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Thread: Contribute Your Thoughts for a Magazine Article About Retro Gaming!

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    Default Contribute Your Thoughts for a Magazine Article About Retro Gaming!

    My name is Chris Burek, and I'm a journalist from Plattsburgh, NY. I'm currently working on a magazine article about retro games and want to hear from gamers like you! What special memory in your life do you associate with retro consoles like NES and Super Nintendo? What makes retro gaming more appealing than modern gaming like the Xbox or PlayStation? What is the schism between these two generations like? How can younger generations be better educated about classic gaming systems? When replying please include your first and last name as well as where you're from. Thank you!

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    Quote Originally Posted by cburek View Post
    1)What makes retro gaming more appealing than modern gaming like the Xbox or PlayStation?

    2)What is the schism between these two generations like?

    3)How can younger generations be better educated about classic gaming systems?
    My name is David Michaels from Kerrville Texas

    1) To me theyre fun and people arent flame waring each other about the games. Theres not the trolling you see with modern games with classic games since the dust has settled and people who know about them are nicer about it and you can have actual conversations about them. Theres something about modern games now that brings out people's bad manners. Theres also no DRM to worry about, or patches to spend an hour or 3 downloading for the actual AAA title to work. My favorite console is the PS2 because of the PS1 compatibility, I think this generation Sony and Microsoft made game consoles into cheap badly made computers that you hook up to your tv. Nothing against PC gaming (I play retro games on emulators), but the new consoles are not console gaming like they used to be.

    2) I was talking to this one guy, who a friend met playing Red Dead Redemption, about movies and I brought up the Criterion Collection. I was talking about all these international films and directors who made classic films that are in the collection, and all he said was "I just watch movies that are in theaters..." Its like I was talking about a completely different form of entertainment. I've heard a guy from Play Value say that film has only evolve technically a few times, but video games evolve every 5 or so years now. Thats a good saying, because like the guy I talked to about films when I talk to people who only play new games they get all weird when I talk about old classic games. Most people dont read much, but when they did it was in school and they were mainly reading older books. Itll be interesting when the kids who get all glazed eye when you bring up the Dreamcast talk to a similarly glazed eye kid about the PS3 in 15 years. Another thing also is the hardware difference, graphics whores are too shallow to ever play a game older than them, so you wont win them over like you cant expect a kid who only watches Disney Channel or Twilight movies to sit through Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman films.

    3) Theres plenty of stuff on youtube about classic gaming. AVGN, Classic Game Room (which reviews retro and new games), G4 Icons episodes, Happy Console Gamer and RetrowareTV videos are great places to learn a lot. Actually playing, Id say either buy old games on PSN, Virtual Console or XBLA. Another great way is emulation on computers, its the only way for 99% of people to play a LOT of great old games like Earthbound or arcade titles. Plus emulation on a computer is free, so if a family cant afford a PS4 or 720 then the kid can get emulators and have decades of gaming at their finger tips and learn to love games with true variety.

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    Yes, I'm going to post my full name and location on a public message board just because I was asked to. Makes sense.

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    Agreed, giving out names/addresses on public forums is slightly dangerous. This isn't exactly facebook.

    I'll answer your other questions though.

    Quote Originally Posted by cburek View Post
    What special memory in your life do you associate with retro consoles like NES and Super Nintendo?
    Like most people, I associate retro consoles with memories of childhood, getting a certain system for Christmas or the earliest memories playing that one game. As I've gotten older and an income, I've formed far more recent memories regarding retro consoles when I first got into Famicom and import gaming in general.

    Quote Originally Posted by cburek View Post
    What makes retro gaming more appealing than modern gaming like the Xbox or PlayStation?
    Simplicity. Retro consoles were limited in what they could accomplish, and so creative ideas needed to funneled down to a level of simplicity that the hardware was capable of running and the player could figure out. These kinds of games were intended to be easy to learn and give quick, immediate enjoyment.

    On the other side of the coin though, as technology has advanced, the possibilities for games have also exploded. Modern games consist of many ideas and concepts that just wouldn't be possible in 8 or 16 bit. There IS something to be said about modern gaming so looking back exclusively is to deprive yourself of something wonderful.

    Quote Originally Posted by cburek View Post
    What is the schism between these two generations like?
    I think one should have a balancing act. There's nothing wrong with enjoying games for the 2600 and games for the modern consoles or brand new PC games. The important thing to remember is that fun doesn't age.

    Quote Originally Posted by cburek View Post
    How can younger generations be better educated about classic gaming systems?
    Well, youtube channels, podcasts and dedicated Retro Gaming webshows like Retroware tv can really help, but I feel the only way to know the classics is to play the classics. A kid doesn't understand what an SNES is? have him play Super Mario World. Telling him about it will be far less impressive. Think back to when we first started gaming. Did we have people tell us about how awesome it was, or did we just start playing ourselves?
    check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gameguy View Post
    Yes, I'm going to post my full name and location on a public message board just because I was asked to. Makes sense.
    I understand your privacy concerns. Feel free to private message me with this information, or if you'd like message me contact information like a phone number, and I'd be more than willing to speak with you.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Satoshi_Matrix View Post
    Agreed, giving out names/addresses on public forums is slightly dangerous. This isn't exactly facebook.

