Mister Zero

Such a good interview! Thanks for setting this up, I bow to you!Definitely thanks to Mr. Shuman for even doing it, that's so cool. It's really interesting finding out the internal workings of one of the bigger magazines out there.

There's always PS2! Easy to find right now for cheap and backwards compatible. Plus you could get the good games for PS2 as well. It seems they just pump out collections now for the hell of it. Not much thought is put into them anymore, from what I've seen.

I picked this up when I was working at a video store. The cute girl and the screenshots on the back of the box drew me in. It wasn't the BEST game, but it did surprise me a bit, I had fun playing it.

Making a torrent is pretty easy. You just make a torrent file and point it to the location of the files on your hard drive, add trackers and seed. As for the magazine files, they're not huge, so it wouldn't be terribly taxing to seed or download. Like I've said before, I was lead here a few years ago by downloading a supposed Retromags Nintendo Power torrent. This is a good and bad thing. If you can just find a torrent out there in the open, there's no need for membership to a website. Plus, some torrents may not even be real Retromags torrents. They could also be taken off-site and shared elsewhere but I guess any of this current work could, too. Torrents are linked with piracy a lot of times, yes. Someone in charge of actually publishing these magazines could come across something like a torrent that is easy to access and may take it the wrong way. They could do the same thing with the website itself, though, so this is open to suggestion. To me, it's a double edged sword. You could easily access the full RM collection of a magazine through a torrent, pick through and download the issues you want like with the site, or you could just download all of them through the torrent. The downside is losing new RM memberships, and the exclusivity of it all. We could possibly lose new contributors also because a lot more people would just be taking and not giving or even knowing they can contribute. I think right now we've been successful at creating a pretty useful little community, with a good few people contributing to the site in different ways. Putting torrents out into the internet may affect this.

Kotaku news: http://kotaku.com/5419236/sunsoft-rises-again-in-west-promises-blaster-master-for-virtual-console-soon

God.. get over it you guys. How old are you? Anyways, my take on the site is that it seems to have grown, and of course we have more magazines up than a few months ago, even if some were taken down for whatever reason. We have some dedicated scanners/editors here and they pump out mags one after another(or a lot at one time). There should be no way we're behind what we were 5 months ago. Yes, there are a lot of guests that show up, but we're also gaining new members too. I'm sure once people take a taste of what RM has to offer, they think it's a good idea to join. We have a few interesting conversations and site exclusive topics that are of interest. A few people seem to want to contribute, too, but sometimes they need better instruction and a finished/updated FAQ/Guide to scanning, editing and uploading which Philly is currently working on. The site altogether is definitely better. Petty bickering is at a low to zero, and we should keep it that way by being the physically(and hopefully somewhat mentally ) mature people that we are. The only problem is that now there seems to be a lack of communication. People aren't posting or sharing ideas or news as much, and I don't know why. I understand news is found elsewhere, and that's fine, this is a retro site after all, but I don't understand why people aren't contributing as much to conversations as a couple of months ago. I used to read tons of updates every day, but now I'm lucky to find a good reply in three days. I am glad meppi is still around at least reading topics, though!

Yeah, I know that already. I'm just saying the price as compared with other places is good for that stick, which has a decent base for modding. I think I'm going to buy a custom made in Japan stick from this guy I know for cheaper than that price. It even has my favorite two characters on it.

I would love to see them emulate Saturn games through that site if possible, or just release an emulator to buy or use. I don't know. I love the Saturn. Some people at the forums at Shoryuken.com compared this pad with an original Saturn pad and the knock-offs you find on eBay, and they are confirmed real Saturn controllers, just a different color.

I figured any of you who may not know about this yet might like to know.. Head on over to www.playSEGA.com to play official flash emulated recreations of your favorite Sega games of old. While you're there you may be interested in joining PlaySEGA VIP, where you'll have the option to order the PlaySEGA controller, which looks to be an official release of the Saturn controller for USB use(read: confirmed PS3 compatible!)! All you have to do is sign up. You'll get a free VIP pass, but you can then add a subscription if you'd like, which allows you the option of buying a USB compatible Saturn-type controller for 4.95 added shipping(3 month sub minumum)! Good deal! Add the promocode 'segafans' for 15% off, and you're set! 17.70 isn't a bad price to pay for a USB Saturn pad, not to mention the official online retro Sega flash games!

Man, Blockbuster used to be great, this ad proves it.

Ah, I always meant to throw in that I don't HATE hate the game, I'm addicted to playing it. I just can't get over some of the flaws it has, they shouldn't be there. Yeah, I was going to add in rage-quitters, too, but it hasn't been a terrible problem for me. I though of adding the difficulty of the Trials mode. I felt like I was going on a bit long, though, especially for anyone who might not play Street Fighter much. I tried to keep the interest for everyone up a bit. Glad that someone actually read this.. I had doubts because of the length. I try to be well articulated, but I'm definitely no English major. My use of grammar and vocabulary is sometimes a bit sketchy! Thanks for reading!

