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digitalpress
06-19-2009, 10:17 AM
Thanks to Scott "stonic" Stilphen, the long-destroyed master copy (VCS) of the Digital Press production "Live From Your Home" is once again available!

The videos are now viewable on YouTube - we need to do a little further editing as some pieces have copyrighted music or were a bit too long to fit into YouTube's guidelines but you can get a real blast from the past from the 15 segments that are up and running! Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/DigitalPressLLC

"Live From Your Home" (1994)

This is one of our earliest attempts at pulling members of the gaming community together. Remember, we weren't using e-mail or the internet at the time. So, via our bi-monthly newsletter we asked gamers to send in videos of themselves with their collections, highlighting their favorites. I compiled the videos, "mixed" them with some music and low-tech graphics, and sent the final copy to everyone who participated (though copies were also available for a short time through the newsletter). The quality is pretty rough but it's interesting to see what people were collecting at a time when the Atari Jaguar was the hot new system.
Oobgarm
06-19-2009, 10:19 AM
Absolutely love these.
TonyTheTiger
06-19-2009, 11:56 AM
It's neat seeing actual video of what DP was like back then. A shame some of the audio had to go. I can only imagine how difficult it was to form a community without the aid of the internet.
NoahsMyBro
06-19-2009, 01:38 PM
That's very cool!

I wish I'd known about DP pre-internet. How *did* word spread about the newsletter? Did you ever place ads in gaming mags? Something else? Or was it just word-of-mouth?
digitalpress
06-19-2009, 01:50 PM
That's very cool!

I wish I'd known about DP pre-internet. How *did* word spread about the newsletter? Did you ever place ads in gaming mags? Something else? Or was it just word-of-mouth?

We didn't place ads but were reviewed a number of times by pro magazines. In those early days "fanzines" were quite the rage and got a page or two of notice from a couple of the magazines (most memorably for me personally "Video Games & Computer Entertainment").
hellfire
06-19-2009, 02:30 PM
I started watching these and I love them
digitalpress
06-19-2009, 02:43 PM
There are a few really good ones that need to be cut down a bit before we can post them on YouTube (Jeff Cooper, Mark Terry) and a few conspicuously missing (Scott himself!, Russ Perry). Those are really KEY to getting the whole collector scene of that era.
PingvinBlueJeans
06-19-2009, 02:45 PM
Good stuff.
MrRoboto19XX
06-19-2009, 04:15 PM
These are really great, but I seem to have an odd craving for Kippered Herring all of the sudden...
Nature Boy
06-19-2009, 04:30 PM
"What would you like. Some Absolute?" ...

Brilliant! I need more time to watch 'em all...
Kid Ice
06-19-2009, 05:08 PM
DVD. Please.
Enigmus
06-19-2009, 08:25 PM
DVD. Please.

Better yet, "Live From Your Home Again: LFYH 2"
kingpong
06-19-2009, 09:29 PM
Pretty cool to see these. In those days, those of us who were on the Internet kept wondering when all of the fanzine guys were going to join us. With rec.games.video having been split out into multiple groups in 1993, most importantly rec.games.video.classic, we were living the high life.

Interesting to see the collections of some of the bigger names who never or rarely showed up online. Much smaller collections than I expected, but of course with some crazy good stuff.

I don't know what's sadder - realizing that this stuff was all 15 years ago, or being reminded that the glory days of classic game collecting ended 10 years ago. Time sure flies...
newtype5
06-19-2009, 09:36 PM
i think i have this VHS somewhere at my parent's house. wasn't there a vol. 2?
digitalpress
06-20-2009, 11:10 AM
i think i have this VHS somewhere at my parent's house. wasn't there a vol. 2?

There was, and that's coming soon too.

What I'd really like to do is a volume 3. SO much easier to pull off now with all the digital gadgetry we just take for granted.

Who's in for volume 3?
Greg2600
06-20-2009, 01:29 PM
So is the guy in video V1.02 is the guy who owns the only Pink Panther 2600 prototype, but never dumped it, and then vanished? That son of a gun!
supergoldzero
06-20-2009, 01:37 PM
There was, and that's coming soon too.

