Is it necessary to indicate the TBA games? I say this because they officially do not exist. I don't want to make a mistake by deleting them without first consulting you. There are several games that have been announced for years, but do not exist.
TBA games
I personally don't like to see TBA games in the database. The person who enters it should at least keep track of them and fill in the correct data when the game gets released or delete it. But mostly they forget it, so I would rather not enter them at all. If you find a TBA game that got cancelled then I am OK to delete them. But I don't know what other editors think.
I'm one of those adding TBA game, usually due to some batch game addition, and didn't take too much attention to the release date.
I have recently reviewed PS3 and PS4 games and noticed many TBA game too, deleting them of updating the date if possible.
Thank you Becoro for asking.
OK to delete games with TBA, but also follow the rule of prototypes: if not released but a playable demo exists then the game should not be deleted.
I have recently reviewed PS3 and PS4 games and noticed many TBA game too, deleting them of updating the date if possible.
Thank you Becoro for asking.
OK to delete games with TBA, but also follow the rule of prototypes: if not released but a playable demo exists then the game should not be deleted.
demo
Playable demo please that somehow got released or leaked and we can play. Not just some trailer.
Absolutely. Fixed my sentence above.
While not everyone may agree I'd like to add...
Certain games with a long development history that have become famous despite never being released should be preserved for posterity.
We could create a specific tag (i.e. uvl-keep) to mark these games for preservation.
Certain games with a long development history that have become famous despite never being released should be preserved for posterity.
We could create a specific tag (i.e. uvl-keep) to mark these games for preservation.
I saw the article go up for Knowledge Base and rather than add my question there, I thought it might be better to add here so it can be debated if needed.
How do we feel about games that have been reviewed in contemporary magazines but haven't been preserved? Some of them probably don't exist and have been reviewed in error (for the wrong system for example) but others are probably just very limited production runs and may still turn up one day.
My concern if we delete them is that if the game appears later (and given the age of UVL there are absolutely games available now that wouldn't have been when UVL started up) and is re-added to UVL, we won't be re-adding the complete data (i.e. the deleted game reviews unless the editor knows instinctively where to find them)
Not a huge deal in the great scheme of things of course but would love to get the position on how we should handle these titles.
How do we feel about games that have been reviewed in contemporary magazines but haven't been preserved? Some of them probably don't exist and have been reviewed in error (for the wrong system for example) but others are probably just very limited production runs and may still turn up one day.
My concern if we delete them is that if the game appears later (and given the age of UVL there are absolutely games available now that wouldn't have been when UVL started up) and is re-added to UVL, we won't be re-adding the complete data (i.e. the deleted game reviews unless the editor knows instinctively where to find them)
Not a huge deal in the great scheme of things of course but would love to get the position on how we should handle these titles.
Ihave been reviewed in contemporary magazines but haven't been preserved?
That sounds like me when I add reviews and have games that I cannot find as ROM. In general when a game was reviewed we can say it was "likely" finished, playable and released. Maybe in very small numbers or via order by mail. And it was simply not yet found/dumped. Of course "likely" is no definite proof. Could be that some were never released. I cannot even rule out "fake reviews". E.g a games journalist played the Spectrum version, an Amstrad version was announced and the reviewer produced a review for Amstrad, only based on his experience with the Spectrum version in the hopes that the differences are not big. I cannot prove such things but sometimes I get the impression that not everything was alright. If games have such a magazine review link I ask to keep them please. If only so we can read the review and as basis for further investigation. If its not sure then keep it. I also tag these games with todo-verifyexistence. In some instances I could already find those games later. In some other instances it could turn out that the game was released under different name.
Only when its proven that this game actually does not exist and it was a fake review then its OK to be deleted. There are times when a game es reviewed and its not clear for which version the review really is. The review just speaks about the game in general and in the game info it says something like, available for Atari ST, Amiga, C64 and Apple II. Now sometimes I don't find this game for one of these systems. Lets say there seems to be no further info about an Apple II version of the game. Then I do not create a Apple II game entry and not link the review. Because then I think it "likely" that the reviewer played the game on a different system and just listed the platforms that the publisher told him that releases were available or planned for. And sometimes some ports just don't happen.
Edit: The difference to TBA games in my opinion is, that TBA games are mainly based on previews and not reviews.
I have fixed/deleted a bunch of TBA games, but I'm sorry to say that there are about 12K games without a date, only with the symbol "?".
In this case there are several reasons for this situation, many of these games exist and the date is not always available or it is very difficult to find as web and mobile games.
When I spot these cases, I usually try to correct them.
www.uvlist.net/gamesearch/?fyear=%3F
In this case there are several reasons for this situation, many of these games exist and the date is not always available or it is very difficult to find as web and mobile games.
When I spot these cases, I usually try to correct them.
www.uvlist.net/gamesearch/?fyear=%3F
I understand Andreas' case, personally that's why you can see that I work very slowly on each game, precisely to look for sources, until I find the dates.
But, yes, there are games that don't have them, there are many, I hope I can help with that; for now, to be in order, I'm uploading the entire Sol-20 database.
Maybe it will be good, and even fun, to concentrate on a single console, finish there, and continue with another, so we would advance tons, it's an idea.
Greetings and I hope this new week goes well for you.
But, yes, there are games that don't have them, there are many, I hope I can help with that; for now, to be in order, I'm uploading the entire Sol-20 database.
Maybe it will be good, and even fun, to concentrate on a single console, finish there, and continue with another, so we would advance tons, it's an idea.
Greetings and I hope this new week goes well for you.