Site FAQ

Nintendo Database has been going for a few years, and in that time I have received a lot of email correspondance from Nintendo fans. Sometimes I get asked the same question many times, and so this is a place for me to store the answers so I don't have to keep repeating myself.

I have tried to be as clear and honest as possible in my answers here. If your question doesn't appear here then it's a safe bet I haven't heard it a million times before, so feel free to ask. I try and respond to all questions or helpful submissions as a matter of priority, but if I don't respond then it may just be that I'm busy or haven't had time.

Can't get through to me by email? Try the NinDB forums as well, where myself and regular readers will try our best to answer questions or debate all sorts of issues.

Jump to...

• What is Nintendo Database?
• Who are you?
• Where can I get ROMs of Nintendo games?
• Why don't you have x feature on your site?
• I want to affiliate with Nintendo Database. What do I do?
• I want to submit a missing game. What do I do?
• How can I send you information / images?
• Some games disappeared from your list. Where did they go?
• How much can I buy x game from you for?
• How much is my Game & Watch / Classic game worth?

What is Nintendo Database?

I have always considered myself to be a huge fan of Nintendo games, but when I first saw the original video of Super Smash Bros. Melee's trophy mode in May 2001 I realised I didn't know who many of the characters were, and hadn't played many of their games at all. I set out to rectify this by tracking down every last game developed or published by Nintendo, starting with those in the trophies, and then expanding into those games that weren't even covered there. I wanted to focus exclusively on Nintendo titles to differentiate ourselves from me-too Nintendo news sites (of which there are already too many), and to supply a focus that let me cover the games in more detail.

I started my trophy research on my former website, Pocket Monster Island (now defunct), but my discoveries not only grew too big, but they were mostly irrelevant to the Pokémon games. So I threw together a new place to keep all of my findings (and those submitted by readers), and gradually Nintendo Database was born! You can get a good feel for the site's history by reading through the update archives.

Nowadays it is only new releases that require my attention, as the older game lists are more or less complete. So my attention has turned to game and series content. One of the most popular parts of the site is the coverage of cameo appearances in Nintendo games. Some of these are familiar to everyone who has played, whereas some are more obscure or have been forgotten. I have also been working on Nintendo series lists, character profiles, cancelled game features and loads more behind the scenes.

Who are you?

I am Fryguy64, known in real life as Mark Kelly. I live in England, and am a university graduate now working in publishing. I have been playing Nintendo games since the age of seven.

As well as Nintendo Database, I have worked on or contributed to various Nintendo websites over the years, including Super Mario Bros. Headquarters and The Mushroom Kingdom. I have also worked on two of my own websites before this one: DarcSyde (defunct) and Pocket Monster Island (also defunct). In that time I have also gone by the Internet handles of 'Super Markio' and just 'Fryguy'.

Where can I get ROMs of Nintendo games?

I'm sure you're all aware of this by now, but supplying ROMs of games is an act of copyright infringement, and is punishable by national and international copyright law. Providing information about game ROMs or supplying them is also in contravention of Gamespy server rules, and could have Nintendo Database kicked off the web.

So don't ask.

Why don't you have x feature on your site?

I like to gather as much conclusive proof as possible before accepting anything as fact - in life and here on NinDB. I like my information to be complete and clear, and if submitted content is incomplete and unclear then I will have to find the information myself. Sometimes I just don't have the access to the games or resources to do this, so keep that in mind if you know something that's not on the site.

In the case of cameos and cheats, I will assume they are rumours until checked by myself or a trustworthy contributor to the site - or if some extra information is provided, such as a screenshot or link to a website that covers the information.

In any other case, sometimes I just haven't thought of adding certain content. Sometimes suggestions become full-fledged parts of the website, or positive comments can help me focus attention on improving parts of the website. Feedback is always useful. Supply and demand, etc.

I want to affiliate with Nintendo Database. What do I do?

Nintendo Database has always operated with a simple affiliation promise. If a site has an affiliate scheme it has to be more than a glorified link system. Affiliates should help each other out and support one another. Sound good? Well there are other conditions you have to meet as well:

#1 Layout
Your site has to have a decent, easy-to-navigate layout. The colour scheme will not cause epileptic fits, you will avoid tacky design elements such as embedded MIDI files and garish tiled backgrounds made in Microsoft Paint.

