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[fusoya]

As some of your are aware, I have been at the helm of trying to get a high quality collection of Nintendo Power scans, and I have been working on this project since 2005, before there were ANY OOPA-type websites. Well, almost 5 years later and the project is still moving along, although it still has a ways to go. There were 193 issues published by Nintendo of America between 1988 and 2006, before production was turned over to a third party company, who quite frankly, ruined the magazine. Originally, NP was THE official and best source for reading about all American Nintendo games. Since it was published by Nintendo itself, and since it didn't have ANY outside advertising (at least for the first 10 years or so), it gave props to the games it honestly thought were the best, rather than the ones who were sponsoring them. It focused primarily on strategy, rather then reviewing and rating games, and each issue would include maps and tips for a number of games, including a fold out map with a poster on the opposite side. Nintendo Power also set most of the American Pop Culture for video games in the late 80s and 90s, and these are the reasons why it has always been my favorite magazine, and something that I care dearly about preserving.


I have worked with a number of people over the last couple of years on this scanning project. As it stands, every issue which falls within the timeline guidelines of this site has either

a. been scanned and edited 100% and has been declared PRESERVED FOREVER (about 15% of the issues)
b. been scanned, and either awaits post-production or has something wrong with it so that it can't be declared finished (about 80%)
c. not been scanned, but the physical intact magazine is in my home (the remaining 5%)

however, there are still a couple of speedbumps in the road, which is why I will be putting in some requests for help. Some of the posters (which often were removed from the magazine to be hung up, and so often get lost from the otherwise intact issue) are missing, and some of the "completed" issues could still use a better scan. Issues 6 and 7 (TMNT & Mega Man 2) were scanned with the spine intact, causing some warping, and in some cases, some of the text to fall off the image. This is likely the case with some later issues as well. Also, some of the issues were scanned by other people who frankly did an awful job, and it would be better off rescanning completely rather than trying to salvage in Photoshop.

As I go through this project, I will post the requests here. Can I get a show of hands as to who still has old NP issues sitting around, or if anyone else has started on their own NP scanning? Obviously, if you are planning to scan NP yourself, let your intentions be known in this thread so that we can collaborate and nobody wastes any time.

[TheRedEye]

I have many Nintendo Power issues, and the first 60 or so issues were obtained in brand new, unread condition, so they have everything intact. I think I can help, but I don't want to disturb the mags TOO badly. I'll keep a watch on this thread and see what you need.

[Addicted to Chaos]

I would not touch those 60 Nintendo Power Magazines at all and unless absolutly needed and/or if the highest possible quality scan is quaranteed only.

It's nice to hear that brand new, unread condition, and everything intact magazines still exist. It's also very nice that such a generous owner owns them too.

I'm happy for you, TheRedEye, and that you are part of this community and everthing, but I think you should keep those magazines in that quality for as long as possible.

[meppi]

That's pretty much what I do, even though at times it's so incredibly tempting to grab a certain magazine and read through it.
Especially during the summer as I just love to read in the backyard.

But I've made the decision to pack all my magazines away as safely as possible, until it's time to scan them.
So when that's done I finally get to read the magazines I haven't read before.
This also gives me that little extra incentive to keep scanning and editing magazines even though I'd rather play some more games.

Luckily I have several doubles of my favourite magazines, so I always have a bunch to read through.

[Addicted to Chaos]

Nice. I love your system and how organized you are.

Also, reading in the backyard in the ssummer sounds awsome.

[fusoya]

This is exactly what caused some of the early issues to not have such good scans - people HAVE the magazines, but refuse to sacrifice them for the greater good. Scanning a magazine while the spine is still binded is what causes that warping, which is why you need to "debind" the magazine (or turn it into a series of single sheets). It also makes it easier to get the pages straight on the flatbed, since there's nothing tugging it out of place. For glue-based spines, you can tear and peel it apart with your bare hands, just be careful about it. For stapled issues, just use a staple remover (and these can even be restapled when you're done).

Unfortunately, my issues 6,7,8 were in really bad shape, so I wasn't able to scan my copy of them. Anyway, the scan I have of them is still mostly readable, so I'm not going to panic over it, but it would still be nice to have a perfect scan of these.

I'm glad to hear that if I need a couple of pages rescanned from the other early issues, due to a damaged/missing page that wasn't caught, there are other people here who can contribute! Thank you for your help

[jbigglesworth]

Might also be worth including the 4 special "red cover" issues that they released around 1989/1990 (one each on Super Mario Bros. 3, Final Fantasy, 4-player games, and one other that I forget).

Also, around 1991, they came out with a series of larger "Player's Choice" guides that (at least in the case of the first few of them) were sent free to subscribers.  Are those to be included as well?

Thanks!

[Phillyman]

Might also be worth including the 4 special "red cover" issues that they released around 1989/1990 (one each on Super Mario Bros. 3, Final Fantasy, 4-player games, and one other that I forget).

Also, around 1991, they came out with a series of larger "Player's Choice" guides that (at least in the case of the first few of them) were sent free to subscribers.  Are those to be included as well?

Thanks!

Those are issues 13, 15, 17 and 19......each of them are available over at Retromags