enoofu Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) US also had a strong PC market early on, just was more geared on the Apple II, IBM DOS, and Window platform then Europe Still remember playing F19 Stealth Fighter for the first time and playing long hours on MOO Edited March 15, 2016 by enoofu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dommie Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 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). I own a small independent video game store in PA. We do both retro and modern games, but specialize in retro. Only 1 location currently, but a 2nd location is not out of the realm of possibility. Been in business about 6 years now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schizophretard Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Since this is page 300 and triverse is doing a hostile takeover of Retro... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StopDrop&Retro Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Lon Seidman followed up on the Chameleon in his weekly wrap up. Good stuff, and he has a MIST board he's tinkering with: 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnphase Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 hey carl, good on ya for hitting all those points! i would say thats very much fair enough reasoning behind all of it. let me also say this, i think if mike were to consider it, that it would at least show goodwill to the subscribers and fans that helped make the magazine happen in the first place, rather than no explanation and no word at all after the whole cc snafu. i guess he sees fit to bury his head in the sand but it buried the mag even further. i went to the retro magazine facebook page at a few points, and there were a lot of people asking a wide variety of questions with no answers. you would think that he would have been invested to answering their questions based on the things he was saying during the campaign trail for the rgvs and cc. hell i just went and theres at least a few guys here saying they havent gotten their latest issue yet. oh well, at least kevin bow got his. maybe they'll eventually get em. i think your desire to keep these very people in mind is really great and honestly, if there are no other writers for the mag, it makes sense to try and do this. assemble a few more staff writers like yourself to release the last 2 magazines, and in the 2nd one you could conduct some sort of readers poll to draft new writers for the future. i guess i was maybe a little bit concerned for you when i first heard, but i think theres actually a lot of things you could do to turn a negative into a positive with those last 2 issues. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wf_ Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) 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). Didn't Mike loan personal funds into RETRO to purchase the Jaguar shells? If that's the case, then RETRO has a financial obligation back to Mike personally to repay that loan. If that's the case, you'd be taking it over, and working hard to make money only to have to pay back Mike's loan out of those earnings, and bail him out of (some of) the financial hole he dug for himself! Think about it, why is Mike trying to sell this off? The company & magazine itself is completely dead in the water, and really has no value to sell. It's because there's something in it for him regardless of company sale price; if that loan is in there, he wants it to stay viable to pay him back, with interest. Purchase the assets cheaply if you like (subscriber list, back catalog, graphical assets, rights to the name, etc), but do NOT purchase the company itself and all the strings attached to it! His companies are intermingled and are business poison. Edited March 15, 2016 by wf_ 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StopDrop&Retro Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 ^ Very good points. The mingling of his businesses is confusing but from the last time I looked at it, Mike claimed that the molds are owned by GameGavel and RETRO magazine is an arm of GameGavel. So conceivably he could sell RETRO and keep the molds with GameGavel, it's not RETRO that owes Mike, it's GameGavel. So if anything, GameGavel could probably use the funds from the sale of RETRO to pay back Mike. Maybe that's how he wants to make money off this? Personally, I don't think this sale is going to go through. There's too much bad blood between Mike and Carl. Even if he's willing to put those differences aside, I doubt Mike would let accountants or lawyers anywhere near his financial or business affairs. If he's willing go so far as to fake prototypes at trade shows then don't think he's above faking financial records, I bet those books are cooked. You also raise a good point, there is some value with their small subscriber base and the Barnes & Noble deal (if that's still alive). But the real value here is the infamy associated with the name. That's the only name recognition it has. It's kinda like American Apparel. The brand doesn't have a lot of value outside of the eccentric creator who kept getting into trouble and made the brand newsworthy. It actually hinders progress because you'll forever be associated with it. It becomes like a tattoo- it can help you get laid or it can make a girl clam up but after you get it you're stuck with it for better or for worse. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driph Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 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. Unless there have been unannounced changes, I believe David Craddock is still onboard as EIC (his first issue was the most recent). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlantis Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I haven't followed this that close the last month, but wow talk about ugly fall on the face! Not in my worst imagination could it come to this.It really amazes me that Make or they thought a video on the "working prototype" and close-up pictures on a board in a frosty Jag case would fool an army of hundreds of guys who together knows every little detail about this hobby!!This is the most insane story, and yet another weird anecdote tied to the ill-fated Jaguar history. Wow!I know all this have been said already but... just wow... I was interested in this product and wanted it to work, but this story is even better, in a very sad way. When will power overcomes reason entirely, makes me wonder where and when Mike will show his face next? Will there be a third attempt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) Now even Malta has abandoned the Chameleon, and instead opts to walk on water in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=malta_considers_which_song_ira_losco_will_perform_in_stockholm http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=malta_ira_losco_to_perform_walk_on_water Edited March 15, 2016 by carlsson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 RGM + RETRO "hostile takeover" -- is this really happening Carl, or are you just thinking aloud? It's somewhat unusual to talk in public about negotiations in progress. Are you close to a deal or just testing the waters? If this is just a thought and MK has no intention of selling out, I'd hate for your name and brand to be accused of teasing possibility and not delivering. This thread has had quite enough of that already. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Yeah, what Flojo said. Don't torpedo negotiations by talking about it here! Or just being a decent human being. Either one works. Well, this is a business--not a charity. It certainly would generate a lot of goodwill, but your end goal needs to be success. We don't want to see you save MK only to end up sinking yourself. Also, ignore anything that PlaysWithWolves guy writes. He knows nothing about taking over a dying business and just is throwing out ideas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Parrothead aka Mike Kennedy is watching. Some "Big Brother" 1984 type stuff going on... http://atariage.com/forums/topic/247145-coleco-chameleon-hardware-speculations/?p=3467583 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 This saga has more twists than a balloon animal. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROFLcade Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 That was a great video!! I am REALLY tempted to get one of those shirts..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlantis Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 ^^^^^I'd like to buy one of those CC boxes to put on my shelf and smile to from time to time... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 While I'm 99% sure he still monitors this thread (or perhaps a friend does), I think that one was from the RVGS thread. I believe he eventually went anonymous after someone pointed out he was in the browsing list. Parrothead aka Mike Kennedy is watching. Some "Big Brother" 1984 type stuff going on... http://atariage.com/forums/topic/247145-coleco-chameleon-hardware-speculations/?p=3467583 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Teams Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 It sure is. Other than putting together an enemies list, what would Mike gain by reading all this? He certainly hasn't responded to any of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Other than putting together an enemies list, what would Mike gain by reading all this? He certainly hasn't responded to any of it. Information. Remember that he took the Facebook photos down about 10 minutes after we worked out which PCI card he had in the fake prototype on February 29th. He hasn't given a lengthy response on AtariAge at all since getting into an argument in the other thread on December 23rd that finished with his Christmas eve rant against Carl. He couldn't resist calling out the fake Twitter account in this thread just 23 minutes after the first post about it on 11th February, so he was monitoring the thread then too. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Other than putting together an enemies list, what would Mike gain by reading all this? He certainly hasn't responded to any of it. Surely he already has that from his ban & delete shenanigans on Facebook. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoofu Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) Surprised that triverse wants to take over Retro, since it a California based company which means all its legal obligations would be under California and US Laws With the 2 monthly mags missing, and apparently money troubles also adding with MK's recent image problems rubbing off on it Seeing Triverse website, i believe his articles could stand well in print if he did some footwork Edited March 15, 2016 by enoofu 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Looking back over that December 23rd discussion in the other thread, there's a great quote that I had forgotten about: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/235430-how-has-this-not-been-posted-yet-retro-vgs/?p=3398191 The prototype isn't costing me a lot of money and I have funded that myself at this point and would have done this much earlier if my previous engineer would have not over exaggerated the costs and effort involved and ultimately refuse to even progress on anything that resembled a real prototype. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Surprised that triverse wants to take over Retro, since it a California based company which means all its legal obligations would be under California and US Laws With the 2 monthly mags missing, and apparently money troubles also adding with MK's recent image problems rubbing off on it Honestly, the only value I see in taking over RETRO is in the existing retail distribution agreements with Barnes & Noble and various game stores. Otherwise, there's probably not a great deal of value in the name or in the operation as it's presently structured. It's probably more hassle than starting over from scratch without all of the baggage to wade through and ultimately deal with. Plus, it's not like a print magazine is all that appealing in the US anymore anyway. It seems only England is really hot for print magazines still. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Other than putting together an enemies list, what would Mike gain by reading all this? He certainly hasn't responded to any of it.He once said he didn't have all the time to read the forums. If this is as true as all the other things he has said, you can conclude he is definitely reading. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Honestly, the only value I see in taking over RETRO is in the existing retail distribution agreements with Barnes & Noble and various game stores. Otherwise, there's probably not a great deal of value in the name or in the operation as it's presently structured. It's probably more hassle than starting over from scratch without all of the baggage to wade through and ultimately deal with. Plus, it's not like a print magazine is all that appealing in the US anymore anyway. It seems only England is really hot for print magazines still. I'm kinda with you ... I think the UK market is different because of geography. Print can travel around faster and less expensively there. I don't need dead trees myself, but I assume Carl knows what he's doing with his prospective market. The whole magazine format is odd. Check out this suggestion to Retro Gamer (the UK magazine, neither Carl nor Mike) that they rearrange their features in a more digital-friendly format, like a searchable database. Their print goggles prevent them from even understanding the question. "Too much work," they say. Also, "check out the spreadsheet to look up a specific feature." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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