Retro Gamer for US citizens

[Mayhem]

The gaps are due to adverts or the fact that not everyone who wrote for Retro Gamer in the Live days signed a contract with Imagine, so technically those pieces can't be reused without their permission. Hence their omission.

[gameofyou]

I just got a resubscription notice, with a code for the price of 66GBP. I instead typed in the YOUTUBE code, and it still rings up the price at 50GBP!

[Polygon]

Damnit!

Another awesome thing I didn't know about. Now I want the back issues I've missed.

[Wraith Storm]

I just got a resubscription notice, with a code for the price of 66GBP. I instead typed in the YOUTUBE code, and it still rings up the price at 50GBP!

I just subscribed again (recently I had resorted to picking them up at Barnes & Nobel) and wanted to confirm what gameofyou said.

A standard subscription for the US is 80 GBP but using the "YOUTUBE" code nets 13 Retro Gamer issues for only 50 GBP!!!

[Gavica]

how much is 50 pounds in us dollars

[Lady Jaye]

Just a quick question: why is Retro Gamer now $10 in the US and yet it's still being sold $15 an issue in Canada? Is that due to the Canadian distributor? At this price, I had to make a choice, and I choose IG Magazine, a French bi-monthly mook, but if Retro Gamer were also $10 an issue here, I'd pick it up as well. Considering that the Canadian dollar is actually slightly worth more than the US dollar, at the very least cover price should be identical in both countries.

[Corey_GB]

I love the retro gamer mag but just can't justify the price monthly. Same thing with 3D World and 3D Artist.

[retroman]

I use to buy it...but not know more...isnt worth the price, and 10 bucks is still ridiculous

[c0ldb33r]

Just a quick question: why is Retro Gamer now $10 in the US and yet it's still being sold $15 an issue in Canada?
Uggh I don't know. I hate that. I assume there's some hidden taxes or brokerage fees.

[timewarpgamer]

I still love this magazine. Just used the good old YOUTUBE code to resubscribe for 50 pounds, which equals about $78, netting me another 13 issues, which turns out to be exactly $6 per issue. I think that's a great deal, because I can't find any site on the Net that provides such a wealth of great writing and content on retro gaming.

[c0ldb33r]

I opted to let my RG subscription lapse.

I'm just going to get the volumes DVD as released and read them on electronic devices.

[InsaneDavid]

I've stayed out of this thread until now but I feel like I have to post. I can understand our friends in Canada feeling cheated they have to chip in an extra five bucks over the cost in the USA, I agree, that's complete bullshit. However all the "$10 is too expensive" from everyone else complaining is total crap.

This is a front line magazine, jammed cover to cover with content, minimal ads for a periodical, beautiful layouts, full color and glossy pages, intelligent and humorous writing, detailed information and it's written from a positive yet honest perspective. What that means is it leaves things up to the reader if they'll enjoy a game or not, it doesn't sugar coat things but you can tell there's no negative bias.

When you complain how you don't want to pay $10 for this you make yourself sound like a warez kiddie. If it's something you just don't enjoy reading, fine, but the pittance that is charged for it shouldn't be reason.

What else do you spend $10 a WEEK on? Caffeine? Nicotine? Alcohol? For $120 a year I can support writers and gamers writing about things I enjoy, in a way I enjoy, with a professional presentation. I didn't let myself stumble into RG until issue #75 but since then it's one of the most anticipated things I look forward to every month.

I'd go the subscription route but my letter carrier loves to crush things into my apartment mailbox. That's the reason I quit buying RG at Barnes & Noble, the issues are always beat to shit. Sometimes I get lucky but Fry's always has them in faster than B&N and they're always in pristine shape. Plenty of copies at Fry's as well. They're always torn up at B&N for the same problem as above, no one wants to buy something they use and enjoy, they'd rather sit in the store all day and tear the inventory apart for free. That's why every time I go to buy something at a Barnes & Noble they act shocked since someone wants to actually give them money for the goods they sell.

