Retromags review of Classic Video Gamer Magazine #1

[TMAN34]

I wanted a hard copy but i was too late.

 

I can accept that since it was a reward for people who pre-ordered.

 

I am frustrated that i ordered the downloadable version and i am

not able to print a copy for myself.

 

What's up with that?

[triverse]

I wanted a hard copy but i was too late.

 

I can accept that since it was a reward for people who pre-ordered.

 

I am frustrated that i ordered the downloadable version and i am

not able to print a copy for myself.

 

What's up with that?

It is a form of protection of the IP, in this case, the magazine contents. It is normal for most paid for downloads of this type (e-books and even other magazines that offer a download version will block you from printing a copy of it).

[STGuy1040]

I wanted a hard copy but i was too late.

 

I can accept that since it was a reward for people who pre-ordered.

 

I am frustrated that i ordered the downloadable version and i am

not able to print a copy for myself.

 

What's up with that?

 

 

Hello,

 

This is done to protect the intellectual properties of the file and the content found therein. Since the file is a copyrighted publication, it is protected to prevent file sharing and print reproduction.

[STGuy1040]

I wanted a hard copy but i was too late.

 

I can accept that since it was a reward for people who pre-ordered.

 

I am frustrated that i ordered the downloadable version and i am

not able to print a copy for myself.

 

What's up with that?

It is a form of protection of the IP, in this case, the magazine contents. It is normal for most paid for downloads of this type (e-books and even other magazines that offer a download version will block you from printing a copy of it).

 

 

Well said, Triverse. This is done to 1.) prevent piracy / file sharing, and 2.) the digital version is far cheaper than the print version. Imagine how people who pre-ordered the print version would feel if someone downloading the PDF version at $1.95 could print their own copies; it wouldn't be right. Plus, this would also create another problem; the potential of unauthorized copies of the magazine circulating without publisher approval would be immense.

Edited June 16, 2009 by STGuy1040

[TMAN34]

I wanted a hard copy but i was too late.

 

I can accept that since it was a reward for people who pre-ordered.

 

I am frustrated that i ordered the downloadable version and i am

not able to print a copy for myself.

 

What's up with that?

It is a form of protection of the IP, in this case, the magazine contents. It is normal for most paid for downloads of this type (e-books and even other magazines that offer a download version will block you from printing a copy of it).

 

 

Well said, Triverse. This is done to 1.) prevent piracy / file sharing, and 2.) the digital version is far cheaper than the print version. Imagine how people who pre-ordered the print version would feel if someone downloading the PDF version at $1.95 could print their own copies; it wouldn't be right. Plus, this would also create another problem; the potential of unauthorized copies of the magazine circulating without publisher approval would be immense.

 

 

That all makes sense. I am just disappointed that i wasn't able to buy the printed version.

 

I hope in the future the printed version is available to purchase for longer

[STGuy1040]

I wanted a hard copy but i was too late.

 

I can accept that since it was a reward for people who pre-ordered.

 

I am frustrated that i ordered the downloadable version and i am

not able to print a copy for myself.

 

What's up with that?

It is a form of protection of the IP, in this case, the magazine contents. It is normal for most paid for downloads of this type (e-books and even other magazines that offer a download version will block you from printing a copy of it).

 

 

Well said, Triverse. This is done to 1.) prevent piracy / file sharing, and 2.) the digital version is far cheaper than the print version. Imagine how people who pre-ordered the print version would feel if someone downloading the PDF version at $1.95 could print their own copies; it wouldn't be right. Plus, this would also create another problem; the potential of unauthorized copies of the magazine circulating without publisher approval would be immense.

 

 

That all makes sense. I am just disappointed that i wasn't able to buy the printed version.

 

I hope in the future the printed version is available to purchase for longer

 

 

Classic Video Gamer Magazine # 2 is already being worked on, and pre-orders for the printed version will be available much longer than the previous one.

 

We will have an update on this after pre-orders ship.

Edited June 17, 2009 by STGuy1040

[potatohead]

Just got to open my printed copy!!

 

I've been waiting for it and it turns out that my daughter filed it under, "stuff that I don't understand". LOL!! She's a great kid, but that chapped my arse!

 

It looks great, and I'm going to go and show it off to some retro gaming friends. I'm humbled to be among the great people that helped put that together.

 

WoT #2 is in process...

[triverse]

Due to a recent forum software upgrade, and the fact that we use 3rd party software to make the links readable and unfortunately not compatible with the new upgrade, I have had to go back and redo links on various sites (luckily there are only a handful that will be getting corrected, like those here on Atari Age).

 

Here is the proper link to that review on RM

 

 

And for those that are interested here is the full review (if I had editing ability on old posts, it would have been posted sooner here):

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

What does it take to be successful in the highly competitive world of gaming magazines/e-zine?  Determination?  Hard work?  Passion? The team at Classic Video Gamer has those qualities and a layout that is very reminiscent of the late great Video Games and Computer Entertainment.  You might even think while reading this, that VG&CE might have had a layout quite similar to that of ClassicVG if they had been able to stick around.

 



 

The quality in layout starts at the cover, where it should, with two girls from Power Instincts Matrimelee appearing to be entertained by either Kim Kapwhan kicking out of the page or the two screen shots available, it is your choice which is right.

 

 



 

King of Fighters, by Mike 'STGuy1040' P., the mashup series of fighting games from SNK, looking back, how many gamers remember seeing this when it first started and thought, that will never last?  I did.  I was wrong.  Very wrong.  Coming soon is number 12 in the KoF series!  12, that is quite a feat in todays market (or the market over the last many years to be honest).  What does KoF 2k2 have that the newest iteration doesn't?  How about Blue Mary for one and Mai Shuranai for seconds?  Got your attention now?  

