PCEngineFans.com - The PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 Community Forum
NEC PC-Engine/SuperGrafx => PC Engine/SuperGrafx Discussion => Topic started by: segaklon on May 03, 2010, 12:39:45 AM
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Can someone tell me if there is any site that has hosted all the PC engine magazines in Japan, which have left me very interested in this system.
thanks
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All would be probably a bit much asked, since there were really a lot LOT. But I would like to know that as well :) Never came across such a site though.
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it probably doesnt exist for the following 2 reasons:
a) scanning is a lot of work
b) getting your hands on these mags are as much challenge (or fun :mrgreen: ) as getting rare game titles these days.
I did snap some pictures of the 1989 PCE Monthly I had before selling it off as a bundle with the SGX on Ebay 2 weeks ago. I will post it. It had profiles on the SuperGrafx completely, including Strider... yes... the rumors were true!! :shock: :shock:
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How would it be, if we (we the peeps here in this particular forum) would scan pages from the self owning PCE FAN and other PCE related magazines? :)
I have some issues lying around here, also with preview pictures from drac x showing different enemies etc.
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Tats - that sounds like fun... we can keep this post going by uploading some images of interesting articles we have from the mags. Dracula X is pretty mainstream though - do you got anything else interesting in those mags?
I had bought 15 issues or something from Japan for ~4000 yen about 6 months ago. There were a few nice nuggets in there. But the 1989 preview coverage of SGX is def awesome.
If some members has earlier issues (i.e. 1988 or 1987, those would be amazing to share with the members!!)
Without further adue - here is the 1989 PCE Monthly December shots I have: enjoy.
(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab222/japantokei/ebay/1989_PCMonthly_1.jpg)
(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab222/japantokei/ebay/1989_PCMonthly_2.jpg)
(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab222/japantokei/ebay/1989_PCMonthly_3.jpg)
(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab222/japantokei/ebay/1989_PCMonthly_4.jpg)
(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab222/japantokei/ebay/1989_PCMonthly_5.jpg)
(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab222/japantokei/ebay/1989_PCMonthly_6.jpg)
(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab222/japantokei/ebay/1989_PCMonthly_7.jpg)
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the chicks in 1989 were hotties weren't they :P
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Just curious - Tats or anyone else with freakish knowledge of the PCE: was the SGX PowerConsole ever released? I've never seen one.. but the prototype in the mag sure looks interesting.
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Not released and to be known about only 2 prototypes are in existence or were made. It is probably one of the most rare piece of hardware today.
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Black Tiger's site had a few goodies scanned in from magazines, though mostly US magazines. Sadly, his site seems to have been co-opted by link pirates at the moment.
*edit*
How could I forget esteban's awesome site (http://www.tg-16.com/)? Tons and tons of magazine scans are to be found and enjoyed. 8)
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I have about a dozen mags mysellf. I've tried to scan them entirely but it does take an incredible amount of time, indeed. I however do scan the ads and interesting articles and I've posted some of them on my site...
Thanks JapanTokei for sharing your 1989 PCE Monthly !!! awesome pics !
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Thanks for your answers, that entails a great job but I've seen that with the help of all is possible, because here in Spain have been scanned to PDF format and passed hundreds of serial numbers of games in particular is this thread.
http://translate.google.es/translate?hl=es&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elotrolado.net%2Fhilo_escaneo-de-revistas-antiguas-2_975824
I wonder if we can do something like that here and have all files to share with forum members.
:D :D
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Not to tease you guys, but I have about... 60+ PCE magazines, but the problem is that they are all late-era (1993+) and I am most interested in the issues prior to 1993.
I plan on scanning them, but, as you can guess, real-life gets in the way :(
I will gladly host any scans that other folks make in the meantime
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This thread needs reviving! The magazines are an important part of the system's history, but are most easily destroyed.
I think I might buy and scan a few guide books one of these days, since those are cool too.
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OH I have never seen that IFU stereo system! that must be pretty rare to come by these days I imagine!
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That's the karaoke module.
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I have a a couple foot high stack of PCE mags and flyers that I plan to scan in and post some day, but unfortunately I won't have time within the near future. :|
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This thread needs reviving! The magazines are an important part of the system's history, but are most easily destroyed.
I think I might buy and scan a few guide books one of these days, since those are cool too.
You are so awesome for reviving this thread. Here's the deal: I will be swamped at work for this month (April), but after that I will have some big chunks of free time.
I will be able to scan my magazines (or, at least, a big chunk of them) and make them available to everyone on my site.
BEFORE ANYONE BUYS ANYTHING, let me list the issues I have so we don't duplicat our efforts. I wish I had more early PCE issues (I have a few). I also have some japanese SEGA magazines I'll scan.
