Bibliographies

[badinsults]

One of the things that makes researching difficult is the lack of comprehensive reference lists. For example, in scientific research, you can look up a topic in Google Scholar, and it will come up with a list of relevant papers with reference to the journal/book the article is in.

I would like to solve this issue when it comes to video game magazines. I have created a spreadsheet with what I have in mind for a bibliography, which you can download here in XLSX and ODS format. I've been doing this to create comprehensive bibliographies for games on SNES Central (for example, look at my Super Mario World). I expanded the spreadsheet to include a "system" column so that it can house more systems than just SNES. In order to track unreleased games and the development times for games, I have been quite thorough in documenting the SNES games found in the list (even a mere mention in a preview is added on the list).

Ideally, I think it would be best to create an complete document for each magazine, and have the spreadsheet available for download on the Wiki page for each issue. Another option is to have the bibliography for each magazine or system, though such a file might be harder to maintain.

Any thoughts on what columns might be good to include on the spreadsheet? I was thinking of an "author" field, though in most magazines of the 90s, many articles did not specify an author, or they hid behind anonymous handles.

[E-Day]

I like this idea.

So you would have a document for each magazine, such as Nintendo Power, or would you have one for each issue? I Am curious as to how things would be organized.

[badinsults]

It would likely be best to do both, that way many people could work on the different issues (should there be more people interested in doing this other than me), then have a master list with all issues. Though until there are a few issues documented, there is no point in having a summary list. I will spend some time creating a few bibliographies for a few magazines to use as examples.

BTW, I decided to do an "author" section.

[Mister Zero]

This is a great idea. I've also wanted something similar to this for a while now.

Basically what I boiled it down to is the magazines contents being searchable. Want to read all the articles about a certain game? Search the name and it will bring up a list of articles about the game, or maybe even just with the game's name included within.

I think at one point we were going to show or type out the table of contents for each issue, but the idea fizzled out. This would have helped such a system come into place, as it would have become a sort of skeleton to build upon.

[Areala]

When I started with this site, that was originally what I was doing: physically typing out a listing of every game that was reviewed, featured or previewed in a particular magazine within that issue's listing on the wiki. If you think any of that information will help with your spreadsheet or reference-gathering work, badinsults, I'm more than happy to let you use it (my work mostly involved PSM magazine).

*huggles*

Areala

[badinsults]

Well, I'm hoping that my referencing will be far broader that a "table of contents". I'm listing stuff like advertisements and mere mentions in previews and such.

Perhaps someone can create an SQL script that can read these files and create something that is searchable. That is beyond my level of interest, though. I hope that with a spreadsheet format, that anyone can contribute to such a project of compilation.

[Gnash]

The problem with spreadsheets is that it's a very limited database. I would recommend using some other software made for that. Using relational database model. Since one add can include more than one system and so on...

[badinsults]

The problem with spreadsheets is that it's a very limited database. I would recommend using some other software made for that. Using relational database model. Since one add can include more than one system and so on...

Are you going to program it for me? Because I'm not programming it.

[Mister Zero]

It all sounds like a lot of work for just a few hobbyists on a private site.

It's a great idea, but I don't think it would get off the ground just yet.

Badinsults, let me just say that I love your site. It's so full of information and the articles are top-notch. Great work.

[unbanned]

Don't you think that before databases showing the contents of magazines that we have a database of WHAT magazines we have and what pages are missing so we can fill those holes? If I stumbled across this site and I happened to own many magazines, what would be an easy way for me to find missing pages for issues that I could fill? I'm looking at the Wiki page and I'm not seeing anything clear or current.

[meppi]

Badinsults, let me just say that I love your site. It's so full of information and the articles are top-notch. Great work.

Indeed. I especially love the prototype and beta info about games.

badinsults, you might want to check out the screenshot of Super Mario World in Mean Machines 3.

On page 14 where the huge bullet bill is still green instead of black, and only has an angry eye without the mouth.

[Mister Zero]

Don't you think that before databases showing the contents of magazines that we have a database of WHAT magazines we have and what pages are missing so we can fill those holes? If I stumbled across this site and I happened to own many magazines, what would be an easy way for me to find missing pages for issues that I could fill? I'm looking at the Wiki page and I'm not seeing anything clear or current.

This is definitely true. We should see if a few people would like to step up and do some dedicated work on the wiki.

[badinsults]

Very cool, I will have to check out. I wonder if anyone in Japan has ever started to scan old Famitsu magazines, as they might have a lot of shots from early Super Famicom stuff (I know that Tongueman has done one issue). Herein lies why it is necessary to have a bibliography, so we can find these gems of games that were in early development.

[Gnash]

Are you going to program it for me? Because I'm not programming it.

I might. I'm taking a PHP/MySQL course next month and I need projects. This could be one of them. I'm really interested in doing something that I can show off in future job interviews. I would do it right now but I'm taking some basic Oracle stuff ATM. I guess you guys can start with something like a spreadsheet then we can migrate it later on or something.

[badinsults]

I might. I'm taking a PHP/MySQL course next month and I need projects. This could be one of them. I'm really interested in doing something that I can show off in future job interviews. I would do it right now but I'm taking some basic Oracle stuff ATM. I guess you guys can start with something like a spreadsheet then we can migrate it later on or something.

I'm sure creating a database such as this would not be a hard thing, and as such would probably make a good project for a beginner. One complication might be trying to link together games that might have different names (like someone puts in "Street Fighter 2" while another puts in "Street Fighter II").

[badinsults]

I just finished completely documenting the January 1993 issue of EGM. Download the bibliography in ODS and XLSX formats.

Note that I decided to include sales and upcoming games lists in the bibliography, but I think it would be downright insane to try and include the store listings. However, when it comes to those lists, I was not rigorous to ensure that the proper name matched up. In the end, there was 876 entries.