I recently started my YouTube channel, and have been putting up Let's Play clips of all sorts of modern games, but I've been champing at the bit to get some retro games up. Square/Enix said no to Final Fantasy IV (sadly); Nintendo says yes (with some stipulations) to several Nintendo games, including stuff like Super Mario Bros. and Super Metroid, but not a huge assortment. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

When it comes to good ol' retro games, I'm mostly talking NES/SNES-era, and chiefly those specific consoles. But even sticking with that list, that's a lot to look into.

I found a page that talks about the policies for game developers from the modern era, with a few older ones, but what I'd really like is one that goes through a giant list of NES and SNES games and one by one points out whether the company still exists, current contact info if they do, who they got bought by if not, or if they're truly abandonware, and so on -- and then, if they exist, whether there's any information about the company's video policy. Basically, three questions:
  1. Can I YouTube it?
  2. Can I monetize (put ads on it)?
  3. Are there any additional considerations I need to take into account? (E.g. music or brand names that have separate licensing concerns, or company-specific policies such as "keep it rated Teen or better" (Blizzard), "don't make it seem like an official product" (Mojang), "don't mix it with other games and such" (Nintendo), "make sure to provide links to our sites" (The Escapists), "don't include racism or sexism" (Saints Row), "don't promote hacks or illegal stuff" (I forget), or "don't use footage from games we haven't released yet" (I also forget).)

I'm getting the impression that I'm about to become this source, but I thought I'd check to see if a source like it exists already. Would save me a lot of hassle looking up the info for myself.

P.S. We just raised $127 for Seattle Children's Hospital! This is unrelated to the post, but I'm so excited that my channel (my nephews and I) got to do some good this week. With so much negativity about the election, it's good to be able to focus on something more positive. Fundraising efforts continue throughout the week, and I'll be posting a lot of random gaming vids