Why do you buy Retro Gamer?

[HalcyonDaze00]

I no longer buy Retro Gamer, having recently cancelled my sub. I've subscribed almost since day dot but the mag no longer provides the buzz for me that it once used to. More often than not the majority of content in the mag each month is of little to no interest for me.
There's no point subbing to something that basically just gets scan read and filed afterwards.. Time for a break. Plus, feedback is not tolerated on here unless it is of the "right type". So I'm no longer inclined to make suggestions on how things could be improved, or point out errors etc, very little point in doing so.

I will pick up the odd issue here and there If I see it on my travels and the majority of its content is of personal interest to me. And I will look more closely at the collections from now on.

always sad to hear long time subscribers are throwing in the towel, the relentless onslaught of third rate atari junk almost caused me to quit but I've kept my sub going and it's good to read that the mag is moving away from the atari dross and onto the ps1 etc.

Also agree with what others have said about some stuff being so obscure it's completely useless, the kind of articles more suited to a fanzine circulated between about 10 people.

[nakamura]

always sad to hear long time subscribers are throwing in the towel, the relentless onslaught of third rate atari junk almost caused me to quit but I've kept my sub going and it's good to read that the mag is moving away from the atari dross and onto the ps1 etc.

Also agree with what others have said about some stuff being so obscure it's completely useless, the kind of articles more suited to a fanzine circulated between about 10 people.

If Retro Gamer ran for 100 years there would still be less repeated drivel than in your posts these past few years.

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Also agree with what others have said about some stuff being so obscure it's completely useless, the kind of articles more suited to a fanzine circulated between about 10 people.

Out of interest what do you deem obscure?

[kiwimike]

ir Again, this emphasises the difficulty in catering to all tastes in a mag that not only crosses platforms, but generations of platforms. You have early '80s, people grizzle. You go later, people grizzle. You cover too much of one thing, or go for something that was not as well known, people grizzle. Ultimately you're on a hiding to nothing. When the PS1 coverage starts soon, it will keep the current unhappy folk happy, and bug the ones that like the earlier stuff!
I can understand frustration when a series of features doesn't cater to a particular group, but it is just impossible to please everyone all the time. There was a time during Spectrums anniversary I did get a little tired of so much coverage of it, but ultimately understand others would be keen to see it. It's only natural some issues will appeal to an individual more than others, IMO it is important to keep that in mind.
When all is said and done, the best way the mag can please the majority-and that's all you can hope for- is keep the mix varied and interesting. That said, some just seem happy with only the stuff they had and knew and won't be happy learning about stuff they don't know about. Each to their own...I love finding out about obscure stuff personally

[crusto]

I didn't take anything personally, I merely replied stating a few facts. End of.

I see. Yours are 'facts' whilst I am just plain wrong. Brilliant.
Despite your 'facts' I still think my opinions on the magazine are valid.

And this is exactly why I keep my opinions to myself nowadays. There just no point

[ianpmarks]

I didn't take anything personally, I merely replied stating a few facts. End of.

I see. Yours are 'facts' whilst I am just plain wrong. Brilliant.
Despite your 'facts' I still think my opinions on the magazine are valid.

And this is exactly why I keep my opinions to myself nowadays. There just no point

You should still voice your opinions. Not everyone will be happy to hear them but many will find them of interest.

To be fair so far there has only been very balanced and reasoned reaction to my personal moany critique of the magazine (with one notable exception).

[The Laird]

Opinions are fine, in fact I welcome them and enjoy reading them. But there is a difference between opinion and fact, that is all I was pointing out.

[gman72]

Ok... here's a run down of SOME of the Atari coverage from recent times... not in any order.

Issue 2 there was a 10 page article on the 7800 written by Peter Latimer. It was very balanced and a good read.

Issue 78 another 10 page article on the 7800 written by MG.

Issue 129 An Atari Lynx retrospecive by Laird

Issue 105 An Atari ST article by Laird - Including the now infamous Defender Of The Crown was released on the ST first quote.

Issue 123 Laird's ST Minority Report.

Issue 123 Paul Dury has a making of Tempest 2000

Issue 111 Lairds Imagitek article in which they discussed ST/Lynx/Jaguar etc.
Issue 111 Paul Dury article on Shahid Ahmad which discussed his Atari 8 bit work.

Issue 126 Ballblazer 7800/A8 also Laird's Thallion article which had a lot of Atari ST chat.

Issue 118 Lairds Atari Jaguar Minority Report.

Issue 116 Rory Milne Atari 8 bit Minority Report.

Issue 128 Lairds Lore Design article with coverage of their Atari STE, Lynx and Jaguar work.

Issue 124 is a biggie. Atari 2600 Activision games article from DJ. Mike Bevan does Boulderdash covering the Atari 8bit version. Laird does an Atari 8bit console feature (XEGS)

Issue 119 Lairds Atari Jaguar 20 years on article.

Issue 125 Mike Bevan looks at Paperboy and interviews the guy who programmed the Atari Lynx version.
Lairds Atari 8bit 35 years young article.

This does obviously not include recent the issue with the Atari 7800 on the cover that included a big article on the console and a feature on the top 25 A8bit games...

Thats all i can think of but there has been more. This blanket coverage needs to STOP as its getting beyond a joke and turning into a fanzine.
I buy Retrogamer because in general it is a good read but when you actually list all the Atari stuff like this it's quite staggering how much there has been and this Is certainly not all of it but rather all that I can think of. This to me is not balancing material or trying to cater to everyone's tastes.

[ianpmarks]

Myself I like a bit of Atari action... Well the 2600 and 8-bit ones, no real interest in Jaguar or Lynx... But even I've noticed a lot of Atari articles lately. It's a bit like a few years ago when i felt RG got stuck in a ZX Spectrum loop - this was however beneficial to me as I like the ZX Spectrum.

