Issue 70 Feedback thread

[CraigGrannell]

More Itouch games please ( I have just bought one and it is amazing)

Funny to see a bunch of people asking for more iPod touch reviews now. I'm sure Darran's irony detector has exploded several times over.

[BennyTheGreek]

More Itouch games please ( I have just bought one and it is amazing)

Funny to see a bunch of people asking for more iPod touch reviews now. I'm sure Darran's irony detector has exploded several times over.

you will have to get the doors widened so he can fit his big correct head through them

it is the best handheld ever

[the_hawk]

As far as I'm concerned there's still too many! Maybe there should be a seperate magazine "iphone/itouch gamer" for all the millions of the converted & leave Retro Gamer to discuss proper games machines. (Runs & hides - proper feedback to follow later!)

[SirClive]

There are 3 very small iPhone reviews this month, all of them retro remakes of sorts. They are definitely justified for being there.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Tekken 6 and Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny on the other hand are all nothing t do with retro.

[the_hawk]

There are 3 very small iPhone reviews this month.

Hence the wink! Seriously though the whole reviews of modern games section is a bit odd, given that sequels & franchise updates that are clearly not retro are reviewed. It's been debated a squllion times before and to be honest I enjoy reading the reviews section so they must be doing something right. Besides I haven't bought a "modern" computer magazine since the days of the PS1 so it's really the only place I read reviews of what's out there at the mo.

Anyway, another strong issue, though funnily enough very little in terms of the games I've played but still very very enjoyable articles.

I loved the Monkey Island feature, fantastic cover too.

Never played Switchblade, never been interested in a NeoGeo & never liked the vector graphics star wars games, but I STILL found all three articles fascinating.

I haven't read the scary games article yet, I'm saving that one but it looks fab & if it's anything like the horror film based games feature from a year or two ago it'll be well worth a read.

Oh and I got a mention for the first time for about four or five issues, shame it's one of the most negative comment I've made & makes me sound like a right curmudgeon!

The wife saw it & said "Have you been posting in sound bites all year in a shameless attempt to get in the magazine or something?" - She knows me well!

[Duddyroar]

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Tekken 6 and Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny on the other hand are all nothing t do with retro.

Aside from them all being updates of franchises that are all over a decade old now?

Or does a game series have to have started on the Speccy to be truly branded "retro" these days?

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

There are 3 very small iPhone reviews this month, all of them retro remakes of sorts. They are definitely justified for being there.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Tekken 6 and Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny on the other hand are all nothing t do with retro.

That's right because they're not continuations of franchises that started in the 80s and 90s... Still we've been reviewing games for the last three years now and it's not going to change now. It's already down to 5 pages, so it's not as though it's taken over the mag and the featured games DO have relevance. Yes they might be greatly different to the original incarnations, but the fact is they still share plenty of elements with the originals.

It's one of those things, you'll please some and not other and so the balancing of the Retro Gamer tightrope continues.

[CraigGrannell]

never liked the vector graphics star wars games

Blimey. Empire's ropey as hell, but you didn't like Star Wars?

[the_hawk]

I couldn't get to grips with vectors back in the day. Mind you I'd probably love it now!

[FatTrucker]

I think the current sections and layout for handheld, modern and remade stuff is just about spot on. Enough to cover the notable stuff every month, no so big that they impact on anything else or detract from the mags focus as a retro publication.

If there's not one already I think its only a matter of time before the iphone gets a regular monthly rag anyway. Although being about iphone I would imagine it will be published as an app rather than anything on Paper.

[Havantgottaclue]

For me, the best bits so far are Darran going all AVGN over Frost Byte and Phil King's Q&A. I actually have a copy of CPC Frost Byte that I've never played - I've always meant to because it was highly thought of and is impressive graphically. Glad to hear that Phil King enjoyed his Zzap! days - I thought he and the rest of the team did a pretty good job, even though they weren't quite as wild and wacky as their predecessors.

[CraigGrannell]

If there's not one already I think its only a matter of time before the iphone gets a regular monthly rag anyway. Although being about iphone I would imagine it will be published as an app rather than anything on Paper.

Maybe. That said, I've pitched all sorts of iPod gaming stuff, and traditional publishers appear to be astonishingly resistant to doing anything with it—even including reviews within existing magazines (although Edge is starting to wake up to this). The argument generally appears to be "the games are cheap, so what's the point in someone paying for a magazine?" My retort is that it's not about the money—it's about finding good stuff in a sea of mediocrity when there are very few decent publications out there. Then again, I guess the market dictates what's possible—would iPod owners here pay four or five quid for 100 pages packed with iPod games reviews, news, tips and features?

Things are improving a little online, although the rates paid by most online gaming sites are so low that people are writing for pocket money, and so I imagine many reviews aren't as robust as they should be. There are certainly many very odd ratings online for all sorts of iPod games.

Elsewhere, interesting to read Phil King's comment. Of people who worked on both Crash and Zzap!, he's not the only one to say he preferred the latter. It seems that although the mags were in the same building, Crash was generally less fun to work on for a number of people.

[The Master]

would iPod owners here pay four or five quid for 100 pages packed with iPod games reviews, news, tips and features?

Yes.

[Havantgottaclue]

Elsewhere, interesting to read Phil King's comment. Of people who worked on both Crash and Zzap!, he's not the only one to say he preferred the latter. It seems that although the mags were in the same building, Crash was generally less fun to work on for a number of people.

Gordon Houghton being another example, if I'm not mistaken?

[Bub&Bob]

Great to see Maria's breasts in the mag this month!