    I'll answer your other questions though.



    Like most people, I associate retro consoles with memories of childhood, getting a certain system for Christmas or the earliest memories playing that one game. As I've gotten older and an income, I've formed far more recent memories regarding retro consoles when I first got into Famicom and import gaming in general.



    Simplicity. Retro consoles were limited in what they could accomplish, and so creative ideas needed to funneled down to a level of simplicity that the hardware was capable of running and the player could figure out. These kinds of games were intended to be easy to learn and give quick, immediate enjoyment.

    On the other side of the coin though, as technology has advanced, the possibilities for games have also exploded. Modern games consist of many ideas and concepts that just wouldn't be possible in 8 or 16 bit. There IS something to be said about modern gaming so looking back exclusively is to deprive yourself of something wonderful.



    I think one should have a balancing act. There's nothing wrong with enjoying games for the 2600 and games for the modern consoles or brand new PC games. The important thing to remember is that fun doesn't age.



    Well, youtube channels, podcasts and dedicated Retro Gaming webshows like Retroware tv can really help, but I feel the only way to know the classics is to play the classics. A kid doesn't understand what an SNES is? have him play Super Mario World. Telling him about it will be far less impressive. Think back to when we first started gaming. Did we have people tell us about how awesome it was, or did we just start playing ourselves?
    I understand your privacy concerns. Feel free to private message me with this information, or if you'd like message me contact information like a phone number, and I'd be more than willing to speak with you.

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    Quote Originally Posted by cburek View Post
    I understand your privacy concerns. Feel free to private message me with this information, or if you'd like message me contact information like a phone number, and I'd be more than willing to speak with you.
    Why do you want to know our personal information anyway? That seems suspicious.
    check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/

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    Quote Originally Posted by Satoshi_Matrix View Post
    Why do you want to know our personal information anyway? That seems suspicious.
    It's just a first and last name and state you're from. If I use a quote in an article without an attribution, the reader won't know who this person is and will therefore come to the conclusion, "Well, why do I care what this person has to say?" It puts a name to a face as opposed to an "anonymous" source, which are frowned upon in the field of journalism.

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    I understand that, but posting names/addresses when we're unsure if you're even going to use anything we have to say is something most people would take issue with.

    Once you decide for sure whose comments you're going to use, at that point ask for a name/age/address in a pm, not publicly. Also, just because digitalpress is an American based forum doesn't mean everyone here is American. I'm Canadian, and I know there are Europeans and likely other nationalities here as well.
    check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/

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    What's the name of the magazine? If you're going to ask for people's names and locations, you should at least share that.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    What's the name of the magazine? If you're going to ask for people's names and locations, you should at least share that.
    I'm a freelancer, so I would be pitching this article to some sort of gaming magazine which I have not decided yet. If you'd like to see my work, feel free to check out my blog at http://burekrat.blogspot.com/

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    Quote Originally Posted by Satoshi_Matrix View Post
    Agreed, giving out names/addresses on public forums is slightly dangerous. This isn't exactly facebook.
    I don't know why people are ok with sharing everything on Facebook either, it makes it easy for anyone to look up anything about you. People complain about losing their privacy rights yet openly share everything anyway.

    Here's a joke about it;
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqggW08BWO0

    Yet that joke is basically true anyway.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjl7pNijeBs&t=1m55s


    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    What's the name of the magazine? If you're going to ask for people's names and locations, you should at least share that.
    Probably Generic Magazine. It's quite popular.

    The only information I could find online about a Chris Burek from Plattsburgh is that he's a student attending university. I can't imagine this article being of any real importance, nothing worth revealing my personal information for, especially to be published.
    http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-burek/67/704/9a1

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gameguy View Post
    I don't know why people are ok with sharing everything on Facebook either, it makes it easy for anyone to look up anything about you. People complain about losing their privacy rights yet openly share everything anyway.

    Here's a joke about it;
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqggW08BWO0

    Yet that joke is basically true anyway.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjl7pNijeBs&t=1m55s



    Probably Generic Magazine. It's quite popular.

    The only information I could find online about a Chris Burek from Plattsburgh is that he's a student attending university. I can't imagine this article being of any real importance, nothing worth revealing my personal information for, especially to be published.
    http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-burek/67/704/9a1
    I know you clearly are not interested in contributing to this article. However, I put my heart and soul into everything that I write, and write it as if it were for a mainstream publication. I respect your views on privacy anyway and know it is a big deal nowadays. This thread was intended to reach out to gamers everywhere that are passionate about retro consoles, not to trigger a background search of my credentials.

