Welcome to Retromags! Introduce Yourself (2016 Edition)

[Phillyman]

Welcome to Retromags! Please feel free to introduce yourself to everyone in this topic. Where are you from? How old are you? What brought you here? We would like to know!

[Areala]

Hello, guys, girls, and people of indeterminate and/or fluid gender! I am Areala, your lovely and gracious archivist, forum moderator, occasional blog-ess, Warrior Nun (puns about me being 'habit forming', along with forum spam, will be met with deadly force) and, according to posting history counts, the fourth-largest blabbermouth on the forums. I apologize for the last; everything else, I expect you to suffer graciously.

Phillyman asks an awful lot of questions, doesn't he? Well, he's the site owner. Let him ask away. Answer only what you're comfortable with, add new things you think are interesting, and remember: posts get you those lovely little credits which one day may be good for items in a yet-to-be-integrated store, to purchase additional downloads, or other rewards he's got planned somewhere up there in his cranium.

I'm from Indiana in the United States, which is about to celebrate it's 200th anniversary as a state come 2016...not bad for a place known mostly for being a hub to get to anywhere else on the planet. I am old enough to know better, and young enough not to care. I came here seeking knowledge and stayed because no one was nasty enough to poke me with sticks when I de-lurked. This was the first website I found that catered to my obsession with collecting game magazines, so I stuck around. Nice crew here. Mostly clean. All but one or two are litterbox trained.

*huggles*
Areala

[pmo1985]

30 year old from Northwest NJ. A friend of mine gave me the link for the old Nintendo Power

[Zing]

I am a longtime member, and have donated a small amount of money in the past, but the recent promo email incited me to become a lifetime patron. I started out on Usenet, downloading retromagz scans of Nintendo Power. Later, I read through all of Super Play and PSM. Now reading Next Generation.

I'm an older gamer, started with the Atari 2600. My current system are 3DS, Wii U, and just recently bought into the PS3. I am not a big fan of most modern games, but the PS3 has a great library for super cheap! Currently playing Dark Souls, Dragon's Crown, and Atelier Rorona.

I would have an avatar, but the system here limits me to 100k, which is smaller than any of my avatar files on hand.

[te72]

Howdy all, I'm Brad, from Wyoming. Yes it is the middle of nowhere. I'm uh... 32 now? Had to think about that for a second.

Can't say I remember exactly how I came across this site, probably came around the time that I was shocked to learn that Playstation The Official Magazine was being cancelled, and that I was receiving its final issue and that my subscription would be changed over to PC Gamer. Was quite a bummer too, just when they were getting their groove back after the changeover from PSM years earlier. Anyway, PTOM's cancellation struck my collector nerve, and I wanted to rebuild the nearly complete PSM/PTOM collection I had once had. Happy to say that I've successfully managed that.

Other interests include old cars, particularly my 87 Supra turbo, and pretty much anything that handles good.

Sorry about the litter box thing Areala... won't happen again.

[miketheratguy]

I'm Mike, "miketheratguy" a nickname being given to me during a time when I bred and raised fancy rats. I was born and raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin 37 years ago and have spent pretty much my entire life playing video games. Why, here's a shot of me quite possibly discovering them for the first time on Christmas Day of 1982. Just look at that lovable little scamp, his mind clearly being blown by what could only be described as his first hit of pure, concentrated awesome (in the form of Donkey Kong for the Atari, but whatever. I'm sure it was neat at the time).

My favorite systems growing up were the NES and SNES though I played just about everything I could get my hands on, and my system count currently sits somewhere around 25. Obviously I'm a lifelong geek, and gaming is one of my best friends. I subscribed to Nintendo Power from issue 1 in 1988 to issue 80 in 1996, and had three subscriptions to EGM in 1994, 2001 and 2006. Also loved PSM for its first couple of years, and dabbled in Gamepro from time to time. Still have fond memories of Game Player's magazine as well as the informative and cheesy game tapes that they released. I'm a child of the 70s but the 80s are where my heart lies.

Playtested a pre-release build of WWE 2K14 back in early 2013, around the time that I had a gig moderating the official forums of now-defunct THQ. Current comings and goings? Not nearly as interesting.

[vice350z]

Hallo folks. 43 (physically) 23 (mentally) year old retro lover from the northeast PA area. Bored one day I googled retro game scans to see if there was anything online about old game mags being scanned in and available for download and found this site. Joined about 6 months or so ago, kinda forgot about the site till and email about joining up as a patron. Joined up and now here I am posting. I have a strange fascination with thigns from the 90's...loved that time in my life.

[te72]

Playtested a pre-release build of WWE 2K14 back in early 2013, around the time that I had a gig moderating the official forums of now-defunct THQ. Current comings and goings? Not nearly as interesting.

