Why do you buy Retro Gamer?

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Simple question really. Would be interested in to hear the reasons.

[Megamixer]

To learn about new games and stuff I've missed out on over the years. The expense goes beyond the £4.99 a month!

[joefish]

Because some of it covers homebrew games!

[Lost Dragon]

I'll have to answer this as 'Why Do I Subscribe?' (reason-often thought about cancelling sub, just picking up issues of interest, but not 1 newsagent in a 25 mile radius of me stocks it, nor has done for months).

Personally 1) Because there's simply no real alternative publication that covers Retro on a monthly biasis in such depth.Gave up on Gamestm as good as Retro was, it was only a small % of the magazine, i could'nt justify the subs price when rest of Gamestm was throw away material.Edge, dabbles (this months Making Of Die Hard Trilogy 1st i've seen in months, but of a very high standard, well researched and written).So without sounding 'harsh' there's simply no viable competion out there.Some superb websites/digital publications, but i still like to read magazines in a physical format.

2)In hope an article/feature will shed new light on a familar subject or go into depth as to why a game turned out the way it did.Past coin-op conversion features explaining why C64 versions turned out so poor were brilliant, helped ease pain of dissapointment from back in the day and hinted at what could of been.Sadly more often than not at times, i as a reader end up correcting 'facts' in articles, so there's room for improvement in terms of research from regulars and freelancers.

Disclaimer (before anyone jumps in) RG Editor is asking for reader/consumer feedback here, i as a paying customer are giving just that and it's constructive, ta.

3) It's something else for me to p*ss and moan at each month...(that should satisfy a few on here).

4)I love Homebrew stuff.

5)Force of habbit.Seriousily, part of it is just that.Been a subscriber for so long, only subscribe to 2 other mags, so part of it is my desire to see the mag.remain in a physical format.

Honest enough feedback for you Darran?

[fredghostmaster]

To remind me of the glory years of the 70's & 80's, when 8 bit was king and arcades were worth going in.

[Antiriad2097]

Nostalgia mainly, to find out more about the games I played in my youth. Interviews with programmers are always good, stuff about running the business not so much.

Learning about new games is also good, if the games are good.

I do like it when the lesser games and companies are covered especially.

[ncf1]

Good question. Lets see now :

*because its a quality publication, well arranged, top-notch writing and interviews, and the only mag I subscribe to.
*I love old games. New games too but gaming was such a big part of my childhood and who doesn't want to read about something that triggers back good childhood memories?
*therefore, nostalgia.
*I can write some absolute nonsense stories and they get sometimes published in the letters page (but then I never get my damn prizes)
*I do actually miss Iain Lee's column a lot as the chuckles broke up things just perfectly, so I do miss that.
*I do like how there's a section that covers newer stuff too, juts fits in perfectly.

Well its a great mag, I'll just say that. It really covers the Retro Gaming topic very well indeed, and not only revives old memories but you get the stories behind the games, you get to hunt down classics you may have missed, and you get to interact in the mag you enjoy - cant ask for much more really*

*just a touch of humour missing since Mr Lee's departure, that's all.

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

I'll have to answer this as 'Why Do I Subscribe?' (reason-often thought about cancelling sub, just picking up issues of interest, but not 1 newsagent in a 25 mile radius of me stocks it, nor has done for months).

Personally 1) Because there's simply no real alternative publication that covers Retro on a monthly biasis in such depth.Gave up on Gamestm as good as Retro was, it was only a small % of the magazine, i could'nt justify the subs price when rest of Gamestm was throw away material.Edge, dabbles (this months Making Of Die Hard Trilogy 1st i've seen in months, but of a very high standard, well researched and written).So without sounding 'harsh' there's simply no viable competion out there.Some superb websites/digital publications, but i still like to read magazines in a physical format.

2)In hope an article/feature will shed new light on a familar subject or go into depth as to why a game turned out the way it did.Past coin-op conversion features explaining why C64 versions turned out so poor were brilliant, helped ease pain of dissapointment from back in the day and hinted at what could of been.Sadly more often than not at times, i as a reader end up correcting 'facts' in articles, so there's room for improvement in terms of research from regulars and freelancers.

Disclaimer (before anyone jumps in) RG Editor is asking for reader/consumer feedback here, i as a paying customer are giving just that and it's constructive, ta.

3) It's something else for me to p*ss and moan at each month...(that should satisfy a few on here).

4)I love Homebrew stuff.

5)Force of habbit.Seriousily, part of it is just that.Been a subscriber for so long, only subscribe to 2 other mags, so part of it is my desire to see the mag.remain in a physical format.

Honest enough feedback for you Darran?

Well I was actually asking why you buy it, not what you expect from it, but close enough

[crusto]

I buy it because I want to. I like my fix of nostalgia.

[Lost Dragon]

@Darran:But i'm only going to keep buying it, if it continues to deliver what i expect, so is that not more helpful feedback than me saying i think's it's great because.....?

What's the feedback going to be used for, if not to shape future issues/try and keep regulars reading whilst attracting new customers?.

[Scratch_Porkings]

I bought edge magazine from issue 1 thinking I wanted to read about new games. When they did articles on older games and then a retro section (Section, page!) That was the first page I went to and the part I looked forward to. Then I picked retro gamer issue 3 up in WH smiths and never looked back. Retro gamer just printed what I wanted to read, simple.

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

I didn't ask for feedback (well I did, but meant in terms of reasons, not for a way to guage anything). I asked why you buy Retro Gamer.

[Lost Dragon]

I didn't ask for feedback. I asked why you buy Retro Gamer.

Ohh i see, so you've now edited it from: 'Some feedback would be nice' to you being interested in hearing why we buy it.

Ok, i'll bite:

I buy it because your magazine is the only dedicated Retro magazine, i've no alternative magazine to buy in this field.

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

No need to be defensive.
I amended my original post as it was obviously confusing. I'm not using this to guage what's right or wrong about the mag, how it can be improved, why it's amazing or why it's censored. I certainly didn't amend the post to catch anyone out. I'm just interested im why people buy it and feel it would give an answer that's just as useful for me as it is for the reader.

As an aside though, it does highlight why those who buy it clearly for nostalgia stand to be more disappointed with any giving issue. That's actually quite interesting.

[Hiro]

To read about the games, the machines and the programmers of my childhood and to discover more games, machines, people and facts I had missed.