What I'd really like to do is a volume 3. SO much easier to pull off now with all the digital gadgetry we just take for granted.

Who's in for volume 3?

I'm totally in to contribute towards a volume 3! It is great you managed to find and post these neat little relics of the past online.
PingvinBlueJeans
06-20-2009, 01:45 PM
So is the guy in video V1.02 is the guy who owns the only Pink Panther 2600 prototype, but never dumped it, and then vanished? That son of a gun!
He hasn't vanished, and a few more copies have turned up since then.
Sonicwolf
06-20-2009, 02:45 PM
God, I was just a little toddler when these videos were made. LOL
RASK1904
06-20-2009, 11:20 PM
Very very very cool! Thanks for puttin those up there! Love them. Awesome!
MachineGex
06-21-2009, 12:34 AM
Love the videos. Brings me back to when collecting was alittle more exciting and a lot harder. The internet has made collecting so easy, it use to be a chore just to figure out what games were available.
VG_Maniac
06-21-2009, 07:30 PM
Love the videos. Brings me back to when collecting was alittle more exciting and a lot harder. The internet has made collecting so easy, it use to be a chore just to figure out what games were available.

I couldn't even begin to imagine how hard collecting was before the internet. I mean, without the net...how could you even figure out which games are super rare and which ones are just in high demand? Before I started really getting into collecting, and using the internet as my guide...I thought games like Chrono Trigger and Mega Man X3 were really rare.
Nirvana
06-21-2009, 11:50 PM
That's insane. I honestly didn't even know the site was around pre-internet o_O

Not to mention I was only 4 when that video was in production...

I like watching these.
newtype5
06-22-2009, 12:53 AM
well, it was different. things moved at a much slower pace (no email, paypal, or priority mail (iirc), and knowledge was something strived for, not just googled to find the answer.

general communication was through fanzines. everyone should already know that digital press started (and continues to this day!) as a copied fanzine. 2600 Connection was another one (that stills exists too).
there used to be a great index of sorts that was a fanzine about fanzines, called 'Factsheet Five'. each issue reviewed and advertised other fanzines from around the world, about every topic imaginable (and some not so much!), and i believe this is where i first discovered digital press.

joe and kevin o's original dp price guides were the first time that comprehensive info and rarity ratings were collected about video games. it was awe inspiring, and still is! the red and blue dp books are what those early guides evolved into.

thanks for bringing back these memories joe!
digitalpress
06-22-2009, 07:26 AM
Four more videos have been added to this collection (actually two segments that were too long, split up). These two in particular are very indicative of very good collections from the early 90's. Jeff Cooper's stuff is amazing - at that time we had never seen anything close to what he had amassed with regards to videogame memorabilia. Scott Stone and Mark Terry turn their video into an informative segment that includes tips on improving your Track & Field scores.

Still not quite complete but if you enjoyed the videos that where here up this point, you definitely want to check out these "new" ones.
digitalpress
06-23-2009, 11:05 PM
Clint Dyer's segment has been restored (in my opinion, the "most 90s" segment) as well as the opening credits. Almost complete.

And I'm really thinking a third volume is in order. It would be SO easy to do one of these now, doesn't need to be a DVD - a simple virtual set like you see now from this first set on YouTube would be great!
slapdash
06-26-2009, 10:51 PM
Wait, by "conspicuously missing", do you mean the video no longer exists? My segment is gone?!? Ian, you had to laugh at mine, didn't you!
slapdash
06-28-2009, 07:04 PM
Ah, well that would explain why it's missing from Vol. 1. What about yours?
digitalpress
07-02-2009, 05:11 PM
UPDATE: some of the segments from "Live From Your Home Vol II" (1995) are posted on YouTube as well, including one part of Russ "slapdash" Perry Jr.'s collection. Scott also found his missing segment from the first volume, wrapping that video up altogether.

The highlight outside of the actual collections themselves is the "behind the scenes" segment outlining a typical production cycle of the DP fanzine. Old technology RULES. Bonus: a rare answering machine message from Al Backiel!

http://www.youtube.com/digitalpressllc