Why do you visit Retromags?

[kitsunebi]

3 hours ago, MigJmz said:

how do you get access  to all these covers? Are they digital releases or real copys?

Some of both.  Digital is best, since I don't own a flatbed scanner, so other than the issues I scan and release here, any pics I take of mags I own are just snapshots taken with a camera (and edited in Photoshop to try to hide that fact, but still...)  But a lot are just covers I've found through countless hours of combing the internets.  As much time as I spend directly uploading things to the site or creating new galleries/databases, I imagine I spend 5-10 times longer researching the mags I'm working on adding to the site and combing through hundreds/thousands of websites and image searches looking for information and suitable pics for the gallery.  I've got hundreds of folders full of thousands of images yet to be uploaded, but I usually wait until I've exhausted my search for all of the available covers for a given mag before I start uploading (this delay has the benefit of allowing me to often replace images in my archives with better ones - hopefully the best ones - before they ever get uploaded here).  And nearly every cover I find gets run through Photoshop and cleaned up before I upload it here.

Especially with Japanese mags that aren't published on a regular monthly schedule, I often have to find some sort of evidence (such as a cover) for every single issue in its run before it can be added to the database.  When I first started scanning Famitsu and Dengeki PlayStation, I first had to do weeks (months?) of research tracking down information on every single issue so that the correct dates could be assigned to each issue in the database.  So yeah, I've currently uploaded over 14,100 gallery pics and created over 4,500 database entries, but that's nothing compared to how much time I've sunk into gathering the necessary data to be able to do so in the first place.

3 hours ago, MigJmz said:

You upload constantly !

Tell me about it.  I just hit 21,000 content.  I have a screenshot from when I hit 19,000 on Oct. 7.  So that's basically 1,000 per month.  Over 30 per day.  Most of those are covers.  If I'm not uploading, I'm probably asleep or at work.

[rexxorx]

Mainly for the nostalgia and for the scans

[zeejay21]

Let's see:

At first, it was just finding some old video game mags that I dearly missed.

Second, after finding the dearly missed mags, I became curious on other mags that I missed on buying when they were around physically; I then browse around just for fun.

Third, turns out I have way too much fun browsing that I didn't realized that I've long so site till from evening to next morning!

Fourth, I'd forgotten about this site for a time that I missed seeing Forum section; now exploring (and replying) actually.

Fifth, I'm addicted to video games mags.

[Bucklar]

I've been coming here for 4+ years to see if that one magazine that's "scanning" has finally finished being scanned!(Game Players 62).

 

I hope this doesn't come across as whining, but I think I must be under some grave misunderstanding as to what 'scanning' means or how this process works. Every time I come here I find some new manual or magazine that I loved as a kid, so I've come to appreciate and love this community regardless. I just really want to re-read that Maximum Carnage article!

[Areala]

3 hours ago, Bucklar said:

I've been coming here for 4+ years to see if that one magazine that's "scanning" has finally finished being scanned!(Game Players 62).

 

I hope this doesn't come across as whining, but I think I must be under some grave misunderstanding as to what 'scanning' means or how this process works. Every time I come here I find some new manual or magazine that I loved as a kid, so I've come to appreciate and love this community regardless. I just really want to re-read that Maximum Carnage article!

If it's been marked 'Scanning' for over four years, chances are a former member acquired it with plans to scan it and then it just never got finished. @Phillyman, @E-Day, are either of you working on Game Players (1993), or know who might be/might have been (maybe @marktrade)? There are a bunch in the database marked 'Scanning', but it's been quite some time since we've had an issue released. Probably best to change the tags on them if nothing's going to come of it.

*huggles*
Areala

[JHD]

I have no nostalgia for these old magazines simply because I did not read any BITD. I sold my Atari 2600 in 1983 to acquire a computer, and I did not revisit console gaming until I bought a used PlayStation in about 2003. To this day, the most recent console that I own is a PS 2. 

 

I have since discovered emulation, and I am now able to play all of the amazing console games that I had missed in the intervening 20 years. In terms of vintage magazine content, I am mainly interested in reviews and (especially) strategy guides and walkthroughs.  

