Do you prefer modern day mags that cover the retro scene or old mags from back in the day ?

[The Adventurer]

I love all the old propaganda mags. Nintendo Power obviously, but also Interaction and Lucasarts Adventurer.

But they sure were propaganda.

I actually never really cared for Gamepro and EGM. I think it's because I was spoiled on Nintendo Power's tips, tricks, and walkthroughs. Those other mags were just reviews. Also, they had ads.

You know, instead of being a magazine that was 100% ads....

[ccovell]

...you often get reviews that speak a lot but say nothing. Lots of previews, especially import ones, were just a single blurry screenshot or two often lifted from Japanese magazine surrounded by a few sentences of trite nonsense that you could tell was someone just conjecturing about the screenshots.

This, very much so.

But I also agree that old mags and new retro mags each have their own place and role to fill. Of course if I had to choose one, I'd pick the old magazines, because it's a valuable piece of history I wouldn't want to lose.

[parallaxscroll]

Old magazines, especially Electronic Gaming Monthly during the time it was owned by Sendai Publications in Lombard, IL.

EGM Issue 5 - December 1989

[Gentlegamer]

[WCP]

My favorte old-school gaming mag is DieHard GameFan. Better known as just GameFan:






The only thing that really sucks about GameFan, is that they didn't get started until very late 1992. The first issue, which is nearly impossible to find, is from October of 1992. The second issue was December 1992. So, only two issues pre 1993. GameFan is mostly known for being a real cool mag during 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996. I just wish they were up and running in 1989 and 1990 and 1991. They did have a couple of tiny catalogs during 1991 and 1992, but didn't really get started till almost 1993.


My second favorite old-school gaming mag is Next-Generation:





Next-Generation is another magazine that started way too late. I think the real golden era of gaming (at least for me personally is from 1989 to like 1994). Next-Generation didn't start up till January 1995. It basically kinda was coming in with the Playstation and the Sega Saturn. They covered the Panasonic 3DO, Atari Jaguar and Sega 32X. They were a bit more focused on the newest hardware. The reviews aren't very good, but the previews and coverage of the hardware wars was really good for the time. Next-Gen is basically a USA version of Edge Magazine, which I think started up in very late 1993. I only really like the early years of Next-Gen. Later it started to go a bit downhill with the quality.


Of course, I definitely have to give up some props to Electronic Gaming Monthly, better known as EGM:






The best thing about EGM to me, is that it was up and running during my favorite years in gaming. 1989 to 1994 for me, is the sweet spot of video gaming. The early 16 bit years is just a really cool time in gaming (imo). EGM got up and running in mid 1989. I think they also had a couple of unofficial issues even before then. The first "normal" issue is May 1989, with Mega Man 2 on the cover, pictured above.

I think the first 25 issues of EGM, are really the ones to try to find. First off, they are the early ones, but secondly, starting with the 26th issue of EGM, it changed the way it did it's binding, and issues from 26 to whatever are much easier to find than the first 25 issues. The early ones, the binding doesn't hold up so well over time, so many of these issues have already been tossed, and no longer exist. You just don't see the first 25 issues as much as all the later ones. The first 75 or so issues of EGM have good quality paper, but I think with issue 76 or something like that, they switched to a really crappy recycled paper that makes the mag much less pleasurable to read and look at and touch. If I was collecting EGM, I would definitely focus in on the first 75 issues, with a special emphasis of trying to get the first 25 issues in as good of condition as possible.

As far as the quality of the magazine itself, EGM was really cool at having the very first screenshots of various games. They also had the first rumors of stuff before any other magazine. The review crew is cool, because you get 4 different takes on the same game. The previews were pretty lame though. It would just be regurgetated back of the box advertisment type stuff in the previews. They would talk about how you need to save the princess of whatever kingdom or whatever, but didn't really say anything about how the game was actually coming along. (GameFan is the complete opposite by the way)


Not in my top 3, but I definitely have some love for GamePro:





My favorite thing about GamePro is that they were around in the classic years of 1989, 1990, etc, etc. Only a handful of gaming magazines existed in 1989. The thing that was kinda weak about GamePro though, is that it was basically written for kids more than adults. Which of course made sense at the time, considering most looked at video games as being for children. I think it was written to speak to a 12 year old kid, or a 13 year old kid. Which would have really been awesome if I was 12 or 13 when I was reading them, but being an old dude, I was like 19 or 20 years old when I was reading them. Still, like I was saying there were only a handful of video game magazines that existed at that time, so beggars couldn't be choosers.

