tcaud

As for FileFactory... http://www.retromags.com/magazines/category/usa/gamepro/gamepro-issue-1 <- broken link

Torrents have been cracked down hard. Just look at PirateBay and Kickass: nobody's seeding anymore. Not even VPNs are safe... Windows 10 is banned. The way I see it, another Underground Gamer will appear and this site will go under again regardless. *shakes head*

The demise of MegaUpload and now rapidshare shows that file availablility isn't a sure thing unless it's a game. Old X-play episodes are probably lost forever. Media companies have precious little incentive to make old content available: audience leisure time is limited and technically every moment spent on free content reduces sales. Really I'm amazed at how many ebooks are no longer available since the fall of Rapidshare... The Sams Teach Yourself series is practically extinct in electronic form.

I think this an extreme solution which reflects what seems to be Retromag's self-imposed isolation. The way I see it, interest in old mags and interest in old software are two sides of the same coin: people bought games because of the magazines, and wanted magazines because they wanted info on games. So if GOG is basically the residual face of the older game economy, why not work out a deal with them? $1800 is a paltry sum... surely the GOG people can understand the benefits, and they'd assist with resale negotiations with publishers besides. Imagine if when you got a game, you also got all the reviews/strategies associated with that game. People could play the game and compare notes afterward. Retirees in particular would probably enjoy reflecting on days gone by with friends. Or you could try Patreon. Open Game Art's admin draws 12k/yr for basically sitting on his ass and doing a tad bit of categorization... you'll probably do better. Anyway considering the effort involved and personal expenditures of the contributors/staff, $1800 should be chump change.

Nice podcast. Might be best to do them sequentially, rather than at random. The outlook of the times was interesting... that's what I find the most compelling about these old mags (aside from PCXL of course which is just a timeless laugh riot). I'd be more interested in reflections about how you and others felt about living in the 80s/90s, the sense of purpose and excitement that came from experiencing the games and the hype itself. I did find it interesting that Nintendo basically put a large piece of the emulation puzzle in the pocket of pirates by explaining their memory mapper tech in exhaustive detail. No other magazine did that that I recall... in fact, EGM regularly got the details just plain wrong. I think Nintendo, and NP, came to regret that decision, though it must have seemed like a good idea at the time with Sega's flat memory model chips getting a lot of press.

One thing I've noticed about the Japanese game mags is just how different they are from the US and European magazines. The US and European mags are very controlled, systemic, and "professional": they rely on a formula of indocrination and manipulation, much like brainwashing, to cultivate their readerbase. Platform warfare is the most obvious manifestation of this, but the emphasis on hype is another. This of course due to the notion that advertisers and magazines are essentially one unit, and that the health of the platform is the health of the mag. The Japanese, however, take a very different approach, because their industry developed very differently. In Japan, the MSX and PC98 developed as back doors into the games industry, resulting in an at once varied yet homogeneous body of effort. In the Japanese game scene passion has always played a strong role in the motivation of the participants. In the west, the idea was always to get rich, or at least to have a varied and cushy job. In the Japanese scene, there was a tacit acknowledgement that the maximization of opportunity meant a chaotic industry with low profit margins and less than stellar pay, but with the effect of a wide variety of ideas and experiments which would sustain and nurture the industry as a whole. This comes across in the late 80s/early 90s magazines which catered to this up and coming generation of game creators, which ultimately culminated in the Golden Era of PS2 RPGs. There was also much more cross-over between the roles of designer, artist, and programmer (and even composer) than in the west. This interdisciplinarian approach resulted in broad familiarity with all aspects of the design process, which in turn enabled the extraordinary depth of creativity and theme we continue to see in games such as Hyper Dimension Neptunia. The impact of interdisciplinarianism was even felt in anime, where as late as the early 90s computer screens filled with authentic BASIC code appeared in many works. The game review magazines of the period doubled as developer magazines, as is evidenced by MSX-Fan, available on Archive.org, inviting and enticing fans to take the next step with example programs and composition sheets. Neither the ST nor the Amiga really had this. Finally, there were plot discussions contained therein which formed the foundation for the epic storylines and complex characterizations for which Japanese gaming remains famous and esteemed. It would benefit the West and Europeans to have exposure to the interdisciplinarian approach. The western approach has always been to specialize in one thing and to do it exceptionally well, but as far as creativity is concerned, a narrow intellectual focus is the soul of mediocrity. This is why there are a handful of exceptional, noteworthy games developed in the west, where in Japan exceptional design and notability is the norm. Additionally, console gamers in the west are missing a huge segment of the history of design theory itself, still recorded in the Japanese script of these mags. It would be worth the effort for persons fluent in both Japanese and English to translate these mags for the benefit of the industry and its creativity, and for these persons to receive tangible support for their efforts.

I wonder if they keep the mags or toss them... I'm really shocked at the situation. Old magazines are treated as if they have no value. They clearly do though, from an entertainment standpoint. Like a portal back in time... living another life... but of course, that's reason enough for some to seek their destruction. They would prefer our attention be given to them, of course.

Does anyone check the Goodwill?

I checked my town library. They have some recent EGMs. I asked what happens to the mags... they said after two years they are shredded.

Has anyone been looking at public library collections of old mags? Kent State in OH apparently has all 3 volumes of Computer Life, for starters.