As you could probably guess from a recent post, I’ve become particular about my gaming collection. I’ve got all sorts of games for just about every system, and I am trying to get it as organized as possible. One thing I’ve become really interested in was finding some nice inventory management type software for games collections. I knew a ton of them existed for movie collections, but I wasn’t quite sure if there was one out there for video games collections. Turns out there is, and it’s a great piece of software. Collectorz.com offers a whole line of collection management programs for managing your Books, Movies, Music, Games, and Comic collections. All of them offer the same set of features, but tweaked for different things. This review is primarily about the Game Collector (heretofor GC) program, but I also purchased the Movie Collector software, which is just as great.

Game Collector Basics
First of all GC has all the basics down, you can enter games into your personal database automatically by searching by a scanned barcode or the title of the game. It actually gets data from its own database, and other retail databases like Amazon. It gets each title’s picture and all sorts of data like summaries, release dates, ratings, genre, developer, publisher, platform, and more. Once a game is in your collection, GC can track loads of additional information like when and where you bought it, if you have completed it, and any additional notes you might have. One thing that I was especially impressed by, was GC’s extendibility. For example, each game has a field which tracks what other associated objects you have for the game like its case and manual. You just check which ones you have. But, as with all lists on GC, you can add to it. This was very useful for entering in all my Neo Geo MVS cartridges that have varying degrees of extras like mini-marquees, art sets, and dip settings.

Your GC database isn’t just for games you own either. Each game has a field specifying whether a game is in your collection, wanted, or even for sale. This was useful for entering in those few NES and SNES games I am still hunting for. Once I get them, I can just change the status of that game over to “In Collection”.

Another interesting thing GC can do is to print reports and show statistics about your game collection. The reports tool is pretty standard, you can print out lists of your games, sorted however you want, with whatever fields you want. You can also view statistics of your games, like how many games you have by platform, series, or media type. I like extraneous info like that. For instance, did you know the game series that I own the most games of is from Final Fantasy (13)?

Pro vs. Standard?
There are two versions of GC available from Collectorz.com. The Standard version will run you $24.95, and the Pro version will run you $39.95. Basically, everything I mentioned above you will find in both versions. But the Pro version has a little more to offer. With Pro, you can export your collection’s data into raw Text, HTML, XML, or even into iPod’s notes format. With iPod notes you can look through what games you own before making a purchase, so you aren’t stuck with a duplicate. I know this won’t happen on expensive games you play a lot, but when you are looking through stacks of classic games at the Goodwill, it becomes easy to forget what NES games you really have. Also, with Pro you can manage loaning items in your collection. Remember that friend in college that borrowed a game or movie of yours, and you never got it back? Pro will let you keep track of who is borrowing what.

Conclusion
Game Collector does everything I want for game collection management and more. It’s fast, reliable, and hasn’t failed me once. The only reason I wouldn’t recommend it, is if you don’t care about managing your collection by software. I know most people aren’t as OCD when it comes to collecting things as me, so it may not be for you. But if you want your collection managed, I really couldn’t find any other piece of software that comes close to GC’s features. Also, Collectorz.com has bundle deals, so you can buy multiple collection management programs at the same time and save some money. If you aren’t ready to buy it, they also offer a free trial version.

P.S. Barcode Scanning
If you have a large collection of movies, music, or games that you want to enter into a collection, you should find yourself a nice barcode scanner. They can get kind of expensive on eBay, but there is one kind out there that will almost always be cheap: the CueCat. Originally the CueCat was supposed to be some new marketing tool where people would scan barcodes in magazines and it would take them to a website. The idea flopped, leaving thousands of proprietary USB barcode scanners. Basically, with a little modification, one can “declaw” a CueCat. In other words, you can remove the encryption of scanned data. I found a CueCat that had already been modified on eBay for around $10. What’s great about GC, is that it even supports non-modified CueCats too. Basically, the decryption of the data is handled by the software. Either way, you are set, but if you ever want to use the CueCat for something else, I’d recommend either getting a modified one, or doing it your self. Check out the Wikipedia page for more.

Recently I purchased the EZFlash IV Lite Deluxe cart for my DS Lite to play homebrew applications and games, game backups, and other things. This review may go over some heads, but here are the basics. A flash cart, is basically an empty cartridge, that you can copy DS or GBA code too. Whether that code is made by you, by others, or is just a ROM backup is up to you. As mentioned before you can use it to run homebrew games and apps (which you can make), listen to and watch multimedia files, and play DS and GBA games. Click the Read More link for the full review.

