Official Feedback Issue 100 + Issue 1

[djcarlos]

Darran,

Why is the asteric still above the letter o after all this time?

The what now?

The asterisk, Above the 'o' in 'retro'.

I always wondered why it was there too.

EDIT: Actually, is it a retro sparkle?

[The Laird]

Darran,

Why is the asteric still above the letter o after all this time?

The what now?

The asterisk, Above the 'o' in 'retro'.

I always wondered why it was there too.

EDIT: Actually, is it a retro sparkle?

Its a disclaimer for the forum

* Forum actually dominated by modern gaming topics with no focus on retro

[Igorthegreen]

Mine just slipped through the letterbox! Looks so nice. I'll take my time to read it, and share my thoughts then. Can't wait to type in the Jason Kelk programme. Nice job man!! A pitty your cartridge games sell out so quickly.

[RetroMartin]

I just got mine too.

Had a quick flick, nice to see I got in there somehow!

Now all I need is a mention or something in the Metal Gear piece next issue and sometime if there's ever a Golden Sun piece and I can die happy!

Love the colour scheme for the Tetris article and some fun bits and bobs in there.

One confused question though, Who has that much time to type all that in! And what if you make a mistake! ARGH! (the RG Rampage bit)

[Evermore]

Regarding the formats covered, I think every retro system, within reason, should have got a look-in, from the mighty PC Engine, the humble Vectrex, to the 32X and the NES. There were so many retro formats excluded which I believe should have been mentioned, even just in passing.

Just out of interest, if you mention something in passing, what value do you think that gives?

Well, I liked the little box in the Sonic feature that acknowledged the Sonic 1 game on the Master System. I think, even a small bit of information mentioned briefly like that added to the feature. I liked the small bit of info about NES Tetris, even though it was a feature about the superb Game Boy version.

As a contributor and long-time reader (from issue one), I disagree. Some kind of self-congratulatory mishmash of the past 100 issues and back-slapping in any way would have been horrible; and finding out what Retro Gamer means to readers and staff? We get that every month anyway, in the letters page.

To my mind, the best celebration is the one that celebrates the people who made the games, and issue 100 was, to my mind, one of the finest issues in that regard. We got a number of exclusive and different articles, such as Braybrook, Crane's overview of creating a portion of a game, and the piece about Baer. There was clearly a bit of a retro-retro skew, although GTA and some other articles balanced that out. And even with features like the Speccy one, this wasn't regurgitating what had been written previously, but unearthing new information about the most famous of British retro computers, in a British retro-gaming magazine. As for industry figures, we got what Retro Gamer and retro-gaming means to them through not only the various interviews but also having them guest in articles they don't usually feature in and with the signature pages.

I didn't mention, as far as I can remember anyway, any back-slapping or self-efficacy from the editorial team. What I was hoping for was just some behind the scenes info about the construction of the magazine - crises, debates on content, memorable moments and highlights, etc. A bit of background to the magazine basically. Looks like this may have been done in issue 50 however, which I haven't read yet. A mini-review of every issue to day would have been super, and would have done wonders for sales of the back issues and DVDs!

The views I have expressed and from a more mainstream retro fan, they are probably not representative of the regulars on here and those who have read Retro Gamer from Issue 1 and have vast knowledge of retro games from decades of playing.

[kiwimike]

Regarding the formats covered, I think every retro system, within reason, should have got a look-in, from the mighty PC Engine, the humble Vectrex, to the 32X and the NES. There were so many retro formats excluded which I believe should have been mentioned, even just in passing.

Just out of interest, if you mention something in passing, what value do you think that gives?

Well, I liked the little box in the Sonic feature that acknowledged the Sonic 1 game on the Master System. I think, even a small bit of information mentioned briefly like that added to the feature. I liked the small bit of info about NES Tetris, even though it was a feature about the superb Game Boy version.

As a contributor and long-time reader (from issue one), I disagree. Some kind of self-congratulatory mishmash of the past 100 issues and back-slapping in any way would have been horrible; and finding out what Retro Gamer means to readers and staff? We get that every month anyway, in the letters page.

To my mind, the best celebration is the one that celebrates the people who made the games, and issue 100 was, to my mind, one of the finest issues in that regard. We got a number of exclusive and different articles, such as Braybrook, Crane's overview of creating a portion of a game, and the piece about Baer. There was clearly a bit of a retro-retro skew, although GTA and some other articles balanced that out. And even with features like the Speccy one, this wasn't regurgitating what had been written previously, but unearthing new information about the most famous of British retro computers, in a British retro-gaming magazine. As for industry figures, we got what Retro Gamer and retro-gaming means to them through not only the various interviews but also having them guest in articles they don't usually feature in and with the signature pages.

I didn't mention, as far as I can remember anyway, any back-slapping or self-efficacy from the editorial team. What I was hoping for was just some behind the scenes info about the construction of the magazine - crises, debates on content, memorable moments and highlights, etc. A bit of background to the magazine basically. Looks like this may have been done in issue 50 however, which I haven't read yet. A mini-review of every issue to day would have been super, and would have done wonders for sales of the back issues and DVDs!

