It's about time for a DP gaming magazine collectors club!

[Anthony1]

think about it. Fellow magazine hunters, we can help each other out, and talk about what mags are the best, etc, etc.

We can discuss how we find the mags, protect them, store them, whether we read them or just collect them, our most prized possessions, values of mags, etc, etc.

Everybody could submit their current collection lists, and a list of all their extras (trade bait). We can even work together on a guide that catalogs every known issue, and a pic of the cover.


Basically, if you are interested in joining the DP Members Classic Gaming Mag Brotherhood, then join on up! I'm willing to contribute as much as I can to the project.

[poloplayr]

Best magazine EVER:

Super Play (UK SNES Mag)

Never ever has a magazine screamed by the fans for the fans more than this in such a high-quality manner.

[hydr0x]

yeah, interested

btw, i use collectorz.com Comic Collector to catalog my mag collection, works like a charm, you can add what articles are in the mags, which editors worked on a specific issue and so on

i do mainly collect German mags but i have a complete run (?) of the official dreamcast magazine uk and about 40 other issues from the UK and the Netherlands, unfortunately not a single US mag yet :(

if anyone understands german, i have 2 spare issues of Dreamcast KULT magazine (the official german one) i'd like to sell or trade (missing posters though, without DreamOn discs)

[Mayhem]

There is a set of complete Superplay scans about on the net if you look closely enough... Future legal injunction or no legal injunction, they are still out there ;)

And yes, for readers in the UK, Superplay is held as being possibly the greatest single format mag ever published, alongside the first 3 years of Zzap!64.

[Steempy]

Magazines are great to collect.. I've got an absolute shitload, if I do say so myself. Australia's in a pretty decent position for mags, because we get most all the UK game mags, as well as the US ones.. admittedly 2-3 months behind, though.

I've got all sorts of interesting stuff - Japanese Saturn mags, a Brazillian multiformat mag, some Famicom mags from Hong Kong, runs of various Australian mags, UK mags, US mags.. my only problem is organising them - I kind of left it late to start sorting them now, but I guess I'd better eventually.

As far as best single format mag goes, I'd definitely have to agree with the earlier years of Zzap. There's a whole host of UK 8 bit mags from that era that make for interesting reading... the same company that made Zzap (Newsfield, I think) did Crash (a ZX Spectrum mag that lasted years on end) and Amtix! (an Amstrad CPC mag, decidedly less succesful).

You can't talk video game mags without mentioning C+VG from the UK as well - I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to go find out about that mag. :)

[Steempy]

Another point I forgot to make - what I probably enjoy the most about gaming mags is flipping through them and knowing I own every single game in them :)

[gamenthusiast]

I would like to be a part of a DP Magazine Collectors Club. I have been collecting for a long time and have completed many a magazine collection... despite selling them months afterwards.

I have mainstays though: EGM, Game Informer, Games TM, and most recently, Famitsu.

I would really like to find out how to find old Famitsu issues in decent condition in mass loads to start off that publication collection.
Everyone here could use help/assistence in finding sources for magazines since finding them are sporadic.

[youruglyclone]

I'd be interested...although I'm more interested in "digitizing" them than actually having them around the house.

[YoshiM]

Great idea. It'd be interesting to be a part of. Not that I have anything to really contribute in regards to extras as game magazine finds are extremely rare in my neck o' the woods. :D

[Anthony1]

I'd be interested...although I'm more interested in "digitizing" them than actually having them around the house.



You know, once we have a true form of "digital paper", that is really going to be the way to go. Of course, a real world version of digital paper for the massess is likely still 15 years or more away.

As for trying to read mags on a Computer screen, the hell with that. For me, the true enjoyment of a magazine, is before I go to bed. Snuggling up in the covers with a nice magazine, is definitely a nice way to kill an hour or so. I gotta feel it in my hands.


Digital paper isn't going to be the same thing, but it's still a helluva lot better than trying to read a book or magazine or even a long article on a computer or laptop screen.

[boatofcar]

I started getting GamesTM when Retro Gamer died, and I must say it's pretty good. The Retro Section, while not (obviously) as big as RG's is good, and I the reviews for current games are well written.

Best old school VG magazine-Game Player's.

[Zilla]

I'd love to be a part of this but I would really just be gathering knowledge. I have some gaming magazines around but I really want to know how/where I can get gaming mags from the past now. I'd love to have gaming mags to go with my videogames. I'm also interested in finding out more about strategy guides, What games have them and where to get older ones as its pretty easy to get them new. If this gets off the ground then great but if not and someone wants to just be helpful feel free to pm me or email me or whatever.

