Official feedback thread for issue 19

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Hi guys, as requested by a couple of you, here's the place to give all your feedback on the new mag.

As with the original team, we'll be more than happy to listen to constructive feedback and will make changes where relevant. Just remember that they can't happen straight away due to deadlines.

Regards,
Darran

PS Well, I never thought I'd ever be writing this

[Fandenivoldsk]

The cover: As everyone said so far, the cover just looks great! Nice thick glossy paper and no DVD to damage the magazine when the postman gets rough! I like how the design is very sharp and compact looking, and the thin white border that keeps everything in place. Nice. With no DVD attached to the front, the cover can finally be filled with a striking picture, and the shot of the ZX looks great. Hopefully an Oli or Overton illustration will be used in an upcoming issue. The new logotype is much better looking than the old one, too. More original!

The Retrobates: What a team you put together!! Good to see Imagne co-founder Damian Butt is writing for the magazine... it looks as if everyone at Imagine towers are retro-nuts! Cool that Martyn Carroll is still writing for the magazine (and keeping us up-to-date with what Mathew Smith's doing). Good mix of console and computer experts! MSX and Amstrad computers seem to be taken care for..... at long last!! And with Darran and Jon both being into jap consoles, I hope to see a lot exotic jap gaming in every issue of RG from now on!

The content page: Colourful, yet tasteful! You'll want to turn the page!

RetroRadar (news page): Again, it look very tasty! Good to see a perfect mix of screenshots and text... dosen't seem crowded, yet very packed.

America Free Retro: What a great idea to give Shane Monroe his own column! That man has kept the whole retro news coverage going for a long time now, so it's great to see him getting something back!

Retro Gamer Diary: Simple and stylish! Good one!

Archer Macleans column: Wow! One of the greatest game designers of all time, and a long-time collector of all things arcade! Awesome!

Global Gaming: Nice to see it back, as it was one of my favorite columns in the old RG! Hope you'll cover Denmark soon!

Back to the Eighties: Much better looking than before, and I'm sure the content is as good as it used to be!

RetroRevival: Nice big screenshot of classic games! An simple and great way to remember yesterdays gaming greats!

The Classic Game: These are in-depth looks into classic games, and what RG is all about! It is basicly what Edge do in their "making of" series, but now in RG we'll have more than one feature per issue (this time around: Dizzy, Super Metroid and Simon the Sorcerer - each one has four pages!)

Boss Rush: Good idea!

Company Profile: Always good to read a long feature on a classic software house. And with Amsoft in this issue, the future of the feature looks bright!

Magic Moments: A good idea for us to remember those classic moments!

Retroinspection: A long in-depth look at the ZX Spectrum in this issue! Superb!!

The Complete Lowdown: This will provide a view on a classic games series (Leisure Suit Larry in this issue), and I for one hope that the upcoming articles will stay as complete as they can get (meaning that EVERY version of the game should be covered - yes that means the PC Engine and the MSX ones, too!)

Eastern Delights: This is what I like about retro these days: exotic japanese games! I hope it will have more pages in the next issue, though! Two is not enough!

Developer Lookback: Same idea as the Company Profile, but with focus the the classic software developers (duh!). Wow, we sure a spoiled these days! Magnetic Fields is one of my favorite 8-bit developers around, so this feature is off to a great start!

Feature: Perfect Dark N64: Well, this is an very in-depth look at Joanna Dark's first game. As I can see Tomb Raider is ready for the next issue, I guess the idea is to write about games that are stuck somewhere between retro and current gaming. As long as the writing and the game is good though, I'm happy!

Desert Island Disks: One of the best ideas to come out of the old RG. This one is for keeps! Pickford Brothers rocks!

RetroRated: Zzapback to the good old day when you actually liked to read the game reviews! Great use of the old Zzap tradition of illustrations of the reviewers! I like! (And cool with the 'retro Gamer Sizzler'!)

... see my next post...

[Mayhem]

Love the layout, like the design, very clear and presentable with, as said, an Edge like touch

Only fault I have design wise is, and I don't know if this is just how it is or just how my copy printed, but the text on the Hero/Villain of the Month section is incredibly fuzzy and hard to read. Apart from that, nothing much to complain about!

Good balance of articles, maybe just get some C64 stuff in there (oh now there's an opportunity for me to think on something) in the future

[Fandenivoldsk]

.... Continued from my first post...