If you're looking for a way to support the classic side of the industry, this is it.

[gameofyou]

^ Agreed.

[Trebuken]

You attacked the previous posters, your mail-man, Barnes & Noble, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol all in a few lines. Yet I agreee with you...except that I have no trouble get good copies from my Barnes & Noble, YMMV I guess.

The other UK publications I have read, GamesTM and Edge, also seem to have great value, even at a higher price.

[InsaneDavid]

You attacked the previous posters, your mail-man, Barnes & Noble, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol all in a few lines. Yet I agreee with you...except that I have no trouble get good copies from my Barnes & Noble, YMMV I guess.

ROFL I was overdue for a forum attack. There is one B&N location I can occasionally pull a good copy out of, but the last few times they were torn up pretty bad. Also, I apologize to caffeine.

[delafro]

BTW, the "YOUTUBE" promotional code still works, apparently, if anyone's interested.

[Atarileaf]

Sorry about the spammy nature of this, but I know that a lot of occassional US readers have been put off by Retro Gamer's high price and we've managed to rectify it.

Anyway, as of next issue you'll be able to buy RG from the likes of Borders and Barnes and Nobles for just $10

On top of this a subscription for 13 issues will cost you just $80, far cheaper than the previous offer.

To get this great deal just head to www.imaginesubs.co.uk/RET (http://www.imaginesubs.co.uk/RET) and type in YOUTUBE in capital letters.

Hey, don't forget us Canadians eh! :D

[JSoup]

I've read a few in B&N, nice and all, but not for $10. Toss all the reasoning at me you like, I don't see it as a value. I'll stick to randomly thumbing through one whenever I happen to pass through B&N.

[schnuth]

I like to pick up the thick collected issues for my collection But have found that at $5 a pop on the iPad for the occasional issue is a real cost cutter. If your not opposed to digital copies and have an iPad or other supported device, you can save some money going this route. There are also digital subscriptions available that can save you more money.

Aaron

[fahlim003]

I like to pick up the thick collected issues for my collection But have found that at $5 a pop on the iPad for the occasional issue is a real cost cutter. If your not opposed to digital copies and have an iPad or other supported device, you can save some money going this route. There are also digital subscriptions available that can save you more money.

Aaron
I like having a subscription and all but the physical books take up a lot of space. I think I'm going to shift to a digital subscription in the near future because I've run out of room.

[Tron 2.0]

I opted to let my RG subscription lapse.

I'm just going to get the volumes DVD as released and read them on electronic devices.
I thought about going that way as well to get the magazine.Sure that will take time,but it would be cheaper on my wallet ;)

[Tanooki]

I've read a few in B&N, nice and all, but not for $10. Toss all the reasoning at me you like, I don't see it as a value. I'll stick to randomly thumbing through one whenever I happen to pass through B&N.

I feel the same way but a lot of it is really that it's a UK publication and they seem to heavily focus on consoles/computers we didn't get and the games that never made it either so there's nothing of nostalgic or interesting value on that stuff which thins out what good there is for such a high cost of entry.

[gameofyou]

I renewed my subscription today. However, the YOUTUBE coupon code would no longer work. Instead I used the code CLASSIC, which lets USA customers have a 13 issue subscription for 50GBP. In today's exchange rate this works out to $65 (or $5 per issue).

[Steve W]

I renewed my subscription today. However, the YOUTUBE coupon code would no longer work. Instead I used the code CLASSIC, which lets USA customers have a 13 issue subscription for 50GBP. In today's exchange rate this works out to $65 (or $5 per issue).
Thanks for that, I'm going to have to subscribe now. I usually pick up the latest issue at Barnes & Noble, but the only store that ever has it on a fairly regular basis has shut down, along with one or two other locations I sometimes hit. None of the stores that are left have large magazine selections, so it's going to get pretty hard for me to locate new issues from here on in. Guess it's time to start getting them by mail now. I also used to check for new issues in B&N stores on my thrift store hunts, but since I can't find anything anymore, I'm not doing that very much either. And the Retro Gamer magazine app on my iPod Touch was basically unreadable. Nice idea, but it's just not the same as a real paper magazine.