[Anthony1]

I'd love to be a part of this but I would really just be gathering knowledge. I have some gaming magazines around but I really want to know how/where I can get gaming mags from the past now. I'd love to have gaming mags to go with my videogames. I'm also interested in finding out more about strategy guides, What games have them and where to get older ones as its pretty easy to get them new. If this gets off the ground then great but if not and someone wants to just be helpful feel free to pm me or email me or whatever.


I can tell you from personal experience, that since I got into retrogaming, collecting and reading the old school mags is almost more enjoyable then collecting and playing the old games. The thing about the old magazines, is that it can really transport you right back to that time period, and the current state of video games at that time. Even looking at the advertisments is cool. Some of these magazines have a magical quality about them. Also trying to come up with a complete collection of a certain mag is very challenging and rewarding.


I'm a huge fan of the 1989 to 1996 era of video games. That 7 year period of time, in my personal opinion, is the best 7 year period in the history of Video Games, and I honestly don't think there will be a more interesting 7 years anytime in the future. There was just so much going on during those 7 years. Acquring mags from this period, is definitely a very good idea. There were some truly great publications that existed during this period. Many of which are no longer with us.

[Ed Oscuro]

Protect gaming mags? Hmm...I put them on...shelves.

Love the topic personally...I collect anything that's printed and concerned with gaming, hopefully softcover (and hopefully free, like most of my mags and many of the store flyers and such I've picked up over time).

[Anthony1]

Protect gaming mags? Hmm...I put them on...shelves.


Well, it's interesting you bring that up, cause I can tell you a little story about that. One time I was bumping around on Ebay, and I came accros an auction for some absolutely mint, I mean..... I'm talking ridiculously mint early GameFan issues.

The issues were so freaking mint, and so perfect, that the bidding got really out of hand. Dude even had the very first issue. I tried to bid on the first issue, but it went for almost $100!!! The second issue went for like $80. I ended up winning like 3 issues. I think they were 3, 5 and 7 or something like that. They still cost a fortune. The bidding price was high, and dude charged a super high amount for shipping.

Anyways, the magazines arrived in USPS Priority boxes (not envelopes), insurance was required, dude had tons of foam peanuts in there, and the freaking magazines were protected like they were the dead sea scrolls.

When I finally got to see the actual mags, they were inside a poly bag, with a insert back, and they looked like works of art. I'm talking the most mint issue you can possibly imagine. I mean the issue looked like it was removed from the printing press and then immediately hermetically sealed! These issues honestly look like they were never touched with a human hand. They looked so good, that I almost didn't want to touch them myself.


Well, anyways, the moral of this story is that I decided to treat my classic mags like they should be treated. Any mag that has a spot in my long term collection is going to be housed in a high quality polybag with a cardboard insert back. So that's what I'm talking about in terms of "Protecting game mags". Of course, storing them is another concern....

[gamenthusiast]

Anthony1, was this seller rbhunter?

[Anthony1]

Anthony1, was this seller rbhunter?


Yeah, something hunter. Was I bidding against you on that amazing auctions that dude was having. I think he had super early and mint issues of EGM and GamePro and all kinds of other mags. The mags he was selling were dream come trues, but the cost was freaking super high. The bidding wars were crazy. Dude must have made thousands of dollars when it was all finished.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Sounds interesting for me. I could make a mag exchange between southamerican ones and north american/european magazines. Very good idea.

Matías

[gamenthusiast]

I took part in a few of the EGM auctions. This guy bought anything and everything that came out in terms of game magazines and never even touched them.
He knew they would be worth something someday and made a few thousand in profit. I believe he never was really interested in even looking at the magazines.

[gamenthusiast]

I went ahead and created a Yahoo group for a focused magazine club. I am sure this will help for all that is interested in discussing and making contacts in the topic of video game magazines.

Here it is:

Collector Central: Magazine Enthusiasts

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vgmag
bookmark it right now!

Sign up and I will let you in as soon as possible!

We can add in scans, make trades, create contacts, and more all about the topic of magazines AND books!

[RJ]

Im interested in a DP mag club thing; I amasssed/built an impressive collection (IMHO) of Game Informer, EGM, & OPM from deals w/ DP members. Always looking for more!

GI- Sept '00-current (recv subscription)
EGM- Mar 99-current (recv subs)
OPM- #48-current (recv subs)

& I have short runs of PSM, play, GMR, & a few odd mags here & there.


going to be housed in a high quality polybag with a cardboard insert back

Well, I'm not that protective, but mine are kept in those IKEA cardboard mag holders, & I treat my mags w/ care.

