Jump to content

KiwiArcader

Member
  • Posts

    2,179
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    119

Posts posted by KiwiArcader

  1. 1 hour ago, E-Day said:

    We don't want anyone not sticking around because something they are interested in isn't available in great quantity on Retromags. If there is a way to keep them around and maybe encourage them to help fill the void, we should be doing it.

    Well, one USA based member offered their collection of Computer Games: Strategy Plus magazines here and no-one replied so I ended up taking them at some cost in shipping to get them to New Zealand. This should never have happened. You'd think at least one scanning member here in the USA would have taken him up on it but that didn't happen. Same happened for Sega Dreamcast Official Magazine (Japan) and that's a console title albeit in a different language but still, you get where I'm going with this?

    The user base here is console oriented AND to a certain extent not all that interested in the hard work involved in getting the content online especially when you consider Retromags has 13,000+ members here but only a handful of scanning members inclusive of yourself and Phillyman and a couple of others throwing an edited marktrade magazine out occasionally. I have only 95 members over at KiwisWorld and again, a handful of scanning members but most of those members didn't even consider scanning for Retromags as:

    1. They felt the site was too USA oriented and they mainly reside in the UK or Australia so thought more people would appreciate their content on an alternate site and
    2. A couple, myself included, feel the content restrictions here are simply too restrictive

    I completely understand Phillyman has every right to determine what can be hosted here but not accepting 3rd party scans if quality is acceptable and imposing date restrictions on content when the publisher has discontinued magazines IS going to have an effect on enticing people to actively contribute. That's why Archive.org is what it is, the biggest receptacle for content on the planet and why both our sites which used to be THE places to come to, aren't so much any more. I don't care one iota about it but I personally think it's had a big impact. No doubt Phillyman will say that the value added benefits of the magazine database give Retromags added value but really? Who comes here to look at the database? Me, when I want to check an issue here or there but most everyone else comes here for magazines, and things have been somewhat glacial on that front in recent times. Not Meppi glacial mind you, but slow nonetheless.

    • Like 1
  2. 4 minutes ago, kitsunebi77 said:

    But outside of a couple of random releases here and there over the years, I came to realize long ago that Retromags is strictly focused on video games-only (although computer games are allowed) and I would have to depend on places like Kiwis World for a more rounded gaming mag experience.

    The reason KiwisWorld has a lot of PC content is because I went from Amiga to IBM-PC and bought every PC mag I could get my hands on so I had mountains of Atomic:MPC, PC Gamer and PC PowerPlay etc acquired over the years which barring the USA version of PC Gamer I never got rid of any of it. I think the same goes for Jason as well so between us we have provided probably 95% of the PC content over there with heaps more to come after factoring in a Retromags member donating almost a complete collection of Computer Games:Strategy Plus as well. 

    Console gaming came later in life for me so it never really took over as my source of gaming leisure. That doesn't mean I haven't spent truck loads of money on acquiring that type of content for the site (nRevolution, NGC, PlayStation Official etc) but it is sort of secondary to me. 

    I too see Retromags as more of a gaming magazine site predominantly for USA based content. Submissions here are likely based upon the scanning members location which is mainly USA/Canada based. That isn't a bad thing. As I see it diversity is actually a good thing. It is what it is......

  3. 20 hours ago, kitsunebi77 said:

    Hold on - I just read this again.  You do realize you just said that defunct magazines have a 5-year cutoff and ongoings have a 10-year cutoff, right?  Does this mean it's time to update the mission statement in the masthead?

    Hahaha!! You guys are just confusing yourselves trying to interpret your own cut-off date rule. I love it ...... 😋

  4. 21 hours ago, kitsunebi77 said:

    I've got 10 external HDDs already.  Not only are the drives themselves requiring storage space of their own, but I can't actually plug them all in at the same time anyway, which makes access to all of my data at one time impossible and thus a huge inconvenience.  So saving space really is useful, regardless of cost.

    You, my friend, need a NAS. Something like a 10 bay mutha that you can throw 12TB monster HDD's into so you can access everything at the same time and have redundancy via RAID if so desired rather than using truckloads of USB HDD's.

  5. This cut-off date thing is indeed dumb. I used to subscribe to the seven/eight year self imposed limit for OGM/KW but a couple of things changed my mind on that.

    • Companies like Future released digital versions from about Dec 2009 for some of their mags, later for others, but never went back and released earlier issues as digital so I decided quite some time ago that it was just easier to release anything earlier than whatever they made available themselves as they clearly weren't interested in getting their whole collection converted to digital. 
    • Putting the files on Mediafire or other file hosting company meant the publishers had to request them to remove the file under the DMCA rather than going at me so no real concerns there other than maybe their requesting I remove links. Not a biggie...
    • Future cancelled several magazines (Nintendo Official, Games tm, GamesMaster) then removed the ability to re-download magazines you purchased off them if your iPad bellied up and needed a clean install. Nor did they make any effort to remove encryption to allow you to easily backup the files. This shit treatment of customers made me decide that if they cancel a magazine and remove your ability to save your legally purchased files then as far as I am concerned I have no problem making them available on a file hosting service as soon as the app is discontinued.