#2 Longevity
How long is your site going to be online? If you're hosted by a 'free' server with severely limited space and bandwidth (Tripod, Lycos, etc.) then you probably won't be around for long - NinDB started out on Tripod, which was helpful for getting the site's name about a bit, but as soon as more than 50 people visited in a day the whole thing collapsed. We are happy to promote good websites on these startup servers, but we probably won't affiliate until you've migrated to something a little sturdier.

#3 Webmaster Interest
Why are you making a website? Is it a side-project for you to practice your web development and design skills? Do you just want to brag that you set up a website with thousands of hits? Well, then I'm afraid there's no place for you here.
Do you have a genuine interest in the subject matter your are writing about? Do you want to write about it? Do you spend your free time thinking about new ideas and original content? These are the elements that make a good webmaster and an excellent website.

#4 Hit Policy
What is the golden formulae for getting a lot of hits on your site? Believe it or not, the answer is solid content and a lot of time. All of NinDB's affiliates (and NinDB itself) have been slow burners. Working hard to satisfy a small readership of around 20 a day is nothing to be ashamed of. So long as you keep working on it then the number of people who find your site will increase dramatically. If you want to become a Nintendo Database affiliate to take advantage of the number of hits we get here then I'm afraid you are not affiliate material.

#5 Relevance
Your site has to have something to do with videogames, preferably Nintendo games. It will not be a me-too news site, and it will not be too similar to an existing Nintendo Database affiliate.
One thing I am eager to promote is sites like Nintendo Database, but for other videogame companies. I'm often asked if I would set up a Capcom/Sega/Konami Database, and the answer is no, because I'm a Nintendo fan through and through. I could apply the same research and archiving skills to other companies, but I have little interest in doing so when I'm not as familiar with the characters and games as I am Nintendo's. However, no-one else seems willing to take on the challenge, but if anyone is serious about getting one of these going, show me what you can do and I may well be interested in affiliation.

Think you make the cut? You can try emailing me. There is one final hurdle... I have to actually open your email and read it before you will be considered. Whenever anyone asks about affiliation I am often not interested. I have a fairly large set of affiliates already, and unless you can show me a website I would like to spend time on then I will probably just delete your email rather than reply. Such is the way of the world, I'm afraid! Still, if you think it's worth a try, give it a shot.

I want to submit a missing game. What do I do?

#1: Check if it's published by Nintendo
First things first, check the game box or game cart and look for the Nintendo logo. If it says:

• Nintendo
• Published by Nintendo
• Licensed to Nintendo
• Distributed Exclusively by Nintendo

then you have a game that should be covered on Nintendo Database, and it should be on this website. Now is a good time to check the NinDB game lists. Check the list relevant to your particular region. While we don't have full European NES, SNES or Game Boy coverage yet you can still send the information in as it will be useful in the future as European coverage expands.

But if your game says:

• Licensed by Nintendo
• Licensed for play on the x Nintendo system

Then the game is not published or distributed by Nintendo, and will not be added to Nintendo Database.

If you are submitting a game that you don't actually own, then I will need to thoroughly investigate it before it is added. If you are submitting a game that you found on another site's game list as published by Nintendo (including, believe it or not, Nintendo of America's own game list PDFs) then I will, in most cases, ignore it. Most sites have wrong information on them, and while Nintendo Database relied on other sites when it started out, it has taken a lot of time and reader support to trim the fat off and make this site more accurate than most.

#2: Check the serial code
So you are convinced that you have a Nintendo game not covered on Nintendo Database? Then before sending it in I need you to check the game's serial code, write it down in the email or forum post, and send it to me. The serial code is a three-part code that appears on every game, box and instruction manual. For older systems the code will look something like this:
NES-EI-USA (Tetris on the NES)
For newer games the code will look more like this:
NUS-NSME-USA (Super Mario 64 on the N64)
These codes tell me what system the game is on, what region and language the game is in, and a code specific to that game. This is important, as it gives me vital information on which system/language list to add it to, as well as providing a small and individual filename for the site's purposes.

#3: Can you throw in anything extra?
The following information is not absolutely necessary, but it would be unbelievably helpful if you could send in as much of it as you can:
1. The copyright information, including all license-owners, dates, and so on. This information can usually be found on the game's box and cart/disk. Sometimes the copyright information in the actual game is different, so if you can send that as well then that helps me a lot!
2. Can't help with copyright information? If you can find the name of the game's developer on the box, cart/disk or in-game then that's helpful too.
3. Double check the game's title, and ensure it is written out in full with all subheadings and punctuation marks.
4. Is your game a Player's Choice / Million Seller title? Sometimes Nintendo will publish one of these million sellers when they didn't publish the original games, so this is important to know as well.
5. Got a scanner? If you have the game's box, it would be extremely helpful if you could send a GIF or JPG scan of the front to me as well. If you don't have the game's box then let me know so I don't ask you later.

