Amazon, and PayPal) deduct fees from collected funds before disbursing them to the payee - in this case the app developer. Thus an additional ceiling of 10% has already been figured into the numbers above to account for these fees.

Are there gifts and bonuses for those that contribute funds?

Yes indeed there are. Whether you contribute through PayPal or Kickstarter you will receive pledge gifts. These include things like special graphics on the forum, beta access to the app, signed printed copies of the Advance Guide, games and controllers from the DP store, VIP dinners and parties with the King of Digital Press Joe Santulli and his fellow DP founders and friends, custom modded consoles by Ben Heck and his crew, plaques at the Videogame History Museum, arcade machines, and more!

For a complete list, please see our Kickstarter project page.



What if the full funding goal isn't reached? Will development still start if you have partial funding?

Our goal of $4600 USD is to cover all our bases, both the expected and the unexpected. If we can reach a minimal threshold of $3000 between Kickstarter and PayPal, we will begin work regardless of if we met or exceeded our initial goal of $4600. However if we do not meet the original total which we set out to reach, then development will be much slower and may not complete for up to a year as our programmer will not be able to focus all of his time and energy toward the app.

Also, Kickstarter will not distribute any funding for this project unless the $2600 Kickstarter goal is reached or exceeded by the deadline of 11 August 2011. This also means that if you contribute through Kickstarter, your preferred payment source will not be charged until 11 August and only if we reach or go beyond that $2600 goal. Then Amazon will process all payments and finally deliver the money two weeks after the deadline (ergo the 25th of August).

In contrast, PayPal funding will be immediately released to the developer as soon as it is sent and regardless of the total collected, so this is the preferred method if you want to help development begin sooner.



How will this project continue its existence past the initial funding?

The app will be sold through the popular commercial app stores. The app itself will be priced at $4.99 with yearly data updates available for an additional $2.99. However these updates will not be needed for the app to continue to function and are only required if the user wants the latest prices and rarity information.

Which platforms will this program be available for?

Initially, due to the low cost of Android app development and its popularity among device manufacturers, the Portable Rarity Guide will first be released for Android OS. However the underlying technology which will be used to create the app, called PhoneGap, is fundamentally cross-platform in nature and allows for easy release to additional platforms. Therefore upon the success of the Android version further versions for other popular platforms will be rapidly released.

Which features will be available at launch?

The information included will contain thousands of entries for games' rarities, prices, developers, manufacturers and publishers, descriptions, Easter Eggs, review scores, the Santulli Slants, and more. All these feature the ability to to be searched and sorted using an easy-to-use graphical interface.



Which features will be available in the future?

In the future we will add features like collection tracking to maintain lists of games and hardware owned, wanted, and for sale and for trade, as well as conditions for each element (game, box, manual, extras), and a notes area for each item. Info about game developers, manufacturers, and consoles will be added and browseable. We will release desktop clients for Linux, Mac, and Windows, with which your mobile devices can be synchronized. Online updates direct from the app as well as automatic updating and in-app purchasing of data updates will be made available. Plus we will be considering suggestions from our users for extra features.

Why should I use this when I have a printed listing?

Printed listings are easy to accidentally destroy or lose. The larger the listing is, the bulkier and more difficult to manage it is. And once printed, the listing cannot be updated and must be discarded in favor of a newer printing to gain newer information.

Why should I use this when I can use the Online Rarity Guide?

The O.R.G. is a good resource but it requires Internet access. Therefore it is unusable in areas with no Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connectivity, both of which require additional costs to maintain. Wireless connectivity also increases the consumption of electricity and thus decreases device usage time. Additionally the user interface for the Portable Rarity Guide will be made with small, portable devices in mind rather than modern desktop Web browsers for which the the O.R.G. was made.

Why should I use the Digital Press Portable Rarity Guide instead of some other collector app?

Besides for the long and prestigious history of Digital Press as the de facto authority on games' rarity and prices and being the go-to place for all things video games and collecting, there are several aspects lacking in other apps for collectors. Many apps are general purpose and don't provide the features video game collectors need and desire, while others have incomplete or missing information for either the newest or oldest games. There are even guides which only have the basic information of console, title, price, and rarity for games, and that's it. Still others try to sell you piecemeal sub-collections of information in bits, making you buy several add-ons on a console-by-console or group-wise basis. This can end up costing you several times the price of the Digital Press Portable Rarity Guide if you want a complete listing for all consoles both new and classic.

Kickstarger pledge - PayPal contribution

Besides a cash pledge, how else can I contribute?

Tell everyone you know who might care about the Digital Press Portable Rarity Guide! Tell all your game collector friends in real life and online about this app. Inform your World of Warcraft clan or your gaming guild. Share this information on your social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg, MySpace, and Google+. Write to your favorite gaming blog, forum, or publication and let them know DP sent you! Let your favorite minor celebrity know and ask him or her to share it with fans. And most of all, don't stop talking about your hopes and dreams for the app. Whether you can give a little, nada, or a whole lot, getting a bunch of people knowing and involved will make this more fun and easy for everyone... and together we can reach our goals!

I'm sold - how can I help out and follow new developments on this project?

Great! We're super happy to hear that! Feel free to give your generous contribution through either Kickstarter or PayPal. Any amount is fine, and the more the merrier!

To find out about all of our exciting progress surrounding this project, feel free to follow the Kickstarter project page where we will be updating with new info and developments as they happen, contributor information and totals collected, backer comments, and posting answers to your frequently asked questions.

And of course you can continue to follow our progress on the Digital Press Retrogaming Roundtable. Feel free to ask your questions here in this thread and converse!