The trouble with RG celebrating anniversaries is everything comes at once. If the Atari 8 bits are 35 years old then all the games are around 35 years old. Personally i would not bother with anniversaries, just have articles on interesting computers, games and consoles whether their age ends in a 5 a 0 or not.

I'd love more on computers and consoles such as the Dragon, Oric, C16/+4, TRS-80, TI99, Zx81, Ps1, Saturn etc. but not necessarily on an anniversary basis.

[gman72]

Well anniversaries has been banded about as an excuse for the glut of Atari material but personally I dont believe we will see a similar flood of features on the Playstation which was released in 1994 and is approaching it's 20th.

[ianpmarks]

Opinions are fine, in fact I welcome them and enjoy reading them. But there is a difference between opinion and fact, that is all I was pointing out.

Alright I will rise to this....
Have just had a chance to re-read your 7800 article at a friends house to look at the facts you offered.
The first 3 pages are on the development, release and sales of the 7800. Plus a look at some games exclusive to the 7800 (although one of them isn't), then a selectively chosen boxout to showthe 7800's specs are better than the others.
The next page has 1 column on its European release.
A roughly one column interview with Ninja Golf man follows, plus an interview with a man talking about the 7800xm which doesnt really explain what the 7800xm is.
The last page has an interview with Chuck Peavey and lots of homebrew stuff.
There is then a list of great games for the system - 7 of which are conversions of arcade games from 5 years or so before the machine was released. They should be good really, shouldn't they?

At my reckoning 2/3 of the article was stuff already talked about in RG, whilst the following 1/3 was new stuff.

I don't hate the 7800. I actually own one. I have nothing against you, and did say in my initial post that it was a well written article, but had been done before.
I'm fully aware i'm being a pedant here, and rising to your attack, but you've told me I'm plain wrong in my opinion... I'm not so sure I am.

[NickThorpe]

Well anniversaries has been banded about as an excuse for the glut of Atari material but personally I dont believe we will see a similar flood of features on the Playstation which was released in 1994 and is approaching it's 20th.

I can understand that you're not keen on Atari, so you'll see it as a flood. But no matter what you believe about our intentions, there's evidence as to whether or not the Playstation is going to have a lot of 20th anniversary coverage. By your own criteria, which includes games, series and companies heavily associated with certain platforms, we've already been featuring the Playstation prominently. Let's look at the last six issues to hit the shelves:

- Issue 127 has a Playstation top 25.
- Issue 128 has a Tekken 20th anniversary feature. Additionally, both Endgame and the Reader Revival are Playstation games.
- Issue 129 has a feature on the history of Driver, tying in with its 15th anniversary.
- Issue 130 doesn't have any Playstation-specific content, though Theme Hospital did make an appearance on the platform.
- Issue 131 has the making of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater tying in with its 15th anniversary, alongside a Retro Revival.
- Issue 132 has a From The Archives with Oddworld Inhabitants, a company most famous for its Playstation games.

For someone who doesn't care for the Playstation the above probably looks like a flood too, especially given that it's coverage of a single platform rather than Atari's seven distinct platforms.

[Charco]

I'm waiting for the 6 issues in a row covering the PC Engine and the Neo Geo

[The Laird]

Plus a look at some games exclusive to the 7800 (although one of them isn't)

As I said in the article, the 7800 version of Scrapyard Dog is different to the Lynx version, which is why I included it. I could have included other exclusives such as Moto Psycho, Fatal Run, Tank Command, Super Skateboardin' or Water Ski for example, to give 5 more.

7 of which are conversions of arcade games from 5 years or so before the machine was released. They should be good really, shouldn't they?

Which ones were those? The 7800 first came out in 1984, these are the original release dates for the games featured:

Ms. Pac-Man - 1982
Joust - 1982
Commando - 1985
Centipede - 1981
Food Fight - 1983
Xenophobe - 1987
Kung Fu Master - 1984
Donkey Kong - 1981
Dig Dug - 1982
Mario Bros. - 1983

So that makes the oldest one 3 years before the system was released.

If you did in fact mean the release years listed in the article, they are the European ones (where the system wasn't released until 1987). All those games came out in the US first.

At the end of the day it's different strokes for different folks, some people love Atari, others don't. RG by its nature is never going to please everyone all of the time.

[ianpmarks]

Plus a look at some games exclusive to the 7800 (although one of them isn't)

As I said in the article, the 7800 version of Scrapyard Dog is different to the Lynx version, which is why I included it. I could have included other exclusives such as Moto Psycho, Fatal Run, Tank Command, Super Skateboardin' or Water Ski for example, to give 5 more.

7 of which are conversions of arcade games from 5 years or so before the machine was released. They should be good really, shouldn't they?

Which ones were those? The 7800 first came out in 1984, these are the original release dates for the games featured:

Ms. Pac-Man - 1982
Joust - 1982
Commando - 1985
Centipede - 1981
Food Fight - 1983
Xenophobe - 1987
Kung Fu Master - 1984
Donkey Kong - 1981
Dig Dug - 1982
Mario Bros. - 1983

So that makes the oldest one 3 years before the system was released.

If you did in fact mean the release years listed in the article, they are the European ones (where the system wasn't released until 1987). All those games came out in the US first.

At the end of the day it's different strokes for different folks, some people love Atari, others don't. RG by its nature is never going to please everyone all of the time.

The 1984 release of the 7800 is a pretty shoddy argument. I know from reading all the Atari articles in RG that 1984 saw a very limited US release and then it was shelved with Tramiel taking over Atari. It's all there in your article. There was no proper widespread launch until 1986. That makes a lot of those games around 4 or 5 years old. By 1986 they were hardly cutting edge were they?