"Bundles" what do they mean on here and ideas about entering and collecting

[Black Lotus]

Hello,
      A lot of times on these lists I see a game and then a bundle for that same game. I understand some games comes with things like dance mats or extra controllers and are bundles, I get that. My question is For instance Guitar World with no UPC and says part of a set, that would never be listed in the database because it is part of that set/bundle and not ever sold on its own right? Or it also considered an entry when alone and not complete in bundle?

Next part to this. There's a dance dance revolution II game on the Wii that is listed as a bundle. Understandable, it came in a large box with the mat. But there's also a game Dance Dance Revolution II with a different UPC, but same part number inside the bundle itself. So should that have it's own listing as a game only because it has a unique UPC to itself?

I don't really know where I stand on this just asking. It would be dumb to have a bundle and a game inside that bundle listed separate because then if you have only the entire bundle, which is one item, you technically now have 2 items. But also for me, ill never buy these stupid bundles, so does the game only that I owe sit in limbo because the "bundle" isn't complete, or does it deserve a separate listing for game only just to enter it and throw it on the shelf??

Thanks guys!

[tactical_nuke]

We used to list only whole items. If a game came bundled with a controller, for instance, that controller would not be found by itself unless it was at one point sold by itself. We've gradually added these things separately however. I'm personally for this because a collector might not always find a complete item in the wild. So adding this sort of duplicate allows for a more concise personal collection list. Part numbers for bundled items aren't always the same as the outer box's, but sometimes they are. So it's not a question of everything having it's own unique numbers, just convenience for listing.
I do know however that not everyone on the staff will agree with me on this subject but we don't have a set of iron-clad rules for a lot of things. We just try to be accurate and in-depth. Usually when adding something that's from a bundle, it's standard practice to add a note in the trivia like "Game only sold as part of bundle. Listed separately for loose item tracking purposes." so everything's clear.

The only exception to this is big box PC stuff. I wouldn't add a jewel case that's part of a bigger box unless you know there was a separately sold jewel case version. Same with 3DO.

[Raidou]

Next part to this. There's a dance dance revolution II game on the Wii that is listed as a bundle. Understandable, it came in a large box with the mat. But there's also a game Dance Dance Revolution II with a different UPC, but same part number inside the bundle itself. So should that have it's own listing as a game only because it has a unique UPC to itself?

Agree with Flea on this one- not everyone wants to track bundles and not everyone knows what bundle (or bundles) their copy originally came from.  Not to mention that if someone is a variant collector, they'll likely want their collection to have all their variants grouped together by game name.

The one thing I'll add is that you should probably add a link in the "Related Games" to the original bundle for any game variation that was bundle only (but only if you know for certain - no haphazard guessing or assumptions).

[Schlibby]

Agree with the above. The site caters as best as possible for all peoples collections so items only available as part of bundles are eligible.

However the data integrity of the site is more important so any such items should be clearly labelled (variant title and possibly trivia too). Something like “only available in bundle” or such like

[Black Lotus]

Ok here's some examples and you tell me how you feel and how I should submit and collect:

Example 1: "Bob's Fish Master: fishing rod bundle" but there's no "Bob's Fish Master" game only on the list.
So should I submit something that says game only? Call it a day and throw the game on the shelf?

Example 2: "Race Car Driving: Race Wheel Bundle" Then under it "Race Car Driving" game only. I look at my game and it has a UPC. Do I assume it came from the bundle or was this game released on it's own at some point? How would we ever know?

Example 3: "Guitar Hero: Touring the USA: Guitar Bundle" there's also " Guitar Hero: Touring the USA" game only. I look at my game and its Guitar World: Touring the USA but there's no UPC and it says "not for resale". I assume it came from the bundle. But the Guitar Hero: Touring the USA listing does not say "Not for Resale", or "Part of a set" or anything like that. So is the one in the listing the one I have or one that was actually sold outside the bundle?

Thank you for reading this if you did. It's just a dilemma that's coming up a lot and I want to see the best way to do this for my lists and for the site as a whole.

These "examples" are all made up games, but these 3 situations are real obviously.

[kaysow]

If I didn't buy an item brand new (stand-alone or as a bundle) I wouldn't assume anything about how it was released. However certain I feel about my guesses, once I submit something like that with part numbers, UPCs and scans to the DB then it's basically set in stone and future collectors will treat the information I guessed at as gospel.

I do have a few titles lying around that I've left out of the DB for the same reasons listed in your examples, where adding it could potentially hurt the DB more than it helps. Like this one that had a sticker UPC on the back:
[img width=700 height=381]https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/ddd8/1ix7fuyu4dfbe196g.jpg[/img]

And I actually bought that from a legit retailer, only later I figured they probably repurposed it from some sort of bundle. Anyway, if you're lucky you'll find reliable info on other databases (assuming they didn't just guess themselves), like I did with this game that was supposed to go in a double pack - http://www.rfgeneration.c...nfo.pl?ID=E-087-S-07250-A

I think that as long as a bundle entry in the DB is clear enough about it's contents then there's no need to add any of it separately. Although that may be wishful thinking since it's often hard to get good pics of oversized bundles like this one - http://www.rfgeneration.c...nfo.pl?ID=E-215-S-01650-A

[Raidou]

Are you sure it was the retailer that added the GTIN sticker? Sometimes bundled variants are split up by the publisher themselves - for example, the bundled version of"Final Fantasy X" in Australia was originally sold in a bundle with the PS2, but I've seen a handful of bundle versions sold with a stickered UPC that matches the official Australian release.  This  suggests that the publisher repurposed excess stock rather than the retailer.

I think that as long as a bundle entry in the DB is clear enough about it's contents then there's no need to add any of it separately. Although that may be wishful thinking since it's often hard to get good pics of oversized bundles like this one - http://www.rfgeneration.c...nfo.pl?ID=E-215-S-01650-A

First of all, assuming you can find adequate info for the original bundle  is definitely wishful thinking.  The aforementioned Final Fantasy X bundle for Australia- to date I have only found ONE reference to the bundle itself, and that is a cruddy low-res image I found on Gumtree (not exactly a reliable source).
 The European versions of this same bundle aren't much better.

I have also found that double packs are often split up by retailers -- the Capcom Classics double packs released in Europe in 2009/2010 are great examples of this.

[kaysow]

Probably just what they had around at the time and not an intentional swap-out. Usually you can find a wholesaler or something just by googling the EAN, but "4012927061756" gives me nothing about that one. It could be from this double pack - http://www.rfgeneration.c...nfo.pl?ID=E-095-S-02050-A judging by this pic - https://www.ebay.com/itm/...2dab1c:g:6wcAAOSwNqJbZFBh Actually seems kind of likely to me, though I wouldn't bet my life on it.