[hydr0x]

heh, finished entering all my mags into Comic Collector today and the total number is 538 unique magazines :)

[Mayhem]

Off the top of my head I own magazine wise:

- all 11 issues of Atari Age
- all 90 issues of Zzap!64
- all 16 issues of Commodore Force
- all 61 issues of Commodore Format
- all issues of Commodore User from start until they went Amiga only
- all 34 issues of The Games Machine
- all 47 issues of Superplay and the Gold Edition
- all issues of N64 magazine and NGC
- all 160 issues (so far) of NMS/NOM
- all issues of VIC Computing bar two

Most of them were bought at the time and kept... rather than trying to purchase them retrospectively... hence I also still have almost all the freebies given away too.

[Anthony1]

Ok, it appears that we do have some members that are interested in this. So that's a good thing. These are the DP members that appear to be interested in joining the group:

hydrOx
gamenthusiast
youruglyclone
YoshiM
Zilla
Anthony1
Arqueologia-Digital
RJ


The Yahoo thing is a great idea, to get us started, but I was thinking that maybe we can even do better than that. If somebody has the free web space, and some HTML skills, we can probably make a pretty cool web page for our club that would serve our needs well.

I don't really know much about designing webpages, but I'm thinking that it would be really cool if somehow we had all the various magazines on there, with drop down menus, so that you can click on the issues that you have, and then under each member it would show exactly what issues you have, and what issues you are looking for. We could also have a section where you can simply browse the covers of every single issue for whatever particular magazine. If there is someway that we can update the information, we could even add additional information to each magazine, in addition to just having a picture of the cover. Like the number of pages, games reviewed, special articles, etc, etc.


We can slowly but surely add information to it, and eventually it would become like a database for video game magazine information. Again, I don't know much of anything about how to design webpages, and I'm not sure how much effort it would take, but I would help in anyway that I can. I can scan covers of all the issues that I have, and make lists of every game reviewed and page counts, and when editors and writers changed, etc, etc.


I'm thinking that when you go to the website, it would have a column on the side, that would list every known video game magazine. You would be able to click on whichever magazine, and it would take you to a pages dedicated to that particular magazine. Obviously, it will take alot of time and it will be a work in progress, so you might click on a particular magazine, and it could take you to a page that says that it's currently under construction or something, but eventually, we would be able to do a nice detailed breakdown of every mag.

For example, if you go to the column on the left (or right) and click on EGM, you will be taken to a page, that will have thumbnails of the cover of ever single EGM issue. If you click on a particular issue, you get a larger pic of the cover, plus a bio on that particular issue. It would list games previewed, reviewed, special articles, etc.

But the really cool feature, is that if somebody had that particular issue available for purchase or trade, we could also have that information available as well. For example, let's say that you are missing Issue 26 of EGM. Well, you go to the site, you click on EGM, and then you scroll down and click on the thumbnail of Issue 26. Then you would get a large picture of the front cover, and you would get some information about the issue, but you would also see which members actually have that issue available for trade or purchase.



I'm not sure how hard all of this would be, and I know that it would have to be a labor of love, but I would be willing to help in any way that I could I would be willing to go through all my issues gathering all the information and putting it into a Word document form and then sending it to somebody so they could upload it. If we do this, I would need to get a decent scanner. But I'm definitely game.


Also, when you go the the main page, and we have the column of all the mags listed, at the bottom could be "Members" and if you click on that, you get a list of all the members and you can click on the individual members and then get a page that has a little bio, what mags that member collects, maybe some stories that the member has about some particular mags, their personal rankings of the best video game mags of all time, their mags available for trade list, and a mags available for purchase list, and their "Most Wanted Mags" list.


We could really go to town with this.

[gamenthusiast]

I would definitely contribute to the Magazine site if anyone ever started one.

[gamenthusiast]

Oh, and I say everyone should sign up to the Yahoo club as a temporary deal. Then there we can figure out how to set up a collection database/site. I am actually surprised no one has decided to have a publication centric fan site.

[Mason P.]

I have just started collecing the nintendo Power mags and would like a group to talk mags as well as buy some off of.
Count me in.

[fennec fox]

Hello folks,

It's funny this topic came up as I have just begun designing a site devoted to gaming magazine history. It's still extremely early (I basically put up mediawiki and some templates), but you can get a taste for what I have in mind at
http://www.magweasel.com/wiki/Sample_mag_TOC

Basically my idea for the site would be to divide it by publication, then have separate pages for each issue of said publication. I've already scanned the covers of a great deal of my collection, and I was just planning to add to it myself, but if there are other people interested in contributing, the more the merrier. Being mediawiki and all, it's easy for other contributors to create accounts and submit their own content. (It wouldn't have the "My Collection" feature described earlier, but the idea behind my site was more of a historical chronicle/neat site to read rather than a full-on database like that. The wikipedia of game mags, basically.)

