akator

If it's the same Zinio that was distributing online versions of EGM a few years ago, which I suspect it is, that is basically a PDF reader with proprietary access to content...

I have plenty of shelf space, and I'm willing to take old magazines off anyone's hands. I would hate to see them thrown away or destroyed. I don't have much time to scan, but if I had material I might be able do a few each month...

I am in full support of the site decision to focus on mags pre-2000/10 years or older. That doesn't change my opinion that this is still a great site that provides fun and worthwhile resources. Sure, it would be cool if more mags did retrospectives that compiled past issues, and I'm sure plenty of people would buy them -- unfortunately, most of today's magazine publishers seem uninterested in using their old intellectual property. Too bad we can't have everything we want, but Retromags makes up for a lot of what the publishers aren't interested in doing. We have to enjoy what we can, and I'm glad Retromags is here to provide the resources missing from the publishers themselves.

ROTFL According to Web Site Outlook, my website is worth $6200. Their daily visitation numbers are not accurate. Retromags is worth $4000. How does that site come up with their figures?

My collection has grown because of patience and determination. I don't have the money either, but $20-50 a month gets me plenty of titles I want to play that I hadn't experienced before. First I check Craigslist, then everything else including Amazon, then local stores, then eBay. I don't buy games, even collectors items, that cost more than $30. So far it has worked out. I've learned through many disappointing experiences to stay away from online auction sites when purchasing console, computer, or handheld hardware. I have wasted thousands of dollars over the years buying crap hardware online. These days I only get hardware locally or from a trusted online source, not an auction site, that offers a warranty.

I prefer optical media. Optical media cam be buffed and resurfaced if needed, and only a handful of the used games I've bought have required that. I have had many more problems with cartridges. Cleaning contacts, replacing connectors, etc, resolve the issues but are much more of a pain compared to the number of CDs that work perfectly. I completely dislike network content and distribution. While companies love it, it means I don't have a physical copy for me to play years later. Of course, that's why the industry is moving that way...

I've got one. I will try to scan it ASAP, but it will probably be next week before I can get to it. What resolution do you want?

I disagree that print media is necessarily on the way out. Wired magazine is an example of a winning formula that should be applied to other magazines -- let the website have the "latest news" and put the less timely, in-depth, thought-provoking stuff into the magazine so the print version offers something worth reading over the website. Any magazine that repeatedly says "read more about it on the website" is self-defeating. Eventually people skip the magazine altogether and go straight for the website. I don't want EGM to die, but it deserves to.

Best wishes to all, regardless of your religious affiliation. May your holiday season and the calendar new year bring happiness and health

That site appears to be a strange but interesting art project in which someone is recreating entirely new box art for his favorites games and series. I'm not sure I would call those "replacement covers," though.

It's a nice start, and I like the straightforward graphics. In addition to the previously mentioned Xbox controller, these should be included: Sega Light Phaser for SMS, SMS controllers with and without "screw-on" joystick nub, SMS Action Joystick, first non-analog PS1 controller, PS1 analog non-rumble controller, steering wheels for multiple systems, the 2 types of Atari 7800 controllers (joystick and pad), Atari 5200 rollerball, Colecovision rollerball, Dreamcast maracas, Dreamcast light gun, and DDR pads for various systems. I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting. The Microvision and Nomad are missing from the handheld list. Technically, a computer keyboard and mouse are separate controls. Early computers didn't use a mouse and relied on keyboard and/or other external controllers like joysticks. The mouse wasn't mainstreamed until 1984 with the first Mac. The Amiga and Atari ST followed, and the mouse was added to older systems like the C-64 and Apple II. It still took many years for the mouse to become standard with PCs, and there is a long history of computer games that could be played without a mouse until Windows 95 became standard.

This month my favorite is the Sega Master System followed by Dreamcast, Milton Bradley Microvision, then NES.

Phillyman, THANKS for the cool deal with the lifetime membership. Even though it isn't necessary, I will try to donate at least yearly to keep this site alive. It is a great resource with a great community. Happy holidays to all

I understand your point... but on the positive side, doesn't that just make the old hardware with the old logo that much cooler?

I should have clarified that I usually read *magazines* on the can. Books are good for everywhere... It really doesn't surprise me about EGM. Like so many magazines, they can't seem to figure out that there is still room for printed periodicals. Print is great for editorials and in-depth reporting, whereas current events and news blurbs are now best dispersed on the web. These publishers have it backwards. Instead of having notes in magazines such as "read more on our website," the website should state "read more about it in our magazine." This is a problem with almost every tech-computer-game-science magazine I read. For some reason they have confused their web site and magazine business models. Psychologically, people like being able to touch something they paid for. Holding something that was purchased and keeping it for further use is more emotionally rewarding than downloads. It will take a long time, at least a generation, for that to completely change... if it ever does.

Agreed. Those are decent magazines, with some articles that could even be classified as *gasp*... journalism. The US mags went down the toilet when the previews, both as sections and individual articles, became longer than the reviews... I have mixed feelings about EGM. If it was a better magazine, like it used to be, I would be upset -- instead, I don't really care because the magazine has already slipped to be a shadow of previous versions. The current EGM is more about promoting games than the actual games. Of course, they still had me as a print-format reader mainly because I read when on the toilet. Once the magazine is gone they will have lost me because I do not bring laptops, handhelds or smart phones to the can, nor do I ever want to.

