triverse
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Posts posted by triverse
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It was the spiritual successor to the Jag, wasn't it?
So association by breed.
Huh. Until this post here, I was not aware that the Nuon was the spiritual successor to the Atari Jaguar. I buy and sell Nuon systems as a nice side business (apparently Arkansas is the dumping grounds of obscure electronics). Interesting. Thanks for the bit of news there, Phoenix.
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Okay, what did Nuon do to get put in with the Chameleon?
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http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/315758
The rest of the mags I have created are available there as well I. PDF and print.
We produced a preview issue under the Retro Gaming Monthly name in September of 2012, after our Kickstarter failed.
We changed to Retro Gaming Magazine shortly after this around this time.
Through another site I am a co-founder on I work closely with Imagine Publishing and many UK based publications. They were well aware of the title of my publication prior to launching even the preview issue.
I also was in contact with Electronic Gaming Monthly owner, Steve Harris to secure permission to use the initials 'RGM' which were close to his publication that went by the name 'EGM' after their relaunch.
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daaaaaamn...did they give you any numbers as to how far in debt it is/was?
Yes but I perfer not to publicly state the numbers. All I can say is, I wish them the best of luck in righting that ship.
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I was in talks with shareholders, other than Mike, that represented about 60% percent together of Game Gavel. The magazine is apparently in debt, for many reasons that I was never really made clear of.
From my understanding there is more than one contract in play here.
I talked with these shareholders about the situation the mag was in as far as debt the most. Mainly I wanted to know how it got that way.
Talks went cold as a lot of paperwork was never revealed and at the end of March I dropped out of the discussion.
Mike was never involved, and never knew I was talking with the shareholders that I was. From my understanding, Mike holds less than 50% of the shares of Game Gavel.
Edit to correct: my apologies, they hold 60% of the mag. I am not sure of their investment in GG itself. There are three shareholders in the mag and over 10 in GG itself from what I understand.
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As stated be fore, Mike was not involved in those discussions as he is, according to what I know, not the majority shareholder.
So I take it you feel I am trying to decieve here too?
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You never responded to MK's comments regarding your potential acquisition of Retro.
It is a dead deal. Besides, I will explain that when Mike explains his shenanigans.
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Mike, or anyone else involved with this that wishes to talk, I am open for interviews. Fair and honest chance here. Just like every interview I have done covering this thing.
Think about it. I am not a hard person to find.
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They, since we don't know who is posting, are promoting issue #11 has gone to print as of 7 hours ago. I asked on their FB if they are now monthly. It was just a few weeks ago that issue #10 was released.
Rather interesting.
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Some how I'm guessing this is to shift the blame is because Mike is afraid of what happening to his Retro Magazine, since I bet he wants to try another Kickstarter for it.
I would venture to say he HAS to have another Kickstarter to make year three.
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$6 shipped in the United States (trying a new thing out).
<img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1663/26176832261_1b7a65ea0a_k.jpg"width="1536" height="2048" alt="IMG_20160402_134443"> -
A clarification for those interested in what is going on with my involvement in taking over RETRO Mag. It is a dead in the water deal. The shareholders I was in talks with failed to meet a preset deadline (end of March). I did not receive the necessary paperwork to confidently move forward with my purchase offer. I made it public on the RGM Facebook page (on April 1st) and wished them the best of luck.
Early reports from those that received issue #10 are very poor, to say the least. Fans are not happy with the quality of the content or the layouts. I tried my best, I honestly did, to help turn that mess around but it simply was not meant to be. If they go bankrupt (I cannot see them turning things around with the debt they carry and the lack of staff for at least two more issues) I will simply pick up the crumbs at that point.
This was, from day one, an attempt at taking care of the fans that will feel shafted when that mag goes down. No matter what anyone thinks, RETRO IS THE FACE of retro publications in the United States. I cannot say that the management have done anything to maintain that status and that is a shame.-
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In the first issue of RETRO Gaming Magazine I compared Thunder Force III and Thunder Spirits. The PDF is available for free on my site, link in signature.