Tell me what yall think of that.

As for myself, I collect US video game and computer magazines aggressively and also have a large amount of Japanese and Euro mags. I don't have an exact number at hand, but it's approaching 2500 issues. I posted a more detailed tour (with pix) on another site; you can read it at
http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=75194

And yes, I spent a great, great, great deal of money on rbhunter's auctions. %) Mainly to get his Game Players issues, since the early ones are difficult to find. Thank heavens I already had a complete VG&CE and early-era Gamefan collection by that point.

[anagrama]

I started getting GamesTM when Retro Gamer died, and I must say it's pretty good.

Bear in mind the the former GamesTM Retro Ed, Darren, has now jumped ship to the just-relaunched (& much improved) Retro Gamer ;)


And @ hydr0x - yeah, that UK ODM set is complete ;)

[gamenthusiast]

What is this about a new Retro Gamer magazine?


As for fennec fox's site, I talked to him about that and it really is interesting. It would be nice to get a collaborative effort for a full site with scans, info, stat lists, and even a forum.

I am sure if everyone handles something in particular and contributes scans, info, lists, etc... we can get a great source going for all magazine collectors.

I could really use a source for Famitsu issues...

[gamenthusiast]

You know what... I think I will be the first to step up and go ahead and start a full website setup. I have always thought about this, and now that there is alot of interest, I may fork over some money for a decent web site design.

I have some html skill, but I know someone who could get this done for $100. If we pool together and create this, it could benefit all.

I will go ahead and start with a design. Any and all can help in terms of lists, scans, information.

I would like this to be a full fledged site with anything regarding past and present game magazines.

... a place to go to sell, buy, trade, and for assistence.

Let us do this. Who would like to seriously start this? Anthony1 and fennec fox, I know you both are quite committed to publication collecting.

My email address is loveandhatex12@hotmail.com - so we can talk further, and of course we have the yahoo group which I plan on using as a start up just to discuss and formulate the design, focus, etc. Any and all interested welcome!
http://gamesource.groups.yahoo.com/group/vgmag/

[hydr0x]

And @ hydr0x - yeah, that UK ODM set is complete ;)


hehe, sure there's no Issue 22? i heard sth like that once

[lendelin]

Protect gaming mags? Hmm...I put them on...shelves.


The issues were so freaking mint, and so perfect, that the bidding got really out of hand. I'm talking the most mint issue you can possibly imagine. I mean the issue looked like it was removed from the printing press and then immediately hermetically sealed! These issues honestly look like they were never touched with a human hand.

This is like my NPs look. I always had two subscriptions, and one issue went into the closet, never touched..and there they are sitting still today, minty fresh like from the printer.

[Anthony1]

You know what... I think I will be the first to step up and go ahead and start a full website setup.


Damn bro.... Talk about stepping up to the plate. It's a bold step to walk out on that ledge and commit to making something happen. Leaving your mark in cyberspace. Being a true Pioneer.


You must not have kids! Just Kidding.

Seriously, I'm the one that asked for such a thing to exist, so I absolutely have to help as much as I can. I can contribute as much written content as you can use. I don't have a scanner right now, but I'm going to look to buy one, so I can scan all my mag covers in. Hopefully, some of them can be used for the site. Anyways, I'm going to join the yahoo group, and I look forward to working with you on this project.


You're going to have to take over the role of head designer, and delegate responsibility to others for other things they can handle. But I really hope we can take our time with this, and try to get really ambitious with it. Not just slap together a quick website. The foundation and backbone of the website is key, because all of the content has to be added to that, so we really need to think ahead about how to best serve the magazine collector community.


Certainly, it's going to require some money to run, but I think there are ways to deal with that. Alot of creative ways to deal with that. Well talk more at the yahoo site.

[lendelin]

If I can contribute to the list of mags, I will. However, I have nothing pre-dating 1988, unfortunately. I have

Nintendo Power (complete)
SwatPro (complete, Fall 1990-September 1995)
EGM 1992 -1998
GamePro (1992-today)

and other various stuff (like magazine related guides, all yearly EGMs Holiday Buyers Guides)

[gamenthusiast]

It is nice to see all the interest in the topic.

I too would like to take our time and make this a great tool. Fennec fox has a nice information base, which I would like to try to do as well as a community area and possibly a defining design idea.

