Submitting New Games To The Database

• Search for the game first to make sure it isn't already in the database.
  • Sometimes games are submitted with names from other regions, like Professor Layton and Pandora's Box vs. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, so always do a partial search, like "Professor Layton" and look through the results.
  • Also, numbers like 3 & III can cause search problems, when doing a search leave out interchangeable terms.
• If the game isn't in the database, it can be added by using this page. All fields must be filled out before submittal.
  • Titles should be submitted using the American name. If none exists, then the PAL name should be used followed by the english spelling of the Japanese name.
  • Submit The Full, Proper Title Of The Game, Along With Proper Spelling, Capitalization, Spacing, Punctuation. Don't use the boxart, Wikipedia, or your memory for the title. The official title from the developer should be used which can typically be found on gamefaqs/gamestats or within press releases. For example, "Street Fighter 2" is wrong, while "Street Fighter II" is correct.
  • You must select which console the game will be on.
  • The full name of the developer should be used. So "EA" is wrong, while "Electronic Arts" is correct. If the developer is unknown, put "N/A" in the field and it can be corrected later.
  • Select the genre that matches the game closest. If the genre is wrong, it can be corrected later. For more on genre's click here.

Boxarts

• Boxarts must contain no watermarks.
• Boxarts should be high resolution (500x500 or bigger) unles they are unobtainable. We don't currently display these high resolution boxarts, but we store them and have the capability to do so in the future so long as they are submitted.
• Boxart submissions must have a proper region (America, Japan, PAL) and type (Front, Back) selected. If either of those fields are blank they will be rejected.
• Official standard boxarts do not need the Caption field filled out, and should be left blank.
  • un-official boxarts that have RP or are unconfirmed should have a caption of "temp" or "provisional"
  • Special Edition boxarts should have the caption field filled with the type of boxart it is. For example, "Player's Choice" or "Guitar Bundle"

Banners

• Banners are a way to spruce up game pages with some VGChartz Flair. They must be 650x185 and should have no watermarks from other websites.

Editing Game Information

• North America Name should only be changed if the original submission had a spelling mistake or was submitted with a PAL or Japanese name.
• The PAL Name should be the english spelling.
• Developer and Genre were addressed in the game submission portion of this guide.
• ESRB, CERO, and PEGI ratings must reflect actual ratings. If an extremely gory game that we all know will be "Mature" is yet to be rated by the ESRB it can only be set to "Rating Pending" as the ESRB has not rated the game. These fields reflect factual truth and should not misrepresent the rating boards.
  • Ratings can be found at www.esrb.org www.pegi.info or www.cero.gr.jp

Game Summaries

• Summaries can only contain text and links. No images, videos, or other embedded objects.

• Game summaries must either be from the publisher, developer, the back of the box, or an original written by you. Try to cite the location copied from with a link.

• If you are submitting an original summary, please take the time to credit yourself! There is no reason why creative users who spend time writing up summaries, can't be properly credited for their work. Ideally, the end of your summary could contain something like this:
  
  *TalonMan
  
  You can copy and paste this right into the summary box (of course, swap out my username and profileId and put in your own). The idea is to get your name out there with a direct link right back to your profile.

• If you do decide to write your own summary, try to give a general idea of the plot or purpose of the game, along with some other info. Try to refrain from "best game/graphics/gameplay"-type of statements in the summaries. Be reasonable when writing them, and remember that these are game summaries, not game reviews. If you aren't a strong speller, or just aren't very good at wordifyin', try to stick with summaries from the publisher.

Screenshots

• Screenshots must contain no watermarks or copyrights from other websites. They can contain watermarks from publishers/developers/platforms.
• Screenshots must be viewable. If a screenshot is too small to easily see what is going on don't submit it. Also, just because you have your screen set to 320x240 and the image fills the screen doesn't mean the image is a high enough resolution. You should aim for a minimum resolution of 630×354, however it is understandable if some screens are smaller especially handheld games.
• We accept .jpg, .png and .gif files that are under 2MB.

FAQs?

• VGChartz use a hint system for Frequently Asked Questions. The hint system gives you just the hints you need to solve the game. Unlike traditional walkthroughs, the hint system lets you select specific questions and view only as much information as you want, from subtle nudges to full answers, so you can have more fun solving the game on your own. Each hint costs a predetermined amount of VG$, but once you buy the hint you own it forever.
• To submit a FAQ go to the FAQ page for the game you would like to add a FAQ. Click the Add FAQ link. From here, you add the FAQ to the Description field, and then add multiple hints in the Hint fields below. The first hint should be the most vague, and the last hint should clearly answer the question. Each time someone buys a hint from you, you earn 20% of the cost. So you don't want to overcharge for easy hints, but you also don't want to give the good ones away for cheap.

Cheats Page

• The Cheats page contains walkthroughs, in-depth guides, maps, codes, passwords, and unlockables. Each type is grouped together for easy browsing. An example of various submissions can be found HERE.
• Walkthroughs are guides to beating a game. They provide at minimum everything you need to know to get to the credits at the end. They can be in either text file or rich text format.
• In-depth guides are complete guides to specific sections of a game. They can be item lists, character data, or any detailed specific data to a game. They can be in either text file orrich text format.
• Maps must be in jpg, png, or gif format.
• Only facts can be copied as facts can not be copyrighted. So codes, passwords and unlockables can all be copied along with other facts. Any other content can be posted with proper permission from the original owner, or if it is an original work of your own. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.

Extras

• Extras are either Trophies for Sony Playstation 3 games, or Achievements for Microsoft Xbox 360 games. An example of trophies separated into their proper categories can be found HERE.
• Extras should be entered exactly as they appear on the PS3 or XBox 360 with the correct value or trophy type.
  • Hidden Trophies should be entered as they appear once unlocked.
• Only a game database administrator can add a DLC group to an Extras page.
• Special requirements are conditions that must be met to earn the extra. These special conditions specify conditions that are beyond single player play with no extra equipment and not connected online.

bah, this didn't turn out to good from my copy/paste.

I am not sure about the Action/Adventure part.
For instance Gamefaqs labels both Uncharted games for PS3 as Action/Adventure.
We have both as Action games in our DB which I feel is the better choice out of this two.

I wouldn't worry about it too long as that section should be getting an update soon. I thought about saying "whichever fits best" but that just causes confusion. Anyways, Zelda is listed as "Adventure" but I feel that it has just as much action as Uncharted. Maybe it has more adventure to it, but either way, the genre system is going to be replaced soon and there will be a specific Action/Adventure category. Having them all located under one genre will make it easier to find them in the near future, but meh.

Looks good all around...now back to adding all Info for Ubisoft games... Only at 125 of 900ish...T_T

Thank you!

I learned most of this stuff with the mistakes I made :S
I learned it the hard way ahah

so what's the optimal SS resolution?

630px × 354px is used for displaying the image, but we store larger images and scale them down, so larger is better.

All of the ps3's trophy lists from http://www.allps3trophies.com/ have been added to the databse up until the ones released in September 2009.

So if your looking to add some it's better to look from recent games.