VGBounceHouse

Thanks so much MigJmz!

I'd happily prepare proper CBZs but I've been out of the loop so long I'm not sure of the changes. Before the max size of pages was around 200dpi and file naming was a bit of a mystery. Are there updated guidelines somewhere for me to follow?

I haven't finished scanning OXM Number 1 but I have used the hairdryer method to separate the issue and have scanned some of it. Working on some early edits to confirm page size. Here's how the inner cover ad turned out:

Edit: looks like my 72dpi version doesn't pass muster like the above covers so here's a link to the 300dpi version: http://vgpavilion.com/mags/2001/12/oxm/pages/000b-001.jpg

I've posted updates in my Xbox Documentary topic but in case that title is less likely to browse I wanted to share updates here. I have 2 magazines ready to go...

Official Xbox Magazine, March, 2004

You can preview all the pages and download the 300dpi CBZ here: http://vgpavilion.com/mags/2004/03/oxm/pages/

Xbox Nation (XBN) Issue 2, Spring 2002

You can preview all the pages and download the 300dpi CBZ here: http://vgpavilion.com/mags/2002/sp/xbn/pages/

I'd love to contribute them. The OXM issue is still marked "Not Allowed". Both archives need the Retromags leadout image and well as resizing the pages from 300dpi to the Retromags standard.

I am currently working on OXM Issue 1 and hope to have it finished early next week.

I ended up altering my adjustments layer and think the issue came out great. An updated 300dpi CBZ is now available:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/2004/03/oxm/pages/

I have finished 2 more scans. One is for Game Informer which if I remember correctly can't be hosted here.

December 2004 Game Informer 300dpi scan pages and CBZ download:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/2004/12/gi/pages/

The other one I finished is Xbox Nation, Issue 2, Spring 2002, available here:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/2002/sp/xbn/pages/

I ran into an issue I'm curious for fgeedback on in XBN. Some people know that I'm focused on the original graphic artists intent which is why I work from hairdryer separated perfect binding and in facing pages mode. As always with perfect binding you have to deal with overlap meant to be hidden by the binding, or missing content done when the magazine is of a different size than an ad was designed for and they try to hide the missing bits in the fold. Here's a case where the overlap was messed up and part of the image was printed on both sides. The first image is an edit of the original, the second where the center image is edited to show the proper image.

It has a big impact on white space but otherwise is preferable. I've included the original in the CBZ for now, but what would you do?

I'm off to work on Issue 1 of Official Xbox Magazine, December 2001. If any of these 3 that I've finished recently are wanted here I can make the necessary changes to the CBZs for upload.

Chris

I also meant to shill my documentary too 

http://vgpavilion.com/xbox-documentary/

I have the 3 Microsoft Game Catalogs up there. Because there is no major white, or better still, base white paper, those really pop with the standard edits.

I wanted to show some comparisons to try and find where things are changing the most. It appears the lowering of brightness and contrast is the biggest culprit.

The original edit scan:

My group of Adjustment Layers (in reverse order oops)

My group of Adjustment Layers (in the right order)

Original scan with Step 1: Levels

Original scan with Step 1: Levels + Step 2: Brightness/Contrast

Original scan with Step 1: Levels + Step 2: Brightness/Contrast + Step 3: Hue/Saturation

Original scan with Adjustment Layers only Levels & Hue/Saturation:

I like how the colors pop because of Levels & Hue/Saturation, but like the page color of the original.

Chris

I use black paper as well. If you were to toggle off the Group of Adjustment Layers in the samples you’ll see a brighter white and less to even no bleed through. That’s why I’m looking for some advice in regards to the standard three adjustments in the Editing guide.

the paper is definitely a little cheap in OXM which is affecting bleed through.

as always I am very particular about full bleed and facing pages which is why it takes me a bit longer. Some day I’ll figure out an easy way to color match facing pages and then I’ll be real happy lol

Howdy!

Long time no post lol

I'm working on a documentary about the original Xbox and of course it will include archiving every magazine with coverage. As part of my launch I picked a random issue of Official Xbox Magazine I had multiple copies of because I wanted to try a new debinding method using a hair dryer. All pages but two came out smoothly (those two had glue remnants on artwork) and I waited a day before starting scanning for the pages to cool and flatten. Then the horror as all the pages appeared skewed at severe degrees. Did I warp the pages? I took the second copy and did my by-hand debind, bending the spine and slowly loosening clumps of pages that I could then smoothly, for the most part, pull out. Not quite as smooth at the spine as the hair dryer version but for the most part pretty good, so let's scan those.

Same issue, skewing. I hold the two copies covers up and see they both are skewed and to different degrees. They cut the magazine at an angle. This is ridiculous! I check other issues of the mag and the same thing. Oh man, this is gonna be fun.