After paying the bills today, we had enough money for me to go back and get the SMS. I got the system, cables, adapter, 2 controllers, light gun, 3D glasses, and 33 games for $100. I'm very happy... it's like being a little kid at Christmas

On Thursday night I bought 7 games for $13.89. It was a decent haul: Game Boy: Bo Jackson (loose but in GB game case) PSP, CIB: Ridge Racer Dreamcast, CIB: Samba de Amigo, NBA 2K1, NFL 2K2, World Series Baseball 2K1 Dreamcast, NIB: NFL Quarterback Club 2000 There was a beautiful Sega Master System with light controller for $45, but because of the crappy economy that's out of my budget right now. I wish I had the $45, though... the SMS was in great shape...

A few months ago we got a 37" Olevia LCD on sale from Target. By the time all of the discounts and taxes were tallied, it came to $670. We are extremely happy with it for gaming, movies, and TV. It's big enough to see well from across the room yet not too big to take over the room. That was much more of a problem with earlier plasma screens. They also only had a life of 10000-20000 hours. The newer screens have much longer life-spans and burn-in isn't nearly as much of a problem. But you're right, LCDs are the better choice to avoid burn-in because if you were to leave Pac-Man playing on a plasma for a few weeks straight that would cause a problem. Most modern games don't have the high contrast, fixed screen content found in classic games — but they still have game info statically displayed in one or all of the four corners of the screen. Because there is less contrast between the info and the background, the burn-in isn't as pronounced as seen on old arcade machines. Modern game burn-in on plasmas often starts as faded/inaccurate colors in the corners and gets worse in time...

This is tough. It's a trade off between nostalgia, which games I would play the most now, and which cabinets have artwork and design I love the most. - Pac-Man - Defender - Robotron 2084 - Donkey Kong - Galaga - Pole Position (cockpit preferred) - Star Wars (cockpit preferred) - Outrun (cockpit preferred) - After Burner (cockpit preferred) - R-Type Those are the ones I would play most, but there are several more I would love: Space Invaders, Berzerk, Phoenix, Moon Patrol, Tron, Marble Madness, Gauntlet, and the cockpit Ridge Racer. Not being able to choose 10 is why emulator cabinets are so awesome

I guess there are a lot of disappointing systems, all depending on time. I'm going to leave out some of the obvious ones, such as Game.com and Gizmondo, because no one took them seriously then or takes them seriously now. Atari 5200 In recent years I've learned to appreciate this system, but at the time it wasn't good enough to compete with the Colecovision. It wasn't backwards compatible with the 2600 and had questionable controllers. I like it now because it is classic, but in the early 80s it just didn't cut it with the competition. Atari 7800 If this system had been released when first developed, it would have been worthwhile. Instead Tramiel decided that Atari should only do computers. When the NES surfaced, Atari released the 7800 to keep in the market. It was crippled by 2600 sound but offered a lot of power, unfortunately lost because of a stale selection of early 80s arcade ports. These days I love the 7800, especially the homebrew games, but it wasn't good enough at the time. The NES and SMS cleaned up with original games and more recent arcade ports, making the 7800 only useful for playing 2600 titles and older arcade ports. The crappy audio will never be a good thing, even now. That said, there are some great classic games available. All early CD Game Systems Sure, there were a few gems like Myst... but have you tried to play it recently? Most early CD games stunk no matter the platform. Developers hadn't figured out what to do with the extra storage and kept creating "interactive video" games. Imagine a ton of cut scenes strung together. It's more fun to read an old "Choose Your Own Adventure" book from the early 80s. Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Add-ons (32x & CD) Again, there were a few standout titles... but there weren't enough to choose from to justify buying the hardware. Atari Jaguar A marketed 64 bits (still debate on that) of disaster. Only a handful of titles were and are worth playing. Of course, there wasn't much more than that ever produced, either. The lousy titles were so bad it's hard to believe. Unfortunately, there were more stinkers in the game library than there were gems. Still, like every platform, there are die-hard fans... Sega Nomad Yeah, it's cool that a portable played Genesis games. But have you used one of these bricks? It's about as ergonomic as... a brick. Cool idea, poor execution. Sega Saturn Some good titles but overall crushed by the PSX. It could have been more, but Sega was into selling new hardware every few years and not supplying enough software. The Saturn could have competed with the PSX, but would-have-should-have is pointless. The handful of decent exclusive titles on the Saturn just didn't compete, then or now. N64 Definitely not all that it was built up to be. By the time it was released, the nice graphics just weren't enough to convince people who were already invested in a PSX. The expensive carts, while the same price as today's games, further buried interest because 2 PSX games could be had for the price of one N64 cart. Nintendo didn't help by releasing so many "family friendly" titles when the trend was more mature content. I appreciate the N64 and love the standout titles, but at the time it didn't offer enough for me to make the investment.

I've got two PSPs so my wife and I can each have one and play multi-player. I think it's an amazing handheld, especially with custom firmware so I can emulate so many classic systems. I also legitimately own many PSP games. I even bought a Location Free box so I could watch video feeds when at a WiFi hotspot, great from when my wife is shopping and I'm just sitting around. But owning the living room is different. I understand that Sony is trying to make it part of a gaming and entertainment synergy with the PS3, and it's a cool idea -- but also wishful thinking. As much as I appreciate the PSP, it's never going to convince me to buy a PS3 and takeover my living room.

I think Rapid Share links are a good solution.

I'm disappointed with the current generation of consoles and games. Part of it is price, since $50-60 for a game raises my expectations too high and I'm always disappointed. I dislike grinding, over-complicated controls, and games with a learning curve of more than 15 minutes -- that's pretty much why I'm into retro gaming

You forgot many excellent arcade ports like Out Run, After Burner, and R-Type At the time I bought a SMS instead of an NES because it offered more of what I wanted at the time. I was in my late teens, I didn't want the cutesy family-friendly stuff Nintendo was selling, and I wanted a system better suited to my "adult" tastes.