This will involve necessary funds, but it will be worth it upon completion. I plan on using a few months to create a full design and pool together a group of collectors to support and be a part of the site.

This is only the start, the conceptual phase, but this site will be a reality. I like fennec's idea, but I want a fully complient website with possibly flash incorporated into the design.

[Steempy]

I'd also love to contribute.. might motivate me to pull the finger out and organise my magazines!

[anagrama]

hehe, sure there's no Issue 22? i heard sth like that once

Pretty damn sure. I was waiting for it to hit the shelves at the time, but it never appeared... :/

[slip81]

I'm definately interested in joining. I can scan and clean up mags for the site, though I don't have a whole lot.

I collect mainly PSM up to issue 100, EGM, and NP. Though in the future I want to start getting Play and Retro Gamer, as well as anything from the 8 and 16 bit era.

I may also be able to help contribute to the website building. Though I can't make any promises since I already maintain one site, in addition to working, college, and doing my own comics.

[gamenthusiast]

Very good. It seems we have many collectors here that are willing to contribute. I am in the process of conceptualizing the .net site. Fennec fox has a great thing going and it would be great to take that to the next level, with his permission and cooperation, and make it a fully realized publication history site.

This site will thrive on input from everyone seeing how scanning covers, gathering lists, and so on are INCREDIBLY tedious and time consuming.

We can discuss the formation of the site here or at the temporary yahoo group - http://gamesource.groups.yahoo.com/group/vgmag/

[Anthony1]

One thing that we can start working on right now, is what kind of information we are going to catalog for the magazines. Once we determine that, then we can assign people to begin working on specific magazines, cataloging the information. It's going to be a long process.

So what I decided to do, was to sit back and think about which details would be good to log for every issue that enters our database. I think when you click on a thumbnail of a particular issue, a large pic of the cover should pop up, and on the right side, should be a "information" section. The information section will let you know what month and year the mag is, how many pages, what games got reviewed, etc, etc.

Here is what I have worked up so far..... 23 categories of information for each mag. Now, here's the thing. Not every mag is necessarily going to have information for all 23 of these catagories, every issue. But I think the slots should be there, so we can fill them as need be. This 23 category list is just a suggestion, a starting point. But I think that this is pretty good little breakdown.

1. Official Title =
2. Month and Year =
3. Featured on the cover =
4. volume, issue # =
5. Cover price =
6. Number of pages =
7. Editor in Chief =
8. Senior Editor =
9. Art Direction =
10. Staff Writers =
11. Staff Nicknames/Persona =
12. Published by =
13. Distributed by =
14. Monthly news coverage featured =
15. Cover Story/Special Articles =
16. Games previewed =
17. Games reviewed =
18. letters/rumor section scuttlebut =
19. special features =
20. interviews =
21. first looks/ first screens/mini previews =
22. Notable advertisments =
23. Retrospective =


Those are 23 values that could either be used or unused depending on whether that information about whichever issue is pertinent or not. Of course, we can remove any of these values or add other values to it. Here is a little example of this. I'm going to take a random issue of Die Hard GameFan, and fill in the 23 values. This is how I would save the information for whichever issue I'm working on.


1. Diehard GameFan - Next Generation Video Game Magazine

2. September 1993

3. Aero the Acrobat

4. Volume 1, Issue 10

5. $4.95 (US), $5.95 (CAN)

6. 175

7. Dave Halverson

8. N/A

9. Terry Wolfinger

10. Kelly Rickards, Andrew Cockburn, Jay Puryear, David Jon Winding, Kei Kuboki & Yagi

11. E. Storm, Skid, Sgt. Gamer, K. Lee, The Enquirer, Special K, Kid Fantastic, Talko, 99 , Postmeister

12. Die Hard Publishing

13. RCS, INC.

14. Sonic CD is coming in November! , Sega's first 16 meg DSP game Viruta Racing, Sega of Japan working on Dream House (Mansion of the hidden souls) for Mega CD. EA Sports is working on it's first CD game, Bill Walsh College Football, EA Sports is working on a incredible new soccer game (first FIFA),

15. 4 page detailed preview of Aero the Acrobat for the SNES and Genesis, 5 page review of Samurai Shodown for Neo-Geo, Preview of the Panasonic 3DO and Crash N Burn,