So at this point I check RetroMags and see the issue I picked, 29, March, 2004, was not allowed. I had made sure what I picked was 15 years old as I thought that was the rule. So going forward I guess I need to know a few things. Is this issue acceptable at this point? Is 15 years not the cut-off? Here's the 300dpi CBZ without the RetroMags trailer or numbering:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/2004/03/oxm/200403oxm.cbz

Another reason I haven't finished all steps is related to the scanning guide that I followed for my previous contributions. I had converted the three after-image guidelines into three adjustment layers that I then grouped. Using those adjustments seems to take the white out of the pages and revel a shadow of the other side of the page that is otherwise not visible. I created a ZIP with some sample pages if anyone wants to take a look and tell me how to alter the adjustments to get the RetroMags look while maintaining the white I see when looking at the mag under normal light:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/2004/03/oxm/200403oxm.zip

I'm working on the preview page at the moment and hopefully it will be viewable by the time you're reading this:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/2004/03/oxm/pages/

Let me know if this issue can be added to RetroMags and anything I can do to improve the look of the pages. I will be doing all of OXM, XBN, EGM, Play, Game Informer and every other magazine with original Xbox coverage over the coming year. I know some of those won't be usable here so I will concentrate on those that are first.

Thanks,
Chris

I got my coverage from VIDEO magazine before the same people launched Electronic Games. Video Review also had pre-dedicated gaming mag coverage. I also got game coverage from BYTE and Creative Computing.

Short answer is the first dedicated gaming mag, Eectronic Games issue 1, 1981.

It has a reader service number which should narrow it down. Oddly, given its an NES game, I'm gonna guess Computer Gaming World and will try browsing my collection around its release date.

Id do the older stuff or VG&CE. All the EGM's are aquired to be scanned by me or eday.

The vote has spoken lol I'm off to do the first issue of Video Games from August, 1982.

Are you talking about IDG's Electronic Entertainment from the mid 90s? There are other publications from different publishers that carried the name "Electronic Entertainment," like the non-nude series from Playboy in the early 80s (there were only four or five issues) and another which I just discovered recently that used to be called "Arcade" magazine published by the Mead Corporation, which also published "Coin Slot" magazine (for slot machine owners and collectors) as well as other books about slots. "Arcade" started in 1982 and changed its name to "Electronic Entertainment" in 1983.

Yeah, sorry about that, it's IDG's that starts as Electronic Entertainment, becomes PC Entertainment and finally settles on PC Games. I actually don't remember ever seeing the other one you just posted the cover from before.

"Girls of Gaming" were yearly one-shots, like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and they carried their own individual numbering system. They are not considered issues of Play Magazine for the purpose of slotting them into the run of the regular magazine, and they did not replace the monthly magazine for the month where they were released. I know there were at least four, but I don't know exactly how many. I hope that, at least, helps with that.

Thanks, I should have used "search" on the magazine list page lol I do wonder if they should be treated like Code Vault/GamePro specials, at least from an editorial standpoint on my site. Hmm, wouldn't want them to be part of the numbering, gonna have to think on that one

Next Gen actually does continue numbering from Next Generation here. It does not start over at 1. In general all the magazines that are name changes do the same but are grouped by their name more or less. But continue numbering.

I did notice that though they don't appear on the same page/pages as in at the bottom of Next Generation it would be on the new user to jump back out to the list and click NextGen rather than the list saying Next Generation (NextGen) and having it run contiguous. I think this is more of an "issue" on short-lived market pivots like Electronic Games to Computer Entertainment where someone unfamiliar with the magazine would either have to download and read the last issue to know of the change, or pay close attention to the cover of the first issue in the Gallery here.

Now that I have gone through the majority of my magazine collection I am working on the database for my site. First up are a few missing magazines here at RetroMags.

Missing Magazines

Computer Play was a short-lived CGW competitor in the late '80s. I have two issues:

Issue 4, November 1988

Issue 5, December 1988

There are a couple of site out there preserving this one. I got the numbering based on

https://archive.org/details/computerplaymagazine

Beckett Massive Online Gamer was one of two MMO-focused magazines I came across. I have the second issue dated August/September 2006, and from generic seraches it appears to have remained bi-monthly throughout it's run which ended in 2011.

Here's a post about their last issue:

http://thefriendlynecromancer.blogspot.com/2011/12/end-of-era-final-issue-of-becketts.html

Massive is another MMO-based magazine. Again I only have a single issue, the debut:

The magazine was marked as a quarterly and doesn't have a date beyond the copyright year of 2006. It appears they became MMO Games at some point. Based on the linked article in Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMO_Games_Magazine

it appears it may have launched in June. There are three covers on a fan Facebook page but otherwise I don't have an issue count on this one either.