The pics chosen are full of action and show off the graphics of the game quite well, take a look at the number of playable characters in the player select screen (each one is detailed enough to be picked out by their pic)!

Definitely a well written article and very interesting for those sitting on the fence about this title or those interested in some of the history behind the series.

As far as returning characters in this version, you have to get your own copy of Classic Video Gamer to find out (you won't be disappointed).  

 

Double Dragon, most gamers will tell you that Billy and Jimmy Lee ended their gaming careers with Double Dragon V (a one on one fighting game that could have been better).  Well, I am here to tell you, thanks to Mike, you would be wrong, they had at least one more game on Neo Geo, and it is again a one on one fighter this time with tagging gameplay starring the Brothers Dragon.  Noise Factory (the developers) took a stagnant game idea and characters and made a competent, if ableit, different fighter, did they succeed where the previous iteration failed?

 

What's On Tap? by Doug Dingus covers a very interesting homebrew title called Medieval Mayhem (similar to Warlords on Atari 2600 so if you are a fan of Warlords, I am sure you are already off to get a copy).  Well written and informative, love the "experiment" that was set up for the game and the results were surely as fun as they were to read about.  What is interesting about WoT? is that if I had viewed this on a web site, I would probably have blown right past it looking for other gaming information and would have missed out on what has shown to be a great game.  Thank you very much Doug for this article, you did what a reviewer should do, you made me go from not caring to going to wanting the game.

 



 

Classic Video Gamer Magazine is not your usual magazine, everything from the editor article to the ads in this issue (they have a couple of "Retrogaming Advertisements" that are just wonderful and fun little surprises that you wouldn't expect to see.  I hope they continue this idea of putting classic ads in with current ads as much as possible (maybe if the future ads were related to the articles more?).

 

Other great articles of interest include a Cybermorph review by Kevin Christensen with some interesting history for the title.  Daniel Iacovelli offers up a very well written and informative review of Double Dragon for the Atari 7800 (who knew it was even released on the 7800?).  If you were born recent enough that all you know is XBox 360 and PS3 and their Internet enabled capabilities, you should check out "The Playstation Underground" article to find out how us "old" people got demos in the "dark ages" (just remember, your 360 and PS3 weren't the first systems to go online, the Atari 2600 did it way back in the early 80's!).

 

Are you an Alien Hominid fan?  If so, you simply have to check out the review Mike has written, again, a game that would have been passed over (and has been many many times on websites touting it as a great game-how many times have you heard that from a site trying to appease a corporate sponsor?).  The choice of screen shots are interesting and quite active, I am off to youtube to check out some video footage of this game now.  If you have a Gamecube and haven't heard of this game, then get ClassicVGM and see why you should be playing this game already!

 



 

World of Illusion review by Nathan, where to begin with such a great game and such a well laid out, well written article reviewing it?  Great choice of pictures here (except the two spiderweb levels so close together, it would have been nice to see another non-pictured level instead).  The screenshots really show off the graphic prowess of the Genesis with shading and details and the diversity of the levels facing Mickey and Donald in their adventure.  Nathan really caught my interest with the information given and details talked about with what Sega was able to accomplish within a licensed game like this (why couldn't companies like Acclaim accomplish at least half of the fun you will experience with this game?).  

 

Gaming Republic is an interesting article for me, it is basically a bit of coverage of several games with straight forward info and a clear verdict on the game in question.  Games covered include Q-Bert (Atari 2600), Laser Gates (Atari 2600), Doom (Atari Jaguar), Shadow of the Beast (for At...gotcha, this one is for Amiga) and Dragon the Bruce Lee Story (Atari Jaguar).  Honest mini reviews to help you decide when you see these games in the wild on whether to buy or pass on it.

 

I have never been to a gaming convention in my life (I did attend a small baseball trading card convention in my youth though) but after reading the Midwest Gaming Classic Report by Daniel Iacovelli I want to attend one of these.  Interesting and sounds like it was a lot of fun.

 



 

Mark Sabbatini covers Batari Basic, a wonderful program that brings programming the Atari 2600 to the masses with the simple to learn derivative of Basic itself, along with reviews for 12 games that were made with Batari Basic.  Very interesting article, makes me wish I knew more about Basic programming.  Mr. Sabbatini offers up help in getting the program running (from download to installation, etc).  The games reviewed run from very good (Because, a puzzle game) to the rather bad (Calc, a calculator that can't do decimals) all of which though are testiments to the programmers that are trying.  Think you can do better at programming?  Get this issue, read the article, find out more about Batari Basic and prove it, I am sure ClassicVGM would be proud to review your blockbuster game.

 

With only 20 pages to work with, I feel that Classic Video Gamer Magazine has accomplished something that most magazines lately couldn't with 5 times that many pages-they produced an entertaining fun to read magazine that I look forward to reading more of in the future.  The ball is in your, the reader's, court on how ClassicVGM is handled in the future, support what I think of as a resurgence of VG&CE with your $2 per issue for a digital copy or you can pre-order your very own printed copy for $6.50 at www.classicvgm.com or sit on the sidelines and continue reading "leading" websites that continue to kill the classic print magazines for no reason other than the bottom line.

 

Classic Video Gamer Magazine is available in PDF ($2.00) and in print ($6.50 pre-orders are open right now).  http://www.classicvgm.com/

----------------------------------------------------

Some edits need to be made clear since that review was written and posted:

First up, print copies are $5.95, no longer $6.50.

Second, you can subscribe for $19.95 a year (4 issues, gets them down to $5 an issue, not as cheap as the mainstream but with the support of the readers, maybe something similar can be done).

Pre-orders for Classic Video Gamer Magazine #2 are open right now until September 6th so if you want a copy, go get it now rather than waiting till it is too late.