ManciGames
01-21-2004, 02:20 PM
Fellow gamers,
Just thought that now would be a good time to drop in and introduce myself to the DP Forums.
Like most of you, I've been into videogames pretty much most of my life. I remember being a child and being amazed by the Pong machine as its little square balls bounced back and forth across my screen. I didn't know it, but it was at that moment that I was introduced to what would become a lifelong love.
I remember firing up Combat for the first time on the just released 2600. My Dad had bought us an Atari soon after its release. At this point, I knew I was hooked. Games like Asteroids, Space Invaders, Moonsweeper, Pitfall, and Spider-Man (among probably a hundred others) bring back so many memories of friends and family during my childhood.
Soon after, our family hit on some rough financial times, so I never got to play a Colecovision or even an Intellivision game. I fooled around with a used Atari 800 XL that I picked up at a yard sale, but it wasn't until the NES that I was finally able to indulge in my first love again. My God, talk about a renaissance! No matter your opinion of Nintendo now, the fact remains that we probably wouldn't care much at all about any of this unless they had came along.
Then Genesis arrived. As Joe and I talked about a couple nights ago, it was at this point that we kind of went, "Wow!" For me, it was the understanding that games could become (and probably already were) a work of art. Who can forget the first time they heard, "Wise fwom yo gwave!?" in Altered Beast, or fought Godzilla in Revenge of Shinobi?
Well, from that point on, I made it a mission to at least play every system that came out, even I couldn't actually own it. As I grew into adulthood and got a decent job, I suddenly realized that I could go back and collect for these older systems...and on the cheap! So that's what I did. I'm sure it's the same with many of you.
For the last few years, I've kept my eye on the newsstand in the hopes of one day finding a mag dedicated to my hobby. There's tons of magazines for the current systems (three of which I have subscriptions to), but not a single one for retro-gaming.
As time passed and still no monthly mag appeared, I thought, "Why not give it a shot?" I'm a pretty good writer and editor, while other people I know are good artists and graphic designers. So, here we are.
The intent of Manci Games magazine is twofold: First, to give you guys great feature articles, homebrew coverage, and reminders of games you may have missed. Second, we wanted to provide a price guide to collectors on a monthly basis. While the overwhelming majority of our feedback has been positive, we have seen a couple of people who are concerned that the guide will "ruin their hobby."
I can understand the fear and uncertainty behind that statement. However, I need to ask you one question: Who would you rather have doing a mag like this? Fellow gamers who are going to provide you with fair prices (through our partnership with DP) along with retro-coverage that you guys will enjoy? Or a bunch of suits who just want to publish a mag because they think retro-gaming is "the next big thing?" I can tell you now, there are no guarantees to any of the people investing their time and money into this mag. We are laying everything on the line in the hopes that there is enough support to at least break even. If we fail, I can assure you that someone else (and probably a bunch of guys in suits), will come along in five to ten years and pick up where we left off. As a gamer, I don't want that. And I'm sure you don't either.
Manci Games magazine will be YOUR mag. Sure, the hobby is growing. That's a good thing! Think about CGExpo. Do you think that would have been possible without the hobby growing? Absolutely not. So, we are now to a point where a magazine aimed at the retro crowd should at least break even. And in ten years when it's even larger than it is now (whether we want it to grow or not), this magazine will still be there. Written for classic-gamers, by classic gamers.
Finally, I just want to thank Joe and everyone else at DP for making the choice to team up with us. Believe me guys, nothing but good things will come of this...
As Joe is fond of saying...Game ON!
Manci Games Magazine
www.mancigames.com
Just thought that now would be a good time to drop in and introduce myself to the DP Forums.
Like most of you, I've been into videogames pretty much most of my life. I remember being a child and being amazed by the Pong machine as its little square balls bounced back and forth across my screen. I didn't know it, but it was at that moment that I was introduced to what would become a lifelong love.
I remember firing up Combat for the first time on the just released 2600. My Dad had bought us an Atari soon after its release. At this point, I knew I was hooked. Games like Asteroids, Space Invaders, Moonsweeper, Pitfall, and Spider-Man (among probably a hundred others) bring back so many memories of friends and family during my childhood.
Soon after, our family hit on some rough financial times, so I never got to play a Colecovision or even an Intellivision game. I fooled around with a used Atari 800 XL that I picked up at a yard sale, but it wasn't until the NES that I was finally able to indulge in my first love again. My God, talk about a renaissance! No matter your opinion of Nintendo now, the fact remains that we probably wouldn't care much at all about any of this unless they had came along.
Then Genesis arrived. As Joe and I talked about a couple nights ago, it was at this point that we kind of went, "Wow!" For me, it was the understanding that games could become (and probably already were) a work of art. Who can forget the first time they heard, "Wise fwom yo gwave!?" in Altered Beast, or fought Godzilla in Revenge of Shinobi?
Well, from that point on, I made it a mission to at least play every system that came out, even I couldn't actually own it. As I grew into adulthood and got a decent job, I suddenly realized that I could go back and collect for these older systems...and on the cheap! So that's what I did. I'm sure it's the same with many of you.
For the last few years, I've kept my eye on the newsstand in the hopes of one day finding a mag dedicated to my hobby. There's tons of magazines for the current systems (three of which I have subscriptions to), but not a single one for retro-gaming.
As time passed and still no monthly mag appeared, I thought, "Why not give it a shot?" I'm a pretty good writer and editor, while other people I know are good artists and graphic designers. So, here we are.
The intent of Manci Games magazine is twofold: First, to give you guys great feature articles, homebrew coverage, and reminders of games you may have missed. Second, we wanted to provide a price guide to collectors on a monthly basis. While the overwhelming majority of our feedback has been positive, we have seen a couple of people who are concerned that the guide will "ruin their hobby."
I can understand the fear and uncertainty behind that statement. However, I need to ask you one question: Who would you rather have doing a mag like this? Fellow gamers who are going to provide you with fair prices (through our partnership with DP) along with retro-coverage that you guys will enjoy? Or a bunch of suits who just want to publish a mag because they think retro-gaming is "the next big thing?" I can tell you now, there are no guarantees to any of the people investing their time and money into this mag. We are laying everything on the line in the hopes that there is enough support to at least break even. If we fail, I can assure you that someone else (and probably a bunch of guys in suits), will come along in five to ten years and pick up where we left off. As a gamer, I don't want that. And I'm sure you don't either.
Manci Games magazine will be YOUR mag. Sure, the hobby is growing. That's a good thing! Think about CGExpo. Do you think that would have been possible without the hobby growing? Absolutely not. So, we are now to a point where a magazine aimed at the retro crowd should at least break even. And in ten years when it's even larger than it is now (whether we want it to grow or not), this magazine will still be there. Written for classic-gamers, by classic gamers.
Finally, I just want to thank Joe and everyone else at DP for making the choice to team up with us. Believe me guys, nothing but good things will come of this...
As Joe is fond of saying...Game ON!
Manci Games Magazine
www.mancigames.com