Introducing My Collection Tracker Mobile Application

[Code Monkey | 2,010]

It's still in progress but what do you think?

The login is functional but skippable in the case you don't want to create an account but still want to browse.

The most used consoles are on the main screen but you can also view all consoles. The bottom row on the main screen will show you things like games you need or other lists specifically related to your account.

Clicking a console shows an alphabetical list of games with 3 red dots as a quick view of whether you have the box, manual or cartridge.

Clicking a game shows you the details of the game, the pricing and whether you have the box / manual / cartridge. Below this is a swipe section where you can see a list of print runs for this game as well as Wata population reports and recent Heritage auctions. You can click the question mark next to the print run name to see a description of what makes this print run different. Clicking the print run itself shows you the contents included in that specific print run (this is why I need to know which print run these contents came from).

I don't know why the backgrounds are red, sorry about that.

 

[ThePhleo | 2,185]

I like it.

Minor gripe: I would give the variant names for black boxes, and silver boxes a more recognizable nickname instead of the generic in-descriptive wata name.

Mine are as follows and are more informative IMO.

1. Matte Seal
2. Gloss Seal
3. Cello Seal w/ No NES-GP
4. Gloss Seal w/ NES-GP
5. Cello Seal w/ NES-GP
6. NES P XX
7. System™
8. No Hangtab
9. REV-A
10. REV-A with Flap Codes
11. Oval™ w/ 3-Line Warranty
12. Oval™ w/ 4-Line Warranty
13. Oval®

[Gloves | 11,779]

Not a fan of the ads, personally. Nor the fact that it's an app. I personally don't think monetization has any place in the discussion at the stage you're in, unless making money off of it is your main concern; and if it is, power to you, but that's a big red flag for me, dawg. 

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

Where's the login?

[RH | 4,904]

10 hours ago, Gloves said:

Not a fan of the ads, personally. Nor the fact that it's an app. I personally don't think monetization has any place in the discussion at the stage you're in, unless making money off of it is your main concern; and if it is, power to you, but that's a big red flag for me, dawg. 

If a tool works well and provides the features I'm looking for, I don't mind a yearly sub.  You don't work for free and server space isn't free either (and I know you know that, since you do this for a living too.)

That said, I think basic tracking should be free or at least, users should have the ability to login and export the data in some form so they don't feel locked into the service.  Also, as a new tool, I think it should either have a free trial period, or the app should cost something like $1.99 with the first 6 months free.

I mean, there are plenty of free options out there so I kind of understand the gripe, but if someone made a really stable pricing/tracking app and even had, say, an integrated community to share wants/for sale lists, I'd consider paying for it.

[a3quit4s | 4,099]

Neat! Gloves is just mad you have pictures of the game, unlike his MS-DOS game tracking program

I’d much rather pay a small subscription fee monthly than be blasted with ads and am ok with an app as long as there is also a decent desktop site I can use. 
 

Anything to do with graded/pop reports/etc should be a premium feature. 
 

It would be cool in the future to maybe have a Leo mode where you can do all variant tracking and that sort of thing or a3 mode that simply shows you what games you have and the detail is limited to the price and if you have C,I,B. I really just need to know why games I have to stop me from buying dupes and a much better way to search my games than scrolling through Excel tables 

edit: although Leo mode is probably just the premium version of your app lol

Edited February 7, 2023 by a3quit4s

[Tulpa | 3,501]

And actually name them Leo and a3 modes.

[spacepup | 2,404]

I have some legitimate questions:

* Where is your database / data coming from in terms of the game database? Did you create it yourself or is it pulling from somewhere?

* Will it support imports in any fashion? (I guess I should clarify, imports to US, or games from Japan or PAL regions)

* Once someone has entered in their own data, is it exportable in any way? xls,csv,json, whatever.

Thanks!

[Code Monkey | 2,010]

On 2/6/2023 at 8:45 PM, ThePhleo said:

I like it.

Minor gripe: I would give the variant names for black boxes, and silver boxes a more recognizable nickname instead of the generic in-descriptive wata name.

Mine are as follows and are more informative IMO.

1. Matte Seal
2. Gloss Seal
3. Cello Seal w/ No NES-GP
4. Gloss Seal w/ NES-GP
5. Cello Seal w/ NES-GP
6. NES P XX
7. System™
8. No Hangtab
9. REV-A
10. REV-A with Flap Codes
11. Oval™ w/ 3-Line Warranty
12. Oval™ w/ 4-Line Warranty
13. Oval®

I can't do abbreviations but I will give it some thought. I see I also missed some of those variants you listed as well.

 

23 hours ago, Gloves said:

Not a fan of the ads, personally. Nor the fact that it's an app. I personally don't think monetization has any place in the discussion at the stage you're in, unless making money off of it is your main concern; and if it is, power to you, but that's a big red flag for me, dawg. 

