Database Navigation Guide

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Downloading DATs

  • Go to the "Download" section
  • Choose the system you want to download the dat for, or choose "Daily" to download a daily-generated pack of DATs.
  • Change the settings from the defaults, if you want. Click the download button and follow the on-screen instructions.

Looking up status/info on ROMs

Download a CSV (spreadsheet)

  • Go to the "Download" section
  • Choose "dumplog"
  • Choose the system you want to check
  • Click download

Manually

  • Go to the "Search" section
  • Choose the system you want to look up your game for, and pick "Search".
  • Input the title of the game you wish to check the dump status for and click "Search" again. Note: Be sure your syntax is correct for the title, otherwise it won't pop up.
  • You may see a few entries for the title, this can be region or revisions. ROMs will be in three basic categories: verified (two or more trusted dumps), Not verified (one trusted dump, and/or one or more untrusted dumps) or bad.
  • Bad ROMs and and Not verified ROMs need to be redumped. Sometimes it is also useful to redump already trusted dumps, if the dump doesn't have much info (like no photos of the PCB).

Definitions

  • Scene Dump = Dump originating from a scene release by the warez/piracy scene
  • Verified = ROM has two or more Trusted Dumps
  • Locked = DATs are locked to prevent edit conflicts when someone is doing a lot of edits. In the future DoM may be reworked so that DATs can still be viewed/downloaded while they are locked.
  • Licensed = The original console manufacturer (like Nintendo) approved that game for sale for that console at some point. Preproduction builds count as approved for sale. Official re-releases inherit the licensed status of their original release, and have an additional tag to distinguish them.
  • Unlicensed = Any game that wasn't approved for sale for that console by the original console manufacturer at some point. If there was no approval process, then go by the Aftermarket Start Year (see the Aftermarket Guide).
  • Aftermarket = Any unlicensed game that was first distributed after the last-known original licensed game released for that platform. All aftermarket games must be unlicensed because they were all originally released after the console's licensing period ended. Aftermarket is intended to be a general barometer of console lifespan to help us distinguish unlicensed indie homebrew games released after the console was discontinued. Please see the Aftermarket Guide for more info.
  • Pirate = Unlicensed games using assets that have been used without consent of the owner.
  • Beta = Pre-release build of a game that was eventually completed.
  • Prototype (Proto) = Pre-release build of a game that was never finished.
  • Private = Games released for new platforms, or recently-released (<10 years old) unlicensed games for legacy platforms that were paid at the time of datting. Please see the Aftermarket Guide for a decision tree.
  • MIA = Short for Missing in Action. Refers to ROMs that can't be found on the web.
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