Site FAQ

NinDB has been running since 2001, and in that time I have received many enquiries about the site and Nintendo. Sometimes I get asked the same question many times, and those questions end up here, which you should read before sending me a direct email.

If your question isn't below, then contact Fryguy64.

Jump to:

What is NinDB?

At the tender age of 7 I played my first Nintendo Entertainment System. My entire family became Nintendo fans, and we bought each Nintendo system as they came out. I thought I knew everything about Nintendo. I helped out at various Mario fansites, and even set up my own Pokémon fansite called Pocket Monster Island (now defunct).

At E3 2001, Nintendo showed a video of Super Smash Bros. Melee's trophy mode. At that moment, I realised I had only just scratched the surface of Nintendo's back catalogue, and I set out to find out who all the characters were. It started with a long post on Pocket Monster Island, before spinning off into its own site called Nintendo Database, starting out as a list of Nintendo games for each system hosted on Tripod.

The site was launched between the release of the Game Boy Advance and the GameCube, and Melee had brought in an era of gaming nostalgia. As the site expanded to include more detailed information, and as it became more popular, the site was moved to the Gamespy "Planet" servers where it remained for over 8 years. Nintendo Database blossomed into a massive project containing information on every game ever published by Nintendo. The site's extensive coverage of cameos and Melee's trophy mode got it featured in Nintendo Official Magazine UK.

By the end of 2004 I was no longer a student, and was in full time work. Updating NinDB slowed to a crawl, and I no longer felt like I was operating a Nintendo fansite, but a release date archive. With the release of the Nintendo DS and the Wii, Nintendo had taken a radical change in direction away from gamers and towards casual gaming. By the end of 2007, work on the site pretty much ground to a halt.

If I was going to continue working on the site, I needed to turn it into something I would enjoy, something that would only contain the games I originally set out to discover as Nintendo games.

In mid-2009, Gamespy announced they would be closing their servers for fansites in August. With this new deadline in mind, the site was finished and relaunched under its contracted name NinDB on the 9th August 2009, hosted by Kontek. I hope you enjoy it!

Can NinDB provide me with Nintendo ROMs for emulation?

For the unitiated, ROMs are digital copies of software that are played using a program that emulates the hardware of the original system (an emulator).

Distributing copyrighted ROMs is illegal. NinDB is not a ROM site, but an information site for those interested in Nintendo's entire catalogue of games. NinDB will never supply ROMs of Nintendo games, as I don't particularly want the site to be taken down.

Why haven't you updated the site / added this game yet?

I work full time in a busy job, and I don't spend all of my free time working on this website, so I update when I find the time to do so.

If you have submitted a cameo that hasn't been added yet, then it's possibly because I'm working on making sure it's true. Nothing personal, but when you get as many hoax cameos as I have over the years, you tend to double check everything you are sent.

How do I submit a missing game?

Nintendo and its many subsidiaries publish many games. For years, NinDB was an archive of every game ever published by Nintendo, regardless of whether it was published in all territories, or could in any way be considered a "Nintendo game".

A few examples: Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 3, Space Invaders on SNES and Game Boy, Mega Man 6 on the NES...

These games are usually published by Nintendo in one region, but not in another (mainly Japan). In this case, I will no longer be adding them to the website.

You might want to read about those games, but that is not why I set up NinDB, and they do not interest me in any way. I set this site up to find information on bona fide Nintendo games, of which there are already hundreds. There are still games on NinDB that are questionable, and some that are missing that may be re-introduced at a later date after more work has been done.

If you genuinely feel a Nintendo game is missing, you can still contact me to let me know and I will look into it.

How can I send you information and/or images?

Send anything to me by email or through the NinDB forums.

If you are sending a correction or cameo for a game then I will verify and update it. The more detail you can send, the easier it will be to verify and update.

Be aware that anything you send is likely to be rewritten before being added to the website.

Submitting cameos

  • New cameo information will be credited to the person who submitted it first. If it's for a brand new game, don't be surprised if somebody else is credited, as I will have received several emails on the topic.
  • If the information you provide is inadequate, I will also credit others who helped to verify that information.
  • Finally, if you find the information on another website, make sure to point me to that website. I have to credit the original discovery, but I will also credit you for bringing it to my attention.

How much can I buy these games from you for?

You can't buy my games for anything, as this is not a shopping website, but an information archive.

If you want to buy older games, then your first stop should be the Wii Virtual Console. If you want original copies of boxed games, then try eBay or other auction sites. If you want to buy new games then Play.com or Amazon.

NinDB cannot be held responsible or liable for anything on these external sites.

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

I am a Nintendo fan, but I have yet to become rich enough to enter the world of collecting rarities. I'm afraid I can't provide prices for Game & Watch systems, arcade boards or classic/obscure games and systems, but there are many collector sites out there that should be able to help you.