I have to monetize it somehow but I also want to make the information available to the community from where I sourced a lot of it. I thought a simple advertisement on this page would accomplish that.

 

22 hours ago, CodysGameRoom said:

Where's the login?

The first screenshot I posted.

 

13 hours ago, RH said:

If a tool works well and provides the features I'm looking for, I don't mind a yearly sub.  You don't work for free and server space isn't free either (and I know you know that, since you do this for a living too.)

That said, I think basic tracking should be free or at least, users should have the ability to login and export the data in some form so they don't feel locked into the service.  Also, as a new tool, I think it should either have a free trial period, or the app should cost something like $1.99 with the first 6 months free.

I mean, there are plenty of free options out there so I kind of understand the gripe, but if someone made a really stable pricing/tracking app and even had, say, an integrated community to share wants/for sale lists, I'd consider paying for it.

Do you think it would be right to charge for usage if I got a lot of the content from the community? I'm struggling with that.

 

13 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

Neat! Gloves is just mad you have pictures of the game, unlike his MS-DOS game tracking program

I’d much rather pay a small subscription fee monthly than be blasted with ads and am ok with an app as long as there is also a decent desktop site I can use. 
 

Anything to do with graded/pop reports/etc should be a premium feature. 
 

It would be cool in the future to maybe have a Leo mode where you can do all variant tracking and that sort of thing or a3 mode that simply shows you what games you have and the detail is limited to the price and if you have C,I,B. I really just need to know why games I have to stop me from buying dupes and a much better way to search my games than scrolling through Excel tables 

edit: although Leo mode is probably just the premium version of your app lol

Are you saying you would like a version without the variants? Why would you want less information?

 

12 hours ago, spacepup said:

I have some legitimate questions:

* Where is your database / data coming from in terms of the game database? Did you create it yourself or is it pulling from somewhere?

* Will it support imports in any fashion? (I guess I should clarify, imports to US, or games from Japan or PAL regions)

* Once someone has entered in their own data, is it exportable in any way? xls,csv,json, whatever.

Thanks!

I built a MySQL database on my webserver and a REST API to access the data. I would like to include imports but I would need someone to provide me a list and other information for them. 

Boy, lots of people want to be able to export, I can add that. Would it just be in CSV format?

I really like the feedback, especially the criticism. I need people to tell me what's wrong with this if I'm going to make it better for you.

[Gloves | 11,779]

3 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

I can't do abbreviations but I will give it some thought. I see I also missed some of those variants you listed as well.

 

I have to monetize it somehow but I also want to make the information available to the community from where I sourced a lot of it. I thought a simple advertisement on this page would accomplish that.

 

The first screenshot I posted.

 

Do you think it would be right to charge for usage if I got a lot of the content from the community? I'm struggling with that.

 

Are you saying you would like a version without the variants? Why would you want less information?

 

I built a MySQL database on my webserver and a REST API to access the data. I would like to include imports but I would need someone to provide me a list and other information for them. 

Boy, lots of people want to be able to export, I can add that. Would it just be in CSV format?

I really like the feedback, especially the criticism. I need people to tell me what's wrong with this if I'm going to make it better for you.

Export is huge. CSV generally is fine yeah. People don't like to feel "stuck" on a platform with so much info about their collections, especially given what we've seen in the past with tools closing down without notice. 

[Hammerfestus | 3,846]

Cool man.  Looking forward to checking it out.  I’ll drink the special healthy juice if I have to  

[a3quit4s | 4,099]

7 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

Are you saying you would like a version without the variants? Why would you want less information?

Some people only have one version of every game

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

11 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

Do you think it would be right to charge for usage if I got a lot of the content from the community? I'm struggling with that.

My suggestion would be to charge a flat fee for outright purchase of the app and have no ads involved for the basic functionality.  Have the default storage be local to whatever device it's on.  Should you have the ability/option, offer a cloud-based backup/sync service for the app for some sort of additional fee (offering monthly, quarterly, and yearly options at progressively better value the longer the term).  If you're wanting to collect data from users' data, such as your own sort of population reports, I would make that option require the users to manually opt-in, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to offer them some sort of benefit/bonus for agreeing to share the data with you (lower fee for cloud data, free trial of cloud data, etc.).

Just my thoughts.  I know not everyone thinks like I do, but honestly, I can't stand "free" applications that constantly spam me with ads.  I would much rather pay a fee up front and "own" my copy of the app, as well as whatever basic functionality it offers.  If you went that way, having a function to be able to export users' data into another format (one of the various spreadsheet formats already mentioned would likely be best) would make your app stand out from a lot of others out there, as most typically keep your data within that app, and that app only, even if they have the ability to import from any and all other formats.

[Tanooki | 4,934]

Just a suggestion to the comment about charging vs not, given the info came from the community.