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    So... there's a fair chance that it won't be picked up by any magazine then. Unless you already have some sort of relationship with a publication, they're probably not going to accept some random article from some random college kid. At best, they may like what they see and then ask you to write something else, and it's not really fair to your interviewees if what they've helped you with never gets published and only serves to advance your career. If I were you, I'd first see about getting your pitch accepted before fishing for contributions. This is just my two cents as someone who has written about games for a couple different magazines. I'm no big-shot or anything, but I don't start writing anything for a magazine until I get approval from the publisher or editor-in-chief.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    So... there's a fair chance that it won't be picked up by any magazine then. Unless you already have some sort of relationship with a publication, they're probably not going to accept some random article from some random college kid. At best, they may like what they see and then ask you to write something else, and it's not really fair to your interviewees if what they've helped you with never gets published and only serves to advance your career. If I were you, I'd first see about getting your pitch accepted before fishing for contributions. This is just my two cents as someone who has written about games for a couple different magazines. I'm no big-shot or anything, but I don't start writing anything for a magazine until I get approval from the publisher or editor-in-chief.
    And I understand that. However, the article is not random; it's for one of my courses, which is instructed by former senior writer at ESPN the Magazine Luke Cyphers. We pitch this article to a magazine of our choice, and most have ended up being published. I chose this topic myself because I, like yourself, have a passion for retro gaming. I as well am not random; I am a magazine journalism major, not just a "random college kid." I get where you're coming from, but the deadline for the article is next week. I'm not looking to rely on others to further my career in any way. I write because it is my passion.

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    No need to get defensive, I'm not trying to put you down. I'm just saying that from the perspective of a publisher, you and your article are completely out of nowhere and random, journalism major or not. If your professor has sway in the industry and improves your chances of having your pitch picked up, great, but I personally would recommend an article that doesn't require any interviewing. It would be a better showcase of your writing ability anyway since it won't be filled out with quotes from others. People who agree to interviews want to feel like what they're doing is a worthwhile use of their time and that people will actually read what they have to say. There should be a guarantee of publication, or at least a guarantee that somebody will get published if not all responses will be selected. Without publisher pre-approval, you really can't offer a guarantee, no matter how good your chances may or may not be.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Satoshi_Matrix View Post
    I understand that, but posting names/addresses
    I didnt think he wanted my exact address, sheesh, hes not asking for your social security number.

    You guys need to calm down. If yorue ever interviewed by press people they ask for very basic broad info and helps with breaking down population interests with local news people.
    Last edited by SOL BADGUY; 04-07-2013 at 03:50 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SOL BADGUY View Post
    I didnt think he wanted my exact address, sheesh, hes not asking for your social security number.

    You guys need to calm down. If yorue ever interviewed by press people they ask for very basic broad info and helps with breaking down population interests with local news people.
    With a full name and town you can pretty much look up addresses using the yellow pages website, unless you have a dirt common last name. If you have really rare stuff or a large valuable collection you'd be worried about break ins.

    True about legitimate press interviews, but usually legit reporters give more detailed information about themselves before asking for an interview. Usually stating where they work or who they're representing, it's the difference between accepting an interview from a major newspaper or from a trash tabloid. This guy didn't give any credentials or detailed information in his first post, how could anyone be sure he was a real reporter in the first place? His first post gave the impression that he was a professional journalist working full time for a professional gaming magazine, but later we found out he's a student in school working to become a journalist, working on a class assignment that might have a slight chance to be published. I'm not sure why he wasn't just open about this in his first post, it's not like he was on this forum beforehand and was basically a stranger to us.


    It's like The Name Game type scam that was posted on various forums a few years ago. It basically asked a bunch of personal questions that would seem harmless but would be used for identity theft.

    1.YOUR REAL NAME:
    2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother and fathers middle names):
    3.NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother’s dad, father’s dad):
    4.STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name):
    5.DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal):
    6.SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, town where you were born):
    7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add “THE” to the beginning):
    8.FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name):
    9.STREET NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie):
    10.ROCK STAR NAME (pet’s name and street where you live):
    11.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle):
    12.YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your middle name, last two letters of your first name then last three letters of your last name):
    13.YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets):
    14.GIGOLO NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy):
    15.PORN NAME: (first pet, and mothers maiden name):

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    Why not use the person's forum handle and what forum you got the response from? Or perhaps the person's name and the fact it came from "a forum". If you look in magazines, they use a variety of different ways to identify a person writing in. Retro Gamer just has the person's name. Game Informer has the person's name followed by their location or just "via email" if the person didn't give that information or didn't want it out. PC Gamer either has names, partial names (John D. for example) or handles (like the latest issue someone wrote in as "Grim"). I think Nintendo Power used names or handles.

    In this situation, why not just use the person's handle? If you asked these questions at other sites, then just state "these responses were asked at a variety of gaming community web sites and forums like Atari Age, Digital Press, NeoGAF, etc. etc." It still gives your article that "personal" touch of having actual people answering your questions without divulging too much info. Besides, it's the 21st century-your audience most likely has at least two or three identities online (real, texting/chat, forum, WOW, etc.) and won't bat an eye if someone's thoughts were attributed to some person going by the handle of "YoshiM" or "Aussie2B". And even if a reader did look up a handle, it'll just point back here to get the same information about a person everyone else can get.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gameguy View Post
    It's like The Name Game type scam that was posted on various forums a few years ago. It basically asked a bunch of personal questions that would seem harmless but would be used for identity theft.

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