The Site

• What does TDB stands for in WiiTDB, GameTDB?
• Titles DataBase: a collaborative database of games for anyone to contribute and anyone to use in any game-related project.

• Is this a wiki?
• It is an open wiki. This game database can be fully downloaded by anyone: the whole content is meant to be easy to download. If you contribute to this project you really benefit from your work because you can download what you contributed as if it were your own personal project.

• How can I benefit from your game databases?
• You may use it online and offline for several reasons including certain Homebrew programs on the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and Wii. - display proper titles for your games ("Wii Sports" instead of "SPORTS PACK FOR REVOLUTION"), without ever having to do the renaming yourself. - display additional information about your games (players, online modes, accessories, publisher, developer...) - if you have a large library you could sort games, for example by number of players to quickly group your multiplayer titles - use a Parental block on games based on rating - search for games, by publisher, developer, matching a certain rating or released a certain year.

• How do I use the database file?
• Most Homebrew and PC softwares that support this database have an update option to download it, else you can simply download the file from the links on the Download pages.

• Should I unzip the database file?
• You don't need to unless it is specified by the software you use.

• What are all the game covers at the top of the site?
• Those are the latest covers added by members.

• What is the best way to get your covers?
• You can download covers from your computer or game system using one of the tools listed on the Downloads page. There are also a number of homebrew programs for Nintendo Wii that support GameTDB/WiiTDB. If you don't have online connectivity on your gaming system, you can download cover packs on the Downloads page. At last, you can browse the site and download any indiovidual cover you may need. If you are looking for full covers, look for the HQ links on the pages.

Sign Up

• Do I need to sign up?
• Only if you want to contribute to the site. Sign Up is only required to edit the database or add covers, and is not required to access the whole content.

• Are there any other benefits to being a member?
• Not for now, but we're thinking on a number of new features.

• What are the points on the Profile pages and Credits pages?
• Those are rankings to display the best contributors, just for fun, and should not be taken too seriously. Sometimes important contributors are listed separately.

• How do members gain points on the Credits pages?
• By adding new game entries of uploading artwork. Database: 2 points for a new entry, 1 point for editing a page. Limited to a maximum of 2 points per page. Artwork: 2 points for a full cover or original disc, else 1 point for any other artwork type. Members lose points if they upload bad/wrong artwork.

Database

• What is a game ID?
• The game ID is an identification code contained in games. For the Wii it is 6 characters long: name (3 characters), region (1 character P, D, F, H, I, X, Y, Z for PAL, E for USA, J for Japan, K for Korea, R for Russia, W for Taiwan, A for region free), Publisher (2 characters).

• How do I add a game to the database?
• Never modify the XML file itself. First, check if your Wii game is not in the database by searching for its game ID using the Search page, then use "Add a Game" in the menu to input the game ID and fill the form.

• How do I fix a mistake in the database?
• Sign Up, go to a game's page and click "Edit". type your modifications then click Save.

• Should I fix Capitalization in titles?
• Please do, provided you don't capitalize all letters. (if unsure refer to this Wikipedia article on capitalization)

• How long will it take for my changes to appear in wiitdb.zip?
• It can take up to one hour.

• How do I remove a game from the database?
• If you have made a mistake, or if you know very well all editions of a particular Wii game and are sure that a game's entry is erroneous, please contact us. You can also create a new page with the correct game ID if the game ID is wrong.

• How do I know the crc, md5 and sha1 checksums of a game I want to add?
• There are various solutions based on your operating system.

- Windows:
You can get a list of checksums using HashMyFiles (freeware).
Launch HashMyFiles, click File > Add Files. When it has finished, you can save the list with Edit > Select All, then File > Save Selected Items.

- Mac OS X:
You can generate checksum files using checksum+ (freeware).
Launch checksum+, click File > Open Explorer, check the boxes only for CRC32, MD5, and SHA1, then drag and drop the game ISO file you want to check onto the green arrow. The checksum for each category will then appear. This may take a few minutes to process.

- Linux:
Execute the following commands from a terminal, replacing the word file with the relative or absolute path to the game ISO.
The following also works from the Mac OS X Terminal app.
For crc, md5, and sha1, in that order,
cksum -o3 file | perl -wane 'printf "%0x\n",@F'
openssl dgst -md5 file
openssl dgst -sha1 file

• Why is there a Publisher field, I thought the Publisher could be guessed from the game ID?
• All software that support the file should be able to guess the publisher from the game ID and the included Company Codes list, but the publisher field should be used first as it is more accurate, a publisher's name could change over the years.

• How can I display the Japanese titles I see in the database?
• The database file uses the UTF-8 encoding. If it displays correctly on your screen when you edit a page on the site, it should display correctly in the software you use, if unicode is supported and the software can use a Japanese font.

• Why a list of companies?
• It can be used to guess the publisher name using the last two characters of the game ID. The Wii Company list was based on v2.1 of the Company Numbers List for MGB/CGB/AGB/NES/FC/SNES/SFC/DOL/NDS by FluBBa, with new codes for the current Wii and Wii U publishers.