[Wraith Storm]

Awesome! Big thanks gameofyou!

I have two issues left and am going to resubscribe this weekend after i get payed. The mag is a bit expensive, bit with limited ads and quality articles i couldnt imagine missing an issue.

[ProjectCamaro]

Is there a place online where you can download a PDF version of an older copy of the magazine? I ask because no place local has it and I want to see what the magazine actually looks like before I drop that kind of money on it.

[delafro]

Is there a place online where you can download a PDF version of an older copy of the magazine? I ask because no place local has it and I want to see what the magazine actually looks like before I drop that kind of money on it.

In my opinion, if you're on this forum then you would enjoy the magazine, but not everyone agrees apparently...

[JSoup]

Is there a place online where you can download a PDF version of an older copy of the magazine? I ask because no place local has it and I want to see what the magazine actually looks like before I drop that kind of money on it.

You can probably Google up a torrent pretty easily.

[gameofyou]

I renewed my subscription the other day. I used the code CLASSIC, which lets USA customers have a 13 issue subscription for 50GBP. I am glad this code still worked. This is much cheaper than the regular price of 80GBP.

[Tanooki]

$77 vs $123 is a pretty steep price cut, good for you (that's current conversion rate on google.com that they're showing.) That's 5.92 an issue, and I think they were like $10/ea when I've seen them at B&N before.

[Trebuken]

It's $12.99 at Barnes & Noble now; I think it is the same everywhere.

I could not find anywhere to enter that coupon code. Would be an awesome deal if I could. Seems it's about $45 more for US customers.

[Wraith Storm]

I just wanted to thank Gameofyou and reiterate what he said.

I only had 2 issues left and resubscribed using the promo code CLASSIC and it only cost me 50 pounds! A HUGE discount. It's a fantastic magazine filled with excellent information and well researched articles. I coudn't imagine ever letting my subscription lapse.

[Wraith Storm]

Here we are again. Another year gone by. Another resub.

I resubscribed this morning and the code CLASSIC still works for those interested. It reduced the price to 50 pounds (around 73 dollars) for 13 issues. This breaks down to about 5.60 per issue. A substantial discount for such an excellent magazine!

I'm starting to sound like a spokesperson so i'll leave it at that!

[fahlim003]

Here we are again. Another year gone by. Another resub.

I resubscribed this morning and the code CLASSIC still works for those interested. It reduced the price to 50 pounds (around 73 dollars) for 13 issues. This breaks down to about 5.60 per issue. A substantial discount for such an excellent magazine!

I'm starting to sound like a spokesperson so i'll leave it at that!
Thanks for the update. I actually stopped my previous 7 year subscription on load 131 although I am contemplating getting another round of 13 down. My issue for stopping is down to space and having 100+ issues takes up quite a bit.

[Wraith Storm]

Thanks for the update. I actually stopped my previous 7 year subscription on load 131 although I am contemplating getting another round of 13 down. My issue for stopping is down to space and having 100+ issues takes up quite a bit.

No problem!

I hear ya though. Magazines take up a LOT of space and are HEAVY. A few years back I found a local store that sold magazine boxes and loaded up on them. I have 9 of them in a 3X3 stack filled with Retro Gamer, Nintendo Power, Sega Visions, Strategy Guides etc.

I ran out of boxes a few months back and my local store no longer sold them. I was on a mad hunt and the cheapest I could find was a 5 pack from BCW on Amazon. Shipping on these is killer but fortunately having Prime really paid off. It made it cheaper than anything I could find on Ebay or ordering directly from the supplier. But, yeah, if not for these magazine boxes I would have had to canceled my subscription or started getting rid of my magazines.

[gameofyou]

Here we are again. Another year gone by. Another resub.

