If you didn't find the game you expected, or even any games at all, don't worry! Don't panic! We list tens of thousands of games, and we try very, very hard to list every game ever released, so the chances are, it is in SPOnG. But bear these things in mind...

Spelling

Maybe the way you spelled the game name, and the way it's listed in SPOnG are different. We always take our spellings from the Box or Title Screen of the game. And where there are variations (as in 'Buggaboo the Flea', which was also know as 'Booga-Boo the Flea') we try to list both. But if you don't get any result try again with an alternative spelling.

Two ways to search!

SPOnG offers you two ways of searching our database. The quicksearch tool is in the drop-down from the "search" button on the menu. In this is also a link through to the more powerful 'super search' tool.

Abbreviations

Many games, like 'Grand Theft Auto' are better know by their abbreviations. We try hard to list a game under both the full name and the abbreviation, but we aren't perfect, and we might miss a few, so if searching for "TR3" doesn't get the results you expect, try "Tomb Raider 3"

Roman and Arabic numerals

If you searched on "Quake 3", and got nothing, it might be because the game is listed under "Quake Three" or "Quake III". We usually list games as it appears on the box, but we try to list them under the obvious alternatives too. If one number system doesn't work, try one of the others.

Punctuation

Some games have apostrophes in the name, we try to reproduce these titles exactly as they are on the game's packaging. So searching for "Adidas Power Soccer 98" might not get you the result you desire, because the game is listed as "Adidas Power Soccer '98" (note the apostrophe).

Spaces

Some games with names such as "Block Buster" may be listed as "Blockbuster". If you search with the space in, you won't find the game. Remember to try both.

General Advice

Don't be too specific with your search. All the search issues mentioned above can be dealt with be reducing the length of your search term. For instance searching on "Doo" will find "Doom", "Doom 2" or "Doom II". But it will also find "Dinky Doo", "Voodoo Rage" and some 50-odd other games.

Too many results

If reducing the search term gives you too many results. Or if you are searching for a game with a very vague title ("V" for instance), consider using our advanced search by pressing the - you guessed it - 'super search' link in the search panel. Here you can search for an exact match which will give a far more specific set of results.

Advanced Search

SPOnG's advanced search lets you set several parameters for each search. So in our example above, we can look for "Doo" but restrict our list to Playstation platform. Instead of 60-something results, this returns just three games, "Doom" and "Final Doom" included...