I've recently been raving a lot about Street Fighter IV and it's problems. Most people I talk to don't understand what annoys me about it, so I've decided to dedicate my first ever blog entry to the issues I have with the game. Let me first start by saying this rant is based on the XBox 360 version of the game, you know, the one where you can't use the default Xbox controller to play with because it registers so terribly? Spending $30+ for a new controller on top of buying this game should not be mandatory. Somehow I've come CLOSE to my normal playing ability, but I'm still not fully confident I'm playing at Street Fighter Alpha 3 on Playstation accuracy. The 360's D-Pad in no way works to play this game, and the analog stick is decent, as it ends up being somewhat close to playing with a fight stick. Now, don't first-glance me. I'm not bitching because I suck at the game. I've been playing Street Fighter's incarnations since 1992- Street Fighter II: The World Warrior on SNES and Special Championship Edition on Genesis. No, I didn't start on arcade because where I live, there are virtually no good arcades. Since then I feel I've become a pretty accomplished player, starting out by playing as Ryu, Ken and other Shotoclones, branching out and trying charge characters and attempting to get good with the lesser-used like Dhalsim. I've settled on Cammy, as she's always been a favorite of mine(since Super Street Fighter II, that is) as far as moves and she's not bad to look at, either. Before I verbally beat the crap out of Street Fighter IV, let me first take you back to it's release and my first impressions. February 2009- my best friend gets ahold of the game and calls me to come over and see it, which I do, and I'm very impressed with what I see and play. The game seems to be almost everything I could ask for in a Street Fighter game minus a few of the old bonuses the old games had. No bonus rounds, special modes(aside from Time Attack, Survival and obligatory Practice modes). I had my blinders on anyways, so I didn't notice this at first. I was however, very impressed with the Trial mode that taught you useful combos and essential moves and timing. I ws happy and wanted the game immediately. About half a year later, the game was still $45 pre-owned at the local monopolizing 'GameStore.' I check eBay and within a few minutes I found the game for half the price and bid, the game was mine. It arrived and I began to play at my hearts content. Until I bit deeper into the game and hit a bone. At first I had to unlock some characters, so to Arcade mode I went. The game's AI was pretty good at Medium level, it gave me a bit of a challenge, which surprised me. Finally, the last battle came, a new guy named Seth. Let me stop here to talk about this guy. Named after Seth Killian, Capcom's Community Manager who is rumoured to be a pretty damn good SF player, the character is storied to be a new body created for M.Bison that absorbs information on fighting styles and incorporates others' special moves into his own. This allows for Seth to have a special move for every situation imaginable. Couple that with super AI that Capcom developed for the game and you've got a pretty tough opponent. A little TOO tough. Something about the AI seems to make it able to read which move you're going to use and pick you apart at every button press. Many of his moves hit waaay more than once to further increase the difficulty, or should I just say, the cheapness. Ridiculously multi-hitting moves abound in SFIV and that's another crack I'll uncover here. I also noticed that he was a bit overpowered. Like many other characters in the game, some of his normal hits and special attacks drain a lot of life and for no apparent reason. The others I speak of are Sagat, Honda, Blanka, and Zangief. But wait, of course I know a couple of these guys are overpowered to balance how slow or easy to hit they are. This has always been the case with a few of them, including Zangief and Honda. There's no reason for Sagat and Blanka to take this seat as well. I've had about a 4th of my life bar drained by Sagat's regular heavy uppercut(not Tiger Uppercut). Blanka can usually just sit back and charge any of his special moves and be ready to drain your life at the blink of an eye. And like Sagat, he's also coupled with devastating regular attacks like his low heavy punch, and heavy kicks. Sagat also has a problem with multi-hitting specials. His Ultra combo, Tiger Destruction(guess the name fits..), can tear you apart. Also on this list are Ryu's Ultra Hadouken, Ken's Ultra Shoryuken and of course, Blanka's Ultra. Akuma's Ultra Instant Hell Murder is an honorable mention, but it can be easily avoided so it's not on the list. Sagat, Ken, and Akuma also have dangerous multi-hitting normal attacks as well. These are all somewhat petty annoyances because they can be avoided, but I feel I've lost too many matches just because half of my life bar was drained by a stupid attack that is just way too overpowered and hits too many times. Anything over 17-hits without a normal combo added beforehand is just ridiculous unless we're playing Killer Instinct. Needless to say, most people who you play against online choose these cheap powerhouses to bait an easy win. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg with online play issues. Why do people online want to win other than supremacy over others? This is still unclear to me aside from the recently added Championship mode, where you can rank up by gradually building points. See, there's also a Ranked online mode which uses these things called BP, Battle Points. How they are awarded and their use is somewhat of a mystery. Seems like I'll win a match and win maybe 5 BP, then I'll lose the next one and 100 BP will go with it. Why? Nobody knows but Capcom. The easiest way of connecting to play someone online is supposed to be the Quick Match option. I'm not sure why but this is always hit-and-miss. It gives you a list of three different players to choose from each time you enter or refresh, and beside the name it shows they connection speed in the form of a colored bar. The best being green, then yellow, orange, and finally red. Well, you'd think green would be the best to connect to, so you try them when you see them. Sometimes they just won't work! From connection, it's then broken down into language preference. My default language is English, so I'm supposed to be able to connect to English speakers more readily than other languages. Again, somehow this doesn't work right. I'll be allowed to play Hiro in Japan with a red bar, but not Johnny in California who has a yellow bar. Why, Capcom, why?! I usually end up just making my own room and letting only certain people with a high enough bar play. Kinda shitty that I have to do that, but that's how it works best. I'll talk briefly about the 'Special Modes,' but there's not much to say. There's Time Attack and Survival mode, if you fully beat them you unlock taunts or costume colors. You'd think it would be semi-easy, as most people like to have these features from the start. No, no. Capcom didn't bar any holds here, either. Going through these modes is ridiculous as anything else in this game. They sometimes make you play through most of the characters in the game before ending a SECTION of the trial. I think there are 5 or so sections of each mode, and to unlock anything, you have to beat them all. The easy mode for each is decently paced and difficult, but the hard mode, which counts for the most bonuses is crazy. The first match or two you have to beat anywhere from 14-22 characters to even finish the section. It just makes everything annoying to say the least. There is no reason for this. I can understand that maybe some of the tournament players(the best SF players of all) would appreciate the challenge, but everyone else who is an average player like me just gets pissed and disappointed. I'm not willing to become a tournament player just to unlock some stupid alternate costume colors. I don't have THAT much time to waste. Or do I? I am sitting here, after all... Citations, just to prove I'm not just blowing steam: Capcom admits overpowered characters: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/13/capcom-admits-to-overpowered-seth-and-sagat-in-street-fighter-iv/ Capcom says Seth will be even cheaper in SSFIV: http://kotaku.com/5385868/capcom-seth-will-be-cheaper-in-super-street-fighter-iv