 

As for why I visit Retromags, obviously for the magazines  (though there are not too many issues/titles that I want that I have not yet acquired from here or elsewhere), but I do also enjoy participating in the forums. I wish that there was more activity and discussion, but I am doing my part.  

[Areala]

34 minutes ago, JHD said:

I have no nostalgia for these old magazines simply because I did not read any BITD. I sold my Atari 2600 in 1983 to acquire a computer, and I did not revisit console gaming until I bought a used PlayStation in about 2003. To this day, the most recent console that I own is a PS 2. 

I have since discovered emulation, and I am now able to play all of the amazing console games that I had missed in the intervening 20 years. In terms of vintage magazine content, I am mainly interested in reviews and (especially) strategy guides and walkthroughs.  

As for why I visit Retromags, obviously for the magazines  (though there are not too many issues/titles that I want that I have not yet acquired from here or elsewhere), but I do also enjoy participating in the forums. I wish that there was more activity and discussion, but I am doing my part.  

The Forums are a strange beast. They go through long periods of relative quiet, then there will be a sudden burst of activity, and then all goes quiet again.

*huggles*
Areala

[Rando1975]

I come to download a bunch of mags, check out some covers for magazines I've never heard of. I don't post on the forums too much. Lately I been splitting time between indexing various magazines I'm nostalgic for and updating various parts of the video game db. I've been going through various systems and adding developer, genre, release date and rating, but currently I've got a bunch of PS2 games that I'm scanning covers for and updated other info. 

[E-Day]

That's why you have over 10,000 database revisions

[Phillyman]

Just now, E-Day said:

That's why you have over 10,000 database revisions

@Rando1975 is close to being the number 1 editor of all the databases! Kitsunebi is the current #1 DB editor.

[cospefogo]

Hello, guys!

If I am not wrong, my last login was in 2013! Can you believe that?

Recently a friend of mine (we are in Brazil) found someone on internet selling a lot of magazines of all sorts — from cinema/movies, to sports, to PC computing and, of course, videogames. The owner is moving to Europe and was in need to sell his collection. My friend was shocked when discovered there the complete run of all brazilian gaming magazines from 90's, in a PERFECT STATE! Brand new!

On top of that, the seller also had few USA GamePro and EGM on the lot — by seeing some videos my friend sent me (he is in another city) I instantly remembered RETROMAGS. I am a huge fan of 90's GamePro and EGM and returned here to check what I could find... AND GUYS, there is a LOT OF LOVE HERE!!! OOOOOHHHH!!! So many scans!

Thank you for this WONDERFUL WORK of yours. Nostalgia is hitting hard in my mind now... Today I am 44 years old but I vividly remember those days back in 1993, 1994 when, from time to time, brazilian comic stores were selling USA gaming magazines — expensive, of course, imported ones — But I have bought many of them.

I regret so much for selling my magazines back in the beginning of 2000's...

Regards!

Cospefogo.

[Areala]

On 10/19/2021 at 6:09 PM, cospefogo said:

Hello, guys!

If I am not wrong, my last login was in 2013! Can you believe that?

Recently a friend of mine (we are in Brazil) found someone on internet selling a lot of magazines of all sorts — from cinema/movies, to sports, to PC computing and, of course, videogames. The owner is moving to Europe and was in need to sell his collection. My friend was shocked when discovered there the complete run of all brazilian gaming magazines from 90's, in a PERFECT STATE! Brand new!

On top of that, the seller also had few USA GamePro and EGM on the lot — by seeing some videos my friend sent me (he is in another city) I instantly remembered RETROMAGS. I am a huge fan of 90's GamePro and EGM and returned here to check what I could find... AND GUYS, there is a LOT OF LOVE HERE!!! OOOOOHHHH!!! So many scans!

Thank you for this WONDERFUL WORK of yours. Nostalgia is hitting hard in my mind now... Today I am 44 years old but I vividly remember those days back in 1993, 1994 when, from time to time, brazilian comic stores were selling USA gaming magazines — expensive, of course, imported ones — But I have bought many of them.

I regret so much for selling my magazines back in the beginning of 2000's...

Regards!

Cospefogo.

What a wonderful treasure trove! Were you able to buy any of the magazines?