Where did you get the info?  I think you could do both.  Maybe a reach, but offer up that anyone who has put up data online that would apply, faqs, scanned images, history, guides about the format where something applies, if they/you can prove it -- they get a free membership.  That way you get the data, don't feel dirty, and anyone who unintentionally contributed gets free access to their own information.

[Tulpa | 3,501]

6 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

Some people only have one version of every game

This. I mean, it would be nice to switch to a mode that includes all the variants, but some just want a simple listing of each game without having to scroll past ten versions of Kung Fu just because a number changed or whatever.

You could offer a base version that has the most common variant (or maybe major variants like the two Metroids) and then a power user version for the ones who want every little difference highlighted.

[mlbfan10 | 340]

I see in the screenshots, pricing for cart, manual, box, complete, and sealed where will the aggregate pricing/sales data come from? How often will it be refreshed?

Will I be able to track my graded games? 

I like the app idea overall and I like that I can have it on an app and export w/e I want to store it somewhere else. Win Win. 

Edited February 8, 2023 by mlbfan10

[Hammerfestus | 3,846]

1 hour ago, Tulpa said:

This. I mean, it would be nice to switch to a mode that includes all the variants, but some just want a simple listing of each game without having to scroll past ten versions of Kung Fu just because a number changed or whatever.

You could offer a base version that has the most common variant (or maybe major variants like the two Metroids) and then a power user version for the ones who want every little difference highlighted.

Agree.  All the variant and print run stuff is just clutter to me.  If it were to start out hidden and could be like dropped down that would be great.  I would imagine this is the case for the majority of collectors.  

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

16 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

The first screenshot I posted.

I clicked and I don't see anywhere to login.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

59 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

I clicked and I don't see anywhere to login.

The leftmost image in the first screenshot he posted shows the login screen for his app.  Currently there isn't any way for anyone who isn't part of his testing team (presumably just him) to log in, so there's no actual way to log in, just the image showing what the login screen would look like.

[Code Monkey | 2,010]

7 hours ago, Tulpa said:

This. I mean, it would be nice to switch to a mode that includes all the variants, but some just want a simple listing of each game without having to scroll past ten versions of Kung Fu just because a number changed or whatever.

You could offer a base version that has the most common variant (or maybe major variants like the two Metroids) and then a power user version for the ones who want every little difference highlighted.

Interesting, what would you place in that section instead? Screenshots of the game? Anything else?

 

6 hours ago, mlbfan10 said:

I see in the screenshots, pricing for cart, manual, box, complete, and sealed where will the aggregate pricing/sales data come from? How often will it be refreshed?

Will I be able to track my graded games? 

I like the app idea overall and I like that I can have it on an app and export w/e I want to store it somewhere else. Win Win. 

It's live data, it's aggregated from eBay's sales API daily.

I don't have a section for graded games, which functionality would you want for tracking those?

Thanks!

[a3quit4s | 4,099]

1 hour ago, Code Monkey said:

Interesting, what would you place in that section instead? Screenshots of the game? Anything else?

I wouldn’t put anything, just super optimized for basic use lol. I wouldn’t even have the most common variant listed in basic mode since that’s just gonna confuse someone lol - Literally just “Metroid” “NES” and you have C/I/B options. Maybe some generic picture of the box art or something 

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and they always stink. 

Make your little website or app how it best suits you and people who are like you will be drawn to it. 

[mlbfan10 | 340]

On 2/8/2023 at 7:54 PM, Code Monkey said:

It's live data, it's aggregated from eBay's sales API daily.

I don't have a section for graded games, which functionality would you want for tracking those?

Thanks!

Awesome on the live data from eBay and I like that it's checking daily.

For graded games I'd want the grading company, box grade, seal grade, certification number at least. Not sure if pricing can be based on the data set in the box grade, seal grade to help depict a smaller subset data with more accurate pricing. However graded games will not always have price data for the box grade/seal grade due to rarity, none graded prior, etc. You may not even want to include pricing for graded games if its too much effort.

Edited February 10, 2023 by mlbfan10

[phart010 | 1,707]

@Code MonkeyIn my opinion the best way to monetize this is to build in a trading functionality. First play around with gametz.com to get an idea of how it works.

Build the gametz capability into your app. This enables you to get matched up with other users that have games on your want list and which you also have games on their want list. Then you can negotiate a trade with them.. either item for item, or item+cash for item. 

Similar to Mercari you would charge both users a small fee to execute the trade and to print out the shipping labels. 

Of course people could go outside of your platform for trades but they wouldn’t have trade assurance and the convenience of trade history being tracked in the app. If your fee is small enough then it would be worth paying 

Edited February 10, 2023 by phart010

[dogbowl | 150]

One challenge I have with these collection trackers is that I like to browse by Publisher.

For example, I like to pull up the list of all Capcom games for the NES and see which ones I don't have (boxed) and which ones I do.  I like to look across my Atari 2600 Activision games and see what items I may be missing

 

Very much like the idea of tracking variants/ inserts and graded games from HA.