Although I haven’t done much DS development lately, I’ve kept on eye on the scene. It’s definitely grown a lot with cool additions like Sgstair’s WiFi library, completely opening up the platform with a wireless communications library.. One reason I haven’t done much is that my current flash card (512 MBit EFA), is a full sized GBA cart which annoyingly sticks out of my DS Lite, and requires a PassMe to work. With my old style DS, I was able to do a FlashMe, or reflash the firmware of the device to open up homebrew applications. Flashing the firmware of the DS Lite is a little trickier and could possibly “brick” it, so I was hesitant to even try that method.

Given that so much has changed in the shady world of flash cartridges, I began looking around to see what was out, and decided on getting a new one. Enter the EZFlash IV Lite Deluxe. It is a flash cart that takes a micro-SD card, and fits flush in the GBA slot for your DS-Lite. What’s even better is that recently this cart has been bundled with a NoPass card. The NoPass card does the same thing a PassMe did, but is the size of a DS cartridge, and basically allows you to run DS code from the GBA slot. A while ago, I had purchased a micro-SD card for my cell phone, but I barely ever used it, so I figurde this would be a great way to use it. Just for reference, I am using a SanDisk 1 GB micro-SD card.

Packaging and Delivery
I ordered it from the popular Chinese retailer Winsunx. Make sure you register before you buy it, you can get 5% off your order. Considering that it came from China, it came very fast, I ordered it on a Thursday, and it came the next Tuesday (which was even the day after MLK Day). Packaging wasn’t bad. It just came in a cardboard box, but it was held by a plastic tray, so there was no “wiggle” room in the box. It came safe and worked perfect, and judging from the FedEx envelope, it had even been thrown around a bit.

Build Quality
I have a couple of tiny qualms with the construction quality, but it is very good. First of all, as you can see from the photo below, the color is just a pinch off. However, I barely notice with normal use. Also, there is one side of the EZFlash that feels like it is loose sometimes. Whenever that happens, I just squeeze it and it snaps back in place. However, given the normally low quality in electronics coming from China, this one is built pretty well. Other than those two tiny problems, everything else is fine.

EZ4 Kernel
For some reason, the EZTeam refers to what loads the ROMs on your DS as the “kernel”. Most people call this a “loader”, but I guess when in Rome.. When I got it, the latest version was 1.72. It’s a pretty simple interface; you select which ROM or App you want to run. No sweat. One thing that is cool, is that you can skin the interface, and make it look however you want. However, the skin is completely dependent upon the kernel, so whenever you want to change the skin, you have to update the kernel. And say you find a skin that someone made months ago that is really awesome; chances are it was built on an old kernel, and it won’t have all the functionality you need. (Voice of experience).

EZ4 Client
To be honest, none of these flash cartridges are that easy to use, when compared to standard American electronic device client software. But among the Chinese devices, EZFlash is pretty umm, well, easy. The client software is what you will need to use to load ROMs on your micro-SD card. It will automatically name the file properly, based on a database of ROMS, and add the appropriate save type to the saves directory. You see, every time you play a game, the flash cart has to manage the type and location of your save. So make sure you use the client software to copy over ROMS.

Homebrew
All the classic GBA homebrew stuff seemed to work perfect, like PocketNES. But some DS homebrew apps seemed to have trouble when data was saved using FAT. I have since read this has something to do with the way EZFlash addresses the micro-SD card, and they’ve released a special library of methods called EZ4FATLIB to address this issue. Apparently, this is a big problem considering there are a lot of different flash cards out there, all with different data access methods. Luckily, someone named Chishm came up with a Dynamically Linked Device Interface, or DLDI. Dev’rs can build their homebrew apps on the DLDI, then you can patch your ROM with the appropriate DLDI patch for your flashcart. For example, A program called DSLiveWeather just came out with DLDI support, and previously it was incompatible with the EZFlash IV. After patching it with the EZFlash IV DLDI patch, it works fine.

Multimedia
As I mentioned before, you can use a flash cart to view and listen to multimedia files. This is done with an amazing program called Moonshell. One caveat of the homebrew community is that there are usually more ideas than fully featured programs. In other words, people get great ideas, but never follow through and make a fully tested feature rich application. Moonshell is the exception. I first heard of it a couple of years ago, but it has evolved into a very stable all purpose shell program. Without performing any special conversions, you can use Moonshell to listen to MP3s, OGGs, NSFs, and SPCs, and you can view JPGs and BMPs. In order to watch a video, you need to convert it to DGP format, using the DGP conversion tools. They are pretty easy to use, and work great. You can even read books with Moonshell. Check out Moonbooks, a project aimed at getting public domain classics to be formatted for viewing on Moonshell. All you need to do is launch Moonshell from the EZFlash loader, and then you can select your files to read/view/watch/listen to. The only thing is, make sure you don’t load NDS files (DS ROMs) from Moonshell. I don’t know why, but I saw this on the EZFlash forums: “Do not attempt to run NDS Games via Moonshell, it can cause permanent damage to your EZ4 cart. “ I don’t like the sound of that.

