Sources & credits
This prototype lists 38866 games released up to 2000. 364 have at least one free-licensed image (149 with a Wikidata “image” (P18), the rest only a logo (P154)). Data generated 2026-10-31T17:58:34+0100.
Console
11284
Handheld
2291
Home computer
24840
Arcade
2941
Where the data comes from
Game facts (title, release year, developer, publisher, platforms, genre) come from Wikidata, published under CC0. Images are hosted on Wikimedia Commons; each is shown with its author and licence as recorded on Commons, and links to its file page. Only files with a free licence (Creative Commons, public domain, GFDL/GPL etc.) are used. Logos marked public domain can still be trademarks.
Additional games, and short descriptions, come from REG-Vault, a catalog that aggregates several community databases (fetched through its public API, within its rate limits). REG-Vault's descriptions are licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; its box art and screenshots are copyrighted by the original publishers (served by REG-Vault as fair use) and are shown only because this is an internal build (setting Images:ShowNonFree); they are marked “internal use only”. Each game page lists its sources with a link and the date the record was last fetched.
TheGamesDB
More games released up to 2000, and gaps in existing records (descriptions, box art, players, co-op, ESRB rating, alternate titles, regional release dates), come from TheGamesDB, a community-contributed database. It was imported from its public data dump (cdn.thegamesdb.net, dump of 2026-07-18). Wikidata and REG-Vault come first; TheGamesDB only fills fields that are still empty, and each game page links to the TheGamesDB records it used.
Games with TGDB data
22400
Added from TGDB only
13244
Descriptions from TGDB
13228
Games with TGDB covers
22205
No licence is stated for TheGamesDB data. Its box art is uploaded by users and remains the copyright of the original publishers. Both are used here for internal use only (images marked “internal use only”, hidden when Images:ShowNonFree is off) and must not be published.
Text uses the Roboto font; the image placeholders use Press Start 2P (both SIL Open Font License). UI built with MudBlazor.
Other sources assessed (Sept 2026)
| Source | Cost / key | Public-website use |
|---|---|---|
| Wikidata | Free, no key | CC0 — yes |
| Wikimedia Commons | Free, no key | Yes, per-file free licence with attribution; limited commercial-game coverage |
| IGDB | Free; Twitch account + app credentials, backend proxy needed | Non-commercial under Twitch Developer Service Agreement; commercial via partnership with attribution. Image copyright not addressed |
| MobyGames API | From $9.99/mo (non-commercial), $99.99/mo commercial | Credit “Data by MobyGames.com”; may not compete with MobyGames or resell data |
| TheGamesDB | Free dump (no key); API key for names/updates (1,000 req. per 30 days per IP) | No data licence stated; no image licence — used internally (see above) |
| The Spriters Resource | Free, no API; robots.txt allows game/asset pages, no batch download | Non-commercial, unpublished works only; credit origin + IP holder. A few hand-picked sheets, internal use only (rippers credited per sheet) |
| Arcade Database (ADB) | Official scraper service (JSON, one romset per call); single connection per IP; we use 1 request per 5–10 s, ≤300 per night | CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (credits & licence); cite “Scraping using Arcade Database by motoschifo”. Artwork © manufacturers / ProgettoSnaps, hotlinked, internal use only. Arcade fields only fill gaps |
| Sprite Database | Free, no API; robots.txt disallows /files/ and search | “Transitory viewing only”, no public display — link-outs only, nothing stored |
| ScreenScraper | Free tier + donations; dev credentials via forum | Only for free distributed apps unless prior permission |
| libretro-thumbnails | Free | No licence declared — not safe to republish |
| Internet Archive | Free | No copyright guarantee; only items with explicit free licence |