Issue 88 is fantastic, some great features in there. And I for one loved the picture of Dave Hughes with the rabbit ears - I think it looks fun and makes a change from just a posed picture.
But I do realise that RG can't really exist without mentioning other platforms so I just keep buying them hoping that they do more Speccy stuff. :-P
Exactly, if everyone only dipped in and out when it features a chunk of their favourite magazine it might not exist due to low readership. I keep buying it every month to support it and yeah of course i prefer the Speccy stuff (Love the homebrew bits as well).
Its great its at issue 88, impressive for a niche market.
There was no disc editor as such, so I used to put them together (which was usually quite enjoyable, I must admit, although it used to eat up too much time). Yes, most of the stuff was pulled straight off the web, but there were a few exceptions - the Konix Multisystem videos were proper EXCLUSIVES!!, the C64 SID CD audio stuff was quality, and the Amiga Forever package was pretty neat. And yes, even though the likes of Gremlin, Durell, Hewson and System 3 games could be grabbed from WoS or wherever, I was quite proud that we actually got permission to include them. Plus, finally, we did go to some effort to make the inlays look nice and retro, and not like some bland coverdiscs you saw on PC mags.
You put them together? Cool :)
Personally, I think an occasional coverdisk could work *if* it includes some form of exclusive material. This could even directly benefit both the retro community and the current IP owners, by giving the owner some "free" publicity (or even a nominal royalty fee) in return for allowing publication of their old IP onto the disk. For instance, Codemasters are due to release Dirt3 in May and F1 2011 in September; would they perhaps be willing to let RG put together a disk of their old "simulator" games, together with an article tracing the evolution of their racing games? It'd be win-win: free publicity for them and *legal* access to a set of their old games for RetroGamer readers.
(admittedly, given it's Codemasters, the odds of this approach working may be slim. But there are plenty of other companies sitting on old IP...)
However, while I love the idea of a cover-tape, I'm not convinced it'd make economic sense - after all, how many RG readers will still have a working tape-deck and/or a computer to plug it into?
Still, to dream a little further: I do like the idea of posters or postcards - whether given away on the magazine or sold separately; there's some truly astounding art from the eighties and nineties, in the shape of magazine (e.g. Oli Frey) and game covers (e.g. Exolon, Bloodwych - or even cheesy stuff like the infamous Barbarian/Amazon Women covers). Hell, you could even run a voting competition and put the winning cover on the December issue as a Christmas present!
Stepping out into the unknown; I discovered some cassette-tape iPhone/iPod covers on Ebay the other day (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cassette-Tape-Silicone-Case-Cover-iPod-Touch-4-4th-/160554917556); given these are being sold individually for ?0.99 inc. shipping, I suspect there's potential for a significant bulk-order discount - and you might even be able to talk directly to the manufacturer and get some custom prints made!
Mind you, I'd prefer it if Retrogamer didn't go down the route that the current wave of US-comic reprints have chosen: take a set of teen-orientated stories (e.g. Transformers) and slap some plastic junk on the front which are unlikely to appeal to anyone over the age of five...
I have all the Retro Gamer magazines (I subscribe) and have never looked at a cover disc. Never saw the point with a broad band connection. I just took them off the cover and put them aside. For me paying extra for a cover disc would be a waste of money.
If they did 1 a year with exclusive stuff and / or coverage of a retro event then I could see some value in that.
I used to get it religiously but now just get the anthologies. I was a games TM subscriber from day 1 as loved their retro content but their subscription team really annoyed me a few years back so I haven't looked since.
I used to get it religiously but now just get the anthologies. I was a games TM subscriber from day 1 as loved their retro content but their subscription team really annoyed me a few years back so I haven't looked since.
My postman bent one of the RG issues once so as that 'really annoyed me' i cancelled Retro Gamer, my other magazines, even all my post and cemented up my letterbox !!
My postman bent one of the RG issues once so as that 'really annoyed me' i cancelled Retro Gamer, my other magazines, even all my post and cemented up my letterbox !!
lol!
At least that would stop the charity bags being shoved through!
I bought RG88 yesterday, and read it last night. I quite enjoyed it, it was a good read, especially in places. Missile Command, and Atari were of interest, although I have little experience of either. The piece on Home Brew was good too. I like the piece on the chap with pink rabbit ears who has just written a new speccy game, would be nice if that was available on tape - now there's an idea for a cover tape - featured home brews.
There was also an interesting section about coin op conversions on various different systems. The spectrum, C64, BBC, even the Dragon 32 and ZX81 all got mentions, the VIC 20 got nothing! I know it is a largely forgotten format, and due to the success of teh C64 it became something of a Joke machine, but there were some fine games on that, and early arcade conversions is one of the things it excelled at. Worse than this, I could only find 3 or maybe 4 references to the system in the whole magazine, 2 of those was from the forums, the other was indirectly via a mention of "The Tomb of Drewan". If there was another mention, I have forgotten it, but it was only in passing again.
