KiwiArcader

Yeah. I'm still fiddling with it to get it right. The middle page is the dragon but I was just trying to get across an alternate way of display the rather awkward triple page spreads side by side where if you display a standard page with the two page spread side by side it doesn't display very well in Adobe Acrobat. By joining the three pages together and splitting down the centre you do get a better viewing experience

There's a slight problem with this issue. When converting to PDF I noticed the inside cover pages are out of order as a result of the fold out poster which results in pages 2d & 3 not appearing side by side correctly. I've struck this with scanning my issues and came with the idea of merging the three pages for the fold-out together then cutting in two. This looks like this ..... While the centre goes through the fold out page itself it does allow proper side by side viewing of the poster + corresponding page which is preferrable in my eyes to the non-uniform page display if you don't process it this way. In case you are interested New Zealand/Australia got a locally printed edition with all the content intact except the cover which is ...

HI Meppi, How goes it with the house reno's? Hope all is tracking on well for you. I'm guessing your comment re "elitist" is a reference to my comments in this thread. I can assure you that actually wasn't aimed at you believe it or not but actually at David Haynes over at Bombjack.org who was more than happy to receive submissions from me but then wouldn't reciprocate by allowing me to use some of his over at my site. That is, in my books an "elitist" attitude. This whole magazine preservation scene really is made up of two components: Sites like Retromags, OoPA, Bombjack and OGM who actively scan older content for the purposes of preventing their being lost forever .... and Sites like WorldofMags, Emuparadise who take other sites content for their own and/or pirate current content thus depriving publishers of potential revenue There's not much we can do about the second type of sites as they pretty much don't give a rats ass about the consequences of their actions, just as the people leeching off our sites and re-posting files elsewhere while giving nothing back don't either. What is rather more depressing however, is that the sites in the first group don't really give a toss about anyone other than themselves either. There are not a lot of people actively scanning content out there so having to scan content already available on one site simply because they want to retain possession of their content to me is simply a waste of time that could be better spent scanning previously unreleased content, especially when the current scans are good quality anyway. In an ideal world the likes of OoPA, Retromags and OGM should be actively engaged in laying out what content they have so that one entity could take ownership of scanning a particular title for all the sites to use. In some ways Retromags and OGM are actually now on that path as I am making my USA content available here while Phillyman has been seeding UK purchases to marktrade to scan and allow my site to use them as well. I see this as a real way to move preservation ahead at a faster pace. It's just a shame OoPA has a different agenda but that's how you choose to operate and I have no issues with that. The ONLY thing that I actually have a beef with you would be if I had donated my collection of magazines to you in the belief that they would be preserved I'd be pretty darned unhappy at the singular lack of progress that OoPA has made over the years. Releases have been glacial with lots of re-releases of existing content rather than new releases. Unfortunately triverse has flown the coop by the look of it and nreive is fairly M.I.A as well which just leaves you to carry the site. Someone who has given you hundreds of magazines for preservation might be likely feeling pretty unhappy that not only do they no longer have their physical copies but there's little chance of seeing digital versions on the horizon either. I know I would be if I was in that boat about now.

Well, as both you and I can atest to that generally doesn't happen all that much

MegaTech issue 06 is now available in PDF format here and in .CBR format here. I forgot to clean up the front page on this one before uploading it but I need to move on to the next one as I am way behind in my scanning quota so feel free to edit it is so desired.....

Anything is better than nothing. The fact we have six issues at all is great news as they aren't all that common on auction sites nowadays so kudos to Phillyman for acquiring and marktrade for scanning them. I am working through these before getting back onto PC Gamer because they are way, way smaller than those are

MegaTech issue 10 has been edited and is available over at OGM. For Retromagger's the CBR version (with added Retromags credit page) is available here ...

Of course these should be scanned and archived. They're magazines about computing with a subset of features on gaming so go for it. I have an issue in my basement which I will try and locate to see if it is one of the missing issues.

Another of marktrade's awesome scans gets an edit. This time it's issue 11 of MegaTech. The PDF can be downloaded via OGM and here's a link to a .CBR version (I just realised as I write this that I forgot to add the Retromags page to the .CBR) if someone wants to upload it here. This issue was weird to edit as the pages seemed to have issues with clusters of text not actually being level with others which made editing a bit of a mission ........