I NEED TO DECIDE ON SOME STANDARD SIZES for the final jpg images (pixels width X pixels height). Your input/logic/reasoning would be appreciated. I have a size that is "future proof"—2600x1800 for 2 magazine pages stitched together, 1300x1800 for single page—but maybe there is a better size.)
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Thanks for stepping up to the plate esteban.
I was thinking exactly the same thing. This kind of task is extremely daunting for one person, but if a bunch of people work together I think we can make some progress. I'm still studying over here in Tokyo, so I have access to game shops and Yahoo auctions. The problem is that like all students, I'm poor :D. I can only spend a little each month on PCE stuff, but I'm willing to spend that on issues that others don't already have.
Also, if anyone else in Japan has any magazines, I'm willing to do the work of scanning them.
As far as the actual file size, I haven't really thought about it much yet. It's always a difficult decision to balance file size and quality, but in my opinion it would be better to lean towards quality. You can always scale it down later, but not back up. I checked out the scans on your site now, and they seem OK at the lower resolution. Some of the fine print isn't readable though, which might be an issue for Kanji in the Japanese magazines. Could you do a sample scan at 1300x1800 and see how it looks?
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I really don't think 2600x1800 for two pages is future proof in the slightest. That's desktop res nowadays. We're talking about a major archive process here.
It really sucks to go back to something done from the past and see how bad it sounds/looks. Things move FAST in the technology world. Hell, a lot iPhone apps created pre-retina display now look like crap on the new phones, and some of those are only a year old.
I don't have any of these mags anymore, but I do have an issue of Saturn Fan somewhere. I think that was the same physical size. I'll do some tests and see how they come out.
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Retromags has some very good guides on how to scan magazines
http://www.retromags.com/forums/index.php?
While you are there dont forget to check out the EGM mags as they contain some nice PCE stuff!
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Issuu, where I put PC Engine Gamer would be a good place to display complete scanned mags. There are already some old UK Mean Machines Sega mags there that someone has scanned in.
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I really don't think 2600x1800 for two pages is future proof in the slightest. That's desktop res nowadays. We're talking about a major archive process here.
It really sucks to go back to something done from the past and see how bad it sounds/looks. Things move FAST in the technology world. Hell, a lot iPhone apps created pre-retina display now look like crap on the new phones, and some of those are only a year old.
I don't have any of these mags anymore, but I do have an issue of Saturn Fan somewhere. I think that was the same physical size. I'll do some tests and see how they come out.
Well, 2600x1800/1300x1800 was for the final jpg/pdf that I spit out of PhotoShop.
1300xnotquite1800 (http://archives.tg-16.com/EG/EG_1993_01_001.jpg)
2600x1800 review (http://archives.tg-16.com/EGM/EGM_1992_05_122.jpg)
2600x1800 (http://archives.tg-16.com/EG/EG_1993_01_026.jpg)
The original scans are much larger in size. You can see my general guidelines here (http://archives.tg-16.com/help_us.htm#scanning).
Anyway, I am entirely willing to change my output images to a larger size--I chose 1300x1800/2600x1800 because most folks can can read a single page/double page at "actual pixel size" without scrolling too much.
BUT, I can totally increase the final image size... is there a standard? pseudo-standard? Tell me! :)
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If you want print resolution, you should be scanning at 300dpi. If you can't descreen on your scanner, scan at a higher resolution and resample down to 300dpi.
Anything bigger than 300dpi is pointless.
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I have a few PC-Engine Fans, but they're 93+
I also have what appears to be special edition hint (book) editions of PC-Engine Fan.
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The older ones are harder to come by, but the newer ones are still important.
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I have at least 20 issues of PCE Fan, Dengenki G's Engine/PC Engine all from '95-98
but I also have over 30 hint books for 20 different PC-FX titles.
Granted, most were published with the PSX/Saturn in mind, but work very well (and have tons of cool art), but finding new ones are just about my fav hobby ATM
It would have been so cool to know about these in the 90's, when I could game for 10 hrs/day ](*,)
later gamers
-neofan
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I really don't think 2600x1800 for two pages is future proof in the slightest. That's desktop res nowadays. We're talking about a major archive process here.
It really sucks to go back to something done from the past and see how bad it sounds/looks. Things move FAST in the technology world. Hell, a lot iPhone apps created pre-retina display now look like crap on the new phones, and some of those are only a year old.
I don't have any of these mags anymore, but I do have an issue of Saturn Fan somewhere. I think that was the same physical size. I'll do some tests and see how they come out.
Well, 2600x1800/1300x1800 was for the final jpg/pdf that I spit out of PhotoShop.
1300xnotquite1800 (http://archives.tg-16.com/EG/EG_1993_01_001.jpg)
2600x1800 review (http://archives.tg-16.com/EGM/EGM_1992_05_122.jpg)
2600x1800 (http://archives.tg-16.com/EG/EG_1993_01_026.jpg)
The original scans are much larger in size. You can see my general guidelines here (http://archives.tg-16.com/help_us.htm#scanning).
