Wikipedia: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}}

This user is a member of the
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 (14,000 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
International Arcade Museum Library: Arcade and coin-op

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