Ahh, THQ... now there is one that I'll miss, if only for the fact that they put out the original Red Faction, and Darksiders. I know there were more games they made, but those two in particular stuck with me.

I have a strange fascination with thigns from the 90's...loved that time in my life.

You'd only be strange if you didn't love the 90's.

[kitsunebi]

I've lived in too many places in the US to call any of them home, but for the past 8 years have lived in Japan. My first gaming system was the Commodore Vic20, but it was the NES and Nintendo Power that turned me into a game mag connoisseur. I don't own any consoles newer than the X-Box/PS2/Gamecube generation, so I guess that makes me primarily a retrogamer at this point, although I'll play the occasional newer PC game from time to time. I don't remember when I first discovered this site (and a few others hosting mag downloads), but the over 360GB of gaming mags I've got saved on my HDD should tell you that I'm very grateful such sites exist!

[miketheratguy]

Ahh, THQ... now there is one that I'll miss, if only for the fact that they put out the original Red Faction, and Darksiders. I know there were more games they made, but those two in particular stuck with me.

Yeah I thought that Red Faction II was really good myself. I'm a longtime fan of old-school wrestling and for a while there they really had a few great wrestling titles, so I was sad to see them go. To be fair 2K is following in their stead but I don't think that they've gotten the hang of it yet.

[Areala]

Yeah I thought that Red Faction II was really good myself. I'm a longtime fan of old-school wrestling and for a while there they really had a few great wrestling titles, so I was sad to see them go. To be fair 2K is following in their stead but I don't think that they've gotten the hang of it yet.

The Smackdown series from THQ and Yukes was the only wrestling title I ever got into from the PS1/PS2 era. The current incarnations of Smackdown/Raw/whatever just don't have the same feel and got too complicated for my tastes.

Then again, I'm a total sucker for a few rounds of "Pro Wrestling" on the NES, but I still can't beat Great Puma without my NES Advantage.

*huggles*

Areala

[miketheratguy]

The Smackdown series from THQ and Yukes was the only wrestling title I ever got into from the PS1/PS2 era. The current incarnations of Smackdown/Raw/whatever just don't have the same feel and got too complicated for my tastes.

Then again, I'm a total sucker for a few rounds of "Pro Wrestling" on the NES, but I still can't beat Great Puma without my NES Advantage.

*huggles*

Areala

Pro Wrestling was great, I cut my wrestling teeth on that one. Got it for my...must have been 10th birthday, I think? I don't believe I ever finished it either, now that you mention it. I would then move on to other wrestling games like Wrestlemania, Tag Team Wrestling and MUSCLE, which were various degrees of crappy, as well as Tecmo World Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling which were actually both pretty good.

I spent so much time on THQ's forums raving about the intricacies of my favorite titles in the series (which at that time were Smackdown v Raw 2006 and, in particular, 2002's "Shut Your Mouth"). I too started to get burnt out on the series around 2007 or so, but they made a couple of games after that that really made me excited to be a fan again. Then the company went bankrupt, the franchise got picked up by 2K, and...Idunno. My understanding is that in the interest of "realistic simulation" (what's the realistic way for a video game to simulate a predetermined exhibition of athletic choreography?) the series is as complicated as it's ever been. You're probably not missing much.

[te72]

Yeah I thought that Red Faction II was really good myself. I'm a longtime fan of old-school wrestling and for a while there they really had a few great wrestling titles, so I was sad to see them go. To be fair 2K is following in their stead but I don't think that they've gotten the hang of it yet.

See I thought RF2 was almost awful compared to the first game. Why? Can't really put my finger on it, but I didn't like it. Still have it for whatever reason though.

Also, I forgot about their wrestling titles. I don't think I've played any wrestling games since the N64 era. Those four player brawls were a blast at parties.

Then again, I'm a total sucker for a few rounds of "Pro Wrestling" on the NES, but I still can't beat Great Puma without my NES Advantage.

*huggles*

Areala

Great Puma? Why did you have to go and remind me about that masked demon??? Having some nasty flashbacks and my hands are remembering some rather rectangular imprints...

[gamesmame]

Hello boys and girls, here I am introducing myself, my name is Christian - nickname: gamesmame, I am a fan of Retrogames the centuries, I'm 35 years old, but the games most played were the ATARI, for when the guys had a NES or master system at the time was to RICH, I gained a ATARI and so I was always one or two generations ago, and I do not regret I was very happy and glad boot, when I got the NES then realized I had much of a difference between games of a console to another, with the NES i felt we had a real ARCADE at home, because I saw the ARCADE at the bar a Double Dragon and soon came the NES cartridge and I talked our've ARCADE game at home, little did I know that there were NEOGEO and others with monster firepower! this is a short part of me, excuse the size is that got carried away .. Anyway gamesmame am more a friend retrogamer! hug to everyone!

