What's New in Game Collector 4 for Windows?

Game Collector 4 was released early December 2010, introducing two features that you all have been requesting for a long time:

• The ability to catalog gaming hardware and peripherals.
• A good way to handle box sets.

But that's not all. Game Collector 4 now also has the popular Find Cover Image tool, the improved Wish List features and the cool stats in the main screen (all introduced in Movie Collector a couple of months ago).

In the meantime, we have already released a small update, tuning the new stuff to perfection (the current build is 4.0.3).

Haven't upgraded yet? Then read on to learn what you have been missing out on.

Upgrading to version 4
You can upgrade any old Game Collector version to the new version 4 PRO for only US $24.95.
Yes, that's right, we will always give you the PRO edition, even if you own a Standard one now.
Just enter your current license key in the box on the right and click the "Upgrade Now" button.

Quick overview of What's New

• New: Add Hardware/Accessories - Add your consoles, handhelds & other peripherals
• New: Support for Box Sets - Group your games into Box Set folders.
• New: Find Cover Image screen - Find missing covers using Google Images
• New: Collection statistics in main screen - charts showing games by Genre, Platform, etc.
• Improved: Wish List functionality - New Wish tabs in main screen, add directly to Wish List
• Improved: My Rating functionality - 10 star rating, edit from Details View
• Improved: Images View in main screen
• New: Game Collector 4 templates - for View and Export, in 4 styles

New: Add Hardware/Accessories

• Now finally use Game Collector to catalog your gaming hardware and peripherals.
• Add your game consoles, handhelds, controllers, guitars, drum kits, microphones, light guns, balance boards, camera's, etc...
• Use the Find Hardware Image tool to find images using Google Images and add them to your database with one click.

New: Support for Box Sets

• New Box Set field in Edit Game screen, to indicate the game belongs to a boxed set or collection.
• Show your games grouped by Box Set in the main screen.
• Box Set item with fields for Front cover, Back Cover, Release Date, Barcode, Purchase Date, Price, Store, Condition, Current Value and Notes
• All Box Set fields are now shown in a special Box Set bar at the top of the Details View (in all details view templates)
• new Box Set List button on toolbar for direct access to the Box Set List screen

New: Find Cover Image screen

• Find missing cover images online and add them to your database with just a few clicks. The screen shows results from Google Images, based on title, platform and barcode
• Built-in Crop tool to remove unwanted borders
• Get to the Find Cover Image screen:
  • by clicking the new "No Cover" placeholder image in Details View
  • right from Preview in the Add Games Automatically screen, when no cover is found in the online game database
  • from the right-click menu on any game entry in the main screen
  • from the Images tab in the Edit Game screen

New: Collection statistics in main screen

• When no game is selected, the Details View panel now shows statistics based on a folder field (e.g. by Genre, or Platform).
• Switch between Bar Chart or Pie Chart with tabs.
• Navigate to a folder (e.g. Platform = "Wii") by clicking on a bar or pie part.

Improved: Wish List functionality

• Quickly check your Wish List using tabs at the bottom of the main screen: All / Collection / Wish List.
• Add games to your Wish List right from the Add Games Automatically screen.
• Right click a game to "Move to Wish List" / "Move to Collection".
• Edit Game: clearer separation of Collection Status values into "Collection" and "Wish List" groups.
• Updated terminology for the Collection Status values.
• Revamped icons for all Collection Status values.

Improved: My Rating functionality

• My Rating now uses a 10-star rating.
• Redesigned rating stars.
• Click My Rating stars in Details View to modify rating in small pop up.
• Group games into My Rating folders on main screen.

Improved: Images View in main screen

• Removal of titles under images results in cleaner layout
  (titles are still shown on mouse-over)
• Reduced spacing between image thumbs
• New placeholder image for games without cover images
• New placeholder image for games with a missing thumbnail image

New: "Vee Four" templates

• Improved layout:
  • Larger covers in left and right corners.
  • New look for My Rating stars (click to change rating).
• 4 cool looking styles (Blue, Black, Green and Game-Red).
• New "Vee Four Compact" Template for Preview Panel in Add Automatically screen.
• The Details View panel is now rendered using an embedded Internet Explorer control.

Still on version 2? Click here to find out what was new in Game Collector 3!