16. The Terminator (Sega CD), Aladdin (Genesis), Haunting starring Polterguy (Genesis), RoboCop vs. Terminator (Genesis), Heimdall (Sega CD), Soldiers of Fortune (Genesis), Awesome Possum (Genesis), The Jungle Book (Genesis), Spiderman Vs. Kingpin (Sega CD), Actraiser 2 (SNES), Jim Power in 3D (SNES), Wing Commander :The Secret Missions (SNES), Skyblazer (SNES), Super Empire Strikes Back (SNES), Arcus Odyssey (SNES), Flashback (SNES), The Journey Home (SNES), Lamborghini American Challenge (SNES), TMNT Tournament Fighters (SNES), Biometal (SNES), Lock On (SNES), Top Gear 2 (SNES), Super Chase HQ (SNES), Bill Walsh College Football (Genesis), World Soccer (SNES), Football Fury (SNES), Madden NFL '94 (SNES), NBA Showdown (SNES), Legends of the Ring (SNES & Genesis), Super Off Road (SNES), ESPN Baseball Tonight (Genesis), NHL Hockey '94 (Genesis), Super Baseball 2020 (SNES), F1 Grand Prix (Genesis), F1 ROCII (SNES), Tony Meola's Sidekicks (SNES), Super Formation Soccer II (Super Fami), Air Zonk (PC Engine Super CD) Mystic Formula (PC Engine Super CD), Dracula-X (PC Engine Super CD), Macross (PC Engine Super CD),


17. Gunstar Heroes (Genesis), Shinobi 3 (Genesis), Mortal Kombat (Genesis and SNES), Bubsy (Genesis), Silpheed (Sega CD), Gauntlet 4 (Genesis), Ranger X (Genesis), Jurassic Park (Genesis), Bari Arm (Mega CD), Landstalker (Genesis), Keio Flying Squadron (Mega CD), Super Mario All-Stars (SNES), Yoshi's Safari (SNES), Super Back to the Future (Super Fami), Samurai Shodown (Neo-Geo) Turbo Outrun (FM Towns Marty), Last Survivor (FM Towns Marty)

18. TBD

19. GameFan's Import RPG Special

20. Mr. Olaf Olafsson of Sony Imagesoft.

21. Popful Mail (Mega CD), SF2 Special (Genesis), Dragon's Lair (Sega CD), Shining Force 2 (Mega Drive), AX 101 (Mega CD), Castlevania Bloodlines (Genesis), Lethal Enforcers (Sega CD), Sengoku (Mega CD), Aero the Acrobat (SNES), Daffy Duck: The Martian Missions (SNES), Hyper V-Ball (SNES), Clayfighters (SNES), Putty (SNES), Afterburner (FM Towns Marty),

22. TBD

23. The Graveyard featured... Super Castlevania IV (SNES)



That's a work in progress, I'm still finishing up with that issue. Some of the Previews are actually reviews of the game, but they just don't have a score in the Viewpoint section. I haven't completely finished getting the info from that mag to completely do the 23 categories, but it gives you a general idea. GameFan is probably a bad example, because they cram so much stuff into a mere 175 pages, that it's really hard to keep up with how many games are previewed and reviewed, and how many first looks and first screenshots there are.

[gamenthusiast]

Yes, that is a great idea. I did not plan on adding such detailed information, but that is a good idea.

[Anthony1]

You know, thinking about the 23 categories of information that I came up with, I'm thinking that there are basically two ways to go about it.



1. We use the 23 categories (or whatever our final choice for the categories are) for all the magazines that are going to be in our database


or


2. We create custom categories that are taylored towards each magazine.




Obviously, the custom categories will require a little bit more work in terms of going through the process of customizing it for each particular mag. But during the actual information gathering process, it would be easier. For example, certain mags do different types of things with how they cover the games, so it's hard to have a general guide that you follow for every single mag, because when it doesn't fit right, it leaves the guy that's trying to catalog the information wondering whether such and such fits in that category or not.


For example.... Some mags are heavy on the Tips & Tricks type of stuff, and some mags have very little of that. Some mags have more informal reviews where they don't even give a score, but just a general feel for the review. And some mags have detailed reviews that are heavy on scores and statistics. Basically, the point I'm getting at, is that all of these different mags have different styles of how they do things, so I'm starting to think that maybe it would be better to just create custom information categories for each mag that will be in our database.

Initially, it will actually take more time, but in the long run, it will save us time. It will save us time when we are tallying up the information.

My suggestion is that we make a list of all our official members, and we start delegating certain members to work on certain mags. I don't have a 100 percent complete DieHard GameFan collection (I'm missing like 10 issues), but I do have most of them. I could be one of the guys that work on GameFan. With some mags, we can actually have two guys working on it. Divide up the issues, between the guys to share the workload. But the first thing that we need to do, is that for whatever magazine you are going to be working on, the first thing is that the people that are going to work on that mag need to develop their custom information categories for that particular mag.