[Areala]

Great Puma? Why did you have to go and remind me about that masked demon??? Having some nasty flashbacks and my hands are remembering some rather rectangular imprints...

Because when I took my vows, I made it a promise not to be served, but to serve.

They weren't specific about what exactly I should be serving to others, so I figured it was cool to make my own choice. I picked 'pain', 'humiliation', and 'tacos' because really, after you've been tortured and embarrassed for a while, a taco can really hit the spot!

*huggles*

Areala

[gamesmame]

Thank you friend @Areala for moving to the right place my message and sorry for my lack of attention, I am happy to be part of this so nice family, I will soon collaborate with some uploads of some magazines that I have here, I got some Japanese magazines NEOGEOFREAK Will I be able to share with the guys? It has a specific place to send my magazines (books) ? Hugs..

[Iano]

I'm Iano. I'm so glad I found this site as I grew up with retro game mags! I'm big into just about any kind of gaming, but don't have anywhere the time I'd like for it anymore. Sometimes I spend hours looking at retro gaming stuff on eBay for fun, if I started buying it I probably wouldn't stop.

[dawnofhero]

Name's Matthew. Husband, soon-to-be-dad, and I for some reason live in chilly MN, ha. Love comics and anything Nintendo related. It helps that my first console was an NES, and I had the privilege of playing all the old Nintendo systems from there. Found this site randomly while in search of retro 'Nintendo Power' magazines I could download and read from my computer. Really brings back memories, plus I wanted to read ones I never got to read before.

[pablumatic]

Longtime classic video game fan here. 39 years old. Looking for issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly and it seems I'm in the right spot.

[te72]

Because when I took my vows, I made it a promise not to be served, but to serve.

They weren't specific about what exactly I should be serving to others, so I figured it was cool to make my own choice. I picked 'pain', 'humiliation', and 'tacos' because really, after you've been tortured and embarrassed for a while, a taco can really hit the spot!

*huggles*

Areala

Bwahahaha, you know... I get the distinct feeling there's a knowing wink and a double meaning in your post there. I too, enjoy the taco err, tacos from time to time.

I'm Iano. I'm so glad I found this site as I grew up with retro game mags! I'm big into just about any kind of gaming, but don't have anywhere the time I'd like for it anymore. Sometimes I spend hours looking at retro gaming stuff on eBay for fun, if I started buying it I probably wouldn't stop.

Careful, it is indeed a slippery slope. If I had my way, I'd probably own complete collections of Nintendo Power, EGM, Gamepro, Next Generation, and Game Players / UGP, to go along with my complete collection of PSM / PTOM. However, budget aside, I honestly don't know when I would find time to read them all.

Life has a bit too much content in general these days, wouldn't you agree?

[toxicatom5]

Hello All!

I just happened upon this site today, and was ecstatic to find a community that has been built around this topic. Immediately felt at home.

I'm a passionate collector of all things video games -- addicted really -- with collections spanning the Atari 800 through the current consoles. That makes it sound far more compete than it actually is!

My gaming background is a little bit wonky, because, growing up, my parents weren't too keen on gaming. Some games were deemed acceptable (Donkey Kong, Pitfall, Missle Command), but that was the extent of my parent's comfort level. When I was allowed get a new game, it was usually of the educational variety. Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoyed the many, many hours of Carmen Sandiego that I played, but when games like Doom came out, haha, well let's just say that was an unwinnable argument.

It's a little strange, but now I'm actually happy to have missed out on many of those experiences as a kid, because it gives me a different perspective from my friends, and that makes for fun conversations -- I'm experiencing them for the very first time, while they have memories from decades ago. Where I'm at now is that I'm basically trying to fill-in all those gaps in my gaming history and that retrospective is what brought me here! Looking forward to getting into the conversations!

[te72]

Welcome aboard toxicatom5. Interesting background you have there, must be an ace at Oregon Trail, no?

[toxicatom5]

Welcome aboard toxicatom5. Interesting background you have there, must be an ace at Oregon Trail, no?

haha, oh yes! Many of those games are available to play online for free now. Glad the kids today can still experience dysentery like we did.

[te72]

I was always more a fan of cholera myself.

Did anyone else just load up on bullets, a couple pounds of food, and maybe two sets of clothes for everyone? I never found the game to be that challenging as long as you were prepped to hunt.

[toxicatom5]

That's right, you could shoot as many Bison as you needed on the trail. Buying food in advance was for suckers.