Release Dates per Region

📋 Summary

Add support for storing multiple regional release dates for each game in the LaunchBox Games Database. This would allow LaunchBox to display, sort, and filter by the correct release date depending on region, instead of relying on a single global date.

❗ Problem

Many games released at different times across regions (e.g. Japan, North America, Europe). The database currently supports only one release date, making it impossible to:

• View region-accurate release timelines

• Sort or filter games by release date based on your local region

• Recreate historical release schedules as experienced by players in specific parts of the world

For users who want an authentic chronological experience — especially parents recreating their childhood library for their kids — this limitation becomes a major obstacle.

💡 Proposal

Add full per-region release date fields to the LaunchBox Games Database. Examples:

• Release Date (JP)

• Release Date (NA)

• Release Date (EU)

• Release Date (AU)

• Release Date (World / International)

LaunchBox could then:

• Display the appropriate regional date based on user preference

• Allow sorting/filtering by region-specific dates

• Expose all dates in the Edit Game window

• Sync this metadata back down to LaunchBox/Big Box clients

Optional enhancements:

• A fallback hierarchy (e.g., if NA is missing, use EU or World).

• A toggle in LaunchBox settings to choose a preferred region for release-date sorting.

🛠 Example Use Case

A parent wants to recreate the order in which games were released during their own childhood.

They want their child’s NES or SNES platform to show games chronologically by North American release dates, not by Japanese ones.

Currently, this isn’t possible — all dates default to a single universal date, often the JP release.

With per-region dates, the platform view could immediately sort games in the authentic order the user remembers.

📦 Benefits

• Enables accurate regional sorting and filtering

• Supports collectors and historians

• Improves authenticity for nostalgia-based setups

• Allows playlist habits like “Games released this month (NA)”

• Better alignment with how most modern databases track releases