• How can I keep track of new releases?
• You can use our RSS feeds. Look for the RSS feeds links in the left menu, click on the RSS icon from your browser to subscribe. You can also use RSS clients to follow the latest releases on many devices including smartphones.

• Why is the NTSC version of Disaster: Day of Crisis (RDZE01) missing?
• This game was never released officially in North America. The "NTSC" version that is floating on the internet is a modified PAL version. The Wii can easily play import games now so there is no point in using a modified version, it's the same.

Artwork

• How do I contribute artwork?
• Log in, then go to the game's page. You can use the Search page to find a game using the game ID or using its title. You can also type the game ID directly in your browser's address bar: https://www.gametdb.com/Wii/RMGE01 for Mario Galaxy. Click on the button located on the top right of the page named "Upload Artwork". Click browse to select the picture on your computer, select the cover type and the Region if it's a PAL game, then click "Upload".

• How long will it take for my uploads to appear on the site?
• If you are a regular contributor, your upload will appear immediately. If you are a new member, your upload will be reviewed by a moderator first so it can take from minutes to a few hours.

• Do I need to rename or resize the pictures?
• You don't need to rename, convert or resize. The format can be jpg or png, preferably 300dpi for scans.

• Do I need to rotate or crop the pictures?
• Yes, please make sure your picture is correctly rotated and that it only contains the artwork without external borders.

• Is it useful to upload high resolution pictures if the artwork type is much smaller?
• Yes, we keep all originals of the uploaded pictures in case a bigger size is needed later.

• Do I need to add transparency for discs?
• There is no need to add transparency for discs, or to add the inner ring, it's all done by the site. The only requirements are that the picture should be perfectly square (as in 1000x1000), perfectly centered (no borders around the disc), horizontally aligned (horizontal text).

• Do I need to add discs for all PAL regions?
• No, for PAL games, adding the disc as "EN" is usually enough. There is usually a single disc artwork for PAL games and the programs that use the database will find the EN disc even if your preferred language is different.

• Do I need to upload the front cover as a separate picture when uploading a full cover?
• You don't need to upload twice, when uploading a full cover the front cover will be extracted automatically using the full cover.

• Do I need to upload 3D covers?
• No, those pictures are generated automatically using full covers and covers

• This is too easy, are there any requirements?
• Quality and accuracy are the only requirements. Please make sure the artwork you upload have rating logos that match the particular version of the game (ESRB for NTSC-U games, PEGI for PAL covers and Australian Classification Board logo for Australian PAL covers). If the front or back part of a full cover is custom (home-made) and it is meant for a retail game, it won't be approved to be put on the site when reviewed by moderators.

Developers

• Can I use the database/artwork in my software?
• Yes, please add a link to GameTDB so that users know where to add new game entries and artwork. Please contact us to let us know about your project. We can also help you to add proper support.

• Can I use the database on my website?
• Please do not use without permission if you wish to use this file on a website.

• Where do I find a list of possible database entries?
• The Search page should give you a good idea of what to expect. Then, you can open the .xml: companies, genres and content descriptors are included near the top of the xml. You can make use of the translated genres and content descriptors to display localized content for your users.

• Naming scheme for languages (locale lang):
ISO 639 two-letter language codes (except ZH), the order is based on the one used by No-Intro (NGEfreak, based on how often a language is generally used in games). EN, JA, FR, DE, ES, IT, NL, PT, ZHTW, ZHCN, KO

• ESRB Rating:
EC (Early Childhood), E (Everyone), E10+ (Everyone 10+), T (Teen), M (Mature), AO (Adults Only)

• ESRB Content:
alcohol reference, animated blood, blood, blood and gore, cartoon violence, comic mischief, crude humor, drug reference, edutainment, fantasy violence, informational, intense violence, language, lyrics, mature humor, nudity, partial nudity, real gambling, sexual content, sexual themes, sexual violence, simulated gambling, some adult assistance may be needed, strong language, strong lyrics, strong sexual content, suggestive themes, tobacco reference, use of drugs, use of alcohol, use of tobacco, violence, violent references, references to violent acts

• CERO Rating:
A (Everyone), B (12+), C (15+), D (17+), Z (18+)

• CERO Content:
language, alcohol/tobacco, drugs, love, sex, horror, violence, crime, gambling

• PEGI Rating:
3+ (4+ for Portugal), 7+ (6+ for Portugal), 12+, 16+ (15+ for Finland), 18+

• PEGI Content:
language, discrimination, drugs, fear, sex, violence, gambling

• GRB (Korea) Rating:
ALL, 12, 15, 18

• WiiWare/Virtual Console types:
WiiWare, Homebrew, VC-NES, VC-SNES, VC-N64, VC-SMS (Master System), VC-MD (Megadrive/Genesis), VC-PCE (PC-Engine/Turbografx-16), VC-C64, VC-NEOGEO, VC-Arcade.