Not sure you would want to include the feature here with such vaulted sources but you are welcome to.
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And as an crusty old ex-pat Brit, I have absolutely zero interest in the the Atari 2600, the ColecoVision, or the NES.
They had no significant presence in the UK except as rare grey-imports.
The myriad of different home-computer systems in the UK, and the ability for anyone-with-an-interest to program them, led to a huge talent-pool of highly-skilled programmers that were then recruited by American companies for developing games for the 4th generation (and later) consoles.
So ... Retro Gamer is much more my cup-of-tea than Mike Kennedy's RETRO, or Carl's Retro Gaming.
Different folks, different interests!
In issue #2 of RGM we began doing features on import computers and consoles (the Sharp X68000 was first). Future plans that may now see fruition may touch on platforms that are more your cup of tea (judging by the response we have gotten, there is plenty of interest for well crafted/presented pieces on import platforms).
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Question: Is your magazine currently in print? If so, I'd like to carry it in my store.
Although I've been following this whole chameleon debacle thread, I didn't put 2 & 2 together that RGM was your mag.
We are not currently printing. We are looking for additional staff after finding a much more affordable method of printing (costs are much lower). What is your store, if I may ask?
Believe me, you are not the only person to not make the connection. I have close to 100 e-mails from subscribers to RETRO that have confused my site/magazine with theirs over the last year or so. I don't do nearly a good enough job promoting RGM on forums such as AtariAge (I feel all spammy when I do mention it).
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First of all, thank you to everyone for your comments, concern and warnings. I am reading them and appreciate each and every one of them. This is not a situation that I am taking lightly, or cheaply.
There is no malice behind my plans to take over RETRO Magazine. Just the opposite actually. For better or for worse, the magazine is viewed as the current leader for North American based retro publications (even though "retro" content was sparse at best). From my understanding, there is no staff left outside of Mr. Kennedy himself- everyone is gone, left or whatever. They still have a minimum of two issues left to fulfill their second Kickstarter promises. That is a huge undertaking for a new owner to assume.
I would like to address that first. I plan on assessing the situation when I know more as far as exactly how many subscribers there are total. How many were Year Two backers and how many "after Kickstarter subscribers" that are owed two or more issues.
I view these subscribers as valuable members of the family. I would not move forward on this if I had no intention of taking care of those subscribers. That would be wrong, it would be ignorant of their support and it would be plain stupid of anyone assuming this mess to ignore them. That is going to be a HUGE investment of money and time to make things right with them- it is something that is priority one for me.
Telling those subscribers I am not responsible for their lack of receiving issues would be beyond reprehensible. That is not an option to me.
This is not a merger of the magazines as in Mike with RETRO and me with Retro Gaming Magazine. This would be a hostile takeover and Mike would no longer be involved with the project in any way. He may receive a complimentary lifetime subscription though.
Now onto the comments, concerns etc.
Here is Carl's announcement from Facebook:
I can actually see this as being a good thing. The market is probably too small for two competing publications, and after the RVGS/Chameleon ordeal, it's clear that Mike Kennedy can no longer continue as the head of RETRO Magazine. It may not always be fair, but as Ian said in the most recent CUPodcast segment, when you screw up that badly, you bring everything else down with you. RETRO Magazine was clearly suffering while Mike was trying to build an empire, using the magazine as a loss leader for his other endeavors. Now that Carl and Retro Gaming Magazine will be taking it over, it has the opportunity to refocus on being the best magazine it can be.So true. Mr. Kennedy has made a lot of public mistakes. I can only hope that what comes of this is what the fans want and will support. Without the fans, there is nothing.
the biggest question i have is this: why would anyone want to do business with mike at this point? given his track record, he seems to have invariably fucked up any business he's come into contact with. with that also comes damage to all who worked with him, as we've seen by people jumping ship off the magazine. put it this way, you dont see anyone jumping ship from gamegavel, and maybe its because noone else is involved. thats mike's mother business, so to speak. to associate with his brand or any branding would also be forever associating yourself with mike, and who wants to do that? maybe if those writers didnt jump ship, there'd be something to that ip.
