137 replies to this topic

[Cebus Capucinis]

LMAO

[triverse]

Yeah, that whole "one of the first publications" B.S. was addressed on my Facebook page after an overzealous staff member of Gamefan banned a rather vocal fan for bringing up concern over that little statement.

Not much I can do about you not feeling this was a worthy payoff for all of the hype, it is what it is and that is why I won't be doing anything like this again.

[mlippart]

I don't get it- so the first two issues of gamefan have been reissued digitally? No offense, but after the whole "Phoenix Rising" narrative (why couldn't the announcement just have been clear? Was there a reason you guys couldn't just say "hey, check this out!"?), that payoff seems a bit of a wash. Is the entire back library going to be digitally re-released? I would buy something like that on a dvd.

[Jibbajaba]

So basically you guys are now publishing a gaming mag using the GameFan name?

Chris

[Chuck D. Head]

Overhype aside, I finally checked out OOPA for the first time yesterday, and found some pretty interesting reading there.

[triverse]

mlippart, on Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:27 AM, said:

I don't get it- so the first two issues of gamefan have been reissued digitally? No offense, but after the whole "Phoenix Rising" narrative (why couldn't the announcement just have been clear? Was there a reason you guys couldn't just say "hey, check this out!"?), that payoff seems a bit of a wash. Is the entire back library going to be digitally re-released? I would buy something like that on a dvd.

I agree with you. Initially, the announcement was going to be rather quickly made (not drawn out like it ended up being) but that was not how things ended up working out. That was out of my hands and I tried to make the best of a rapidly declining announcement.

The entire back catalog of Gamefan is going to eventually be archived digitally and made available for purchase on their webshop. Out-of-Print is not selling these nor are we being paid anything for our services connected with Gamefan (or any other publisher for that matter). We are doing the work for the preservation of a piece of gaming history. We do this exact same thing with all of the publishers you can see on outofprintarchive.com, Gamefan/Paper Planet LLC is the only one that has chosen to attempt to sell the archival issues rather than allow us to release them with the others.

As far as buying a DVD with the whole run of Gamefan on it, I am not sure if that is even on their radar at this point. Probably not since it would severely cut into the profit margin of each issue by issuing a collection like that at a lower than per digital release price.

Jibbajaba, on Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:46 AM, said:

So basically you guys are now publishing a gaming mag using the GameFan name?

Chris

We, as in Out-of-Print Archive, are not selling anything. Paper Planet LLC which is owned by Dave Halverson, has apparently gotten the rights to the back issues and to the name of Gamefan from David Bergstein (listed as the current owner of Diehard Gamefan Magazine- http://www.corporati...c/42248746.aspx).

Chuck D. Head, on Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:53 AM, said:

Overhype aside, I finally checked out OOPA for the first time yesterday, and found some pretty interesting reading there.

That is the sad thing is that Out-of-Print will probably be viewed in a negative light over this. We set out to preserve gaming magazines, with permission from publishers, and that is what we are doing. Paper Planet LLC has chosen to exercise their rights to keep us from releasing them and to release the issues themselves for a fee. We have no control over that matter.

I am glad that you liked some of what you saw while visiting Out-of-Print though. Andy/meppi puts in a ton of time and effort in his releases, not to mention tweaking the site to what it is now (there are some visual upgrades being implemented now, subtle stuff).

[Jibbajaba]

So basically you guys are scanning magazines for this other company, who is then selling them? What are you getting out of it?

Before I buy these, what format are they in?

Nevermind, the site seems to be broken.

Chris

[triverse]

Jibbajaba, on Sat Nov 5, 2011 6:06 PM, said:

So basically you guys are scanning magazines for this other company, who is then selling them? What are you getting out of it?

Before I buy these, what format are they in?

Nevermind, the site seems to be broken.

Chris

Yes, we are scanning, and editing, the magazine releases for Paper Planet LLC to sell them (that is their choice).

We are working towards our goal of preservation and restoration of old gaming magazines. Nothing more, nothing less.