GBA Compatibility
One reason I chose the EZFlash IV, aside from its aesthetics, was its superior GBA compatibility. Other smaller, Slot-1 solutions exist, but as of yet, none will allow you to play GBA ROMs on them. Not only does EZFlash support GBA, it has among the highest compatibility as far as number of save types, and games it supports. I believe the only drawback is the lack of an RTC (Real Time Clock). However, as far as I know, only Pokemon games even use that feature. So all those great GBA games I loved I can play without hauling around a ton of bulky cartridges. If GBA compatibility doesn’t matter to you, check out the EZFlash V, it’s a Slot-1 flash cart made by the same people.

Storage
The fact that I can use a micro-SD card is great. It makes the storage cheaper, and upgradeable. 1 GB is pretty big for these ROMs, I can put dozens of DS and GBA games, hundreds of NES Games, Homebrew Apps, A few music albums, a couple of full length movies, and still have plenty of room left.

Conclusion
Altogether, the EZFlash IV Lite Deluxe is a wonderful little device. There is almost no end to the number of fun and innovative things you can do with it. I completely recommend it. The only time I would say not to get it, is if you aren’t interested in playing GBA ROMs. The EZFlash V just recently came out. It is a Slot-1 device (Size of a DS cart), that also uses a micro-SD card. However, there is no GBA support.

Product Information
EZFlash IV Lite Deluxe Bundle Package (Jet Black) - Winsunx ($45)
1 GB SanDisk Micro-SD (TF) Card - Newegg ($26.99)

Pros
Superior GBA compatibility
Fits DS Lite perfect
Micro-DS allows high capacity and extendibility
Decent DS/GBA ROM loading software
Low Price

Cons
Some Homebrew FAT Incompatibilities
Some concerns with construction quality

Earlier today, my friend Jeremy asked me if I would review Wario Ware. Originally, I thought I wouldn’t, since I usually just say a few words about the game, and add it to the “Games I Am Playing” pile. But, ironically, as I wrote this entry, I realized I had a lot to say. So, let’s start something new! Hit the “Read More…” link for the full review.

As you know, I was excited about this one. I have played all the Wario Ware games, and the thought of new games featuring the motion capabilities of the Wii just plum tickled my fancy. OK, maybe not my fancy, but it tickled me. What I ended up getting was a really fun and hilariously presented game, that unfortunately didn’t live up to a few expectations. Let me get my complaints out of the way first. I always thought this game would be the ultimate party game for the Wii (at least until Mario Party 8). This is probably why my standards are set so high. But because of a few idiosyncrasies, it’s multi-player is a little lacking. First of all, you can’t just open it up and immediately play a multi-player game. You are forced to play the entire game through in single-player mode before you can play multi-player. Even then, multi-player can only be done with one controller, that you pass around to other people. First of all, this breaks some fundamental game design conventions. Why should I be forced to “unlock” what should be an immediately available feature? Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a hard game. But playing through the entire game alone puts me at an unfair advantage when I play my friends. If I am playing with 3 other people, and have four controllers, why should I be forced to pass around 1 controller, while my other (expensive) Wii remotes are rendered useless? I can understand certain rare situations where more than 4 people want to play, the alternating multi-player mode should be an included feature, but not at the expense of a traditional 1-to-1, controller-to-player style.

OK, Now that I have that out of my system, I can talk about how Wario Ware does things great. The presentation of the game, the stories, and random monologues are hilarious! It made me laugh pretty hard. The microgames are innovative and well controlled. It is fun! As I always do, I especially enjoyed 9-Volt’s games. 9-Volt’s games are all throw backs to older Nintendo games. Some of the microgames I played featured gameplay straight out of games like Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Mario Brothers, Metroid Prime, Zelda: Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time, Punchout, Mario Sunshine, and way more. They eventually culminated into what I consider the greatest Boss Fight in any Wario Ware game, Star Fox, in the original SNES graphical style, fighting ROB the Robot. Sweet, delicious, retro goodness!

So, what is ultimately frustrating, are a few bad design decisions keeping the game from really taking off into the mainstream. I really thought this game would be a big hit for the new Wii owners, but ultimately, I think it’s lack of traditional multi-player cripples what is otherwise an excellent game. Oh well, bring on Mario Party 8!

Big Head Verdict: 8.5/10