Good luck everyone!

[Nz17]

Update, Day 1

OK, let's first reply to some of the comments that we've received so far.

What a great idea, and badly needed. I am very happy to see some the best videogame guides around possibly make the jump to digital. Count me in, and will contribute when I get paid.

Thank you very much, swlovinist. Much like yourself, I find the idea of a digital Digital Press Guide quite thrilling and to be something that many people will find very convenient and useful. We look forward to seeing your contribution!

Are those Kickstarter tier rewards for real? They're kinda... off the wall especially at some of the mid tiers.

All those rewards are indeed real and authorized by "The Santulli" himself. Financial contributors will find themselves bestowed with them at the end of the fund drive.

And if you think some of them are "off the wall," well, I had a little trouble thinking up rewards after I got about halfway through the reward levels and just started throwing things in from the top of my head. But all of them sound quite nice in my opinion and I think people will be happier to receive them than some arts and crafts made with my limited, unhoned art skills.

Now for the day's total. We posted the announcement last night only on Kickstarter and in two messages on Digital Press. So far we have not started any further promotional work. So let's see those numbers!

0 Backers
$0.00 pledged of $4,600 goal

Well I guess that is to be expected. We only posted this last night after most people in the U.S. would have been asleep and the info was at only two places. And this after most people would have been paid a few days ago and distributed their money already, so they'd be unlikely to have extra funds at this time.

But we will not let this discourage us! There are plenty of people out there who have not yet heard our message. My next steps will be:

1) Move this thread to Classic Gaming where more people will see it.
2) Change my forum signature to refer to this post.
3) Write on my FaceBook wall so my associates there will learn of this knowledge.

What are you planning to do, my compatriots?

[Nz17]

What happens to the money that the app generates once it is released?

That profit will be split, with part going to Digital Press and the other part going to the developer to continue improving the app and adding new features and releasing versions for additional platforms.

If I donate $850 can I have a sightseeing tour of NJ and Atlantic Coast boat ride with TV's Hasselhoff?

Absolutely, as all members of the Digital Press Web site including the forum must obey exactly what Joe commands. Er, that is to say, if TV's Hasselhoff agrees to your request then it will happen.

Plus, as all of the pledge rewards stack, you'd actually get the sightseeing tour and the coastal boat ride for a contribution of only $500.

[Nz17]

Well gamers and game collectors, to be honest I am depressed: after three days, we haven't received a single contribution... not even one dollar. I expected more out of the DP community, though really, just one person backing this project would fill me with a little hope, an iota to say, "Someone cares!" But so far, nothing from PayPal, nothing from Kickstarter. I thought that my recent "Webmastering" at the DP Web site would lend me some cred and confidence around here, but the results speak for themselves.

I'm still going to leave the Kickstarter page up and running in the hope that somebodies start to show their support with greenbacks, but at this point I'm thinking this is going to end up being one of those slow burn projects where I gradually work on it in my spare time and inspired moments.

Oh well, at least some people have spoken in support of my idea.

Feel free to leave comments in this thread.

[Nz17]

Day 7:

We have arrived at the seventh day of our fundraiser and things are going well. So far we have collected $150 in pledges, taking us to the 5% mark. Special thanks goes out to our biggest pledger, Gabriel DaCosta, who has generously contributed to both the Portable Rarity Guide and the Videogame History Museum projects.

For his contribution, Mr. DaCosta will be receiving all of the gifts for his pledge level, which include a "Supporter" rank graphic on the Digital Press forum, a copy of the app when it's finished, early access to beta versions, a signed and printed Advance (Collector's) Guide, a $20 gift certificate to the DP store, and an invitation to a VIP party to be held at the Digital Press store in New Jersey. These gifts will be distributed after the successful completion of our fundraiser. Of course all of these gifts and more are available to everyone based on his or her pledge level.

Remember, the final version of the Digital Press Portable Rarity Guide will include a comprehensive database of games and consoles with easy lookup and collection tracking. Be sure to get your preorder/pledge in today through our Kickstarter project page or PayPal.

Thanks everyone, and here's to the future - soon enough, you'll be playing with Portable Power.

P.S. I'm trying to think of venues where to promote this project. Anyone with any good suggestions, please let us hear them!

[Nz17]

Day 9:

All right, people, we've doubled our number of backers and now our new total for contributions is $165! We couldn't have gotten this far without your generosity. I'm proud to say that no matter what the final total for this fundraiser might be, I am glad to know that I have people like you on our side.

Here's to doubling our number of pledges again! [/me plays guitar solo.] High fives all around!

And now to answer some questions. (Some of these Q&A will be featured on the Kickstarter project page.)

Do I have to pay for this app only once?

Yes, that's right. The fundraiser is to get the app started, but whether you contribute now or buy a copy of the app later, you'll only need to pay for it once per platform for which you want the app. So if you contribute $5 toward our fundraiser now, you'll get your Android copy at no extra cost once it is completed in a few months.

How much of these proceeds are going back to Digital Press?

15% of all profits from sales will be funneled back into Digital Press to help bring its great services and resources to everyone for years and years, now and in the future.

Why 15% instead of 100%?

That way our programmer (Nz17) can use the remaining 85% to devote all of his working hours to Digital Press and the app instead of a regular day job. This will make the DP Web site and the Guide App better than ever!

Will you still make the app if it is only partial funded?

If we can meet either of our goals through PayPal ($2000) or Kickstarter ($2600) we will develop the app, though it will likely take considerably more time to do so than if we were to meet both. If we do meet both, expect the app to be finished in only a few months.