retro magazine has a bad rep, one well earned based on failing to deliver what was paid for as well as being light on substance, its well documented. this is due to mismanagement that damaged that name over a protracted period of time. so by absorbing that, you'd basically be admitting there was worth to that ip when it has been proven by the community there is not. its the same mistake mike made many times. i think if this was gamester81 or somene else trying to take the reigns who wasnt as proficient of a writer and as thorough as carl is, maybe it would be a different story. perhaps through hype and acceptance after pleading with the public, someone with at least some sort of positive association to mike could get it back on track. otherwise, even putting deliberation toward possibly gaining ownership of the mag, i dont see how that would even be possible otherwise given how mike is. i fail to see how the acquisition of retro could do anything but discredit carl's work, create a negative association, and potentially distance people from supporting the sum of the whole effort.First, burn on Mr. Kennedy. Next, content would be a big 180 turn around over what they were offering. Also timely content would be numero uno (no Star Wars coverage two to three months AFTER the hype for the movie for instance).
Thanks for the kudos there.
It could be damaging to RGM and what we have built but I don't think, with the right guidance, proper transparency and dedication to quality, that it will be all that bad of an affect. It can be turned around. Just going to be hard.
If someone were to purchase RETRO media or whatever it's called, the magazine part, as a going concern - how much do you think they'd need to put to one side for making good all those people who never saw their magazines? Or would it be a case of - that was them, not my problem and screw those guys?
I can't discuss specifics at this time but it is what some would classify as a "scary" amount to make good on outstanding debt.
It is not an option to screw over those that backed it, even if it was during the previous administration.
I believe there's another RETRO mag already finished. I guess it depends upon contractual obligations, the new owners' finances and ad revenue on whether or not to fulfill the remaining Kickstarter issues. If he can afford it, and even has that desire, it seems like a great chance to get his foot in the door with many subscribers and possibly Barnes&Noble.
Of course, no telling how much ad space for the upcoming issue is dedicated to a certain fake console.Good points. Definitely some checks in the pluses column.
i didnt think it would be a merger, but in acquiring that ip, he would also be acquiring all the bad juju that comes along with it regardless of who is involved. he would be acquiring a name, a name with no credibility to it. the taunting makes it much worse and much more storied, given carl was just about the only person mike lashed out at in this whole debacle.
It is not a merger. Mr. Kennedy would vacate any ownership/involvement whatsoever. Bad juju is what you make of it, I like to cook it and see what is for dinner myself.
You guys noticed the public lashing Mr. Kennedy tried to hand me? I mean, he did learn the fine art of "copy and paste" when I was using screen caps. Good on him.
I'll bet if Mike did turn it over to someone, there will be something in writing to never mention him or his bullshit in the publication in a negative light.
Would he really have to put that in writing at this point?
From my read of the situation (whatever that's worth), this isn't Carl joining forces with Mike, or a "merger" of the two magazines which will allow Mike and "his people" to save face and remain involved with it on an ongoing basis. It's more like Retro Gaming Magazine acquiring RETRO Magazine's ashes, inheriting their subscriber base and their distribution network (I believe RETRO Magazine is carried by Barnes & Noble, among other places), but continuing under the RGM banner. I can see that happening without any stigma or negative association from the old RETRO.
As SD&R says, Mike is at the point where he has to either speak up and come clean with his subscribers (which is highly unlikely given his history) or shut the whole enterprise down (which is also unlikely since it would put him in very hot water with his subscribers). An easy way out is to hand the whole thing off to somebody else fast. Carl simply seems to be taking advantage of an opportunity to take over the competition while increasing the profile of RGM. It's obviously important for him to do his due diligence to make sure that he isn't inheriting a nightmare from a business/financial perspective, but given how closely he's followed the story since the beginning, I'm sure Carl knows what he's doing.
(Besides, after all the taunting that Mike publicly subjected Carl to last year, gloating about the success of his Kickstarter campaigns for RETRO compared to those for RGM, I think it's a delicious bit of poetic justice that RGM is now taking over RETRO.)Ding ding. This is the plan. Acquire the ashes, make an ashen snowman or two, take some selfies and then go about knocking it down for fun.
