When Live Publishing closed its doors in August 2005, it appeared to spell the end for Retro Gamer magazine – the UK’s first (and foremost) publication devoted to vintage gaming. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case and after a few months' absence it has recently made a triumphant return to newsstands thanks to the efforts of Imagine Publishing, and is looking better than ever. However, in the months of uncertainty that followed the death of Live, the largely freelance staff decided that they weren’t going to take the demise of their beloved magazine lying down and set about collating the articles already written for the ‘lost issue 19’ to create Retro Survival – a CD-ROM-based magazine celebrating the memory of Retro Gamer.
The CD-ROM is produced to the highest standard – one could be forgiven for assuming it was a cover-mounted disc, such is the quality of the packaging. The disc is shipped in a shrink-wrapped DVD case with a glossy printed inlay. Even the CD itself has been professionally pressed. But it’s what’s inside that counts, and thankfully Retro Survival does not disappoint.
The staff will be familiar to those who read the original Retro Gamer (some of which are also thankfully still writing for the new version of the magazine) and aside from the obvious difference in medium, it manages to retain the vibrant feel of the original publication. The disc launches straight into a browser application, which is used to view the contents, ‘website’ style. Production values are excellent throughout and the design is clean and appealing. Thanks to the vast storage space offered by the CD, readers are also treated to MP3 sound bites and video footage in AVI format.
Here’s a rundown of some of the highlights.
Altered Beast
Robert Mellor charts the history of this underrated franchise, from the arcade original through to the numerous home conversions and the recent GBA outing. Well-researched and packed with colourful screenshots, this feature will no doubt bring a smile to the face of many a Sega fanboy.
Console Casualties
Everyone remembers the successful consoles – the NES, the Mega Drive, the SNES – but what of those machines that fell at the first fence? Some interesting and obscure machines are featured here, along with photos.
Ganbare Goeman Series
John Szczepaniak's excellent tribute to Konami's legendary franchise leaves no stone unturned. A breakdown of each entry in the series is included and there're some interesting extras such as a TV advert and footage of the Nintendo DS addition to the series. This feature alone is worth the price of admission.
The History of Retro Gamer Magazine
Written before the revival of the publication in the hands of Imagine, this feature charts the glorious rise and heartbreaking fall of Retro Gamer. Also includes profiles of some of the key staff writers, as well as interesting press releases regarding the birth (and temporary death) of the publication. The resurrection of the magazine takes away some of the impact, but it serves as an excellent introduction to Retro Gamer if you haven’t read the magazine in the past.
Vectrex Feature
Clocking in at a muscular nineteen pages, Mat Allen’s piece on this classic console is another in-depth feature. Again the possibilities of the CD-ROM delivery system are exploited to fine effect with the inclusion of interviews in MP3 format and video footage.
The Def Tribute to Zzap!64
The ‘all new’ Zzap!64 issue produced by Rob de Voogd (better known as Mr Zzapback on the web) was printed and given away free with an issue of Retro Gamer. It’s included on the disc in high-quality PDF format, along with several pages that were left out of the printed magazine. If you didn’t catch it the first time round then here’s another chance to view this piece of history. With contributions from original Zzap!64 staffers and some high-profile fans, this is a must-read.
Although the above can be deemed highlights, in truth everything included in this issue is well worth reading. Retro Gamer magazine always took pride in the fact that it was written by fans for fans, and the enthusiasm found in both the old and new versions of the publication is clearly evident here.
NTSC-UK had a chat with Ashley Day (better known as Kaladron on the forums) about his role in producing this one-off issue:
You and the Retro Survival team have really embraced the possibilities of the CD-ROM storage medium – do you think there’s potential for other packages like this one outside of Retro Gamer?
The CD format definitly has its advantages. As well as the text you get videos, sounds and all sorts of archived content and easter eggs plus the added advantage of being able to read the "magazine" at work without being noticed. Since Retro Gamer has now dropped its cover disc there's certainly room for us to do another issue. It all depends on how well Issue 1 sells.
What are your thoughts on the demise and subsequent resurrection of the magazine?
As both a contributor and reader I was heartbroken when the magazine went under so I was incredibly pleased when Imagine resuscitated it. Those five or so months without the magazine were miserable for me. I honestly believe it is the best multi-format magazine to grace British newsstands and is an invaluable resource for gaming historians.
How did the idea of creating Retro Survival come about?
There were two main resons for the creation of Retro Survival. Firstly, when Live Publishing went into administration, Retro Gamer Issue 19 had been finished for a while but had not been printed. Readers were crying out for the magazine and, since we freelancers had written the bulk of material, we had a way to get the content into their hands. Secondly Live's collapse left the writers seriously out of pocket as they were owed money for articles going all the way back to April 2005. Many of us write for a living so were hit pretty hard by Live's problems. The Retro Survival CD was a handy way to recoup a small percentage of our losses.
Could you tell us a little about the process of creating Retro Survival?
We decided that the CD should be as close to the intended Issue 19 as possible (not to be confused with Imagine's #19 which has completely different content) so much of the content was already written. We had to come up with some new content though, like an excellent Desert Island Disks that turned the mic onto Paul Drury, the usual writer of that piece. We also managed to convince Mr Biffo to write a foreword to the CD. He's a big fan of the magazine and kindly helped us out by writing something that's so funny it's almost worth the asking price alone.
The CD itself was designed and built by Mat Allen and his brother Tom, who deserve the most credit for the countless hours of hard work they put in. Other than that it was just a case of attending several meetings, proof reading everything twice and arranging advertising. It was scarily similar to producing a professional magazine and claimed every waking hour of our lives for about three months. I hope our girlfriends can forgive us.
What’s it like working on the new-look magazine?
The standards of the magazine are much higher, which means that we all feel obliged to write better articles - which is no bad thing. The team at Imagine have turned a great magazine into an even better one and it's a pleasure to be involved. I should add that Darran Jones - like Martyn Carrol before him - is a brilliant editor who is very committed to the mag. Which is why you will see the excellent Wil Overton painted cover this month and a wealth of great stuff to come in 2006.
Click here to visit the Retro Survival site and and details of how to buy your copy of the disc
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