Retro Scene:
Good to see that you don't forget the roots of current homebrew development! This section is also one of my favorite parts of the old RG, and now it's even better!

Bargain hunt:
Nice!

All in all I must say that this first issue of the new RG is bloody fantastic! The layout is very very nice (thanks Markie!), and the writing and the overall feel of the magazine is spot on! Long may you rule RG!

Rating: 10/10 (awesome first issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[Shane R. Monroe]

America Free Retro: What a great idea to give Shane Monroe his own column! That man has kept the whole retro news coverage going for a long time now, so it's great to see him getting something back!

Very kind of you! Thanks!

[fgasking]

Ever since it launched, its constantly improved, and now yet again with the relaunch. It's freshened it up a lot, and certainly it feels slightly like Edge in its look and feel

Really love the Zzap tribute bits dotted throughout (The Sizzlers, the cartoon faces)... really nice touch!

Small columns and comments by developers like Archer are a great idea, and I hope there will be similiar from other developers too if you can get them to write a small bit. (Anyone pass me Archer's email btw? )

Thanks for the kind comments on Sub Hunter too... shock to see a mention on it so early, so we hope we can make it live up to whats been said so far.

If you guys manage to dig some more up on Mire Mare for one issue, that will be one heck of an article for the future

[Markie]

If you guys manage to dig some more up on Mire Mare for one issue, that will be one heck of an article for the future

Many, many thanks for the kind words... Keep 'em coming hehe!

Mire Mare, huh??!! Funny you should say that....

[Duddyroar]

What's the website of the month?

[merman]

Actually I noticed the fuzzy text on Hero/Villain OTM (which is a great idea BTW, along with the little best/worst at the top of the reviews section)

I would have given the first issue 9 and a half out of ten, but then you went and used the "Our type of game" pun, so you lose the half

[Markie]

Hiya Merman... hope you like your new reviewer head piccy!

Our type of game pun! lol... I thought we'd have got stung far more for the 'Eggshellent' pun with Dizzy!

The fuzzy text BTW is because the first fresh copies of RG19 were literally fresh out from the printers, and a few copies have that page slightly out of registration. But to be on the safe side.. I'll bold the text up for No.20, OK?!

[smila]

Got myn yesterday , bloody great work - its glossy and jam packed full of great articles.

Dunno what i was expecting but its way better then i thought it would be - should never of doubted you fellas should

Me n scottige are chuffed to bits getting remake of the month for "monty on the run" too - cheers

[merman]

Hiya Merman... hope you like your new reviewer head piccy!

Our type of game pun! lol... I thought we'd have got stung far more for the 'Eggshellent' pun with Dizzy!

The fuzzy text BTW is because the first fresh copies of RG19 were literally fresh out from the printers, and a few copies have that page slightly out of registration. But to be on the safe side.. I'll bold the text up for No.20, OK?!

As the saying goes, you can't make a Dizzy review without cracking a few egg puns

Yes, I love my "new" reviewer head. I also love the fact I'm the only one doing the "thumbs up"

Sorry, stepping all over the feedback thread here...

Can I say how much I enjoyed the other freelancer articles... without sounding like a creep?

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Can I say how much I enjoyed the other freelancer articles... without sounding like a creep?

No, no you can't LOL

[The Last Ginja]

I Like the new mag, I'm just bitter and twisted that you aren't honouring ex subscribers subscriptions!

[romanista]

first - compliments on getting it to Holland so soon, only one day after UK (former) subscribers got it! (even before the retrosurvival cd)

(1) the feel of the mag is much better, it seems to have more content in the same pages (no empty two pages introductions)
(2) love the new look and the references to old zzap style things.. hope you'll introduce some amiga power elements too..
(3) articles: were a bit spectrum oriented, but i'm sure the better machines (commodore, natch) will get some attention soon
(4) good to see Japanese retro not being forgotten..
(5) hope to see some vectrex attention back, i know the article intended for article 19 is on the RS cd.. but that's not the same
(6) now you don't have a cd, it might be an idea to put some links and downloads on your website, relevant to the article
(7) i had higher expectations from shane's column, all it basically said was "americans use credit cards, the DTV is nice"
(8) but i'm very happy stuart campbell will be writing a pacman article...