Yes, the two publications would continue under the RETRO Gaming Magazine banner and be one entity.
I am an opportunist, as they say. Nothing wrong with it, just being honest. It is going to be a nightmare of a situation to traverse and there will be lawyers and accountants involved making sure everything is disclosed and accounted for.
Is there any better justice than "poetic"?
heh, with this, the only thing salvageable that carl would get would be, yep: the jag molds. and that would only be if the money was gleaned from the mag and not gamegavel, correct? i think thats reverse of what happened...
I am open to those being added to add value to this deal. As many have stated already, there is not much left after the mismanagement that has occurred.
Unless MK is paying somebody to take the mag, I can't see how any sane businessperson would want to acquire it. It's got a ton of outstanding debt from what I've gleamed from staff speaking out, not to mention undelivered product that was paid for. There is literally no upside to an acquisition.
Who said it is not going down like that?
lol, what would they call it so people know it's a different mag? "New RETRO!"
While that has a certain ring to it, I prefer to capitalize the word RETRO and just add Gaming Magazine afterward. It seems fitting to combine them that way. Though "New" RETRO has a ring ot it too...
I'd imagine fullfilling the delivery of remaining issues to RETRO subscribers would be good advertisement.
Or just being a decent human being. Either one works.
One thing that is known to happen in business is to acquire the competition just to shut them down. They take what they want from the purchase and burn the rest.
I think Mr. Kennedy has already burned the rest.
I only know Retro Gamer from the UK, which is pretty good although I'm more interested in their DVD compilations than the print version. I still buy it when I find one outside of the UK for travel reading, though. How is RGM?
Pardon me for being biased but, the content of Retro Gaming Magazine was pretty solid- though those layouts. Man, they should fire the guy that laid those out (it was me). He shouldn't be allowed to lay anything else out (I am not) and he should stick to writing (I am) and taking screenshots (if I have to).
Here, grab the free PDFs and decide for yourself. That interview about Policenauts in issue #2 actually earned me a C&D (i.e., please don't run it or we will look at you sternly) from Konami too bad you can't retract print.
http://downloads.ziddu.com/download/23823205/rgm1printproof.pdf.html
http://downloads.ziddu.com/download/23823184/RGM-2-Final.pdf.html
I guess if the magazine can be bought for super cheap it may be worth it. But there isn't really much of a market for it. They had to do another kickstarter for year 2 that seemed odd to me. Think if it was visble, it should have been able to continue on by itself. I didn't subscribe and probably never will though so I'm probably not the target audience anyway.
That boggled my mind too. It was a "what the hell are they doing?" type event when I saw them announce Year 2 on Kickstarter. The magazine, if it had been properly managed, should have been sustainable based on the success of the first Kickstarter- it certainly earned enough money.
Hahaha
I just thought, maybe RETRO magazine can be acquired by River West Brands and it'll be another forgotten brand they revitalize?
Edit: also, I don't know how Kickstarter sees the delivery obligation to the backers, but I helped a guy with a Kickstarter once and according to him Kickstarter does not let you transfer/sell off/pass your delivery obligation onto someone else. But maybe that guy was wrong. After all, Kickstarter is a paper tiger. They try to put protections in place but have very little reach after the creator gets the money.That would be funny. If River West Brands were to swoop in and buy it. Hilarious. Seriously, don't give them ideas. I don't need competition on this.
Kickstarter, at worse, could probably only stop Mr. Kennedy from doing another Kickstarter of any kind. Though, he has proven plenty of proficiency at starting new companies and covering up his involvement. No proof he would not simply do that in the future if Kickstarter did attempt to impose some kind of sanction on him.
I think I got them all. Fire away, as long as I am not blindfolded and my back against a wall. I have thick skin, if you don't believe me, you should read some of the comments about my layout work in RGM #1 and #2 (they are still on our Facebook wall- I didn't delete them).-
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You can see far on the yellow brick road from here.