The person would have to take some time, and look through a large number of issues of the mag, look at the table of contents, and examine how the mag is layed out, and what features it has every month, and what style it has. Then based on that, create their custom information categories for that mag. Then after that is done, they submit their categories to the group, and the group can check them out and then the group can either approve it as is, or make suggestions for changes or improvements. Then, once we have a finalized "custom information categories" for that particular magazine, then the process of going through every single issue and logging down the information can begin.



For example, if I'm assigned as one of the people that is going to work on GameFan, then I'm going to look at the issues from the beginning issues, to the middle issues to the end of it's run, and keep track of the different sections that GameFan used throughout it's run. Then based on that, I can come up with the custom info categories for it. It's actually pretty easy to do, because you can look at the table of contents for the mag, and get an idea of all of the normal monthly features that a mag uses. Like with GameFan for example, they use these categories alot:



Editorial Zone = typically it's whatever Halverson is thinking about the industry at that time. I think we could give a one sentence breakdown of what the gist of his Editorial piece is about

Hocus Pocus = This is their tips and tricks type section. We can list which games are featured in this section

Viewpoint = These are the games that get actual numerical scores. (not all reviews in GameFan get numerical scores)

The Adventures of Monitaur = This is a little comic that is featured in alot of issues of GameFan. We could give a one sentence breakdown of the gist of what the comic was about that particular month.

Most Wanted = This is the top ten lists that are sent in by readers. I would skip this information. It would get too tedious.

Sega Sector - This is their coverage of Sega related stuff. It is basically previews and reviews of Sega games.

Planet SNES - This is their coverage of Nintendo stuff. It's basically previews and reviews of Nintendo games

Game Fan Sports - This is their sports game section. Previews and Reviews

Savage Amusement - This is their Neo-Geo section. Previews and Reviews.

Turbo Toons - This is their TG-16 section. Previews and Reviews

Graveyard - This is their retrospective section

Quarter Crunchers - This is their arcade section

Other Stuff - This is their rumor section

Postmeister - This is their letters section



Anyways, that's just a little bit of an idea as to some of the sections that GameFan always seems to have. So I think we can take certain things from the 23 category list, like official name, month and year, volume and issue, cover price, number of pages, editor in chief, etc, etc. Some of that stuff we can use for every single magazine, but then I think the rest of it can be customized towards each mag, and the type of stuff that they did.



So actually, we can work on a list of categories that will be standard for every single mag that is in our database, and then also add custom ones for each particular mag to that. The bottom line, is that before anybody starts actually logging information on anything, we need to come up with how we are going to do that. Otherwise, we will have people don't all kinds of different things and spinning their wheels. Of course, all of this is mere suggestions, and you can take or leave any of it. I'm just suggestion that the most labor intensive part of this whole thing, is going to be cataloging the information for every freaking magazine that is going to be in our database, and we need to think very carefully about how we are going to do that, before we start down that path. But once we figure that part of it out, then it will allow all the members to start doing work at their own pace, and start going through whatever issues they are assigned to go through, to catalog the information. That part of the process is going to take awhile, but it's something that everybody could do themselves, and they can save the info in Word documents, and then later we can add that info to the website. Scanning magazine covers will actually be the easy part.

[slip81]

I think what may work best would be a mix of custom, and your category system.

Because like you said, some magas have revies, some don't.

I also think we should probably not have 23 categories, since it would probably take years to list literally thougsands of mags.

I'm thinking something simple like name, date, cover, games reviewed/strategies, and maybe a small section for other important notables.

I figure it might be best to start off small, that way we can get all the mags catalogued in a timely fashion, and then we could always go back and add more info.

[Ed Oscuro]

Gotta express my continued interest; I'll look into that wiki...great idea Anthony, if I didn't make that clear earlier.

I don't think I'll be joining any Yahoo groups, but we'll see...

[Anthony1]

I figure it might be best to start off small, that way we can get all the mags catalogued in a timely fashion, and then we could always go back and add more info.


I still think the categories can be there, and if the person has the time to fill those categories, great if not, then they will be blank until it's updated at a later date. It won't take years to fill out all that information for thousands of magazines, because it won't be one person that is doing it. The logical thing to do would be to divide the labor up. I've already said that I'm game to work on GameFan. But I would expect that one other person would work on GameFan too. Me and that dude would divide up the run of GameFans, and I would cover half and he would cover half.

It should work out fine.

The way that I would do the categories is that you would get the information by looking through each mag from cover to cover one time. As you are looking through it, you fill in the variables. If you don't have the time to fill in all the variables, then fill in the most important ones, and move on to the next issue. The categories could still be left in there, but they will just be blank. Then, at a later date, somebody else that is a huge fan of that mag could fill in the missing info.

