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Reviewed by J C, 2005-03-05
Categories: Classic-Porn, Amateur, Teens, Babes, Photography / studio, Mega-sites
Visit ATK Archives
| Review summary: ATK Archives features all the good old content from when ATK started out on the internet many years ago. As the standards have increased, the content was replaced and moved to the archives where you can now see it all. |
Most likely, you've heard the name before. These guys are known for the massive amounts of content they produce and warehouse. From a site called the archives, I'm not sure I'll get what I expect, but from their reputation, it shouldn't be hard to make due.
Phew, this could take a while. As soon as you start browsing the site, the sheer amount of content can be overwhelming. To give you an idea, when searching the model stats page (something I don't recommend unless you have a high speed connection that can handle such a large load -- on my cable internet line it took 30 seconds to fully load), it says that there are 540,715 images. That's certainly more than the 150,000 promised in the intro. The movies don't run nearly as deep. More on that in a little bit.
The latest updates section gives you a hint of what you can find in here. It catalogs the past month's worth. On picture days, they provide twelve new sets per day. How many sites can say that. On movie days (once a week), they update with ten clips (lifted from other ATK sites, but are now exclusive to this site as they have been removed from their previous homes to make more room over there). The sets are arranged by model and by the category they fit into (e.g. Nudism 71, Patty or Toys 115, Sharone). It's all very straightforward and simple.
Each page contains a navigation bar at the top of the page, including a model directory to help you find people quicker. To enhance your searching experience, they've highlighted their new changes and describe how to use them in good detail. I'm going to explore them a little bit more for you here as well. Let's start with the model directory. It's arranged by letter, and when you click on it you'll get a listing of everyone on the site under that letter (in alphabetical order) all on one page. Each model gets a headshot thumbnail to make your quest that much easier. Those models with biographies -- which is the majority of them -- are noted as having such, as well. (The site claims they're marked with an asterisk, but really, it's just a link to "personal data" next to their picture). Click on the model, and in a new window you'll find a link to her bio, if available, and a listing of every shoot done for the site, with accompanying thumbnail. The bios are extremely lacking and don't go any farther than to give you the most basic stats that you can figure out by looking at the girl, besides age. There's a link that sends you to a page with similar models. They aren't all that similar to me, so I'm not sure what and how many criteria are used to determine this.
Also, you will see a ratings bar below the list of sets that allows you to rank the models on a scale from one to five. You can view the top models here as well (which means who's got the most 5 votes). So far the system hasn't realized its full potential, but give it time. I love the feedback aspect.
The model directory is a much needed device in a massive site such as this. However, if you really want to get things going real quick, there's the search engine. Here you select what gets you off. If you prefer the old search engine, there's an option for you, but this one is better. You can search either models or photosets. You can select the subject matter that you're looking for, plus all the models and photographers are listed, so if you have a favorite, it makes it easier. But, most likely you'll want to use it to hit your favorite traits. Among the on/off fields are bodypiercing, braces, glasses, puffynipples, etc. Among the variable pulldown fields are age, hair color, tits, race, etc. Try to stay kind of broad, because if you go inputting stuff into every field, most likely you'll yield no results. It's still an improved device with welcomed changes.
On to the content. The picture galleries are divided up into softcore and hardcore categories. They're pretty self-sufficient. When you click on one, it opens up a page with all the archive sets. They're numbered, but that really means nothing special besides how recently it's been added. The only way to know what's in the archive is by clicking on it and browsing for yourself. I'd like to see it arranged so that there are themes to the numbers or a little bit more distinction within the categories. I don't know why they don't have a simple navigation system to help guide you in between these archives.
Once you found a set you like, you'll find it opens up in your basic thumbnail table. The thumbnails here are just big enough for you to discern what's shown, but not big enough to get a full representation. You can download the whole set as a series of zip files or in individual zip files and once again rate the series from 1 to 5. Navigation is fantastic here. There are links leading to virtually everything you'd want to link to. You can even switch between opening the pictures with plain image links (meaning no in-set navigation) or with image viewer links (so you can quickly move around amongst the images. This latter one is better, because you can also have the option of various sizes.
The original size is best and presents the image in crisp quality. The jpegs are surprisingly sharp. The photography varies a lot. Since there are so many photographers working here there's a lot of styles. The date of the picture will also effect the quality. Some of the older sets show their age pretty noticably. They are mostly decent photographs of professional quality presented with clarity. The videos are not categorized. After you log in again (I hate that), you can browse through the (so far) limited selection. Each month is given its own page, separated by week. This isn't perfect, because it'd still be nice to know what kind of videos are on each page, and there's once again no clear way to navigate between the month pages. But, it is better, because you can see all five weeks at once.
The quality of the videos is much worse than the pictures. Since the videos were all taken from the bottom of the pile of the other sites, they were recorded with lesser quality equipment. Digital video may not have even been around in some cases. So, dealing with horrible resolution to begin with and transferring it to the computer causes a large loss of picture quality. With that said, some of them wouldn't look too bad if only they were in a better or bigger video format than the mpgs. The videos are about two minutes in length, and even though there aren't a lot of them on the site yet, the varience in subject matter is pretty good. If this site excells in anything, it's variety.
Lastly, there are links to the customer support section and access to the ATK Lounge (after you input your password again) which contains games and articles and contests and such. It's their version of an online magazine.
The site design is minimal, but effective. Efficiency over style, I suppose. That's fine. I'd rather have a lot of content on a plain background then a tiny selection presented with flash. There's a lot here. Basically the selection is slim to average white girls, but still, if you can't find someone you like out of the myriad models available, then I don't know what to tell you. ATK has been around for quite a while now, and this site shows why.
Via credit card
$24.99 for 30 days, recurring every 30 days
$39.99 for 60 days, recurring every 60 days
$54.99 for 90 days, recurring every 90 days
Sign ups also available by online check, on your phone bill, or by mail.
Members area samples: See a selection of picture samples from ATK Archives!
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