Random Thoughts Thread

[prfsnl_gmr]

Do you want it arranged alphabetically, chronologically, by format, by release year, by developer, by publisher, by genre, by purchase date, by ISBN, by ratings or reviews, by Metacritic score, by sales data, by current physical status or general cleanliness, by how much you personally like it, alphabetically by lead programmer, what?

FYI

I organize my 2600 games alphabetically by developer (i.e., Activision, Amiga, Atari, etc.), then alphabetically by label variant (i.e., picture label, number label, text label, etc.), and then alphabetically by title (i.e., Backgammon, Haunted House, Video Chess, etc.). It looks awesome that way, and I am considering doing something similar with my NES games. (Grouping all of the Konami "silver label" games together looks pretty awesome.)

[BogusMeatFactory]

By genre, then by series and then by ascending chronological order.

How do you want the series arranged? And do you want to do this within a single format(such as SNES), or across all formats?

Individual formats and the series would be arranged alphabetical within the genres.

And don't get me started on my manuals. I have a big ass plastic bin filled with manuals that have no box. It is sick and sadistic. I am ashamed.

[Ack]

Do you want it arranged alphabetically, chronologically, by format, by release year, by developer, by publisher, by genre, by purchase date, by ISBN, by ratings or reviews, by Metacritic score, by sales data, by current physical status or general cleanliness, by how much you personally like it, alphabetically by lead programmer, what?

FYI

I organize my 2600 games alphabetically by developer (i.e., Activision, Amiga, Atari, etc.), then alphabetically by label variant (i.e., picture label, number label, text label, etc.), and then alphabetically by title (i.e., Backgammon, Haunted House, Video Chess, etc.). It looks awesome that way, and I am considering doing something similar with my NES games. (Grouping all of the Konami "silver label" games together looks pretty awesome.)

Haha, awesome. I tend to group all of my SNES games based on label title as opposed to real title. So Castlevania IV appears in the Cs despite the actual title being Super Castlevania IV. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja becomes Mystical Ninja, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters becomes just Tournament Fighters, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is just Yoshi's Island, and so on. Much more aesthetically pleasing. I don't separate out the colored carts though. I like how they attract the eye, and there just aren't very many of them.

By genre, then by series and then by ascending chronological order.

How do you want the series arranged? And do you want to do this within a single format(such as SNES), or across all formats?

Individual formats and the series would be arranged alphabetical within the genres.

And don't get me started on my manuals. I have a big ass plastic bin filled with manuals that have no box. It is sick and sadistic. I am ashamed.

Do you want your genres also in alphabetical order? And what genres will you be considering? Will Hack-and-Slash be separate from Beat 'Em Ups? Will Vehicular Combat be a genre you consider? How about genre variants like Action RPG, Western RPG, JRPG, and so on?

[BogusMeatFactory]

Do you want your genres also in alphabetical order? And what genres will you be considering? Will Hack-and-Slash be separate from Beat 'Em Ups? Will Vehicular Combat be a genre you consider? How about genre variants like Action RPG, Western RPG, JRPG, and so on?

genres in alphabetical by RPG, Action (primarily 3rd person action games 3rd person shooters, SHMUPS and that exclude traditional platformers, Adventure (which is traditional computer adventure), Platformer, FPS (including hybrids like Deus Ex, but exluding The Elder Scrolls), Fighting, Flight Sim (including space flight sims), Vehicle-Based (including cars and mechs but excluding planes), Simulation (be it life simulation, city simulation, all the sims) and then Strategy (including both real time and turn based). I think that covers it?

[Ack]

Do you want your genres also in alphabetical order? And what genres will you be considering? Will Hack-and-Slash be separate from Beat 'Em Ups? Will Vehicular Combat be a genre you consider? How about genre variants like Action RPG, Western RPG, JRPG, and so on?

genres in alphabetical by RPG, Action (primarily 3rd person action games 3rd person shooters, SHMUPS and that exclude traditional platformers, Adventure (which is traditional computer adventure), Platformer, FPS (including hybrids like Deus Ex, but exluding The Elder Scrolls), Fighting, Flight Sim (including space flight sims), Vehicle-Based (including cars and mechs but excluding planes), Simulation (be it life simulation, city simulation, all the sims) and then Strategy (including both real time and turn based). I think that covers it?

So...

RPG
Action
3rd Person Shooters
SHMUPS
Adventure
Platformer
FPS
Fighting
Flight Sim
Vehicle-Based
Simulation
Strategy

No Sports, Puzzle, or Edutainment games?

[BogusMeatFactory]

Haha forgot puzzle. I would put edutainment under that field.

[dsheinem]

How/does the Library of Congress classify/assign numbers to video games?

[Ack]

How/does the Library of Congress classify/assign numbers to video games?

Currently I believe video games are cataloged the same way books are, under the GV: Recreation and Leisure subclass, numbers 1469 .15 - 1469 .62(for instance, Doom is GV 1469 .2, while Descent is GV 1469 .22). Beyond that, I'm not sure, though I suspect Developer/Publisher and release year are part of the equation. No idea about genre though.

Strategy guides are also included in this designation (1469 .25) and arranged alphabetically depending on the name of the game described. So GV 1469 .25 D66 B37 1995 is the Doom Battlebook.

There are also some...odd instances with cataloging. Duke Nukem 3D also appears in the LC's Voyager system under HAA 0071. I am unsure why it is under HAA, because HA is listed as Statistics in the LC and the H section is Social Sciences. But it could be that HAA is some kind of special collections system separate from the official catalog, since there is no HAA listing that I know of in the LC Classification system. The game Mortal Kombat: Armageddon doesn't have an LC call number associated with its record as far as I can tell.

Suffice to say, we're early on in the process for the LC's cataloging system, so there are a lot of growing pains. I would ask this question in a decade.

[MrPopo]

I group my games by system, inside a system it's alphabetical by full title, with sequels on the same system being immediately after their predecessors regardless of title, overriding natural order (so Super Star Wars is followed by Super Empire Strikes Back, The Legend of Zelda is followed by Zelda II: The Adventure of Link). My systems are grouped by company and then in chronological order within a company, and the companies are arranged in order of when their first system arrived. So all my Nintendo stuff before Sega before Sony before Microsoft. PC is at the end because that grows unbounded and it saves me from having to move so much stuff around as I get more games. Handhelds are organized separately, but in the same fashion, as I keep the stuff in DS cases (all my Nintendo stuff) on the top shelf because it's easier to pull them down in those half height cases (plus the thinner depth means they stick out the same as full DVD cases once you account for the rail that the shelves are hung from. My NES and SMS stuff is in my bedroom in a separate shelving unit because the CRT is in my bedroom and those are the two systems I have light gun games for.

[KalessinDB]

People count their games?

I guide people into my game room, say "look at all of this awesome shit", and then start opening closets and say "wait... there's more".

What BSD said -- I put my stuff (console, not arcade) into RFGeneration because it's an easy way to know if I'm about to buy dupes. I've got a pretty good handle on my collection in my head, but not entirely, so better safe than sorry.

Plus it works great for showing people "So how many games do you actually have?" when they can't come to your place.

Arcade stuff, I just have a spreadsheet of -- similar reasons, usually trying to figure out when I need new boxes for stuff.