MyWiki:WikiProject Video games/Reference library

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Welcome to the WikiProject Video games Reference Library, a directory for sources to use when editing articles about video games. This library provides specialty guidance for print materials, defunct websites, and other sources that are offline, inaccessible, or otherwise difficult to find through traditional search engine methods.

What are you looking for?

• Live websites: WP:VG Google search engine
• Defunct or reorganized websites: WP:VG/RL/Online website archive
• Gaming magazines and books: #Print sources
• Academic journals, trade publications, and newspapers: The Wikipedia Library
• Television programs and films: WP:VG/RL/Television and film
• Sales charts: WP:VG/RL/Sales charts
• Search for topics here in the Reference Library. If a topic is mentioned somewhere in this Reference Library, this search will bring up those pages.

• Can't find what you're looking for? Place a request. For best results, post requests at WT:VG. You can also place requests for a general audience at WP:REREQ.

How to contribute

• Anyone can edit this page (or subpages) to improve the reference library. You do not need permission.
• If you have print sources to share, you can list yourself as a contact for those materials so editors may contact you with requests. It helps to list out the games and topics discussed in the source as well. To donate materials, consider sending to the Video Game History Foundation.
• Feel free to add this userbox to your userpage with the code {{User WPCVGm}}

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Video Games Reference library Project.

Online sources

Live

• WP:VG Google search engine – Curated search engine that provides results from reliable sources. For more information, see WP:VG/SE.

Defunct

• WP:VG/RL Online website archive – Archival links for websites that are now defunct, or those that received major renovations or purged much of their old material.
• WP:VG/RL Online print archive – Many print video game magazines used to host their printed articles and reviews on the internet, but have since removed them. This page lists archival links for when they had these articles available.

Print sources

• → Magazines
• → Strategy guides
• → Books and others

Online scan depositories

• Internet Archive
  • Collections for browsing: Videogame and Computer Game Magazines, Game and Gamer Magazines, Computer Magazines
  • By doing a Google search with site:archive.org/stream, you can search the text contents of scanned magazines (note: OCR is not perfect and typos frequently appear)
• Retro CDN (30,000 files)
  • Sega Retro: Database of games published for Sega consoles with links to relevant Retro CDN scans. (See also: Sonic Retro)
  • NEC Retro: Database of games published for NEC consoles with links to relevant Retro CDN scans.
• OldGameMags (11,000 files) One-time donation of $20 USD gives lifetime access (instructions)
• Retromags (4,000 files)
• DP Library (Digital Press)
• Video Game History Foundation Library
• Subject-specific collections

• 8-Bit Software: 8-bit Acorn computers
• Abandonware Magazines: French-language scans
• Amiga Magazine Rack: Amiga
• Atarimania: Atari
• Kultboy: German-language scans
• MSX Resource Center: MSX
• Nintendo64Ever: Nintendo 64
• Out-of-Print Archive: UK magazine scans
• Planet Virtual Boy: Virtual Boy
• Retro Scans: Portuguese-language scans
• SMS Power!: Early Sega consoles (Master System, Game Gear, etc.)
• ST Format Shrine: Atari ST
• Spectrum Computing: ZX Spectrum

Television and film

• →Television and film

Miscellaneous resources

Cover art and screenshots

• Arcade Flyer Archive at the International Arcade Museum. Flyers for arcade and pinball machines suitable for non-free cover art on respective articles.
• BBC Micro screenshots
• MobyGames and Hardcore Gaming 101 provide screenshots in native resolution format

On Wikipedia

• WP:LIBRARY: Ideal for academic journals and some news articles
• "Video Games" at WikiProject Resource Exchange
• WP:VG/RL "Top video games lists": Searchable index of "Top XXXX" and "Best ever" video game lists.
• WP:VG/RL Sales charts
• User:84user/Sources#Sources for MUDs: Short list of academic and book sources related to MUDs

Other

• Online Books Page includes a number of links to video game-related books available free online. See subjects: Computer Games, Video Games
• Nintendo release date lists - Contains release dates and licensees for six of Nintendo's consoles from NES to GBC.
• RPGDot developer interview archive
• GameZone PC developer interview archive 2001-2009