Sears Tele-cade Games

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VideoGameCritic
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Sears Tele-cade Games

Postby VideoGameCritic » February 15th, 2018, 6:02 pm

I have an issue to resolve involve the Sears Telecade Atari 2600 clone. There are several Atari 2600 games that had different names when released for the Sear Telecade. Case in point: Breakaway IV (same as Breakout). What a strange name!

http://videogamecritic.com/2600bb.htm?e=55001#rev109

So instead of having a one-line review, I was thinking about changing the title to Breakout aka Breakway IV. I could also just add a note in the review about the alternate name, but then it wouldn't should up in the review title search feature.

I'd like to get your thoughts on how to handle this.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Sears Tele-cade Games

Postby Retro STrife » February 15th, 2018, 6:21 pm

No perfect solution. In an ideal world you want all 3 of these: (1) both names show up in search, (2) readers see both titles if they are scrolling through the game list, and (3) no duplicate reviews. In reality though, it's tough to do without sacrificing one of the three.

Best case scenario? Delete the duplicate post, title the single review as "Breakout (aka Breakaway IV)", and include a note at the end of the review to explain the name variation, but keep both names in the game list, and have it so that clicking either of them links to the single review. This way, both show up in search, but we will still easily find both when scrolling through the game list, and yet the duplicate post will be gone.

When considering all this, I envision a guy digging through a box of Atari games at a flea market. He picks up "Breakaway IV" and thinks "what the heck is this?" He goes to this site to check if you've reviewed it. Some people will use the search feature, while others will go to the game list to check it (personally, I usually scroll through the list rather than search). Ideally they find it both ways. (So keeping it as is would work too.)

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LuckyMan
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Re: Sears Tele-cade Games

Postby LuckyMan » February 15th, 2018, 8:08 pm

I think you should leave the Sears' games as is. If someone is looking for a review of one of the Sears titles they will find it with your explanation of what the alternate Atari title for the game is. Otherwise they might just think you haven't done a review of the game.

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LuckyMan
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Re: Sears Tele-cade Games

Postby LuckyMan » February 15th, 2018, 8:17 pm

BTW, it's Tele-Games, not Telecade.

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scotland
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Re: Sears Tele-cade Games

Postby scotland » February 15th, 2018, 9:14 pm

LuckyMan wrote:I think you should leave the Sears' games as is. If someone is looking for a review of one of the Sears titles they will find it with your explanation of what the alternate Atari title for the game is. Otherwise they might just think you haven't done a review of the game.


I like it as it is, with the additional information of the Sears name in the Atari review.

The Sears Tele Games names are very well known, and many of us know the game more by the Sears than the Atari name. I think Gunslinger more than Outlaw. I also play on a Sears Video Arcade 2 sometimes, so I have an attachment to Sears names.

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Re: Sears Tele-cade Games

Postby VideoGameCritic » February 16th, 2018, 4:08 pm

Right now there are very few mentions of the Sears versions, but I'd like to change that so at the very least they get a mention on the site.

Having them as their own separate reviews is problematic. It doesn't look very good and it tends to screw up the "if you like this, try these" algorithm.

Currently I'm leaning towards the Breakout (aka Breakaway IV) approach, with any extra notes about the Sears version (label maybe) in the review.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Sears Tele-cade Games

Postby Retro STrife » February 16th, 2018, 4:14 pm

I like either the current method, or the way I explained above. What you're suggesting VGC is going to make it so people can't find the game. I think people finding the game when scrolling through your Atari game list is more vital than focusing on the "if you like this, try these" function.

Note that my suggestion is nearly identical to yours - my only addition is that both game names stay in the game list, but they link to a single review. You still delete the duplicate post.

matmico399
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Re: Sears Tele-cade Games

Postby matmico399 » February 16th, 2018, 4:38 pm

Totally agree with Luckyman!

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Re: Sears Tele-cade Games

Postby VideoGameCritic » February 16th, 2018, 5:19 pm

Oh okay I see.
I think I'll go ahead and add the missing Sears titles as separate reviews since that seems to be the preferred method.

djc
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Re: Sears Tele-cade Games

Postby djc » February 16th, 2018, 7:23 pm

Maybe add in an "Also known as" section for each review with multiple names. Some games have more than two names so putting them in the title of the review can get a little unwieldy.

For example:
Concentration (Atari)

Review text would go here...

Also known as:
Memory Match (Sears)
Hunt and Score (Atari)

Find Concentration on eBay, etc...


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