There is always the classic VG & CE:





It's interesting, because back in the days this magazine kinda annoyed me. It was around in 1989, which makes it a real classic, but I actually didn't appreciate the style of the magazine back in the day. The only thing that I really liked about it, was that I could be reading it at a Burger King or something, and nobody would think, (hey, what is this 20 year old doing reading a little kids mgazine ?) It was written more for an older audience. I was just kinda pissed that they "wasted" so many pages on "Computer Entertainment". I didn't own any computer at the time, and thought that all those pages they spent talking about those computer games was a waste of time, and waste of space in the magazine. Of course, people that had computers back then, probably cherished those pages of coverage. Most gaming magazines only covered console games, so computer gamers were kinda left out in the cold at that particular time. I actually have more respect for VG & CE now, then I did back then. Reading the old issues now, it seems a much better magazine, and I even enjoy looking at the computer stuff.

[GhostDog]

Retro Gamer is great because it pays homage to some of the best games of all time, but it's just a bit too much at times for me when they focus on some obscure PC games or games for an obscure system. I also don't much care about the developers that they interview either for games I don't care for. Other people may like this though but not me.

Old gaming magazines on the other hand focused on the games of the times and the gaming industry was rapidly changing and developing so you go the latest updates for the time on these upcoming games. EGM has to be my favorite mainstream magazine because it just seemed like the definitive monthly gaming magazine that you can count on to bring you the latest coverage of the newest games.

Gamepro just wasn't that good. I have some old issues of Gamepro from the early to mid 90s, not to mention some from the late 90s up to 2000 and they don't hold a candle to my EGM issues from the same time. Even Game Players was better than Gamepro since to me it seemed like they focused more on teenage to early 20s crowd while Gamepro seems like it's dumbed down for young kids or people in their early teens. Gamepro's scores also weren't nearly as credible as EGM's.

I've had a few issues of GameFan and Game Informer from back in the day and they were good magazines but for some reason EGM just appealed to me with their awesome covers and what seemed like more in-depth coverage of certain games. Nintendo Power was great too but of course it only focused on games on Nintendo systems but their enthusiasm was always great and made you feel confident with owning a Nintendo system. Same goes for PSM (Playstation Magazine) and their enthusiasm for the PS1 and PS2.

[gameofyou]

I've had a subscription to RetroGamer for many years now, and it's an enjoyable magazine.

But nothing can beat the magazines from back in the day. I have years 1994-1997 of EGM. But one of my favorite sets is the entire 37 issue run of Sega Saturn Magazine.

[Steven]

But one of my favorite sets is the entire 37 issue run of Sega Saturn Magazine.

Ah, SSM. The best damn mag ever. A close and honorable 2nd place to Super Play Magazine (a UK SNES-based magazine). But SSM was something real special. Even though Saturn is now my #2 favorite system and has been for nearly a decade, SSM remains firmly entrenched as my favorite publication. Its quality in writing, layout design and "money shots" were 2nd to none. I love how big the issues are and they are very re-readable. Goddamn, nothing beat their impressive 'Showcases.' Damn good stuff.

[Rickstilwell1]

Probably another reason for the low prices on the old mags is that certain people liked certain ones. You wouldn't care much about Nintendo Power if you were more of a Sega or Playstation fan, or you wouldn't really care about Official US Playstation Magazine if you grew up in the Atari era and didn't care about the Playstation so much being an adult by the time it came out. Or if you lived in another country you had your own magazines to choose from. I grew up liking Nintendo Power in the late 90s/early 2000s, but by the mid 2000s Nintendo Power wasn't even as exciting anymore. So you even have long running magazine series where you only care about a particular chunk of its history and not everyone's is the same. Oh then you also have the fact that the way magazines were delivered loosely in the mail, sometimes they would be pretty beat up or have torn covers by the time you got them. A lot of them will be cheap due to poor condition.

[celerystalker]

Anybody else used to get the old free magazine Silicon Magazine at local game stores around 2000? Not amazing, but I liked the enthusiasm, and they had ads for games that didn't show up in the big hitters for games like Industrial Spy or Rent a Hero. I always enjoyed that as a supplement to my shopping. Still more fun to read than the rag from GameStop.

[Pissed Pete]

I don't think we'll get anyone posting that they prefer the New "Retro Gaming" magazines. I can probably safely assume that we are all pretty avid game collectors. We know that at no point in the future is (insert modern gen game here) going to be considered a rare/classic/collectible game. Probably why we prefer these older genuine articles. It's not just the goal of having a complete collection that drives me, but the nostalgia associated with being a kid, playing games, not having to worry about paying taxes, or going to work, or any of the responsibilities of being an adult. We get to reflect on our history, and enjoy the memories. You can't look at a copy of a page on your tablet and get the same feeling of exhilaration when you saw that Sonic & Knuckles was coming out and it had a cartridge slot for the Sonic games you already owned. Run on sentences. Gotta Love 'em. Whatever your preference, we're all the same awesome people here. The classics really get us going, and as much as we might grow, the fondness and memories of our childhood will never be outgrown. Game on ladies and gentlemen.

