Paint (online paintball magazine)

Paint was an Australian online paintball magazine edited by Mike Wallis. Initially hosted on the XSystems website, it later operated at paintmagazine.com, publishing tournament reports, equipment reviews, interviews and reader contributions. The site also hosted discussion forums and pages for paintball groups.[1][2][3]

History

According to Wallis, he started the website in 1996 to provide articles and a meeting place for paintball players online. Contributors supplied material from different countries, while Australian Paintballer and Paintball Games International permitted selected articles to be republished.[1]

The surviving XSystems article index lists nine numbered issues published between January 1996 and September 1998. Australian coverage included the Australian Masters, Victorian competitions, the Australian seven-player championships and locally manufactured equipment.[2]

In the editorial for issue 11, Wallis announced that the publication had moved from the XSystems server to its own domain and rented hosting. He also described transferring the forums, classified advertisements and online postcards.[3]

Content

The magazine combined Australian coverage with international material. Its articles covered tournament results, paintball equipment, playing techniques and the paintball industry.[2]

Australian tournament reports included the 1996 Victorian Three-Man Series, 1998 Victorian Five-Man Masters, 1998 Australian Seven-Player Paintball Championships and 1999 APPL Round One.[2][4]

Forums and community pages

By August 2002, the site's CuteCast forum included equipment discussions, event news, classified advertisements and sections for the Palmer Owners Group, Christian Paintball Players Association and Peninsula Paintball Club.[5]

A surviving October 2004 capture documents a later forum using phpBB software, including a dedicated Peninsula Paintball Club section.[6]

The club's website was also hosted at paintmagazine.com. Wallis described the club's members as helping renew his interest in paintball and motivating him to rebuild the magazine website.[1]

References

1. About Us. Mike Wallis, Paint, archived 10 May 2002.
2. Articles. Paint, archived 5 December 1998.
3. Editorial. Mike Wallis, Paint, issue 11, archived 1 June 2000.
4. APPL Round One. Simon Morrison, Paint, issue 11, archived 17 May 2000.
5. News, Forums, Classifieds. Paint, archived 3 August 2002.
6. Paint forum index. Archived 15 October 2004.