Not many members here know but Retromags turned 4 yesterday and I am proud to present an interview with Phillyman, I mean, if you have been around here long, you know a day late is like lightening fast for him so I will take what I can get here.
The project has come a long way, we have welcomed an icon to the project in The Game Doctor, and have had to ask a few members to leave. Many milestones have been passed with the acquisition of issues like Electronic Games #1 (thanks to the Father of Gaming Magazines for having the balls to team up with Arnie Katz and get Reese Communications to take that chance). Many new members have joined up and have done amazing work on the site, the wiki and just being there supporting with forum posts, to name one would be a disservice to those not named, you all know who you are, on behalf of the rest of the Retromags Team, thank you.
Now, on to the meat and potatoes of this announcement, the interview with Phillyman. He is the founder of Retromags (so if you really really hate it here, blame him). While not exactly the final word on things (we whip him regularly) he is the head man here. We show him respect (when members might be watching) and do respect him (sometimes, sometimes not) and wouldn't (couldn't?) trade him for anyone else.
When were you born?
About 15 minutes south of Philadelphia
What prompted you to start Retromags?
I used to belong to a certain forum that is no longer around, a few members on that forum started scanning video game manuals for preservation. I had always wanted to give back to the emulation scene, but due to lack of programming knowledge....I could not help. One night it hit me to scan all my Nintendo Power magazines into electronic format.
What is the official Birthday of Retromags?
June 25th 2005! (see, told you, don't worry, he is back on his memory medicine so maybe we can do this on time next year)
What is your favorite moment over the last 4 years of running Retromags?
I have a good many favorite moments, but to be honest my favorite moment is a compilation of moments. Retromags was a very slow project a few years ago, and due to Meppi, Thor, Triverse, MBJ, Kitsune, Kbf_private_joker, E-Day and countless others....we are now moving along at a great pace.
What is your favorite issue available here?
I have to go with the very first issue of Nintendo Power.
(
available here)
What is your most treasured gaming possesion?
I have a Sega Channel adapter, brings back memories of when I was younger.
If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?
I wish that the people who were helping out back in 2005 were still somehow around these days.
What is the most scary thing to happen to you in the last 4 years with Retromags?
Nothing terribly scary has happened thus far, I do remember a rumor about Nintendo offering Nintendo Powers through the Wii channel....which would have made us have to stop offering them through Retromags.
Did you think Retromags would be where it is at now when you started it?
Not really, when you start a project like this....you never know how it will be recieved. But I think we still have room to grow. I would still love to see us get 20 people who could produce 1 scanned/edited magazine per month.
Where do you see Retromags going in the next say, 2 years and 6 years respectively?
I see us as being the #1 source for electronic preservation of retro gaming magazines. I also see us becoming the #1 source for information pertaining to those magazines. I hope that within 2 years we finish up the EGM and Nintendo Power sets. In 6 years I would hope that we would have GamePro, Next Generation, Electronic Games and Gamefan completely preserved.
If you could have one guarantee with Retromags, what would it be?
I would like the guarantee that we will still be here in 2019!
There you have it, if you have any questions for Phillyman, post them here. Retromags wouldn't be here without the support of the members like you.