The issues are in full resolution (about 2400 pixels wide) PDF format with no DRM on the files.

Their store does go out quite a bit recently, I believe this is due to the site that they use for handling purchases having problems though.

[Jibbajaba]

Well, for $2 I'm definitely going to be buying these. I have to say though that if Paper Planet is giving you absolutely nothing in return for scanning their magazines (aside from them mentioning you on their page), then I think that you guys are getting hosed a little bit. They should be paying you a small percentage for each mag sold, which could then go towards server costs for OOPA. I love your site, as it allows me to read my old magazines on my iPad.

Chris

[triverse]

Jibbajaba, on Sat Nov 5, 2011 6:48 PM, said:

Well, for $2 I'm definitely going to be buying these. I have to say though that if Paper Planet is giving you absolutely nothing in return for scanning their magazines (aside from them mentioning you on their page), then I think that you guys are getting hosed a little bit. They should be paying you a small percentage for each mag sold, which could then go towards server costs for OOPA. I love your site, as it allows me to read my old magazines on my iPad.

Chris

The price they are selling the retro issues for is a steal, especially when you check out Ebay prices (I challenge anyone to find a copy of ANY Gamefan mag in decent condition for less than $15 after shipping). The first issue has sold a few times on Ebay for around $500 so for $2, you basically get the same thing, fully restored by the Out-of-Print team. Meppi spent approximately 35 hours total editing that issue alone (that is why it is taking so long in releasing more of them closer together, we go through each issue thoroughly and fix any blemishes that we possibly can).

Out-of-Print is a non-profit so we cannot accept any money for the work involved (even if it was offered). The pittance that we would receive from the sales would retroactively affect our agreements with other publishers that do allow us to release their magazines on our site. In the end, the gains would not be worth the losses involved. Getting mention on the Gamefan site is more than enough for us as the scans are still doing what we intended and that is preserving historical issues that would be lost to fans otherwise.

We have recently started releasing iOS versions of mags, smaller file size, slightly lower resolution etc for fans that want speed and the ability to put as many mags as possible on the limited storage of their portable devices. Glad to hear that there are others out there enjoying the releases on portable devices, it is kind of bringing gaming magazines full circle so to speak.

[Havok69]

triverse, on Sat Nov 5, 2011 8:24 PM, said:

Out-of-Print is a non-profit so we cannot accept any money for the work involved (even if it was offered).

Actually, that's not true. I work for a non profit (and get paid quite well). Non profit status just means that you use any income to maintain or grow the organization. Since you are doing work for them that they profit from, they can donate to your organization, or you could actually charge a fee for scanning the issues to cover equipment\employee\utility costs, etc, which would not jeopardize your non profit status.

You are definitely being taken advantage of with your current arrangement. However, I can understand that you're just doing it for the preservation and don't mind.

[triverse]

Havok69, on Sat Nov 5, 2011 11:14 PM, said:

triverse, on Sat Nov 5, 2011 8:24 PM, said:

Out-of-Print is a non-profit so we cannot accept any money for the work involved (even if it was offered).

Actually, that's not true. I work for a non profit (and get paid quite well). Non profit status just means that you use any income to maintain or grow the organization. Since you are doing work for them that they profit from, they can donate to your organization, or you could actually charge a fee for scanning the issues to cover equipment\employee\utility costs, etc, which would not jeopardize your non profit status.

You are definitely being taken advantage of with your current arrangement. However, I can understand that you're just doing it for the preservation and don't mind.

Thanks for the info, I will mention it to the other two co-owners of Out-of-Print Archive and see what they think. I remember we discussed something like this early on but it was given up over a major stumbling block for us.

I understand how many will feel we are being taken advantage of in our agreement with publishers but, really, the only one that has restricted us from releasing the issues on our site for everyone to enjoy, is Gamefan. Every publisher is well within their rights to do with the scans as they wish, we obviously have a heavy UK feel at Out-of-Print thanks to publishers in that country being more open, and understanding, when it comes to their past.

[akator]

The Phoenix rises every time my wife wants to have fun.

Badump-bump.