Frequency Monthly Country United Kingdom | First issue January 2004 | |
 | ||
Editor Martyn Carroll (2004–2005)
Darran Jones (2005–present) Categories Computer and video game magazine Company Live Publishing (2004–2005)
Imagine Publishing (2005–2016)
Future Publishing (2016–present) | ||
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. Although 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, although the rights to the magazine were later purchased by Imagine Publishing. It was taken over by Future Publishing on 21 October 2016, following Future's acquisition of Imagine Publishing and its print portfolio.
Contents
History
The first 18 issues of the magazine came with a coverdisk. It usually contained freeware remakes of retro video games and emulators, but also videos 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. The magazine is now £1 cheaper, but lacks a cover disc. The website was relaunched with a new forum, which can be found at www.retrogamer.net/forum.
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.
Digital version
Three DVDs with 25 to 30 issues each have been released over the years:
Retro Gamer is now available as an iPhone app and can be downloaded from both iTunes and an iPhone.
YouTube channel
The magazine posts its own issue preview videos on its YouTube channel, featuring Editor Darran Jones and Production Editor Drew Sleep as hosts.
Highlights
Highlights of the magazine includes interviews with leading 80s and 90s programmers such as David Crane, Matthew Smith and Archer MacLean. 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).
An anthology issue, collecting together articles from the first six issues with new content (including a comprehensive look at the game Elite), was published in December 2004. Further anthologies of material have since been released, along with three eMags.
In June 2004, a tribute to Zzap!64 was included, "The DEF Tribute to Zzap!64", celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Commodore 64 focused magazine.
One of the lesser-known features of Retro Gamer's CD-ROM was the Easter egg, introduced in issue 5. This file was hidden on each disc inside the "adverts" directory, and included a Super Mario Bros. speedrun video and the infamous "Leeroy Jenkins" clip from World of Warcraft.
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 favourite articles and subjects throughout the magazine.
One of the magazine's most popular recurring features are its 'Making Of's' 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), Dungeon Master (Doug Bell), Smash TV (Eugene Jarvis), Starfox (Jez San), Rescue on Fractalus! (David Fox/Charlie Kellner), Prince of Persia (Jordan Mechner), Berzerk (Alan McNeil), The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Steve Meretzky), Crystal Castles (Franz X. Lanzinger), Tetris (Alexey Pajitnov), Sheep in Space (Jeff Minter) "Out Run" (Yu Suzuki) and Splat! (Ian Andrew).
Retro Survival
Retro Survival is a commercial CD retro games 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.
Forum
The magazine has an internet forum in which the editor and writers regularly interact with the readership. Certain questions are posed on a monthly basis with select answers from forum members appearing in the magazine.
Games Media Awards 2010
Retro Gamer overcame regular winners as gamesTM and Edge to win the award for Best Magazine at the 2010 Games Media Awards.