Video games and data

I’ve long had questions about video games that I couldn’t find the answers to. Just how many games didn’t leave Japan? How have ESRB ratings changed over time? What time of year do the best games come out?

I wanted to answer these questions. I wanted to chart information to make it easier to digest. I wanted to share it with others. That’s why I made this website. Over time I have become more interested in video game history and more interested in preserving it, which has led to me making archives of various video game related things.

Contacting me

You can contact me on Twitter, Bluesky, or Mastodon.

If you’d prefer to e-mail me you can do so at thespritecell@gmail.com.

If you want to contact me on reddit specifically for some reason my username is Ebon_Praetor.

Frequently Asked Questions

None of these questions have actually been asked yet.

Q: What’s your favorite video game/series/system/developer?

A: I don’t really define absolute favorites. If you want to know what kinds of things I like though, I play Nintendo and Sony systems and sometimes PC. I play lots of JRPG, visual novel, puzzle, and strategy games. I like a lot of Nintendo, Atlus and Square Enix’s work. I enjoy handheld systems quite a bit. Some of my favorite series include Shin Megami Tensei/Persona, Final Fantasy, Zero Escape, Danganronpa, Bravely Default, and The Legend of Zelda. I mostly play games developed in Japan.

Q: What do you use to make your images?
A: Charts are OpenOffice or LibreOffice screenshots, sometimes stitched together. Graphs are made with Google Sheets. Infographics are made with Visme.co.

Q: What kinds of topics are you going to be covering in the future?
A: There are many things I plan to get to. I prefer not to announce anything until it’s almost done, but think about what kind of large video game related data sets are out there. Aside from general video game statistics I enjoy compiling interesting and useful archives of media.

Q: Can I use your data/graphs/charts in a video/project?

A: You’re welcome to use a handful of my images in your work if you credit SpriteCell.com and link to the site. Please do not copy an entire project. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to discuss this further.

Q: How can I help the site?

A: Tell others about the site! Link to projects you find interesting.

Q: Will you send me your spreadsheets/other resources you use?

A: If you ask me personally, I may be willing to send you something for a specific purpose. As for selling my resources, I don’t really feel right doing so, some of my sources have specific language in their policies about not using their data for commercial purposes. I do a lot more than blindly copying and pasting, but I don’t know if I’ve really “transformed” other’s work enough to sell it to someone else. I’m always up front about my sources, so you’re free to compile it yourself too, and I could answer questions about that if you have any.