I notice next month it is the C64's turn in the limelight, maybe the VIC 20 will get some reflected glory? It would be even better if the poor old VIC got a turn in the spot itself.
Apologies for ranting about the VIC 20 on a Spectrum forum, I love both machines, this thread seems like a good place to comment though, as RG staff have been on it, and may just visit again.
My postman bent one of the RG issues once so as that 'really annoyed me' i cancelled Retro Gamer, my other magazines, even all my post and cemented up my letterbox !!
Power to the people ! ;)
You've not really thought this through though have you?
How are you going to get your copy of "suck it the man dude illustrated" delivered now?
I notice next month it is the C64's turn in the limelight, maybe the VIC 20 will get some reflected glory? It would be even better if the poor old VIC got a turn in the spot itself.
The VIC-20 has had its turn in the spotlight - a big hardware feature in issue 46. Most machines have been covered in-depth at some point.
The VIC-20 has had its turn in the spotlight - a big hardware feature in issue 46. Most machines have been covered in-depth at some point.
Well that's good then. I still think a bit, more coverage on a monthly basis would also seem to be in order though. So far it seems there is a bias for Spectrum, C64 and Atari. Are copies of issue 46 still available?
There's far too much Amstrad CPC coverage in RG, that's for sure...sometimes even " yeah, so the CPC was the worst version and played like cock...but here's 43 screenshots and a massive blown up screenshot from the CPC version!!"
How are you going to get your copy of "suck it the man dude illustrated" delivered now?
Easy. You seem quite happy to come round my house and personally deliver the issues which you feature in the centre spread. All i would say is that the studio in which you had the 'arty' photos done must have been veryyyy cold, get them to put the heater on next time.
Easy. You seem quite happy to come round my house and personally deliver the issues which you feature in the centre spread. All i would say is that the studio in which you had the 'arty' photos done must have been veryyyy cold, get them to put the heater on next time.
Those photos are anything but 'arty'.
Still, you must have been paying close attention and at least I now understand why the middle pages were all stuck together when you and that bloke in the gimp mask dropped them back off to me.
HeHe I think it's a hallmark of a pretty cool online community when a conversation segues from 'retro gamer' to 'gimp mask' without anyone batting an eyelid :smile:
Worse than this, I could only find 3 or maybe 4 references to the system in the whole magazine, 2 of those was from the forums, the other was indirectly via a mention of "The Tomb of Drewan". If there was another mention, I have forgotten it, but it was only in passing again.
Well, that 'Drewan' mention was in my Firebird article (in relation to inspirations behind the game 'Druid'), and there are two other Vic 20 references in the article - Snake Bite and Mickey the Bricky which just happened to be the first two ever Firebird releases and were both for the Vic 20.
Well, that 'Drewan' mention was in my Firebird article (in relation to inspirations behind the game 'Druid'), and there are two other Vic 20 references in the article - Snake Bite and Mickey the Bricky which just happened to be the first two ever Firebird releases and were both for the Vic 20.
OK, that was you. Great to see some VIC 20 references, but it's not really enough though. Soon as I get a chance I'll be reviewing all my games for the website.
A nice idea, but would it even be possible to get 20,000 (or whatever the print run is these days) data tapes duplicated these days? Lack of demand would surely make the cost prohibitive, if indeed someone still offered the service.
Which is why I suggested a USB stick or a mini DVD in a cassette box. I think a 32MB USB stick if they can be sourced still at that size plus a box should be quite small these days and even less so for a mini 1.4GB DVD (5 for ?1 at my local pound shop).
It is the only proper way of doing it, and I believe would reach the most users. Even now, most people have at least one tape deck in the house.
Not so sure - most people have PCs these days not Spectrums so emulators on the USB stick may be better. There may(?) still be more tape decks but no Spectrums to play the tapes on. Those people with tape decks can still make a tape from the PC :) There's nothing to say that the USB stick needs to be shaped like one, you could probably fit most into a cassette tape itself these days (oooh idea) - they already make MP3 players that look like them.
Comments
Exactly, if everyone only dipped in and out when it features a chunk of their favourite magazine it might not exist due to low readership. I keep buying it every month to support it and yeah of course i prefer the Speccy stuff (Love the homebrew bits as well).
Its great its at issue 88, impressive for a niche market.
Personally, I think an occasional coverdisk could work *if* it includes some form of exclusive material. This could even directly benefit both the retro community and the current IP owners, by giving the owner some "free" publicity (or even a nominal royalty fee) in return for allowing publication of their old IP onto the disk. For instance, Codemasters are due to release Dirt3 in May and F1 2011 in September; would they perhaps be willing to let RG put together a disk of their old "simulator" games, together with an article tracing the evolution of their racing games? It'd be win-win: free publicity for them and *legal* access to a set of their old games for RetroGamer readers.