[WCP]

Ah, SSM. The best damn mag ever. A close and honorable 2nd place to Super Play Magazine (a UK SNES-based magazine).

Hmm, I've never seen a Sega Saturn Magazine in person, or a Super Play Magazine. I looked on Ebay, but they are quite pricey for somebody in the USA. I'll keep my eyes on the lookout for an issue via trade with somebody or something...

[tom]

The old ones are the best, anything pre-1985

[WCP]

The old ones are the best, anything pre-1985

Wow, pre 1985... Those are definitely some old ones.


I was 7 years old when the Atari 2600 came out in late 1977. I sometimes wonder if I ever looked at any of the really old gaming mags in a supermarket or anything like that. I think I might have seen an Electronic Games issue at a dentist office or something as a kid. Not sure if my dad or mom ever bought me one of those mags that were around at the time.

I really didn't discover gaming magazines until randomly seeing a GamePro at a Waldens Books back in late 1989.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I don't have any retro game magazines, I wish I did. I used to have stacks of Playstation Magazines when I was a kid back in the mid-90s, I got rid of them though. It was great cuz each one came with a demo disc of new games coming out. I vividly remember this huge article with great artwork for Final Fantasy 7 and just being floored with the look of it. I also remember the announcement of the PS2, and how excited my friends and I were, and the weird look of it when that was revealed, it looked so high-tech for the time, like the weird obelisk from 2001. It was the first time we saw a vertically-standing system, too.

[WCP]

I don't have any retro game magazines, I wish I did. I used to have stacks of Playstation Magazines when I was a kid back in the mid-90s, I got rid of them though. It was great cuz each one came with a demo disc of new games coming out. I vividly remember this huge article with great artwork for Final Fantasy 7 and just being floored with the look of it. I also remember the announcement of the PS2, and how excited my friends and I were, and the weird look of it when that was revealed, it looked so high-tech for the time, like the weird obelisk from 2001. It was the first time we saw a vertically-standing system, too.

Well, check this out.....

I had this huge collection of gaming mags at one point. All the early EGM's, Game Players, GamePro's, etc, etc. A really nice collection of Die Hard GameFan's.

I had all of them stored in these cabinets in my Garage around 1999. My wife was going through the cabinets, and she noticed all the old mags and asked me if I really needed to keep all those old magazines. At that time, I really didn't care too much about older games. I was probably playing the Dreamcast and PC gaming at that point. I didn't want to throw the mags away, but the wifey really pressured me, and I wasn't that into retro stuff then, so I was like.... "eh.. ok...".


I dumped so many classic mags into the recycling dumpster thing. What a true tragedy that was.


Then, about 4 or 5 years later, I get the retro bug something fierce. I started to buy back my old systems and games that I had back in the day, and of course, had to buy back some old magazines as well. It's taken me some time, but I've gotten pretty much all my magazines back, of course, I have a lot less money to show for it.

Still, if you want to get some classic magazines back, just go check Ebay. The key is that you have to be really patient. Avoid the high-dollar Buy it Now's and wait for somebody that throws up a large lot of mags and doesn't have any reserve or anything. You can usually get the issues about 3 bucks a pop, or sometimes less if you wait for the larger lots of mags that show up occasionally. It's great to have those old mags back, where you can actually hold them in your hands, and take your time thumbing thru the magazine and looking at the advertisements of the day and the articles.

It's never too late to reclaim a collection of stuff via Ebay. It just requires a ton of patience. Also, check forums like this for old mags.

[nosweargamer]

I dig both, but I like the old mags the bast, especially EGM. It's like looking through a time capsule. Especially seeing the style, ads and rumors that never came to be.

[otaku]

both are nice really. For instance with retro gamer its nice to get the history and details behind the scenes and see how the games have held up or what came later as far as sequels etc. or other releases on different platforms. I just wish we had more magazines like back in the day because I miss going to the news stands or the mailbox and curling up with a mag for a while the net just doesn't do it for me like a mag does

[Ruudos]

I like them both for reasons already told.

But nothing beats these old Club Nintendo issues. You could get a subscription for free! In reality the magazine was crap but as a kid it was the greatest thing ever.

https://www.scribd.com/collections/2...tendo-Magazine

[JSoup]

Depends on what I'm looking for.

Seeing if a particular game is of interest to me? Old ones. Nintendo Power used to introduce a game by providing a short walkthrough for the first portion of the game. That tells me more about if a game is up my alley than two paragraphs musing over the graphics.

Looking for some interesting history on something new to me? New ones. Lots of modern gaming magazines pad issues with history of the industry type articles.