User:Xerxes: Difference between revisions

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==== Source #4: [http://www.gametdb.com/ GameTDB] ====
==== Source #4: [http://www.gametdb.com/ GameTDB] ====
GameTDB is huge and contains almost all GameCube and Wii IDs and covers, along with some other miscellaneous data like game languages similar to redump. The problem though is that GameTDB is not as reliable. There are invalid entries on GameTDB, low resolution/wrong covers making it hard to check entry validity (___X__ region European IDs having ___P__ region covers as a consistent problem), questionable developer and publisher information, etc. The actual IDs though are generally correct, and this is the only source other than a personal dump or the NUS that contains full 6 character IDs like the Dolphin wiki uses. I would say the IDs from GameTDB are around 80% accurate, with the other 20% generally being flat-out missing IDs or false entries (for example wrong publisher code). Because this is pretty trustworthy but not perfectly so, I still recommend checking against one of the more reliable sources above before mindlessly posting IDs from GameTDB onto the wiki. However, in the case of a retail Wii game with no good cover scans for example, this becomes the most reliable source and there's no choice but to trust it until someone with the game comes to confirm/deny your addition.
GameTDB is huge and contains almost all GameCube and Wii IDs and covers, along with some other miscellaneous data like game languages similar to Redump. The problem though is that GameTDB is not as reliable. There are invalid entries on GameTDB, low resolution/wrong covers making it hard to check entry validity (___X__ region European IDs having ___P__ region covers as a consistent problem), questionable developer and publisher information, etc. The actual IDs though are generally correct, and this is the only source other than a personal dump or the NUS that contains full 6 character IDs like the Dolphin wiki uses. I would say the IDs from GameTDB are around 80% accurate, with the other 20% generally being flat-out missing IDs or false entries (for example wrong publisher code). Because this is pretty trustworthy but not perfectly so, I still recommend checking against one of the more reliable sources above before mindlessly posting IDs from GameTDB onto the wiki. However, in the case of a retail Wii game with no good cover scans for example, this becomes the most reliable source and there's no choice but to trust it until someone with the game comes to confirm/deny your addition.


Keep in mind that the way the website is organized, every single ID has a set of links at the top that allows instantly browsing to the next or previous ID alphabetically. At first this might seem like an oddity but it's one of the best features of the site. This can be useful for example in cases where the wiki erroneously contains two separate pages for the same game, as they will often come next to each other in an alphabetical listing. Multi-region releases of games often don't share a name between countries, so sometimes overseas if a publisher is not clear that it's the same title, databases can get confused and list them as separate. The one flaw with the next/previous ID system is that GameTDB lists hacked IDs in along with their normal IDs, so for very popular titles like New Super Mario Bros. Wii for example, many page loads would have to be gone through to reach the official IDs for the game. In these situations, try and use GameTDB's .txt inventory of all IDs instead, which can be acquired [http://www.gametdb.com/wiitdb.txt?LANG=ORIG here] (starts download).
Keep in mind that the way the website is organized, every single ID has a set of links at the top that allows instantly browsing to the next or previous ID alphabetically. At first this might seem like an oddity but it's one of the best features of the site. This can be useful for example in cases where the wiki erroneously contains two separate pages for the same game, as they will often come next to each other in an alphabetical listing. Multi-region releases of games often don't share a name between countries, so sometimes overseas if a publisher is not clear that it's the same title, databases can get confused and list them as separate. The one flaw with the next/previous ID system is that GameTDB lists hacked IDs in along with their normal IDs, so for very popular titles like New Super Mario Bros. Wii for example, many page loads would have to be gone through to reach the official IDs for the game. In these situations, try and use GameTDB's .txt inventory of all IDs instead, which can be acquired [http://www.gametdb.com/wiitdb.txt?LANG=ORIG here] (starts download).