I totally agree.
Howard I don't think distributing this image of your is a good idea and I encourage to think twice and not do it.
I didn't plan to do this e-mail as early, but here we go ;-) I hope Jim will comment on this.
As you may know, I am the author of Disk2FDI, a small .COM DOS utility which took about one *full* year of development to be able to make 100% accurate disk images of *any* floppy disk, at least with the appropriate disk drive of course.
From this, you can understand that I'm really serious about *preserving* old games on floppies (but of course not limited to floppies), so that the *original* version of games, the ones you people are collecting, are preserved *intact* for the ages to come.
I am only a few days from finishing a fully working version of Disk2FDI, then will start imaging any original game I have or may find. I will also scan all documentation, box, disks, etc. at 600 dpi. I think the motivation behind this obvious: the scanned original material will not age, the FDIed floppy disks will not get corrupt, nor will the WAVed tapes, and the dumped cartridges. The digital version of the game will be as close to the original as can be as of 2004.
On the other hand, I completely agree to what both C.E. Forman and Josh are talking about. I have read the "Eyal Katz" case on vintage-sierra, and was shocked to see this.
The project I'm talking about is in fact very similar and tightly linked to what mobygames.com is, so what I'd like to suggest is that both Jim and I conduct this project of preserving the old (and the not-so-old) games. A few more members could join the team, but it cannot be too big for the reason explained.
So, in the case of such a rare game as Drash, I would suggest that Josh makes scans of all materials, but only send the files to either Jim or me (or both), but no one else, and I'm sure Jim will join me to completely *guarantee* that these files will *not* be spread to anyone in their 600 dpi form. Of course, mobygames could someday display any box/doc/disk at a downgraded quality (say 75 dpi), with the usual MobyGames mark on them.
In the future, I think it would be very nice if many (or all) of you could contribute to the project with scans, FDI files, WAV files, etc... The Disk2FDI registration is not an issue in our case, I can ease the problem ;-)
Please reply with any comment, as this is a very open discussion.
-josh
BTW, if I'm not mistaken, you are running vintage-sierra.com. In this case, would you also consider selling your 1983 version of King's Quest PCjr on eBay. I'd be happy to be the high bidder ;-)
Vincent.
I'd just like to (as always) voice my concern about how widely these images would get distributed. Not that I'm against preserving it, I'm just worried about it falling into the wrong hands and we get inundated with fakes being sold as originals.
> Before actually sending the game to the high bidder, do you think you could > completely "preserve" it? There are so few copies that any image of the > original tape is *very* important. Nobody knows where this tape will go and > if it can be properly preserved after you sell it. Also, the game will have > another trip to the high bidder, which can even more damage the game... > > What you would need to do is to scan *all* documentation, box, tape (both > sides), etc. at 600 dpi. > The most important is to record both sides of the tape at a very high rate > (44100 Hz, 16 bit), with proper sound level adjustment. Do you have the > hardware to do this?
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