RetroDefense

The April 1985 issue of Electronic Games reported on the Nintendo Advanced Video Entertainment System (which evolved into the eventual NES) in a news blurb in its Hotline section.  They mention how it could be a miscalculation on Nintendo's part.    RetroMags currently doesn't have this issue preserved but you can find it via Digital Press.

Sean697 is referring to a newsletter originally titled The Video Game Update, later retitled Computer Entertainer.  I believe it started as a store-to-customer newsletter but eventually expanded into something nationally (internationally?) through subscription.  If you're looking for early USA NES and SMS coverage it's probably your best source - perhaps even your only source.  Frank Cifaldi is (was?) holding a bound archive of the newsletter and arranged to have it preserved by the Internet Archive.

Thanks, Melki!

Not that I don't appreciate the efforts to produce colors as accurately as possible, but honestly, I think it's something of a no-win situation.  Scanners will vary, software will vary, displays will vary, human eyesight will vary.  I'm more concerned about the written content - the text and related context.

There's also the matter of quantity vs. quality.  Meaning, the 1000s of gaming magazines still left to scan versus RetroMags' standards.  Without ADFs we're fighting a losing battle so I think it's a fair compromise.

Point is, I can look past a case of pink vs. purple if it means more history can be preserved.    As tech improves - and prices drop - we can always update the scans eventually.  As long as we save the source material.

Getting started depends on the file size.  Is it over 400 meg?  If not, you'll want to visit the Downloads section, navigate to the GamePro category, and click the Upload File button.

For the "Click to Upload Screenshots" section you'll want to upload a thumb of the issue cover.  If I recall, something sized to around 500 pixels in height should do.

If you'd rather, you can make the file available somewhere online (Dropbox, Google Drive, archive.org, etc) and a RetroMags admin can upload the issue for you.  We'll ensure you receive proper credit for the upload.

Thanks for your help with the preservation effort!  

I've sent a USA issue list to Phillyman for import into the magazine database.

Pointing out the game - or lack of - felt like a dig of sorts.  But the 90s throwback at the end is a nice touch.

Well, there's no need to buy the CE unless you want a box full of clutter.  I suppose they could have put the game on a plastic disc for the CE instead of putting a code on a "metallic" card since clutter is clutter, but the game had already been announced as digital-download only, so the lack of a game disc doesn't surprise me.

 

For the Ultimate Collector's Edition, all you need to do is buy the PC version of the CE, download the game, burn it to a disc, and design your own disc label with bad fan art from the internet created with Microsoft Paint.  *The Ultimate Collector's edition is not available for sale because its value is priceless.

It isn't unprecedented for a highly anticipated digital-only game to later announce a physical release.  And don't get me wrong - I'm not opposed to digital.  It's the DRM that I find abhorrent and I imagine the PC release is locked behind Steam.

I'll probably still "rent" it eventually but damn if I'm not going to complain about it.  It looks like a game worth owning.

And why...?

'Cause Super Metroid.  A game so phenomenal the "why" is inferred.  

But if I had to elaborate it'd be the interactive ending.  I won't spoil it for anyone - because Super Metroid should always be exempt from the usual Spoiler Statute of Limitations - but the final boss encounter is still my favorite game ending to date.

So Super Metroid is the game I would love to re-experience for the first time.  Though, honestly, even now - so many years removed - I can still remember that final battle, with all the excitement and stress and shock and awe and wonder, like it was yesterday.  

To anyone reading this, that is how you know you've experienced a damn fine game.

I dunno anything about Gameshark magazine, but is there something about the holiday issue that makes it "special"? A lot of mags have holiday issues that are basically just a 13th yearly issue no different from the rest. We usually include them with the regular magazine numbering. Were the regular mags numbered but this one wasn't? Again, just curious.

This one is definitely an oddball.  I'm not entirely sure it should be considered an issue of GameShark Magazine, frankly, special or otherwise.  The GameShark portion of the magazine feels like a glorified advertising supplement tacked onto an IGN one-shot.  But scuttle on the 'net implies this was distributed by Interact in addition to regular GSM issues.  Would love to confirm this.

It also doesn't fit well within the publication schedule, isn't numbered like a regular issue, etc.  I know many publishers regularly produced holiday issues but I wouldn't consider this to be typical.

Super Metroid

I've added the GameShark Magazine Holiday 2001 issue to the database as a GameShark Magazine special.  Perhaps this will feed additional info to this discussion eventually.

Next up, the February 1993 installment of Video Games & Computer Entertainment, kindly donated by RetroMags' own bigster.  I'll be debinding this issue and scanning it shortly.

The promised Next Generation comparison scans have been posted and EGM #24's missing pages has been sent to Sean697 for editing.  I also have a number of EGM, EGM2, and Electronic Games supplement covers queued for editing.

Thanks for editing VG&CE #7, kitsunebi77!

I might have gone with "The Touch," but Dirk Diggler kind of tainted that one a little bit.  And besides, I always liked "Dare" better anyway.

Kid you not - was coincidentally listening to this when I viewed your post.  

Stan Bush's Dare wouldn't be my intro theme but it is a song I've requested as an exit theme.  If you know what I mean.

So along with video game magazines I'm a big fan of video game ephemera in general.  Thought this was a neat find so thought I'd share.

Youtuber Metal Jesus shows off some 80s era internal Nintendo docs - namely, a Nintendo Counselor binder presumably used to provide phone hotline tips as well as a Nintendo employee manual.