I don't have quickie scans for the rest as the cat is sleeping on top of the stack of boxes lol but...

There is a Code Vault here but tied to GamePro where the issues I have, November 2003 and February 2004, are not in the database so I don't know if they are the same thing.

There is already a thread about Computer Games Strategy Plus and a contributor scanning them for their own site. I have a bunch as well but am mainly signposting it for a topic below.

Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games is another one I have brought up before, and as far as I can figure, I have both issues that were produced, Spring and Fall of 1983.

Electronic Entertainment is another "complicated" one that has three threads here. I have a number of issues across it's run but like Computer Games Strategy Plus I will be handling it differently.

I already created a thread for Foul but have found no additional issues or information, probably need to do a bunch more digging before it can be added.

Play magazine ran a number of Girls of Gaming specials and am not sure how they fit in.

I already have a thread up about Manci Games which only had the two issues I have.

Online Arena may be a one-shot so I don't know how it would fit in.

Ultimate Gamer has a stub page. I still haven't found the one issue I'm missing but the info in the thread should make it possible to get this one up.

Video Games Player also has a thread and a stub. I have two issues plus one of "Computer Games", the name they pivoted to for a short time. This one also has the same naming issue I raise below.

My Database

I have already synced my database with RetroMags with a fields for the URL and issue number used here, but I'm handling magazines a bit different. I'm not looking to change the ways things done here but did want to raise a particular difference. Since my focus is on research into the hobby/industry the timeline is very important, and to me magazines changing names is just one of those things. So for me Next Generation and NextGen are the same magazine and I have a consistent numbering from start to end rather than restarting at issue 1 and treating them as wholly different publications. While I don't have a browser up yet at my site, the functionality will support clicking NextGen and being taken to the first issue on a page that contains all issues of both Next Generation and NextGen as I consider them a single "publication".

The same is true of EGM2/Expert Games, Electronic Games/Computer Entertainment/Electronic Games (1992), Electronic Fun/Computer Fun, Computer Games Strategy Plus/Computer Games Magazine/Computer Games and Video Games Player/Computer Games. For each of these my issue numbering starts at 1 and continues until the end of the run. That is my numbering, I also include any printed issue, volume and number information.

I also am trying to get the exact shelf date of the magazines to build a timeline and have been recording as much information as I can. I definitely need to find a magazine distributor like Ingram to nail it all down.

I may need to jump back and edit this but food just arrived!

Anyone have any personal videogame artifacts? I have a few and am figuring how best to archive them. Here's one of my favorites:

Imagic was my favorite publisher during the first console war. I know this is essentially a form letter but gotta love the embossed logo!

The new issue is done and posted.

Uploaded. Perhaps someone else can do the new release post

I hope I did everything correctly in terms up uploading and creating the New Releases post. If there are any problems the RetroMags formatted version is available here:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1984/04/vg/Video-Games-Issue-019-Apr-1984.cbr

My plan was to jump back to the first issue of Video Games and try to knock off the entire run of the magazine sans the one issue I'm missing, and then move over to Electronic Fun with Computers & Games. I know I own most if not all of the "most requested" issues which are for the most part Electronic Gaming Monthly. I also own the requested Video Games & Computer Entertainment issue on the list. Should I continue with the older mags or try to help with a few of the EGMs or VG&CE?

Retromags Presents!

Video Games Issue 19

April 1984

Database Entry!

Download Directly!

thank you buy what magazine is this ?? never heard of it.

It's the third U.S. videogame magazine to launch after Electronic Games and Videogaming Illustrated. Though it and VI bear the same cover date of August 1982 I'm pretty sure VI made it to the stands first. If you want to add computer-only Computer Gaming World to the mix that makes it fourth (or tied for third) to the newsstand.

I'm not sure whether this is one for RetroMags or not.

Arcade Express was a bi-weekly newsletter from Electronic Games only available through the mail. Each issue was eight pages, two 11x17" pages folded in half. I was a subscriber for most of the run but have only come across part of my collection. I have gone ahead and made a RetroMags-formatted archive of the first issue I dug up:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1983/01/30ae/Arcade-Express-Issue-013-Jan-30-1983.cbr

This is Issue 13 from January 30, 1983. These are the issues I currently have in front of me:

As Arcade Express

Volume 1, Number 14 - February 13, 1983

Volume 1, Number 15 - February 27, 1983

Volume 1, Number 16 - March 13, 1983

Volume 1, Number 17 - March 27, 1983

Volume 1, Number 18 - April 10, 1983

Volume 1, Number 19 - April 24, 1983

Volume 1, Number 20 - May 8, 1983

Volume 1, Number 21 - May 22, 1983

Volume 1, Number 22 - June 5, 1983

Volume 1, Number 24 - July 3, 1983

As Electronic Games Hotline

Volume 2, Number 1 - August 14, 1983

Volume 2, Number 2 - August 28, 1983

Volume 2, Number 7 - November 6, 1983

Volume 2, Number 9 - December 4, 1983

Volume 2, Number 10 - December 18, 1983

Volume 2, Number 14 - February 12, 1984

Volume 2, Number 26 - July 20, 1984

While mostly news they did do reviews. It's interesting to line up major announcements with when they appeared in Electronic Games magazine as a function of lead time.

I haven't done any searching around the web for previous archival attempts but plan to scan the ones I have. Does this have a place here at RetroMags?

While I wait for my last scan to get added here I'm off to work on the next one!

Since I already had the scan done I wanted to knock this one out before going back to 1982.

Howdy!

I'm Chris Rowley from Maryland, USA. I'm 50 and have been a gamer since 1974. While "gamer" has rightfully become associated with videogaming that year was actually my introduction to two different kinds of gaming: coin-ops and tabletop role-playing. For the former I stumbled across Pong in a local drugstore out shopping with Mom who eventually surrendered to my begging to give me a quarter which led to my quick defeat. For the latter my godfather's son was into minature wargaming and gave me some stuff he picked up at a fan convention he wasn't interested in: the original three-booklet Dungeons & Dragons (and its precursor Chainmail).

I hunted stores for more coin-ops, got home Pong, was introduced to computer videogames on the TRS-80 Model I Level II at school in 1979 where I applied my D&D love to my first coded game, played friends' 2600s while holding out for Intellivision, started playing and developing on PC in 1984, Amiga in 1986, and have collected most consoles released since the NES.

I have published computer and gaming-focused magazines (including giving away hundreds of copies of YAAM at COMDEX in 1989, my Amiga magazine with the most editorial pages ever published for the system) and run a number of gaming websites. My current project is a different kind of videogame media preservation, Videogame Pavilion, that seeks to offer a web view of classic magazines while taking advantage of the technology to cross-index all mentioned games and systems:

http://vgpavilion.com

My collection of videogame magazines is more than 1,300 issues and I am grateful to this site and community for welcoming me and allowing me to contribute to its mission.

I own all current consoles (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U) and a gaming PC. My online handle is "clubside" everywhere including the various networks associated with those systems. I love sandbox games, platformers and shooters of varying stripes. I have done a couple of interviews with industry people in the past and am hoping to leverage my archival work into more to help cement some of the videogaming history that is spread thin around the web or nonexistent.

Awesome , eigther me or eday will get this up on the site as soon as possible. I'm at work so will be maybe 8 Hours before I can get to it.

New issue is ready was hoping one of you guys could do the same magic again! It's Video Games issue 18, March 1984:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1984/03/vg/Video-Games-Issue-018-Mar-1984.cbr

I'm going to do a little database work before I start on the next issue.

EGM has a lot of alternat covers.

...

And I know there are more l. I noticed a few of the buyers guide issues have variant covers with black background instead of white.

If you've checked my database I noted cover variations (and which cover(s) I have) in the comments field. Once I sync my issues to RetroMags numbering I will put up a table with filtering so they'll be easy to spot.

True, but sometimes these magazines get silly with it, and they will have like 4 different covers for the same issue. I think EGM did that once.

EGM 173 had five variations which is the most I found in my collection. There are at least two issues where they had four variations.

I think having all the covers is important for archival completion online but have never sought them out to have on hand. Guess we'll see how I feel once I get through a lot more archiving lol

Ok i think download it!!

this mag is nextgen and nextgeneration only? or after that change again name?

NextGen is the re-branding of Next Generation in 1999. It was still essentially the same magazine but with smaller page counts they didn't run as many long features and gave up on all the extra white space. For a while they went with oversized pages making it tough to store lol

I definitely have the September 1990 and in better shape than that appears. Is it one I should move up in my queue?

I absolutely vote you keep doing these classic age of gaming mags. Most of these I missed out on the first time around. And these are so rare to come by. You making these available is a godsend for the site.

That's where I'd like to focus but if there's a need somewhere I'm happy to jump in. If left to my own devices I would move on to the missing 1982 issues on the site after I finish this issue and its follow-up (April 1984) working to finish the entire runs of Video Games and Electronic Fun with Computers & Games.

I don't plan on doing updates through this current issue as its much (much [much]) smaller than EGM 65 but if you're curious about the first batch of pages I have them up here:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1984/03/vg/pages/