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Mike's Linkedin subheading now says "Celebrating the History of Video-Games" (with the hyphen).
I changed mine to "Investigative gaming journalist"
Considering the subheading change, who wants to bet he will try and capitalize on the "history" books on gaming that are popular right now?
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Just so you guys know, the Facebook page is probably "unpublished" right now. Why? Mike probably has to remove all mention of Coleco from the Facebook page and the easiest way to do that at your leisure would be to unpublish the page. This leaves Mike with the "likes" when he republishes the page, at least I believe so.
It is very likely that Mike will be back with something else. Maybe he got one of those "Under new management" banners you see outside of ailing businesses. I am not privy to that information. I did contact him (probably went straight to his trash bin) in relation to purchasing RETRO Mag from him. As you all know, I co-own Retro Gaming Magazine- a competitor to Mike's product. Removing any chance of truth to rumors that I could be forced to change the name of my site would rather nice in my eyes.
This saga is far from over though. If you listen carefully, you can almost hear Mike thinking up a new plan.
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Wow, why would he leak private communications like that? To brag? Doesn't he realize that every time he brags it just comes back to bite him in the ass?
Not that it matters now because his ass has been chewed to the point of non-existence.
Mike released confidential e-mails with Mr. Rajne in what can only be described as a retaliation move at me.
Sadly, he was attacking the wrong direction.
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For anyone interested in seeing the top 20 countries that have people that like the RETRO Video Game Systems Facebook page, it is here:
Languages of their fans:
https://www.facebook.com/search/language/pages/783316545070951/likers/languages/intersect
Movie interests of their fans:
Music interests:
Game interests (seems to be Facebook games only):
https://www.facebook.com/search/783316545070951/likers/apps-liked/game/apps/intersectActors:
https://www.facebook.com/search/783316545070951/likers/pages-liked/115637068529573/pages/intersect
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I like how official sounding with bringing in a "team of inspectors", as if there was suspicion of WMDs in some country. Do they drive up in a black Suburban, and all look like secret service agents?
Okay, now if Chris has this happen, and it appears on YouTube, I would definitely share the hell out of that. I mean, come on. That would definitely up the "cool" factor for Coleco but seriously, it would not add anything to the actual proceedings. Still would be cool.
Anyhow, those that think we are on a witch hunt covering this saga, if things go too far then it does become one. Right now is the time to step back and let Coleco Holdings/Riverwest Brands conclude their investigation (I believe time runs out on the 9th). This becomes a witch hunt if pokes and prods continue in the direction of Coleco Holdings, at least for the time being. Right now, Chris Cardillo is being a stand up guy- he is standing up on ColecoVisions Podcast and stating "I f'ed up." He is not saying some guy in the legal department did it, he is not saying there is someone else that we don't know about, maybe a Mr. Wong or something (I apologize if that comes off as racist or whatever), that we know nothing about that made this deal. No, Mr. Cardillo is owning up and taking responsibility from his side of this situation. I take it is him that is instigating the various steps that we are seeing right now (investigation, time limit, etc). For that, I have to say, thank you.
Would it have been nice if those on the Coleco side saw the writing on the wall a little sooner? Sure. That is the past though. They are not denying there was a mistake made on their end of this and they are owning up to it and doing what they can from a professional standpoint to fix it. We cannot really ask for any more than that at this time.
For now, we have to wait.
Does anyone know how good cell service is in the desert?
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How close are we to the end of the 7 day deadline?
Has anyone visited the RetroVGS Facebook page lately? The page still has 19,864 fans. Do you think they were all legit or are some of these "fans" the kind you can buy in bulk on Black Hat sites and Fiverr? The average post on the RetroVGS Facebook receives around 250 likes. Their videos have received thousands of views. Coleco Holdings LLC has around 880 followers on Twitter.
How much legitimate interest was there really in this product? I mean the IG campaign failed spectacularly, would the Kickstarter have failed too? Even with a working prototype?
All it takes is a little investigating to unravel this too.
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Real easy question and the answer could alleviates NEARLY all of my concerns over your project. Did you get the rights from Hiroshi Kaneko?