Anyway, I am entirely willing to change my output images to a larger size--I chose 1300x1800/2600x1800 because most folks can can read a single page/double page at "actual pixel size" without scrolling too much.
BUT, I can totally increase the final image size... is there a standard? pseudo-standard? Tell me! :)
OK, I guess I'll take back what I said. When I did digital graphics for a living (thank God those days are over) we scanned at much higher resolutions, but we were going from photos, slides, etc, not magazines. I forgot about how low end printed magazines are, higher resolution isn't needed unless one really wants to examine the grain in the paper. :)
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This is an awesome idea. I have PCE mags too and I've scanned some pages over the years. Mostly just the front covers tho.
I'll dig out some recent ones and upload them somewhere and see what others think of the quality/res.
- akamichi
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Well lets not let this die again.
If you guys that have magazines are willing to scan them, would you mind posting up which issues you have? Even if you don't have time to do it now. I can try to hunt down other issues, but I don't want to buy anything someone already has.
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Couldn't find my old scans so I made some new ones instead. :) I scanned these at 300dpi and used the descreening option on my scanner.
I converted these two pics to jpg so I could upload them, but I have the original TIFFs (around 12.5MB/scan).
Anybody with ideas on a standard size? That retromags site suggests 1440 or 1600 pixel widths, but I dunno what would be good. If these scans look good, I'll continue with these two magazines.
(http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/3008/marukatsu1190.th.jpg) (http://img853.imageshack.us/i/marukatsu1190.jpg/)
(http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/7365/gekkan1091.th.jpg) (http://img402.imageshack.us/i/gekkan1091.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us/)
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That reminds me, we need to put these someplace that doesn't suck. No ads, no "where the hell do I click?!" Rapidshare type BS, etc.
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Quick note:
1. Magazines will be available as both pdf and individual jpg images. Why? BECAUSE. I'll explain later...
2. We need a uniform file-naming convention. I propose: gekkan_91_11_000.xxx (publication_year_month_page.xxx)
3. Word up.
4. http://archives.tg-16.com/gekkan/gekkan_91_11_000.jpg
5. http://archives.tg-16.com/marukatsu/marukatsu_90_11_000.jpg
6. If folks help documenting/taking notes/etc., I would like to have a dedicated .html page for each magazine issue, with a detailed TABLE OF CONTENTS + commentary, like this: http://archives.tg-16.com/turbo_play_0005.htmm
OK, I guess I'll take back what I said. When I did digital graphics for a living (thank God those days are over) we scanned at much higher resolutions, but we were going from photos, slides, etc, not magazines. I forgot about how low end printed magazines are, higher resolution isn't needed unless one really wants to examine the grain in the paper. :)
Hey, help us decide on what the final size we should spit out for optimum viewing! :)
Well lets not let this die again.
If you guys that have magazines are willing to scan them, would you mind posting up which issues you have? Even if you don't have time to do it now. I can try to hunt down other issues, but I don't want to buy anything someone already has.
No, this isn't going to die. I will try to find all the magazines I have packed away in boxes and list them over the next week. Hopefully, I'll post on Sunday evening...
Couldn't find my old scans so I made some new ones instead. :) I scanned these at 300dpi and used the descreening option on my scanner.
I converted these two pics to jpg so I could upload them, but I have the original TIFFs (around 12.5MB/scan).
Anybody with ideas on a standard size? That retromags site suggests 1440 or 1600 pixel widths, but I dunno what would be good. If these scans look good, I'll continue with these two magazines.
Please save your original scans, we'll figure out a way to make a repository online (details to come).
I suppose we should go for 1600px wide (single page) / 3200 px wide (double page)? Why not?
Well, see my previous post...
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Awesome!
I especially like point #6. There are a lot of folks here who can translate from Japanese, so it would be a nice way to let others enjoy the content. I'm not suggesting anything crazy like fully translating magazines, but comments on a few key articles in each issue would be awesome. My Japanese isn't great, but I would be willing to help with this.
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Nice free tool to help you straighten your scans (amongst other things) if you don’t have Photoshop.
http://pho.to/editor/
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4. http://archives.tg-16.com/gekkan/gekkan_91_11_000.jpg
5. http://archives.tg-16.com/marukatsu/marukatsu_90_11_000.jpg
Esteban, the left sides of both scanned magazines (1-2 cm from the staples) are blurry, presumably because the covers are wrinkling or lifting away from the scanning glass. Don't forget to put some stiff card/plastic under the page to flatten it when scanning.