*huggles*
Areala

[cospefogo]

3 minutes ago, Areala said:

What a wonderful treasure trove! Were you able to buy any of the magazines?

*huggles*
Areala

Hello, Areala!

Yes yes, although I was in a small city in southern Brazil (faraway from big ones like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo) we got the opportunity to buy few GamePros and EGMs back in 1993, 1994... Most of the time they were not from the current month in USA, but from previous ones... 

And regarding the Brazilian mags, if you guys want to take a look on some scans, there is a online repository with many editions --- however in PDF (I really prefer CBR/CBZ over PDF). Aaah, and they are in Portuguese!

Link to the "Videogame" magazine, the first one we got in the beginning of 90's. The pionneer in Brazil. The most loved one for collectors...

https://datassette.org/revistas/videogame

[blackknight9929]

im here because i enjoy reading magazines from the past

[Retrofuge]

I am here because enjoy gaming history and learning about lost cancelled games.

[Areala]

2 minutes ago, Retrofuge said:

I am here because enjoy gaming history and learning about lost cancelled games.

Welcome to the site, @Retrofuge! 

*huggles*
Areala

[Rando1975]

17 hours ago, Retrofuge said:

I am here because enjoy gaming history and learning about lost cancelled games.

I'm stunned to see the amount of games that end up being cancelled. Often now when I'm indexing a mag, if it has a "previews" section, if I'm not familiar with a game I'll look it up on Gamefaqs or Google to check it out. It's seems that 8 out of 10 mags I index has at least 1 cancelled game.

[Kahran042]

I visit in hopes that someone has uploaded volume 6 of Game Player's Encyclopedia of Nintendo Games.

[Areala]

1 hour ago, Kahran042 said:

I visit in hopes that someone has uploaded volume 6 of Game Player's Encyclopedia of Nintendo Games.

Ah, an individual of taste and distinction!

*huggles*
Areala

[Regame4]

I come here because I love that we can still read old gaming magazines here. Yeah, in modern times you can get your news from the internet or from YouTubers. But nothing will ever replace the excitement of being a kid and waiting for the next Game Pro or Game Informer to arrive, and getting excited if your favorite game characters were on the cover, and soaking up each and every page. Nowadays I've lost a few of my issues, and some were damaged. Its been great to not only read them again, but also discover magazines I didn't know even existed.

[Cejuan25]

Viewing pieces of my childhood for nostalgic purposes. If not for this, it would certainly be lost media.

[LeakyEyeLuca]

Honestly? I love coming here to pore over the gaming magazines of my childhood and to check out issues i might have missed or to discover magazines I had never read before

[SixaraTM]

Many of the magazines here take me back. I mean some take me all the way back to the late 70s and early 80s. Those hit so different then say some of the ones from the 90s. In a way it is like reliving some of my childhood. Amazing website! 

[dowen]

Being a retrogamer, having the satisfaction of knowing that paper media is essentially being "immortalized" makes me happy.

[PixelBoy]

I come here to download magazines to my personal collection. I admit that there was over a year when I didn't visit the site or download anything, but I'm catching up at the moment.

I think Retromags is great because although there are sites with more content, and there are sites with slightly better restoration quality, Retromags offers a mix of good quality and wide selection. I have found obscure magazines that I have never even heard about. "Obscure" being a relative term here obviously, because I come from a non-English-speaking country.

I also very much like how Retromags allows to download stuff without registration, and even torrents of some content. If a site claiming to preserve gaming culture is forcing to do registrations and all that, it feels wrong to me. I can understand that in some cases it can be a legal safety cushion, but as most of the stuff is available anyway on Archive.org or somewhere else, it feels a bit unnecessary.

I decided to register here after many years, because I might be able to participate and contribute in some small-scale fashion (not scanning, I don't have such hardware), mostly with non-English publications, like a bunch which I just randomly saw online that was going to be trashed, but I managed to save them... for now, at least.

 

But anyway, as I hadn't said so before, I can say it here and now: your work is appreciated.

Thanks for all the hard work you are putting into this. I do feel a bit saddened when some download counters aren't even going over 1,000, I think more people should be reading these magazines, but maybe most people just want a single issue or two, and not everything available.