Jump to content
  • Welcome Guest!

    Welcome to Retromags! Feel free to download as many of our releases as you like, but why not go ahead and sign up and thank our members for their hard work below. 😀

     

91 files

  1. Famitsu Issue 1344 (September 18/25, 2014)

    This is one of those weird issues that was given two issue numbers (it's technically issues 1344 and 1345), and counting all pages individually, this issue weighs in at 316 pages (though the posters and comic spreads are left joined in the archive as they should be).  That's the equivalent of 4 issues of Game Players, only with just one issue of Game Players' worth of ads.  And since these double number issues are also allotted two weeks on newsstands as opposed to one, there were only 3 issues of Famitsu published in September 2014 for a total of 851 pages, though if we count the last issue from August as well (which was printed within 30 days of this issue) it's a total of 1,189 pages in a 30 day period.  Which is just a few more pages than the 76 that Game Players churned out every month.
    Why am I picking on Game Players?  I'm not.  I wish ALL mags I scanned were like Game Players.  Scanning 1,189 pages per month versus 76 pages per month...that's one month of Famitsu vs. 15.6 months of Game Players.  Imagine how many more issues I could scan if only they weren't SO. DAMN. LONG...😩

    112 downloads

    2 comments

    Submitted

  2. Famitsu Issue 1346 (October 2-9, 2014)

    What caught my eye:
    First of all, no one really needs an hourglass, but this one is pretty cool. Of course, you could easily go broke in Japan collecting all of the billions of Dragon Quest goods.

    The other thing I noticed was a Vita game called Dungeon Travelers 2 that surely wasn't released in America.

    Except that it was (this is probably common knowledge, but the last game system I owned was a PS2, so forgive my ignorance of anything released in the past 20 years).
    Of course, Americans got it in censored form, duh.  The T&A wasn't covered in enough murder and gore to make it past American censors, I guess.
    AMERICA:

    JAPAN:

    What the hell is even happening here though?  It's not actually porn, it just looks like it if you squint.  Oh Japan.  Why you so freaky?😅

    122 downloads

    2 comments

    Updated

  3. Famitsu Issue 1347 (October 9, 2014)

    Including the bonus "illustration card," this mag is 294 pages.  That's 3 times as long as most USA/UK video game mags.  And so, naturally, you would expect the filesize to be 3 times as big, as well, assuming the files are saved at similar pixel dimensions. 
    I sometimes wonder how people react to all of these Japanese mags where 200+ pages is the norm, not the exception.  Do people get excited the mag is 300 pages, or annoyed that the file is on the large side? 
    Speaking for myself, I wouldn't mind if ALL mags were 80-pg weaklings, because it would mean a heck of a lot less work LOL.  At least all the ones on my scan pile, at any rate. 😋

    117 downloads

    1 comment

    Submitted

  4. Famitsu Issue 1351 (November 6, 2014)

    Notes on this issue:
    There are certain concessions that must be made sometimes when dealing with digital mags when they can't be as easily manipulated by the reader as a physical mag can.  Keeping a scan EXACTLY like the physical mag can sometimes render the digital version nearly unreadable.  For example, a flip book, where half of the mag is printed upside starting from the back cover.  The physical mag simply needs to be flipped over and rotated 180 degrees, and suddenly what used to be the last page is now the first page.  But if you make the CBR match the physical mag exactly (as I once saw someone do), it means that you'll read half of the mag normally, but from the halfway point on, the pages will appear in the reverse order as well as being upside down.  This would be IMPOSSIBLE to read, so when making a digital version of a flipbook, you have no choice but to have all the pages in the same orientation and either put both halves one after the other, or else release a separate CBR for each half.
    I deal with this kind of manipulation ALL THE TIME with Japanese mags, whenever there's a manga section printed Japanese-style (with text printed vertically, meaning it's read from R-L.)  In the physical mag, when you get to the first page of the manga section, there will be a note reminding you that it's actually the LAST page of the manga, and it will tell you to "flip to page ___" for the start of the manga.  You then read backwards, R-L, and when you're finished with the manga, you flip forward again to the page following the manga section.  But digital mags can't be manipulated so easily, so I reorder the pages, putting them in order - first page first, last page last (though I still warn people that when reading in 2-page view, they have to change to manga mode for facing pages to match correctly.  This isn't just some random concession I decided upon - this is the exact same thing Japanese publishers have to do when they release official digital versions of their mags.
    All of this is leading to THIS mag, which required a bit of a concession in favor of readability, which I will explain:
    There is a 4-page-wide foldout that acts as part of the Assassin's Creed article.  On one side of the foldout are 4 article pages, and on the other side is a single 4-page-wide poster.  Since a CBR/PDF can't simulate a foldout, if I were to put the pages in the order they are printed in the mag, all facing pages from that point on would be incorrect.  In order to keep facing pages oriented correctly, I had two choices: I could either insert 2 different blank pages before and after the foldout, which would keep the facing pages correct at the expense of throwing off the page numbers, or I could simply move the last page of the article in front of the foldout, which keeps facing pages and page numbers correct, except for the single page moved.  I opted for the latter.  The article pages are pretty modular, so the pages don't need to be read in a specific order to make sense.  So what you will see if you're looking at the printed page numbers is:
    106 (the first page of the article) (also pg106 of the scan) 115 (the last page of the article which has been moved forward) (pg107 of the scan) 4 unnumbered article pages from one side of the foldout (pgs 108-111) 4 unnumbered poster pages from the other side of the foldout (pgs 112-115) 116 (a new article begins) (pg 116 - from here on, the page numbers are once again aligned with pages of the scan.) If this is confusing you, don't worry about it.  Just trust me that this is the best option for a digital release of this format.  Whether reading in single page or double page mode, you'll be good to go.
    I have also included a perfect join of the 4-page poster image at the end of the CBR, so as not to disrupt page numbering.
    Also at the end of the CBR is a two sided...something...for Onee Chambara Z2.  It's just an A4 sized...mini poster?  Or something?  Printed on thick cardboard?  Dunno.  I can't imagine a use for it.  The table of contents calls it an "illustration card." 