I resubscribed this morning and the code CLASSIC still works for those interested. It reduced the price to 50 pounds (around 73 dollars) for 13 issues. This breaks down to about 5.60 per issue. A substantial discount for such an excellent magazine!

I'm starting to sound like a spokesperson so i'll leave it at that!
I also just re-subscribed, and used the CLASSIC code to knock the price down to 50 pounds!

[Wraith Storm]

Just renewed my sub. FYI, neither CLASSIC or the old YOUTUBE promo codes work anymore.

Glad I got my tax refund because the price was 92.88 for a 1 year resub. Breaking it down per month its 7.75 an issue. I can deal with that.

Honestly after all these years of reading the magazine I still find it fantastic.

[Mayhem]

Was that in GBP? Not bad for the shipping, that sounds like actual cost then for mailing a magazine out to the US.

[gbpxl]

The thing that holds me back from subscribing to Retro Gamer is that it is a magazine published by Britons who talk about PAL titles, primarily. PAL games differ in terms of availability, price, their initial success both critical and sales-wise.

I want to read a magazine by Americans because I am an American and I know the culture here, can relate to what the authors are writing, that kind of thing. It seems like a lot of games that were popular in Europe (movies as well) weren't as popular here. Streets of Rage comes to mind. It seems like that game has a bigger following over there. In the early-mid 90's, Street Fighter II was basically the only game that magazines were covering and the only thing people were writing in about. just different culture it seemed like. SFII was basically the Call of Duty of the early 90's.

[Wraith Storm]

Was that in GBP? Not bad for the shipping, that sounds like actual cost then for mailing a magazine out to the US.
I forget what it said the GBP was... it came out to $92 dollars a year though. They charged a bit more because of international shipping. Its about 15 or 20 dollars more than i had paid the previous years but breaking it down per issue, for me, its still a great value.


The thing that holds me back from subscribing to Retro Gamer is that it is a magazine published by Britons who talk about PAL titles, primarily. PAL games differ in terms of availability, price, their initial success both critical and sales-wise.

I want to read a magazine by Americans because I am an American and I know the culture here, can relate to what the authors are writing, that kind of thing. It seems like a lot of games that were popular in Europe (movies as well) weren't as popular here. Streets of Rage comes to mind. It seems like that game has a bigger following over there. In the early-mid 90's, Street Fighter II was basically the only game that magazines were covering and the only thing people were writing in about. just different culture it seemed like. SFII was basically the Call of Duty of the early 90's.

This is part of the appeal for me.

I am a huge movie buff. I watch tons of movies and I get quite excited when i discover some old Hollywood gem that I have never seen. However, I watch an equal amount of foreign films as well. I enjoy being transported to another time, another place and experiencing other cultures and their ideas and beliefs through their film.

I grew up in the 80s and early 90s with whats now considered "Retro", so I might have a different outlook than some, but i'm interested in all the classics that I don't know about. I love history, so learning about all the different micros that the Brits did their gaming on really interests me. There were a ridiculous amount of classics that never made their way to the states and learning of the impact those games had on their gaming scene fascinates me, not to mention tracking them down and playing them.

While I would say the magazine certainly has a UK slant, they still cover all the classics that us Americans know with current in depth interviews and well researched articles. Those are my reasons for loving the mag, though I don't expect everyone to get the same enjoyment for the same reasons i do.

Also, i'm sure it all comes down to who you grew up with and when, but Streets of Rage was HUGE with the kids in my town. I remember when Sega released the Model 2 with SOR 2 pack-in and my friend asked for it for his birthday. Weeks went by and every day the hype and anticipation grew among our group of friends. We talked about it as school, designed our own stages on paper taped end to end and were just totally hyped about the game. Finally on the day of his B-Day he got what he had asked for. We hooked it up played for what seemed like hours. Over the next several years there were people at school or at my church that I would discover had a Genesis and one of the games we all had in common (other than Sonic) was Streets of Rage 1 or 2.