#4: And I can't stress it enough...
Check the website! If the game is already on the site then I don't want to be told that it isn't. Obviously check that you are looking at the correct region's game list as well. If you're still 100% positive, all you have to do is send it to Fryguy64!

How can I send you information / images?

Send anything to me either by email or through the NinDB forums. The following guidelines do apply:

If you are sending a simple correction or cameo for a game then I will verify it and update it once it has been cleared. If you send me something complicated that requires a whole new section of the site then it may not be updated for quite a long time. If the information you send is inadequate and I have to hunt down the details myself, then that will take time. It's worth keeping in mind that the more detailed you can be when sending something, the less time it will take me to find out what you mean.

When sending images or screenshots they must be in GIF or JPG format - screenshots should always be in hi-quality JPG format if they are to be used on the site. Never send me Bitmap (BMP) files or other large files without warning me first.

If you want to send in text-based information, such as a game guide, then it will either be in DOC or TXT format, or written up straight into a basic email and will preferably have no design flourishes beyond bold / italic text and section headings. If the guide is clear as basic text then we can worry about adding images later. If your guide relies on images then please contact me first. Any text you send to me will be edited as I see fit. This will include grammar, punctuation and spelling errors, unsuitable or unnecessary content, and may also include rearranging of material and/or additional comments by me.

I will always try and credit you for your submissions, great or small. If you don't want to be credited then please say so. If you send in information and you aren't credited for it there will usually be a good reason: either you didn't tell me anything I didn't know already (which happens a lot when I fall behind on updates), someone else submitted the information before you, or what you sent me was wrong or grossly incomplete.

Some games disappeared from your list. Where did they go?

There are two reasons a game might vanish from the site.

1. When I originally wrote the website I used various sources that have since proven themselves to be unreliable. Some games were said to be published by Nintendo when they were not, leading to them being removed when more accurate information was uncovered. I am now a lot more careful about which sources I believe, and hopefully there is not one game left on the site that wasn't developed, published, distributed or licensed by Nintendo. In rare cases, a future game Nintendo says they will publish that then gets picked up by another publisher may lead to the game being removed from the site. More likely it will receive a mention in a corresponding "cancelled" section.

2. At various stages in the past I have had game pages up with no information on. I have cut down on these by either filling pages with some form of information, or where this hasn't been possible I have taken the pages down temporarily. You may notice the Game & Watch section has no game pages any more, and quite a few of the Arcade titles haven't been put back up either. Cancelled games and special edition releases are going up in slow stages. Worse still, there is absolutely no information on the site regarding the Satellaview-X at the moment. All I can say is that I'm working on getting them all back up, and any information on them is welcome.

How much can I buy x game from you for?

You can't buy my games for anything. This is not a shopping website, it's an information website, and I collect games to play them, not sell on. If you want to buy older games or consoles then may I suggest you try eBay or a similar auction site. If you want to buy new games then try Amazon. Both sites are reliable, have great search features, and are available for loads of different regions of the world.

Quite a few stores also sell old or second-hand games, so check your local area's business directory for a list of videogame retailers.

Please note that these are just my recommendations. Neither eBay nor Amazon have anything to do with Nintendo Database and I cannot be held liable for anything that happens to you there.

How much is my Game & Watch / Classic game worth?

A sure sign that the site is becoming popular with serious videogame collectors... I have received a number of emails over the last year or so asking how much Game & Watch games and arcade boards are worth, or where they can be bought.

I'll be honest: I have no idea. I will usually point you to eBay, where you can find out how much people are willing to pay for games of the same type and quality as your own. Game & Watch titles are very rare and some are worth hundreds of dollars (especially boxed), and the same is true of some Virtual Boy games. There are also quite a few Game & Watch websites that have buying/selling sections and price lists. I don't know of any off-hand, but if you run one and would like a bit of extra traffic then send me an email and I'll stick your link here.

As for arcades: they are completely out of my depth. I have no idea where you can get them, how much for, or how rare they are. Again, if you have a site with this sort of information then send me an email and I'll link to it from here.