(admittedly, given it's Codemasters, the odds of this approach working may be slim. But there are plenty of other companies sitting on old IP...)
However, while I love the idea of a cover-tape, I'm not convinced it'd make economic sense - after all, how many RG readers will still have a working tape-deck and/or a computer to plug it into?
Still, to dream a little further: I do like the idea of posters or postcards - whether given away on the magazine or sold separately; there's some truly astounding art from the eighties and nineties, in the shape of magazine (e.g. Oli Frey) and game covers (e.g. Exolon, Bloodwych - or even cheesy stuff like the infamous Barbarian/Amazon Women covers). Hell, you could even run a voting competition and put the winning cover on the December issue as a Christmas present!
Stepping out into the unknown; I discovered some cassette-tape iPhone/iPod covers on Ebay the other day (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cassette-Tape-Silicone-Case-Cover-iPod-Touch-4-4th-/160554917556); given these are being sold individually for ?0.99 inc. shipping, I suspect there's potential for a significant bulk-order discount - and you might even be able to talk directly to the manufacturer and get some custom prints made!
Mind you, I'd prefer it if Retrogamer didn't go down the route that the current wave of US-comic reprints have chosen: take a set of teen-orientated stories (e.g. Transformers) and slap some plastic junk on the front which are unlikely to appeal to anyone over the age of five...
:???:
Ack. Well, type "ipod cassette cover" into Ebay; it should turn up a similar set of results :)
The closing bracket screwed up the link... correct link
Shame the 3rd gen ones are a lot more expensive: ?12.95 within the UK, including stand (that I don't want), or ?5.90 + ?1.28 delivery from Australia.
4th gen ones are just 99p delivered!
If they did 1 a year with exclusive stuff and / or coverage of a retro event then I could see some value in that.
thats right u suck it to the man dude
Too right !
My postman bent one of the RG issues once so as that 'really annoyed me' i cancelled Retro Gamer, my other magazines, even all my post and cemented up my letterbox !!
Power to the people ! ;)
At least that would stop the charity bags being shoved through!
There was also an interesting section about coin op conversions on various different systems. The spectrum, C64, BBC, even the Dragon 32 and ZX81 all got mentions, the VIC 20 got nothing! I know it is a largely forgotten format, and due to the success of teh C64 it became something of a Joke machine, but there were some fine games on that, and early arcade conversions is one of the things it excelled at. Worse than this, I could only find 3 or maybe 4 references to the system in the whole magazine, 2 of those was from the forums, the other was indirectly via a mention of "The Tomb of Drewan". If there was another mention, I have forgotten it, but it was only in passing again.
I notice next month it is the C64's turn in the limelight, maybe the VIC 20 will get some reflected glory? It would be even better if the poor old VIC got a turn in the spot itself.
Apologies for ranting about the VIC 20 on a Spectrum forum, I love both machines, this thread seems like a good place to comment though, as RG staff have been on it, and may just visit again.
Not sure what "suck it to the man dude" entails but I'll pass, ta very much.
You've not really thought this through though have you?
How are you going to get your copy of "suck it the man dude illustrated" delivered now?
Well that's good then. I still think a bit, more coverage on a monthly basis would also seem to be in order though. So far it seems there is a bias for Spectrum, C64 and Atari. Are copies of issue 46 still available?
Easy. You seem quite happy to come round my house and personally deliver the issues which you feature in the centre spread. All i would say is that the studio in which you had the 'arty' photos done must have been veryyyy cold, get them to put the heater on next time.
Those photos are anything but 'arty'.
Still, you must have been paying close attention and at least I now understand why the middle pages were all stuck together when you and that bloke in the gimp mask dropped them back off to me.
You flatterer you :razz:
Well, that 'Drewan' mention was in my Firebird article (in relation to inspirations behind the game 'Druid'), and there are two other Vic 20 references in the article - Snake Bite and Mickey the Bricky which just happened to be the first two ever Firebird releases and were both for the Vic 20.
http://birdsanctuary.co.uk/snakeb/p.php
http://birdsanctuary.co.uk/mickeyb/p.php
OK, that was you. Great to see some VIC 20 references, but it's not really enough though. Soon as I get a chance I'll be reviewing all my games for the website.
Which is why I suggested a USB stick or a mini DVD in a cassette box. I think a 32MB USB stick if they can be sourced still at that size plus a box should be quite small these days and even less so for a mini 1.4GB DVD (5 for ?1 at my local pound shop).
It is the only proper way of doing it, and I believe would reach the most users. Even now, most people have at least one tape deck in the house.
Not so sure - most people have PCs these days not Spectrums so emulators on the USB stick may be better. There may(?) still be more tape decks but no Spectrums to play the tapes on. Those people with tape decks can still make a tape from the PC :) There's nothing to say that the USB stick needs to be shaped like one, you could probably fit most into a cassette tape itself these days (oooh idea) - they already make MP3 players that look like them.