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4. http://archives.tg-16.com/gekkan/gekkan_91_11_000.jpg
5. http://archives.tg-16.com/marukatsu/marukatsu_90_11_000.jpg
Esteban, the left sides of both scanned magazines (1-2 cm from the staples) are blurry, presumably because the covers are wrinkling or lifting away from the scanning glass. Don't forget to put some stiff card/plastic under the page to flatten it when scanning.
Great idea! :)
I didn't scan those two images (akamichi did), but we should definitely follow your suggestion. I never thought of trying to flatten the page, but we should try different techniques and share them.
Also, if anyone is scanning something with really thin pages (old catalogs, sales brochures), you can reduce the reverse image from "bleeding through" by experimenting with different color backdrops (place a sheet of colored paper behind the page whilst scanning).
Awesome!
I especially like point #6. There are a lot of folks here who can translate from Japanese, so it would be a nice way to let others enjoy the content. I'm not suggesting anything crazy like fully translating magazines, but comments on a few key articles in each issue would be awesome. My Japanese isn't great, but I would be willing to help with this.
Plus, a lot of basic cataloguing (i.e. Table of Contents) for #6 can be done without knowing any Japanese! This allows everyone to make meaningful contributions if they want to (DIVISION OF LABOR is our friend).
#6 also allows the content to be indexed (in English) by a search engine. I have found this to be invaluable just for finding crap with customized searches (for example, here are the results for "gekkan pc engine" on PCE-related sites (http://www.tg-16.com/search_results.htm?cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&q=gekkan+pc+engine&sa=Search&cx=003841484127283117371%3A-bixqhqnfz4&siteurl=www.tg-16.com%252F#917). That short list is going to grow over the next year... :)
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I came across these mags and books and such today while looking for something. When I have time, I will be scanning them all in-
(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/tmg2.jpg)(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/pm1.jpg)
(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/pm2.jpg)(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/pm3.jpg)
(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/pm4.jpg)(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/pm5.jpg)
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Ohh, Ohh.. Can you scan the technical manual first, please....... :pray:
If not, what do you want for the second copy??? Or is that just 2 pictures shoved together like that ?
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its the same picture twice :(
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Now that's how you bump a thread!
I second the technical manual.
I picked up a copy of the Gulliver Boy guidebook the other day (the one by V-Games). That will probably be the first thing I scan. I just need to pick up a scanner... I'd rather do it at home.
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WOW BT, thats great stuff there! Did you came across them recently or already owned them?
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I came across these mags and books and such today while looking for something. When I have time, I will be scanning them all in-
Holy shit!
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WOW BT, thats great stuff there! Did you came across them recently or already owned them?
Although I love this kind of stuff, I don't think that I've picked anything up within the last five years or so.
I have at least as much Ys and Tengai Makyou books and such.
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Regarding Manji Maru: Yesterday I was at the Japanese bookstore looking at all their unloved clearance stuff and found Famitsu's guide for TM2. Its based on the PS2/GC versions but if you've played those games you know they are essentially identical except for having "up to date" (read: ugly) graphics.
Its 3/4" think and perfect bound, so scanning is pretty much not possible, but if anyone needs to borrow it for translation-related reasons PM me.
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damn Black Tiger - these are insane amounts of PCE mags and goodies!! where did you stumble across these? what a find (I'm drooling)
I came across these mags and books and such today while looking for something. When I have time, I will be scanning them all in-
(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/tmg2.jpg)(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/pm1.jpg)
(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/pm2.jpg)(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/pm3.jpg)
(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/pm4.jpg)(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/pm5.jpg)
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damn Black Tiger - these are insane amounts of PCE mags and goodies!! where did you stumble across these? what a find (I'm drooling)
Some stacks came with PCE collections I bought, but I grabbed every mag, book, etc I could find online for a while.
Here's some more stuff-
(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/ystuff2.png)
(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/ystuff1.png)
(http://superpcenginegrafx.net/misc/mkm.png)
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Wow, that's a lot of cool stuff you have BT! I try to pick up what I can, but it seems that mags and books don't show up too often.
Well, quick update on my scans. It's taken a while longer than I thought to get some decent quality scans from my scanner. Worked out a lot of kinks in the system so hopefully the process will go smoother from now on.
I'm still working on the Gekkan Oct 1991 issue. It's 148 pages cover to cover... In the meantime, I thought I'd share out this booklet that came as an insert in the magazine. It's a raw scan so things might be off center or crooked, etc, but I think people will enjoy looking through it. :)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12164001/Magazines/th/gekkan-insert_91_10_001-th.jpg) (http://db.tt/NfKHbpl)
Gekkan Oct 1991 Insert booklet
This booklet showcases the new games that are coming out for the soon-to-be-released Super System Card 3.0. Enjoy!
-akamichi
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Black Tiger you do sure have some great items
akamichi thanks for the scan upload :-)