For future reference to anyone reading this, this is what should be the standard cover-naming format for all magazines:

 

Magazine Title Issue ### Month Year

We should also note this in the gallery sections themselves.  Along with pixel size, dpi, etc.  Currently, we ask everyone to "adhere to the naming standard" which isn't exactly clear.

What we need is a tool that names them automatically.

I believe Phillyman is working on an auto-rename solution but the cover scan will have to be matched with its respective magazine dbase entry before the rename can be performed.  So while having everything in the gallery follow a standard naming convention is nice, I haven't been as concerned with actually renaming the covers as I have been ensuring they've been matched.  

Thanks for uploading the cover scans, DPsx7!  Sorry the naming convention wasn't made more clear from the beginning.

After a few lost entries myself, I usually compose in a raw text editor beforehand, then copy/paste into the site editor and format everything.

I've said a bunch of times I want to unload some mags and clean up around here. Maybe this will be the time. I know we can't archive GI but we do have some covers in the database. Before I decide what to do with the mags I would upload just the covers for the last year or two. The database only goes to Jan 15 and I need up through this month.

 

Does someone want to add new entries or are we going to consider GI off limits to honor their request?

I've updated the Game Informer section through October 2016.  Although the magazine is exempt from preservation we still plan to continue cataloging, indexing, and scanning covers.  Thanks!

Was excited for this Sonic Mania Collector's Edition until I realized the bundled game is nothing more than a download code.

Opportunity missed, Sega.

I consider Prime to be a holy artifact, beyond comparison.

Indeed.  Prime restored my faith in the Metroid franchise.

A quick google search yielded a positive result.  The website hosting 3 issues of this comic book adventure is called emuparadise.me

The username is TOLUST and it has Retromags credit at the end.

There are a number of "orphaned" RetroMag scans around the web - I regularly find them when researching missing magazines.

It was before my time here but as I understand it RetroMags wasn't as organized back in the day and lots of content was lost following hosting issues.  We really should re-upload these to the site.

I tried scanning one magazine while still bound - a thin little Game Player's Strategy Guide to Nintendo Games.  But even that was such a pain in the ass I vowed to never scan again unless I de-bind first.  I would never try to obtain two of everything though.  If I'm gonna go to the trouble of scanning and editing something, I'm gonna damn well read that scan when I'm done, not some second copy of the mag.  Actually, if I scan something I have two copies of, I throw them both out once its been scanned, since I no longer need it and can't be bothered trying to sell the extra one. (disclaimer: this might not be applicable to mags I have a great nostalgic fondness for.  Every single one of the Japanese mags I've scanned were purchased this year, so it isn't like I grew up reading them or anything.  It makes their destruction less painful.)

Most of my late 80s/early 90s stuff I'm very nostalgic for.  I purchased the majority of my VG&CE collection off the newsstand and always looked forward to the next issue.  Despite not being much of a computer gamer it was one of my favorite magazines of the era.  So I won't be debinding my collection anytime soon.  

Everyone has been expecting this issue though - I flagged it for scanning a good while ago - so decided to grab a copy off Ebay.  Might do the same with other issues but probably won't make a habit of it unless I find a good deal or two.

Here's the unedited scan of Video Games & Computer Entertainment August 1989 (Issue 7).  I converted the raw tifs to jpgs but otherwise have performed no editing whatsoever.

I'm hoping to get some more scanning done while I still have my makeshift setup in place so an edited version isn't an immediate priority.  If anyone would like to edit this issue feel free but please post about it here so we don't have any redundant work going on.  

I remember sitting in on an English class for Japanese students while in college.  Any time the professor would yell "Exception!" a collective groan could be heard throughout the room.

I hadn't realized - until then - how convoluted the English language actually is.  

I used to work in the ISP field so User Friendly was almost required reading.  I eventually purchased a print collection, actually - good stuff.

Finally got around to scanning the standard edition pages.  Here are some side-by-side scans - marktrade's disc edition scans on the left, mine on the right.

(FYI, image quality is not up to archive standards - these are heavily compressed, reduced in size, and in the case of my pages, not de-bound.  These are intended for comparison only.)

Issue 23:

With issue 26, it looks as if NG began including a disc contents page in both editions.  Until then, the standard edition never really indicated a disc edition existed.  And I had no idea as my local bookstore only carried the standard editions.  

The disc edition of issue 23 sort of explains this - it sounds like the disc underwent a trial period for a while so they probably weren't ready to actively promote it - but issue 25 does mention the Christmas Nights disc in its review, in both editions.

I remember this as odd when originally reading it years ago.  I eventually resorted to Ebay for the sampler disc.

I've updated the magazine dbase based on kitsunebi77's revised list.  Mulling it over, I also dropped in some placeholders in the Specials section.  They're ugly but considering we know the issues actually exist we may stand a better chance of filling in the blanks by reflecting this.  I'm up for changing my mind though.  Like I said - ugly.

Thanks for all the research work, kitsunebi77!

So most Japanese publications are akin to early Game Players.  Gotcha.  

Also, argh.

One more reason why I wish the database had a bit more flexibility when it comes to issue numbers.  I'll update the main Famitsu DC listing - can you translate/add the special issues?

For anyone who owns Super Mario Maker for the Wii U, I hope you can answer a quick question.

Is it possible to save created levels to the SD card and share them across systems via the SD card slot?  I know it's possible to save to local memory and to also cloud share, but I'm curious as to whether a 100% offline sharing option is built into the game.

Thanks!