''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering
retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became a monthly. In 2005, a general decline in gaming and computer magazine readership led to the closure of its publishers, Live Publishing,
and the rights to the magazine were later purchased by
Imagine Publishing
Imagine Publishing was a UK-based magazine publisher, which published a number of video games, computing, creative and lifestyle magazines.
It was founded on 14 May 2005 with private funds by Damian Butt, Steven Boyd and Mark Kendrick, all w ...
.
It was taken over by
Future plc
Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photogr ...
on 21 October 2016, following Future's acquisition of Imagine Publishing.
History
The first 18 issues of the magazine came with a
coverdisk. It usually contained freeware remakes of retro
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
s and
emulators, but also
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) sy ...
s and free commercial PC software such as ''
The Games Factory'' and ''
The Elder Scrolls: Arena''. Some issues had themed CDs containing the entire back catalogue of a publisher such as
Durell,
Llamasoft and
Gremlin Graphics.
On 27 September 2005, the magazine's original publishing company, Live Publishing, went into bankruptcy.
The magazine's official online
forums described the magazine as "finished" shortly before issue #19 was due for release. However, rights to ''Retro Gamer'' were purchased by Imagine Publishing in October 2005 and the magazine was re-launched on 8 December 2005.
''Retro Survival'' is a commercial CD
retro games
Retrogaming, also known as classic gaming and old school gaming, is the current playing and collection of obsolete personal computers, consoles, and video games. Usually, retrogaming is based upon systems that are outmoded or discontinued, alt ...
magazine put together by the freelance writers of ''Retro Gamer'' when Live Publishing collapsed. The CD was published in November 2005 and contains articles that would have appeared in Issue 19 of ''Retro Gamer'', as well as several extras including a foreword by celebrity games journalist
Mr Biffo
Paul Rose (born 1971), known by his online persona Mr Biffo, is a British screenwriter. He was the editor of the Teletext-based video games magazine Digitiser, which ran between 1993 and 2003, and is a BAFTA-nominated writer of children's tel ...
.
In June 2004, a tribute to ''
Zzap!64'' was included, "The DEF Tribute to ''Zzap!64''", celebrating the 20th anniversary of the
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness W ...
focused magazine.
Includes interviews with leading 80s and 90s programmers such as
David Crane,
Matthew Smith and
Archer Maclean
Archer Maclean (28 January 1962 – 17 December 2022) was a British video game programmer. He was the author of '' Dropzone'' which he developed for the Atari 8-bit family and was ported to other systems. Maclean also developed the Commodore 64 v ...
. Regular columns also feature such as Back to the 80s and 90s, Desert Island Disks (what games would a gaming celebrity take to a desert island) and From the Archives (a profile of a particular game developer or publisher).
The 'Making Of's' is a recurring feature in which well-known developers are interviewed about the creation and design process behind their games. Classic titles covered in past issues have included ''
Breakout'' (
Steve Wozniak
Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American electronics engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, inventor, and entrepreneur, technology entrepreneur. In 1976, with business partner Steve ...
), ''
Dungeon Master'' (
Doug Bell), ''
Smash TV'' (
Eugene Jarvis), ''
Starfox
is an arcade style rail shooter and third person action-adventure video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto, produced and published by Nintendo. The games follow the Star Fox combat team of anthropomorphic animals, led by chief protag ...
'' (
Jez San
Jeremy Elliott "Jez" San OBE (born 29 March 1966) is an English game programmer and entrepreneur who founded Argonaut Software as a teenager in the 1980s. He is best known for the 1986 Atari ST game '' Starglider'' and helping to design the Sup ...
), ''
Rescue on Fractalus!
''Rescue On Fractalus!'' is a 1985 first-person shooter computer game created by Lucasfilm Games. It was originally released for the Atari 8-bit family and the Atari 5200 games console. It was also ported to other popular platforms of the day, ...
'' (
David Fox/Charlie Kellner), ''
Prince of Persia
''Prince of Persia'' is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is built around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia.
The first two games i ...
'' (
Jordan Mechner
Jordan Mechner (born June 4, 1964) is an American video game designer, author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He is best known for designing and programming the Broderbund Apple II games '' Karateka'' and '' Prince of Persia'' in the 1980s, the l ...
), ''
Berzerk'' (Alan McNeil), ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (
Steve Meretzky
Steven Eric Meretzky (born May 1, 1957)
''Infocom''. Retrieved July 11, 2011. ), ''
Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles was a Canadian electronic music group formed in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, formed by songwriter-producer Ethan Kath and singer-songwriter Alice Glass, who later left and was replaced by Edith Frances. Crystal Castles were know ...
'' (Franz X. Lanzinger), ''
Tetris'' (
Alexey Pajitnov), ''
Sheep in Space'' (
Jeff Minter) ''
Out Run
(also stylized as ''OutRun'') is an arcade driving video game released by Sega in September 1986. It is known for its pioneering hardware and graphics, nonlinear gameplay, a selectable soundtrack with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi (comp ...
'' (
Yu Suzuki
is a Japanese game designer, producer, programmer, and engineer, who headed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. Considered one of the first auteurs of video games, he has been responsible for a number of Sega's arcade hits, including three-dimen ...
) and ''
Splat!'' (Ian Andrew).
Issue 48 (February 2008) contained an exclusive interview with ''
Manic Miner'' creator Matthew Smith, written by freelancer Paul Drury after a visit to Smith's family home in Liverpool.
March 2010 (issue 75) saw
John Romero collaborating with ''Retro Gamer'', taking on the role of 'Guest Editor', taking charge of the magazine's editorial and splashing his own unique style to a number of his favorite articles and subjects throughout the magazine.
The magazine celebrated its 150th issue in January 2016 and as of November 2016, the staff consists of Editor Darran Jones, Production Editor Drew Sleep, Senior Staff Writer Nick Thorpe and Designer Sam Ribbits.
The magazine posts its own issue preview videos on its YouTube channel, featuring editor Darran Jones and Production Editor Drew Sleep as hosts.
Digital version
Three DVDs with 25 to 30 issues each have been released over the years:
* ''Retro Gamer eMag Load 1'' (containing issues #1 to #30)
* ''Retro Gamer eMag Load 2'' (containing issues #31 to #55)
* ''Retro Gamer eMag Load 3''
''Retro Gamer eMag Load 3''
at imagineshop.co.uk (containing issues #56 to #80)
''Retro Gamer'' is now available as an iOS app and can be downloaded onto iPhone and iPad.
Awards
Retro Gamer won Best Magazine at the 2010 Games Media Awards.
References
External links
Official website
* Archived Retro Gamer Magazines (issues #1 to #11) on the Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
{{Video Game Critics
2004 establishments in the United Kingdom
Magazines established in 2004
Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom
Video game magazines published in the United Kingdom