In response to marktrade's call for editiors I've edited issue 15 of PC Gamer (USA). The PDF version can be obtained over at OGM and here's a link to a .CBR with the additional retromags page if someone wants to include it here..

I'll be looking at the PC Gamer issues.

If it's a 1980's magazine then that's a negative as those days were pre-Mac and Quark Xpress so they were generally typeset. Even the screenshots were generally someone photographing the monitor screen. The publishers, sometimes, kept copies that were unsold separate from back issues so that they could quote from if needed. But by and large the only copies left from the 1980's, certainly from publishers long gone like Argus Press, are those in peoples collections. Sad but true I am afraid.

Don't get me wrong. If the page cut angle is bad like it was with Computer Gaming World #213 that I scanned recently I scan the whole page using an A3 full page template then run deskew on it and process it that way. It takes a whole lot longer though. At the end of the day though I am interested in the content and reading it without having to tip my head 10 degrees to do so and I think most people are the same. Losing a mm on the edge really doesn't impact the magazine in any overly negative way in that regard. Everyone's entitled to their opinion and given the lack of people actually scanning I'd never try and be negative about how a person processes their scans. If someone gave up scanning because I took some moral high ground on it over at OGM that's one less person scanning and then everyone loses out. As marktrade said, there's no harm in getting everything scanned. At least then others may take on the editing side of things. May being the operative word as not many do that either. Most people are just here to leech and they will usually take anything you throw at them.

I just create a scanning template for the Fujitsu that gets slightly in from the edges of the page and then go for it. I'm pretty sure losing approx 1mm off the edges of the page in the interests of not having to crop isn't detracting much if anything from the finished product, especially when you consider anyone using a flatbed and pressing a bound magazine is likely losing more than that from the spine anyway

Computer Gaming World issue 213 is now available over at OGM

Oops!!.I forgot to transfer it to the shared directory. Fixed .......

EGM Issue 152 from March 2002 is now available over at OGM. Currently not available here due to year restrictions ........

They used to be admins here and when there was a bust up they removed or asked for all their scans to be removed from Retromags. Wasn't a good time and no, they don't like people linking to their scans even now which is weird given they have absolutely no ability to control someone making their scans available elsewhere any more than we at Retromags or OGM can. The whole idea of preservation includes disseminating them so that if a site disappears they aren't lost forever otherwise it's no different to not scanning them in the first place. That's why I've been letting people know via my W.I.P when I release USA mags over at OGM so that if someone wants to make them available here they can as long as credit is given. Mutual co-operation has got to be better for everyone than holding on to an elitist position in my books. If sites took that position we wouldn't need to create separate scans and it would make preservation a whole lot easier but alas it isn't the case so we do what we have to do ....

Going on Christmas holiday to my Uncle and Aunts batch down in Papamoa, Tauranga. They let us into the main house and we were treated to the sight of a home console plugged into the TV aerial socket playing Pong. God it was great. Two version of Pong, 2 bat and 4 .......

GamePro issue 134 (124 here) from Nov 1999 is now available at OGM. This one is marked as "Missing" here so she should be fine until E-Day or Phillyman manage to acquire a copy

Friggin' awesome mate!!!!

If you have an iPad download the apps for Future PLC's mags ...Official PlayStation (UK), Xbox Official (UK) and so on. They have a "Complete Your collection" offer where you can get all their digital releases from Dec 2009 to the current date for $50. That's 70 plus issues typically. Even though PC Format has been discontinued you can grab their digital back issues as well. Pretty good bargain. If you have an iPad Pro with 128/256GB storage there's plenty of room for a whole collection

Oh ahhh .... I can see a name change from Areala to .... Meppreala or Arealaverse coming up

GamePro issue 145 (minus 10 as usual for Retromags numbering) circa Oct 2000 is now available over at OGM....

I know. I understand that they released 10 issues classified as specials so there is an inconsistency in the numbering but in my mind if they say it's issue 137 on the cover I am going to call it issue 137. That's why the date is in my naming convention before the issue number. It becomes irrelevant where the specials reside and so on simply by sorting by date. They just slot in with special in the name rather than an issue number thus numbering is preserved and aligned with the actual cover numbering. AND ..... you're welcome