On-File (fanzine archive) membership drive

[ManekiNeko]

If you were a video game fanzine editor back in the 1990's, or are editing a gaming newsletter today, On-File needs your help! The first on-line fanzine archive currently has thirty-one members, but we're always looking for more. Here's what you'll need to do to become a member...

1. Grant the On-File Project permission to publish portions of your video game newsletter(s) on the On-File web site
2. There is no second requirement

If you're interested in supporting the On-File video game newsletter archive, please start by becoming a member today!

http://www.geocities.com/mneko13

For more information about On-File and its goals, please visit the FAQ at:

http://www.geocities.com/mneko13/about.htm

JR

[Daniel Thomas]

Well, I'll be glad to add my name to your lists. That's a pretty ambitious project you've got on your hands. I assumed that you would be scanning the zines onto your site, instead of actually typing highlights by hand. It was fun to read.

If you want to use my old zines, by all means, go ahead. I only wish those old issues were as good as everyone else's zines.

It almost makes me want to publish zines again. I wonder if we could scam game companies out of their games again?

[ManekiNeko]

Well, I'll be glad to add my name to your lists.

Hey, thanks! I appreciate your support. I revived the On-File site less than a week ago and I've already got two new members, with the possibility of a third. Things are really looking up for the project!

That's a pretty ambitious project you've got on your hands. I assumed that you would be scanning the zines onto your site, instead of actually typing highlights by hand. It was fun to read.

When I started work on On-File back in 1997, scanning in fanzines wasn't an option. The files would have been much too large for the majority of Internet users, who had low bandwidth connections. It made much more sense to just type in the articles by hand. This not only greatly reduced the size of the site but made it possible for me to "remaster" the content, fixing any typos I found in the original articles.

I will be using my scanner for future updates of the site, but only as an optical code reader, so I can quickly transform hard copies of fanzines into text files. I'll also be scanning in cover artwork, comics, and other drawings, but I currently have no plans to offer entire fanzines as PDF files. I'd consider including these files as an option if there were a strong demand for them, but I feel my approach to fanzine archival (offering the best content from fanzines in a low bandwidth format) is most efficient.

If you want to use my old zines, by all means, go ahead. I only wish those old issues were as good as everyone else's zines.

Just for the record, I thought the first few issues of V: The Video Game Experience were quite good. The later issues were well-written, but adopted a new layout and format which never really clicked with me.

It almost makes me want to publish zines again. I wonder if we could scam game companies out of their games again?

Heh, to this day I still wonder why those game companies were trying to get involved with fandom. It wasn't like kissing our butts was going to help them sell any games. Most fanzines had very small print runs... I typically only ran off 30-50 copies of each Project: Ignition issue.

JR

[Daniel Thomas]

Ah, that all sounds good. I'm looking forward to seeing this project evolve. As long as the covers are archived, I'll be happy. And maybe some of the comics.

If I remember correctly, my changing the style of zine was something of a necessity. I had moved, and quite frankly, I just couldn't publish the same way again. I never owned a computer back then, so I was working at the computer labs at UMD in my spare time. My father had a computer with a copy of Microsoft Word, and it could format into columns, so I decided to go with that. I think I wanted something that was a little more "earthy," instead of the high-maintainence fancy layouts of the early issues. They looked great, of course, but took an eternity to assemble. I just wanted to focus on writing something.

I should probably be grateful for that experience, since it infllenced my understanding of web design and visual composition.