Missing Magazine? Arcade Express

**VGBounceHouse** · April 21, 2016

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?

**Sean697** · April 22, 2016

I thin the answer is yes. I mean we have the Top Score Newletter. Why not this?

Edited April 22, 2016 by Sean697

**RetroDefense** · June 6, 2016

I thin the answer is yes. I mean we have the Top Score Newletter. Why not this?

Agreed! I'm not sure the official RetroMags stance regarding newsletters - I think we archive newsletters that eventually evolved into full-fledged mags? But this seems to be hit or miss sometimes, like the Nintendo Fun Club & Top Score newsletters but not the Atari Age newsletters, for example.

But there are several newsletters I'd love to see archived here. They often encapsulated corporate video game history not found elsewhere - most were house organs - and given their (usually) mail-order only scarcity are arguably in more dire need of preservation than most magazines. Internal newsletters are especially awesome - you only need to read a couple installments of The Gospel of St. Pong to get an idea of what early Atari was like.

In keeping with the topic though, here's some more info on Arcade Express. It ran a total of 26 issues before evolving into Electronic Games Hotline. Here are the remaining issues to compliment VGBounceHouse's list:

Volume 1, Number 1 - August 15, 1982

Volume 1, Number 2 - August 30, 1982

Volume 1, Number 3 - September 12, 1982

Volume 1, Number 4 - September 26, 1982

Volume 1, Number 5 - October 10, 1982

Volume 1, Number 6 - October 24, 1982

Volume 1, Number 7 - November 7, 1982

Volume 1, Number 8 - November 21, 1982

Volume 1, Number 9 - December 5, 1982

Volume 1, Number 10 - December 19, 1982

Volume 1, Number 11 - January 2, 1983

Volume 1, Number 12 - January 16, 1983

Volume 1, Number 13 - January 30, 1983

Volume 1, Number 23 - June 19, 1983

Volume 1, Number 25 - July 17, 1983

Volume 1, Number 26 - July 31, 1983

With the exception of issues 16 and 22, all issues are readily available about the 'net - via Digital Press and (I believe) mirrored via the Internet Archive. VGBounceHouse, even if RetroMags opts not to archive these newsletters, if you could find the time to scan your 16 and 22 and disseminate those via the Interwebs, that'd be fantastic. (Bill Kunkel had donated his collection to DP for archiving but these two issues were apparently missing.)

And here's a list of the remaining Electronic Games Hotline issues. It looks to have run a total of 27 issues (a total backed by DP and also mentioned by Kevin Gifford in a MagWeasel installment):

Volume 2, Number 3 - September 11, 1983

Volume 2, Number 4 - September 23, 1983

Volume 2, Number 5 - October 9, 1983

Volume 2, Number 6 - October 23, 1983

Volume 2, Number 8 - November 20, 1983

Volume 2, Number 11 - January 1, 1984

Volume 2, Number 12 - January 15, 1984

Volume 2, Number 13 - January 29, 1984

Volume 2, Number 15 - February 26, 1984

Volume 2, Number 16 - March 11, 1984

Volume 2, Number 17 - March 25, 1984

Volume 2, Number 18 - April 8, 1984

Volume 2, Number 19 - April 22, 1984

Volume 2, Number 20 - May 6, 1984

Volume 2, Number 21 - May 20, 1984

Volume 2, Number 22 - June 3, 1984

Volume 2, Number 23 - June 17, 1984

Volume 2, Number 24 - July 1, 1984

Volume 2, Number 25 - July 15, 1984

Volume 3, Number 1 - August 12, 1984

I've had no luck tracking down any Electronic Games Hotline issues, unfortunately. I'll keep looking but I suspect these have yet to be archived publicly.

**VGBounceHouse** · July 3, 2019

I got a request from RetroDefense to fill in the two holes in the Arcade Express archive and I decided to bump this thread in case anyone else could help with the missing issues. I have finished Issue 16, March 13, 1983:

My archive is viewable here: http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1983/03/13ae/pages/

You'll find my CBZ and PDF along with a ZIP with the TIFF scans and PSD edits. I did this with a 600dpi Document mode scan in Black & White mode and believe it came out fine, but if I need to do them greyscale or with a different B&W cutoff to improve them please let me know.