The views I have expressed and from a more mainstream retro fan, they are probably not representative of the regulars on here and those who have read Retro Gamer from Issue 1 and have vast knowledge of retro games from decades of playing.

...And you've just explained the problem right there yourself. You personally wanted to see certain things, yet concede it probably is not representative of the majority of readers. And that's the problem...it's not that you're wrong and 'they're' right, or vice versa...it's just trying to make a specific issue of a mag be all things to all people. It just cannot be done.
But hey man, for what it's worth I think some of your ideas are outstanding, and I'd love to see the team use them in upcoming issues

[CraigGrannell]

Evermore: It's fair enough that you and others don't know about what's already been covered in the mag, and I'd say if #50 hadn't done an overview of the mag itself, it would have been ripe for inclusion in #100. But an overview of each issue is again something that I just see as filler. Perhaps it could have worked as a replacement for the best moments feature, but I'd have hated to see anything else in the issue pulled for something like that. Mind you, I'm not a big fan of lists (I think they add little value compared to a making-of, say), and it's pretty clear people here like their top-25s and so on.

[psj3809]

You dont like lists ? How come, i love them !

If you could write a list of why you dont like lists i might get your point

[HEAVYface]

I'm not a big fan of lists (I think they add little value compared to a making-of, say), and it's pretty clear people here like their top-25s and so on.

i'm with you on this. thought the 100 greatest moments, although i can see why it was done, was a little weak compared to the rest of the (epic) issue. to my mind it would probably been better to have 100 images of those moments (rather than a list with descriptions) spread over a double page and a little introduction text.

anyway great issue. i've also read through the reprint issue 1 now, its fair to say retrogamer has come a huge way and changed a lot since those days, for the better i think. well done all

[stvd]

Issue 1 of Retro Gamer is like a fanzine.

Thanks! A lovely compliment that.

It's good that Martyn took that as a compliment but for everybody that's likened issue 1 to a "fanzine"
it's sounded more like a backhanded compliment at best and an insult to the original mag at worst.
A pathetic downward glance at the tired, old original and a big smug "look at us", "look how much better it is now".

Well it's not.

The original RG issue 1 stands up (easily) against any recent issue (including the one it was bundled with).

I'm guessing next month's Retro Gamer will have a nice section on the PSP Vita with reviews of all the launch titles!

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

There will be PSVita launch titles of relevant games, just as there has been with all new systems whenever a new console comes out

You obviously don't like the magazine as it now is, so why do you continue to buy it? Or better yet, what do you think we could do to turn it into a magazine you'd like? Oh and we won't be taking out the tiny review section.

Like I said, this isn't a dig. I'm genuinely interested in how you think issue 1 is a better magazine, when even Martyn admitted he wasn't happy with it.

[Gabe]

It's good that Martyn took that as a compliment but for everybody that's likened issue 1 to a "fanzine" it's sounded more like a backhanded compliment at best and an insult to the original mag at worst. A pathetic downward glance at the tired, old original and a big smug "look at us", "look how much better it is now".

Well it's not.

The original RG issue 1 stands up (easily) against any recent issue (including the one it was bundled with).

I'm guessing next month's Retro Gamer will have a nice section on the PSP Vita with reviews of all the launch titles!

I don't think there is anything wrong in suggesting that issue 1 looked like a fanzine - because it does. That's not an insult at all, nor is it suggesting that it's not any good.

That said, I think the mag has improved immeasurably in every way over the years and think issue 1 is what it is - a scattergun approach to a very wide subject as Martyn suggested. Now for me very little of it hit (and I don't think it stands up very well at all) but I bought those early issues for the potential, rather than expecting it to be great from day 1. With such a breadth of content out there to be discovered and written about it was always going to take a while for the mag to find a voice and arguably that didn't happen until the rebirth.

[r0jaws]

....
It's good that Martyn took that as a compliment but for everybody that's likened issue 1 to a "fanzine"
it's sounded more like a backhanded compliment at best and an insult to the original mag at worst.
A pathetic downward glance at the tired, old original and a big smug "look at us", "look how much better it is now"....

Well I referred to it as a fanzine, and it wasn't meant in a derogatory manner at all, I liked that aspect of it. Where you got the rest of that impression seems to be firmly in your own head, as it certainly wasn't in my mind when I likened it to that.

[Flat Eric]

Sitll waiting in Germany.

[RichPT]

It was nice to get Issue 1 with issue 100, but i already have it so in a way it was case of 'it's the thought that counts' but thank you . I just want to say though that i thought the old Retrogamer was really great, different to what it is now, but not any worse at all. I really like the Mastertronic article in the first issue. Interesting to see how your £1.99 was spent. Incidentally i cant even sell some of my Xbox/PS2 games for 0.99 now! (thats probably less than a 1980's £1.99 too)

Some really great articles - esp Andrew Braybrook, David Crane and the one about the video game crash. Thanks very much Retro Gamer, hope you can continue for another 100 issues. *thumbs up*

Well i do have some problems with Issue 100, but they are the same i have with Retro Gamer in general - continued coverage of the same games - how many times now have i heard/read about Tetris, The Odyssey, Sonic! and GTA!? Admittedly we do get a little bit of new information each time, but i dont really want to read these articles anymore.