Retro Gamer Magazine

[burningdoom]

This magazine is freaking amazing! I love it! I picked up my first issue last month, and just got the current issue today. It's soooo chock full of retro-gaming greatness. Awesome in-depth articles. It has full color, glossy pages and photos. It's pretty dang thick for a magazine, and it's oversized; so you get a ton of content for your money.

But even better, is that it's British. So even though I already know a ton about retro-gaming, I still find myself actually learning a bit about the machines that were popular in Europe but not so much in the U.S.

I so recommend getting this one to everyone at this website.

I added the last 2 issues to the database, here, as well as the first issue and handful of other key issues.

While we're on the subject: Why does it seem that the U.K. has so many just incredibly awesome magazines, while our magazines over here just suck?

Metal Hammer is another Brit magazine that knocks the crap out of any metal magazine printed in the U.S. Same deal as Retro Gamer: Great articles, big oversized and thick magazine so plenty of content, full glossy color pages and photos, etc., etc. And even better with it is that every issue has an about 15-song length sampler CD chock full of metal bands' latest releases. It's worth the price of admission for that alone.



Unfortunately, because they are British, they're $9.99 a pop. And subscription fees are freaking outrageous for Americans. I wish they'd make an imprint over here, or a magazine maker here would make a magazine that's actually cool.

[sin2beta]

Retro Gamer is a good magazine. It's just a bit too rich for my blood. I sometimes debate collecting them. But usually I can buy the game on the cover for the same price or less. I love the magazine. I just wish it was not so expensive.

While we're on the subject: Why does it seem that the U.K. has so many just incredibly awesome magazines, while our magazines over here just suck?

Fred Van Lente posits in "comic Book Comics" that the reason comics are so popular Japan is due to the structure of the cities, walkability, and amount of people that utilize public transit. North America is set up and travels differently. This is why the PC Engine's ad campaign did wonders in Japan. The same strategy did not work here for the Turbo Grafx. It's why portable gaming rules in Japan and drools here. I think the UK is somewhere in between the US and Japan in terms of setup. That helps. When you take a bus or walk, a magazine helps. This is how I do most of my game playing and comic reading.

But there is more to that (specifically Retro Gamer). The UK has a huge retro scene. And, oddly enough, consoles are the big thing. Computers are present and big as well. But the console retro scene is bigger. This is the opposite of the market share back in the day. Moreover, consoles and carts were absurdly expensive in UK during the 80s and 90s. Perhaps there is more desire to own the things you couldn't due to how absurdly expensive they used to be.

[soera]

I have the Master system issue from 5-6 months ago. Its a fantastic magazine. But yeah, its super costly here. I think a subscription for a year is almost $100. That is mounds above any other "game" magazine around. Sadly the options are weak as it is. You have Game Informer which is nothing but a large Gamestop ad. Official Xbox and PS magazines but, obviously, they are limited to their respective systems. Nintendo power has been gone for a full year now. Game Pro and all the other good magazines that used to cover multiple consoles have been out of print for years. The world has turned digital and all the retro stuff is going by the wayside.

[burningdoom]

I have the Master system issue from 5-6 months ago. Its a fantastic magazine. But yeah, its super costly here. I think a subscription for a year is almost $100. That is mounds above any other "game" magazine around. Sadly the options are weak as it is. You have Game Informer which is nothing but a large Gamestop ad. Official Xbox and PS magazines but, obviously, they are limited to their respective systems. Nintendo power has been gone for a full year now. Game Pro and all the other good magazines that used to cover multiple consoles have been out of print for years. The world has turned digital and all the retro stuff is going by the wayside.

I thought PSM went down shortly after Nintendo Power did, as well. Even if all those magazines were still around, the only one that came close in terms of the amount of content you get was Electronic Gaming Monthly. And when they did return, it's not nearly as big as it was before they went under the first time. Even if you do compare it to back then, Retro Gamer is a much better magazine. It's a shame they're so expensive.

[soera]

Oh for sure Id much rather have the Retro gamer mag than any of the others anyhow. If PS magazine is gone, I didnt know that. But then again, I never bought them either.

[segadude]

I have several copies of Retro Gamer magazine and am considering adding them to VGC however, they are oversized at 9" wide x 11-5/8" high.
 My inkjet printer can handle the length but cyts off about 1/4" of the width.  Would these images be OK to submit for new magazines?  Also, since they're currently list as "Retro Gamer # 23, 235, etc., they are not in consecutive order and if the current list is expanded quite a bit it would be difficult to find if certain issues are listed.  I would like to suggest additional entries to these magazines be listed by 3-digit numbers, preceded by zeroes for earlier issues, such as "Issue # 001, 037, 235, etc." The ones I get my Retro Gamer magazines at our local Barnes and Noble and they are made in the UK.  They don't show "Issue" numbers on the monthly magazines, only "Load" numbers. I assume these "Load" numbers can be interpreted as "Issue" numbers. I have approximately 20 issues, including some 'Annual' and special editions.  I just love them for their colorful artwork and great nostalgia-filled articles.  Please advise when possible and if you agree to the listing suggestions above for numbering and using Load numbers as Issue numbers, or have other recommendations, I'll start adding mine to your collection. Thanks for your attention.

[dhaabi]

I have several copies of Retro Gamer magazine and am considering adding them to VGC however, they are oversized at 9" wide x 11-5/8" high.
 My inkjet printer can handle the length but cyts off about 1/4" of the width.  Would these images be OK to submit for new magazines?

Ideally, you should avoid submitting significantly cropped scans. This is especially so because there are online resources where scans are available, such as Retromags. Most issues of Retro Gamer have already been scanned on their site, but some have censored barcode information. For those scans in particular, they should not be uploaded due to our site's rules.

Also, since they're currently listed as "Retro Gamer # 23, 235, etc., they are not in consecutive order and if the current list is expanded quite a bit it would be difficult to find if certain issues are listed.  I would like to suggest additional entries to these magazines be listed by 3-digit numbers, preceded by zeroes for earlier issues, such as "Issue # 001, 037, 235, etc." The ones I get my Retro Gamer magazines at our local Barnes and Noble and they are made in the UK.  They don't show "Issue" numbers on the monthly magazines, only "Load" numbers. I assume these "Load" numbers can be interpreted as "Issue" numbers. I have approximately 20 issues, including some 'Annual' and special editions.  I just love them for their colorful artwork and great nostalgia-filled articles.  Please advise when possible and if you agree to the listing suggestions above for numbering and using Load numbers as Issue numbers, or have other recommendations, I'll start adding mine to your collection. Thanks for your attention.

The Magazines sub-category is a mess, and it's entirely due to how entries have been submitted. We are not concerned with items being organized in sequential order. So, specific magazine entry names should not adopt some formatting standard but instead rely upon how the actual item is named. So, for instance, Retro Gamer magazines have several different naming formats such as:
Issue One
Volume Two Issue One
Load 25
Issue 105

These names are based off of front cover information. Spine formatting may differ if it's present at all for each issue, but it's difficult to obtain this information for someone not accessible to the item. From some quick searching on eBay, I only came across one image of that partial spines, but the names follow the same format as front cover.