Flojomojo Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 https://shop.primagames.com/row/product/460778/atari-flashback-the-essential-companion-eguide This is the online-only, DRM'ed-up "eGuide" version of the guide. It's basically the Missing Manual for all the Atari games on the Flashback units and game collections. There's a little bit of trivia and history inside, too. AtariAge regular Bill Loguidice is the main author. All the Strategy at Your Fingertips: Completely optimized for a second-screen experience. Enjoy all the content from our printed strategy guide in a convenient, easy-to-use, web-access companion. Searchable and Sortable: All content in this eGuide is easily and quickly accessible. A Classic Console—40 Years in the Making! The classic Atari 2600 console has captured the hearts of gamers of all ages. This retrospective celebrates many of its greatest games. Travel back in time when a joystick and a single button were the only things needed for endless hours of fun! Relive the Nostalgia: Includes original box art, full-color screenshots, classic advertisements, and more! Covers Over 65 Classic Games: Includes Adventure, Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, and Yars’ Revenge! The Console: A look back at the history of the Atari 2600 in all its glory – all 40 years! Plus Much More! Packed with fun facts, tips and tricks, and details on how to play the games! This eGuide is a web-access product that requires an Internet connection to access and is not downloadable. The dead-tree version comes with an unlock code for the same eGuide, and is on Amazon for $11.54 right now. It's probably the better deal for most people here. No internet connection needed for a book. https://www.amazon.com/Atari-Flashback-Essential-Prima-Games/dp/0744018862 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetick1 Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) Sounds great EXCEPT "This eGuide is a web-access product that requires an Internet connection to access and is NOT downloadable." So am I correct in guessing a simple wget script from Linux would grab me the doc or does one need some some special DRM software to view it. I know I sound like a cheap ass but even at $5 I would like to know what I am actually buying ? Edited December 29, 2017 by thetick1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 I have to agree, the digital leash is ridiculous. This isn't Bill's fault of course, as I'm sure the contents are worth the price of admission. But even for a fiver I'd want to keep my ticket stub, in the form of a downloadable PDF. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted December 29, 2017 Author Share Posted December 29, 2017 It works in a standard web browser, and is nice on mobile as well as desktop. Usually, I say "if you can see it, you can save it," but I haven't been able to download, wget, print to PDF, or successfully use SiteSucker to turn it into a more portable format. It's possible that someone smarter than me has done this, but I haven't seen it posted anywhere. It's worth it to me for $5 each (or less if you type in SAVE25 at checkout), because I'm always online. By the time Prima goes under or takes this away, I won't care about Skyrim maps. Besides, I already have my paper Atari book for the offline apocalypse years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetick1 Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 It works in a standard web browser, and is nice on mobile as well as desktop. Usually, I say "if you can see it, you can save it," but I haven't been able to download, wget, print to PDF, or successfully use SiteSucker to turn it into a more portable format. It's possible that someone smarter than me has done this, but I haven't seen it posted anywhere. Well worst case I could quickly automate a script to access each web page and take a screenshot. I have access to automated exhaustive commercial web testing software. Just curious how many web pages are there ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted December 29, 2017 Author Share Posted December 29, 2017 I'd be interested in seeing the output if you give that a try. While you're at it, maybe you could preserve the epic Coleco Chameleon thread, too! >:-) Each page scrolls down a lot, so the number of pages is less relevant than how long they are. When I tried to print a page to PDF (which works for normal web pages), only the visible portion was captured. The physical Atari book is around 120 printed pages, as I recall. I think the best way to digitize it would be to slice the binding and scan the pages in a sheet feeder. I lack the equipment and motivation to do that, so the Prima online will suffice for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetick1 Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) I'd be interested in seeing the output if you give that a try. While you're at it, maybe you could preserve the epic Coleco Chameleon thread, too! >:-) I personally would, but I probably already stated too much. The software is a $10,000 retail license and doubt my employer would be ok for me using it for my personal endeavors especially in this case to avoid DRM. Not to get too much off topic but the tool is Tricentis Tosca at https://www.tricentis.com/software-testing-tools. Note the free trial is quite limited and would not be enough. You could engage the sales team as we did get all features for our free trial but my employer was interested in purchasing many licenses globally which they did. I'm going to just buy the book as I like hard copies and well I suspect Bill might get a bit more in royalties from the book. Edited December 29, 2017 by thetick1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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