**VGBounceHouse** · July 4, 2019

I have finished issue 22, June 5, 1983:

My archive is viewable here: http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1983/06/05ae/pages/

You'll find my CBZ and PDF along with a ZIP with the TIFF scans and PSD edits. I'll be getting to the first two issues of Electronic Games Hotline shortly.

**VGBounceHouse** · July 4, 2019

I have finished issue 27, August 14, 1983, the first issue under the new name Electronic Games Hotline:

My archive is viewable here: http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1983/08/14egh/pages/

You'll find my CBZ and PDF along with a ZIP with the TIFF scans and PSD edits. I'll be getting to second issue of Electronic Games Hotline shortly.

**VGBounceHouse** · July 4, 2019

I have finished issue 28, August 28, 1983, the first issue under the new name Electronic Games Hotline:

My archive is viewable here: http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1983/08/28egh/pages/

You'll find my CBZ and PDF along with a ZIP with the TIFF scans and PSD edits. I'll try to get to my other copies of this soon.

**E-Day** · July 5, 2019

I think we should archive them. I mean, why not? Someone out there somewhere may be looking for them one day. Plus now that we preserve everything, these should definitely be preserved. Maybe we don't need individual categories for them yet, but we can create a Newsletter category for them for the time being.

**kitsunebi** · July 5, 2019

Exactly. No need for cover galleries on newsletters (obviously), and no need for databases for mags that fall outside of our jurisdiction, but there's no reason we can't drop anything we scan into the download section.

I'm actually tempted to say #$%# it with all of the gaming mags I have in my closets and start scanning comics-related stuff instead, since that's much more of a personal interest of mine. I'm eyeing the first 100 issues or so of Wizard magazine right now, actually, but it would be a nearly $200 expenditure on my part to do what, exactly? Commit myself to countless hours scanning and editing mags that no one else here cares about? For that price, I'd probably just keep the mags.

**RetroDefense** · July 5, 2019

7 hours ago, E-Day said:

I think we should archive them. I mean, why not? Someone out there somewhere may be looking for them one day. Plus now that we preserve everything, these should definitely be preserved. Maybe we don't need individual categories for them yet, but we can create a Newsletter category for them for the time being.

I've mentioned this before, but I've always been under the impression RetroMags preserves newsletters that eventually evolved into magazines - otherwise, gaming newsletters are ignored.

This is a shame as these newsletters are often rare and in more desperate need of preservation. They may not have much nostalgic merit but there's lots of historical value there. They should definitely be archived.

Thanks, VGBounceHouse, for scanning these issues! You've performed a service for video game historians & researchers - these issues have eluded archivists for years.

**kitsunebi** · July 5, 2019

Also, anyone who has a newsletter and a scanner has no excuse not to scan them and help out, since they're super fast and easy to scan and don't have to be debound or harmed in any way if scanned on a flatbed (which is what most amateur scanners would own, anyway.) Sure, they're of little interest to most people, but it only takes a few minutes to make them publicly available for those that are, so (as E-Day said), why not? Just look at all the crap being archived at the Internet Archive - stuff like 40 year-old instruction manuals to Mexican refrigerators, and you realize that there's a place for everything, no matter how obscure.

**VGBounceHouse** · July 6, 2019

I’m gonna find some time this weekend to scan the other issues of Electronic Games Hotline I have. That’ll be 10 issues of AE/EGH if it helps in terms of setting up a place here for downloads.

I also have Text Recognized PDFs and will soon have HTML versions of each issue.

**VGBounceHouse** · July 6, 2019

I did a sample HTML conversion for Issue 16 which you can read here:

http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1983/03/13ae/text/

**VGBounceHouse** · July 6, 2019

I have finished issue 33, November 6, 1983:

My archive is viewable here: http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1983/11/06egh/pages/