    110 downloads

    0 comments

    Updated

  5. Famitsu Issue 1352 (November 13, 2014)

    The manga section is read R-L, so your CBR reader must be set to Japanese/manga mode while reading that section in order for facing pages to be oriented correctly in two-page viewing mode.  If you are only viewing a single page at a time, no adjustments are necessary.

    111 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted

  6. Famitsu Issue 1353 (November 20, 2014)

    The manga section is read R-L, so your CBR reader must be set to Japanese/manga mode when reading that section of the magazine in order for facing pages to be oriented correctly if viewing in two-page mode.

    103 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted

  7. Famitsu Issue 1357 (December 18, 2014)

    PlayStation 20th Anniversary issue
    276 pages
    The manga section is read R-L, so your CBR reader must be set to Japanese/manga mode during that section in order for facing pages to be oriented correctly if viewing in 2-page mode.

    129 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted

  8. Famitsu Issue 1358 (December 25, 2014)

    *The manga section in the middle is read R-L, so you need to set your CBR reader to Japanese/manga mode during that section in order for facing pages to be oriented correctly.

    132 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted

  9. Famitsu Issue 1359/1360 (January 1/8/15, 2015)

    It's been a while since we've had one of these double-number issues of Famitsu, so for anyone out there who's confused, here's a brief explanation.  This is a single issue that is counted as two.  The preceding issue is numbered 1358 (December 25, 2014), and the following issue is numbered 1361 (January 15, 2015), making this issue #1359/1360.  This sort of thing happens 3 or 4 times per year.  It doesn't mean that the double issues are double length.  Sometimes they're longer than average, sometimes not (this issue is 280 pages, which isn't unusually long for Famitsu.) 
    What it DOES mean is that the staff took a vacation.  As you can imagine, turning out over 1000 pages of magazine per month is nothing to sneeze at (especially when you consider that Western mags were typically producing less than 100 pages of content per month), so a few times per year, the staff would be...ALLOWED TO SLEEP!!!  This particular mag came out around New Years, which is the biggest holiday in Japan.  Everything shuts down for 5 days or so while everyone stays home to celebrate with their families (its closest Western equivalent would be Christmas.)  So every year around this time, Famitsu releases a "double issue" so that its staff can enjoy the holiday like the rest of the country.
    But since this is Famitsu WEEKLY, I guess they don't want to break the illusion by having less than 52 issues per year, so whenever they skip a week, they just add an extra issue number to make up for it.  So since this issue was on newsstands for two weeks, it gets two issue numbers.  Kind of dumb, and definitely a pain in the ass when I was first putting together the database, but that's the way it is.  Now you know, and yadayadayadaYOJOE.

    58 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted

  10. Famitsu Issue 1362 (January 22, 2015)

    This magazine is 212 pages, which is fairly reasonable for Famitsu.  They're usually a bit longer, though issues exceeding 300 pages aren't common.  Considering they put this thing out on a weekly basis, it's still a remarkable amount of pages per month, sometimes entering quadruple digits. 
    But this issue also has an ad for a Monster Hunter strategy guide, which weighs in at 1,568 pages.  That's more pages than an entire year's worth of any Western game mag published contemporaneously with this issue.   That's pretty impressive, I'll give you that. 
    I'll also give you a slap on the face if you ever ask me to scan it. 🙂

    70 downloads

    4 comments

    Submitted

  11. Famitsu Issue 1363 (January 29, 2015)

    Flipping through this issue, I noticed a baseball game and wondered if...yep, there he is.  3 years before heading to America and entering the MLB, look who it is - the currently-highest-paid (best?) player in the game, Mr. Shohei Ohtani:

    I realize most of you are nerds who stay inside all day, hating sports and sports games alike.  I happen to be a nerd who stays inside all day hating sports, but has been known to enjoy a sports game or two (back when I played games, that is.)  This guy goes beyond sports star, though.  He's a national hero here in Japan, and by far the biggest celebrity.  Basically, he's the Japanese Taylor Swift.  They let the kids here watch the final game of the World Series (which Ohtani's Dodgers won) in school like it was the moon landing or something.
    In this game, he's still playing for the Nippon Ham Fighters.  Did I ever mention that Japanese sports teams have stupid names?  Actually, the team name is "Fighters," but rather than name teams after the city they're in, they name them after whatever giant corporation owns the team.  It's super-lame.  So rather than the Sapporo Fighters, allowing people in Sapporo/Hokkaido to wear their hometown team's merch with pride, they have to basically be wearing an advertisement for Nippon Ham, a giant meat/food corporation.  Plus, when you say it out loud, it sounds like they fight ham.

    71 downloads

    4 comments

    Submitted

  12. Famitsu Issue 1364 (February 5, 2015)

    276 pages.  Includes a review catalogue reprinting all 123 cross-reviews (the 4-person review format which EGM copied from Famitsu) which appeared in the second half of 2014.

    81 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted

  13. Famitsu Issue 1365 (February 12, 2015)

    I had a certain song playing through my head while flipping through this mag, looking for my random "about this file" comment.  The version on Youtube is from an older version of the 5th grade elementary school English textbooks, and has been updated for the newer ones with new music and lyrics (same refrain and melody, though), but the newer version isn't on Youtube, so far as I know.  But it's ironic? fitting? that the song (Yokoso! Welcome to Japan) was stuck in my head when I came across a page featuring this toy:
     

    A twin-barrel battleship gun emplacement...that couldn't be more Japanese if it tried.  I think foreigners who have never been to Japan watch some anime or some wacky Japanese commercials or whatever and think that Japan must be some zany place fully of quirky people doing quirky things like they saw once on a game show or in a video of an idol concert in Akihabara or something.  But it's actually a really quiet, ordinary place.
    Except for the cuteness.  Everywhere you look, CUTE CUTE CUTE.  The kawaii aesthetic is everywhere.  Please observe exhibit A, a collection of roadside construction barriers.

    So why not make cute anthropomorphic guns?  If you absolutely positively HAD to be shot out of the sky, wouldn't you prefer it be by something adorable?

    62 downloads

    1 comment

    Updated

  14. Famitsu Issue 1367 (February 26, 2015)

    So it seems the editors of Famitsu thought that people would like to see Persona 5 on the cover.  I mean, sure - on a NORMAL day, that might be the case.  But how they decided to go with Persona 5 when they had this in the same issue, will forever be a mystery:

    This is Tsuri Bit.  Which means "fishing bit."  Note the fishing rods?  Wikipedia tells me that this jpop idol group formed out of a desire to sing, dance...and fish.
    Their concept:
    You can't even make this stuff up.
    Based on views, this seems to be their biggest hit, from around the time this magazine came out (the song's title is "I'm going to dance, fish" presumably meaning "I'm going to dance and fish," or maybe "I'm going to dance, then fish" and not someone addressing a fish and telling it that they're going to dance.  Though I suppose it could be that...)
     

    66 downloads

    1 comment

    Updated

  15. Famitsu Issue 1369 (March 12, 2015)

    246 pgs.
    Another edit finished, another magazine tossed into the recycling bin.  And yet the pile of mags waiting to be scanned never gets any smaller.  Indeed, just when you think you're making progress clearing out the mags cluttering your home by the box-load, you "accidentally" buy some more.  In your head, you know what you're doing is abhorrently wrong, but just like this duck, your body has a mind of its own and your finger clicks the "buy it now" button before your brain has a chance to stop it.  You hang your head in shame.  This is the scanner's own private hell.

    47 downloads

    3 comments

    Submitted

  16. Famitsu Issue 1370 (March 19, 2015)

    So here's a fun PS3/PS4 game.  Take photos of girls in compromising positions - up skirts and down shirts. If the girls aren't posing in a way convenient for your photos?  No problem - just do a slide or lay down on the ground and you'll have those panty shots in no time.  OH NOES!  HERE COMES THE PERVERT POLICE!!  Run away to be a sexual predator another day!  Wheee!!!
    Did you all know that there's an actual law in Japan that makes it illegal to sell any camera (including those on mobile devices) that doesn't make a loud "click" shutter noise when a photo is taken?  This noise cannot be disabled, and finding a workaround is illegal.  Because of shit like this game happening in real life.  But I guess you aren't allowed to murder people in real life, either, and we've got thousands of games where that's the goal, so...yay, lets take photos of underage high school girls' panties without their consent.

    37 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted

×
×
  • 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!