If all we are going to do is slap together a website with cover scans for mags, and the date and month, then I don't know how "amazing" such a site will be. But if we include some serious info about each issue, then it would be pretty damn "amazing".

Especially if the information is searchable.

Ideally, if somebody is doing a search on "Aero the Acrobat (SNES) review", the search should come back with all the issues that Aero the Acrobat was reviewed in. Or if you do a search on "Editor in Chief Dave Halverson" the search should come back with all the mags and issues that Halverson has been credited with being the Editor in Chief.


Sure, a website that is this ambitious will take some time, but ultimately, it will be that much more rewarding.

[drwily008]

I have been reading this thread since Anthony1 started it and it is a great idea. I have hundreds & hundreds of gaming magazines including:

Nintendo Power issues 1 - 150ish damn near complete

Gamers Republic - COMPLETE

Several very oddball japanese game magazines that date back to the original famicom releases - some also are "hobby" magazines with pellet machine gun articles and such

Tons of Gamefans

GMR - COMPLETE

Game Informer - a few dozen maybe?

and tons others I can't recall sitting here at work.


I am down for the club and would like to actively participate! I don't have access to a scanner (or a home computer - mine is broke) but feel free to delegate any tasks to me and I will try to get them done during my free time!

[retrogmr]

Count me in too... those who were fortunate enough to come by my house around CGE saw my wall-o-magazines. I think the group has the more modern mags very well covered, but I have complete sets (or missing just one or two) of a lot of classic mags:

Atari Age
Atari Explorer
Electronic Games (original run as well as mid 90's run)
Video Games
Joystick
Enter
Videogaming Illustrated
Electronic Fun with Computers and Games
Logical Gamer

... and probably a few others I'm forgetting. The cataloguing project is cool, but I'm much more interested in getting people to pool spares together and get trades going. It's so hard to find those one or two issues of a mag set you're missing without buying a big lot, and then <gasp> chucking the extras in the recycle bin.

So who's going to start posting their extras?

Oh yeah... and rather than reinvent the wheel and create a whole new database, has anyone thought about talking to Joe and seeing what's involved in integrating magazines and publications into the existing online guide?

Having some knowledge around how things work on the site, it's not nearly as involved as it sounds.

[drwily008]

Anthony, you will love this:

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/showthread.php?t=33808&page=1&pp=30

It is a "History of Gamefan" thread on another forum that Melf (DP member & editor for Hardcore Gamer pointed out to me).

Anyways it is with several old editors (like shidoshi) talking about all of the "scandals" in the GameFan office. It is over 40 pages long with members of that forum asking those guys TONS of questions.

Enjoy! - Ken (DrWily008)

[Ze_ro]

A year or two ago, I started a project to catalog all the articles in all my magazines, as I was always looking for a certain article and it would take me hours to search through all my magazines in order to find it (I have maybe 300 or so). So I created an SQL database and a PHP interface and started entering each individual article into it, including reviews, previews, news articles, and basically everything except advertisements. It was great, as I could search by basically any criteria I wanted... organizing things by system, or by game or whatever. Very helpful. Unfortunately, it was really slow going though (obviously), and a hard drive crash sort of killed the whole thing.

--Zero

[Canadian Psycho]

I'm a huge fan of the 1989 to 1996 era of video games. That 7 year period of time, in my personal opinion, is the best 7 year period in the history of Video Games, and I honestly don't think there will be a more interesting 7 years anytime in the future. There was just so much going on during those 7 years. Acquring mags from this period, is definitely a very good idea.
Well said, this is precisely how I feel like. :)

Personally, I'm only interested in old Nintendo Power magazines (the NES era was the best for this mag - I'm basically looking for every pre-1995 issue (I own a bunch though)) and EGMs from 1989 to January 1995, their last "huge" issue (I'd love to have all issues from 1 to 66 - I own about 40 right now, but I don't really know where to search).

I don't know about all of you, but I am not as obsessed with the condition of the mags I collect as I am with my games. For example, I much prefer having clung to my overused, directly form my childhood issue of Nintendo Power with Mega Man 2 on the cover than receiving today a mint copy of that same issue. The only requirements condition-wise is no cutout, tear or ink on the pages. Again, only when they are not copies I have owned forever - I feel no need to replace them in that case. I don't mind the wear that comes with old magazines.

[Mason P.]

What is the status of the Mag club? I have been working on a Nintendo Power checklist and would love to donate to the website when it is complete.