    Personally, I think you are silly deleting the guides off your HDD especially given the cheap price of HDD storage nowadays and the small files sizes. That's because I have been through the Megaupload fiasco and burned by it so I trust any and all internet based hosting of content like a cobra. Okay to feed it but expect it to bite back at some point. I throw archive.org in that snake pit as well ....

  6. I've bookmarked your Archive.org page and am eagerly waiting to see what unmentionable goodies appear there ☺️

    Seriously though, it kind of defeats the purpose of a forum on a magazine piracy site to not be able to detail what else might be available on other websites. We've already had posts about GamePro being available elsewhere on this site already and now Phillyman wants to bolt the gate?

    Then there is the fact that Archive.org touts itself as affiliated with the Library of Congress so the implication is that whatever goes up there and isn't taken down is somehow protected/able to be made available. That would mean that pointing someone to that site isn't illegal therefore it should be fine to advertise it here?

    What it does mean is that I will no longer update my W.I.P page with releases over at my website as these files are not part of Retromags. I had been putting details up because the donator was a Retromags member but as they are made available elsewhere by default I've been breaking this "new" rule/directive. See how stupid this all sounds?

  7. I always thought a forum was for exactly this sort of thing. Given this is essentially a piracy site (so is mine) in the strictest sense then telling people NOT to post about mags that they either find on other websites or have posted on other sites themselves is kind of nonsensical in my opinion, especially if you are only pointing to the page and not the files themselves.

    Kiddie porn or whatever I can understand as it is illegal, as in get yourself locked up illegal, but gaming/computing mags? Really? 

  8. You're nuts if you think anyone is going to tell you "NO" to any of this as most people visiting sites like Retromags are all about getting their magazine fix for nothing, or as close as possible to nothing so any posts in the forums pointing out even more content for them to leech for free is going to go down about like a cold beer on a hot summers day.

  9. Yeah, you did but when people have sent you mags for the site you, as in I, tend to feel obligated to get them out as soon as possible to justify their faith in sending them to me. I don't want to be like another member of a certain site who has received hundreds of mags from donators and yet only manages to push out a mag every couple of months and even then half of them are seemingly just reissues of previous mags he'd already put online. That kind of sucks in my book and is not how I want to be compared to.

    Still, I am feeling a lot better for having time out and going to see a movie here and there and just doing non-site stuff so I've finally taken the path you told me too and it has been beneficial I have to admit.

    • Like 1
  10. On 12/20/2018 at 9:48 PM, kitsunebi77 said:

    EDIT: Oops, misspoke.  Looks like only 18 issues are available at kiwisworld (though placeholders are up for the rest).  So the question is: hey, Kiwi!  Where are those other issues?! 😆

    Being uploaded now. I hadn't realised the magazine had been discontinued until I saw this thread so had been applying a cut-off date on it. Seeing as it's defunct that rule no longer applies 😀

    BTW... I was intending on closing the site down due to several reasons, one being a lack of people signing up as it seemed a lot of effort for keeping 60 - 70 people happy, the other being that I was getting the burn out feeling from trying to scan a mag or more a day. Since then I've slowed down scanning and am spending more time on real life activities and the time i am spending on the site spread between scanning mags or uploading member submissions. With more people donating to access the site and more leisure time I am feeling a lot happier now so I think it highly unlikely I will actually shut the site down.

    • Like 3
  11. God, I'd LOVE them but the shipping would be horrendous and I have my hands full currently with 100 Dreamcast Official (Japan) mags along with a similar number of Computer Games: Strategy Plus issues needing to be scanned. 

    Arcadia and Gamest are a couple of mags I try and find just for the excellent artwork even though I can't read a word of the lingo. I have 54 PDF issues of Arcadia I obtained from Underground Gamer before they disappeared and they really are brilliant.

    Hopefully someone will ensure these are scanned......

    Question: How many issues of Arcadia are there? If we have scans of 54 issues scanned maybe it would be more practical to separate the three titles and see if different people can take on scanning a specific magazine? Then potentially it might be a case of only needing to send 100 issues of Arcadia to be scanned.

  12. Retro hasn't had an issue out for I don't know how long. Zinio stopped at issue 11. Their website have issues 12 & 13 but I don't know if they even exist. They said "Under new management" in October last year so I'd be extremely hesitant about advocating their product at this point in time given no updates on their website in over a year.

    Future canned PC Format in November 2015 so Maximum PC is now their only PC centric title. I have a subscription to that one on iTunes for a whopping $14 per year. I just wish they'd canned the latter and kept PC Format going as it was a way better mag.

  13. I also don't see why making downloads available here makes any difference to how I choose to run my site.

    BTW, how many magazines have you scanned for Retromags Trinity? Hmmm ..... I think you are just one of those people that freeload off everyone else's hard work.So really, your view on things is nothing I am going to lose any sleep over.

    Have a great day 😑

×
×
  • Create New...
Affiliate Disclaimer: Retromags may earn a commission on purchases made through our affiliate links on Retromags.com and social media channels. As an Amazon & Ebay Associate, Retromags earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your continued support!