German game publishers and booksellers have worked together to expand the metadata attached to game listings in the Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Bücher (VLB), a catalogue of books, games and puzzles available in the German-speaking world.
The VLB is a data feed providing book stores and retailers access to comprehensive product information from a wide variety of German publishers and suppliers.
Games have been available in the VLB but have been missing key information retailers could use to help sell them, such as playing time and number of players.
Games and toys now have the following product metadata:
- Number of players
- Playing time
- Number of parts
- Game material
- Age recommendations and warnings
- Instructions
- Classification
- Pricing
It is hoped the addition will increase the visibility of games in for retailers in the book trade.
Jens Junge, the Director of the Institute for Ludology in Berlin, helped coordinate the project.
He said booksellers are becoming an increasingly important contact point and sales channel for book.
“Games are a dialogue with the world. In addition, the increasingly narrative new releases of parlor games, created by game designers and illustrators, should be emphasized, which, like all literature, represent a cultural medium,” Junge said.
