Retro Gamer Magazine --why does it succeed?

[boatofcar]

I just picked up my first issue of Retro Gamer Magazine. I must say, I'm very impressed. Glossy cover, CD ROM, intelligent and well-written articles. What does Retro Gamer have on their side of the pond that we don't? Why is it such a success that can be bought at any Borders or Barnes and Noble, but US classic gaming magazines have never had that kind of success?

[joshnickerson]

No clue. It just DOES.

I also like Cube and GamesTM.

[boatofcar]

Love the new avatar, Josh

[Jibbajaba]

Well judging by the classic gaming magazines that I have seen here, retro gamer is just WAY better. It has more of a mainstream magazine type of feel. I am truly impressed with the content. They went balls out, and it payed off. I mean no disrespect to publications like Mancigames, but they have a niche, hobbyist kind of feel to them in that they look like something someone made in their basement. Retro Gamer is more of a mainstream-styled magazine, even if the topic is not neccesarily mainstream. If I lived in Engand, I would subscribe to it in a second!

Chris

[Kepone]

I don't believe I've ever seen it at the local Borders. Might have to check out B&N.

[Melf]

I saw issue nine this past weekend and was impressed. I'll get it tomorrow.

[dj898]

we get that one here in Sydney all over the place and I noticed they just reissued the issue# 1 for those who missed out first round...

I'm thinking of pick up few issues and put on eBay for fun... He he

cheers

[retroman]

i dont know.....but it is a good mag....i got a subsription......

[brykasch]

I got a ish of it its not bad, but not great either. I still prefer GamesTM by a wide margin. I get current coverage, news from EU, and JP and a whole lot of retro. Now if I could just get it for less than 10$ an issue

[yoursisterspretty]

I believe Europe has a love affair with print media. It's the only way I can explain to myself how they get kick ass magazines month after month and we here in the states are stuck with EGM. I mean they still get Edge (Next Generation was based of that fantastic magazine)! And the paper is always high quality, there are 90% less ads and there are always so many cool little freebees whas aith every issue.

[Griking]

I think its a great magazine but I have to admit that I don't religiously buy them because of the fact that it's an overseas magazine and primarily covers games and consoles that I never had here. I wish a US publisher made a magazine like this one.

[Mayhem]

As I've been buying the magazine from issue #1 and I've had three articles printed in it (soon to be 4 or 5 shortly), then I've got a few thoughts.

- articles. (Usually) well researched, detailed, information that people might not have known. We talk about the machine, the games, and anything associated with it. A lot of US print media dealing with retro seems to go overboard on reviews. Whilst there are some reviews within RG, they only take up a few pages. I think people are bored of reviews, they don't want to read them as much as they'd want to read insightful article writing.

- the ability to distribute painlessly and easily around the UK. After all, we're not very big as a land mass! And Live offer subs worldwide to RG for anyone living outside the UK.

- better writers. Yeah I know that might stick in the throat of some of you Americans, but in general I feel Europe (and especially the UK) has better games journalism. Comments from Americans about the quality of the writing they get from abroad only add to this feeling.

- lack of ads. Though admitedly RG isn't exactly one for attracting appropriate ads. That is partially why the price is fairly high (6 GBP) because there is lower than normal ad revenue to pay for it.

- the willingness to run with anything. The editor Martyn Carroll, with whom I liaise often on the projects I write about, is really truly putting everything he has into this magazine. I can see that and so can a lot of other writers. He does his best to look after us and make sure we're happy, we're good on what we're doing and trying to get our payment money to us on time!

To those who do get the mag, expect an article to do partly with me in issue #12 and something by me in #13

[Cleatis]

Does anybody have a link to where we can get discounted USA subscriptions to Retro Gamer. None of the discounted rates Ive found are available for stateside shipment.

[Cleatis]

Edit: Uhhh...damn double post. :/

[Cleatis]

Edit: Wow...a triple post.

[pr8cjb]

we get that one here in Sydney all over the place and I noticed they just reissued the issue# 1 for those who missed out first round...

I'm thinking of pick up few issues and put on eBay for fun... He he

Do it - the RG forums have been packed for ages with a request to re-print the first issue and it's always been met with a flat "no". Issue one has fetched some crazy prices on eBay UK - around the £70 mark at the height of things. I'm just glad I bought mine one lunchtime when I was bored.

[lendelin]

- articles. (Usually) well researched, detailed, information that people might not have known. We talk about the machine, the games, and anything associated with it. A lot of US print media dealing with retro seems to go overboard on reviews. Whilst there are some reviews within RG, they only take up a few pages. I think people are bored of reviews, they don't want to read them as much as they'd want to read insightful article writing.

I agree 100%, and I say it for some time now: retro mags shouldn't try to replicate the review-outline of major publications. Retro magazines have thousands of games at their disposal to write about, and the articles have to be overarching, focusing on one theme instead of individual games. This is something major publications can't do becasue they are stuck with previews and reviews of current games, therefore a retro mag fills a vaccum which major publications necessarily create.

Why not do something about early RPGs of the NES? or of the NES and SMS? or a retrospective about Nintendo Power or the magazine landscape of the late 80s and early 90s? There are so many topics which can be covered, researched, and useful information given, and then linked to collectors interests.

You mentioned already the size of the UK which is certainly a major part why print mags have it easier in the UK. Another reason is also the highly developed and used Internet in the US. Americans get to a much higher degree their information from the net. I know from Germany that the Internet infrasructure is certainly 5 years behind the US. But still, a printed retro-mag can succeed in the US, and there is as much potential for it as is in the UK.

[Sothy]

still playing through "beneath a steel sky" The retro discs are cool.

[jonjandran]

- better writers. Yeah I know that might stick in the throat of some of you Americans, but in general I feel Europe (and especially the UK) has better games journalism. Comments from Americans about the quality of the writing they get from abroad only add to this feeling.

Believe it or not I totally agree.

I get really tired of the juvenille, and filthy writing of most game journalists. I guess they are trying to appeal to their target audience (15-44 yr olds), but it just gets old very fast.

I think that is why I enjoy Retro Gamer and GamesTM. Quality writing and professionalism.

[fennec fox]

Hello,

RG succeeds where no US retro mag has because it has better design, better paper quality, and better writing -- most importantly, though, it costs much less (and requires a much smaller readership) to keep a niche magazine going in Europe than in America.

Personally I still have mixed emotions about RG's content. I think there is way too much unused space -- pages get taken up by huge, artsy, Brit-mag graphics and triple-spaced text, and while it may look very nice, it creates the impression that there just isn't enough to fill the pages. The main articles would also be better, I think, if there was more of a point to them -- right now, too many of the main features can be summed up as "Okay, there was this game, and this game, and this game, and man, weren't they neat?" I don't think that's very engaging, and I'm familiar with most of the games introduced -- I think a retro-newbie would skip right over all of it. Digital Press, in fact, largely stopped printing articles like that long ago.

Still, RG has found a sustainable place for itself, and I look forward to seeing it evolve and improve further in the future.

(Also, I may be hopelessly biased, but I have to disagree with Mayhem's assertion that UK game mags are better written than their US counterparts. This was true ten years ago, to be sure, but now I'd much rather read EGM than any UK mag except for Edge.)