Yet another update from Joystiq: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/06/super-street-fighter-iv-trailer-unlocks-bonus-stages/ (Trailer available @ link) I could bitch for days on how bad SFIV is now that I've spent an extended bit of time with it. This game should hopefully be a fixed version with more bonuses and better online play. I can't wait to tear into a car again!

So this game was basically like Pit Fighter? I used to have a good piss watching the demo of that game at the local laundromat.

I didn't touch any of the newer FF games after IX, they just didn't have that Final Fantasy feel to me. Not big on the character designs or any of the designs for that matter. This one looks interesting, at least. Hopefully it shapes up to be a good game more in line with the original Final Fantasy series.

I second Ninja Five-O if you can find it, I love that game Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX (Contra 3) Iridion 2 Double Dragon EX River City Ransom EX F-Zero Maximum Velocity

It just made me feel like it would be an experience in the same vein, all the "Ooh! It's gonna hit us! Look out!" type stuff. I'll be seeing it sometime this week. Question- is there any substance to the movie or is it all about narrowly escaping disaster?

SFIV was mad laggy for a long time in the beginning, too. Even now you can hardly find anyone to match up with who doesn't have at least slight lag. I figure T6 will probably be the same.

I like the maps and everything from the strategy guides. The Official Nintendo Players Guide's maps just recently helped me, although confusingly, to understand where to go in Goonies II and beat it. No other book had that info, and for good reason I suppose. Sure, you can find a bitmap MS Paint or ASCII map online, but it pales in comparison to actual screencap maps. Online FAQs can sometimes be confusing and use terrible grammar. The guides also have lesser covered games that you wouldn't find a walkthrough for in normal publications. I'm in favor of having strategy guides to look at when I need them, but I've found them elsewhere. This site is mainly for magazines and I respect and enjoy that. Keep em coming, guys.

Up! for $10, nice! My g/f and her mom went to see 2012 over the weekend and they said it was a must-see. I thought it looked nice from the previews but reminded me of a certain 80s/90s Universal Studios ride.

More detailed info from the source: http://www.xbox.com/en-us/live/update/default.htm I was ecstatic to hear that last.fm would be supported. I've used it for about 6 years now, but it seems you can't listen to last.fm while playing games, which to me is fail. I probably won't end up using it as much due to that alone. The Facebook thing is kind of neat and has a lot of options. I don't have a Twitter account nor will I so that's nothing I care much about.

News from QJ.net:http://ps3.qj.net/Final-Fantasy-XIII-dated-for-North-America-Europe/pg/49/aid/135915

Kotaku news: http://kotaku.com/5403098/starcraft-ii-expansions-diablo-iii-coming-in-next-few-years?skyline=true&s=x