Go Review - Go World Archive

I received the latest Go World Archive DVD by mail. My first impression was pretty positive. The disk is apparently professionally produced, sitting in a solid case and properly wrapped.

The E-magazines are actually PDF documents and other features (such as the index) are HTML web pages. So I immediately copied all contents on it to the hard disk of my laptop computer - this makes no difference at all when using it. The original disk will sit on my bookshelf as a backup. Note that all files take about 1.3 GB disk space - not a big problem for most modern computers, but may be a slight concern if you decide to keep the whole contents on your tablets (many models coming with only 8-16 GB disk space).

I tried to read the e-magazines on a normal computer monitor, an IPAD with high-resolution Retina Display, and a popular Samsung tablet with 10' screen. I all cases, I found the quality of the texts and the Go diagrams sufficiently good. I've read about several people's good experience reading Go World on 7' tablets too. It is not clear how the contents are digitised, but the pages are apparently scanned in high-resolution. This means when zooming in to see the fine details, one may notice some noise around the texts and diagrams, which should not affect day-to-day use. I also found that most text contents can be properly selected and I can copy/paste to reuse them elsewhere, although in few cases the pasted contents were incorrectly formatted.

For readers who are not familiar with the Go World magazine, each issue of the magazine contains world go news and stories told from a Japanese perspective. Also available are technical topics, such as detailed game commentaries on major title matches, and Go problems. I feel these studying materials are suitable for Go players between single-digit-kyu and high-dan levels. For people having an interest in Go history, Go World is an invaluable resource. This DVD contains 21 issues of the magazine covering the period between 2006 and 2013.

Finally, the retail price of the DVD is US$59.99, which I believe is quite reasonable. For comparison, the 3-DVD set covering all old issues can be purchased at US$79.95.

External Links:

Official Go World Archive web site: http://www.kiseidodigital.com/gwa.html
A separate online index: http://gobase.org/reading/goworld/

PS: For those using Go database software Kombilo, once you import an SGF collection into the software, those games with commentaries in Go World and other known sources will be highlighted.