+GoldLeader Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 I still haven't gotten issue #12 At first I was going to make a joke like Ah you're not missing anything! Then I thought maybe something about how Mike still checks Facebook,... maybe complain there. Then I thought Hold on! I don't have #12 either!! Then I reread the Facebook post and noticed it said, "We're putting the finishing touches on #12"...So it's probably not out yet. Then I signed up for Reading Comprehension 101...And I signed you up too, so we can get group rates :rolling: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 At first I was going to make a joke like Ah you're not missing anything! Then I thought maybe something about how Mike still checks Facebook,... maybe complain there. Then I thought Hold on! I don't have #12 either!! Then I reread the Facebook post and noticed it said, "We're putting the finishing touches on #12"...So it's probably not out yet. Then I signed up for Reading Comprehension 101...And I signed you up too, so we can get group rates :rolling: Only a year late... Year 2 must have been like two years for the price of one! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newsdee Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 Only a year late... Year 2 must have been like two years for the price of one! "Great news! We've just upgraded you to the lifetime version for the price of one year!" 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 The way it keeps getting delayed to make it even better, Issue#12 will be the best thing in the universe! Out of curiosity, to those that have read the eleven published issues, when do you think it jumped the shark? Was it after a certain person left, or maybe the best-of collection (retroretro?) Having never read it, I think the tipping point was seeing 35 copies of the same issue on eBay as a retailer's bundle. Seriously, as a retailer, I'd want like maybe five. Maybe. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipercub Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 The way it keeps getting delayed to make it even better, Issue#12 will be the best thing in the universe! Out of curiosity, to those that have read the eleven published issues, when do you think it jumped the shark? Was it after a certain person left, or maybe the best-of collection (retroretro?) Having never read it, I think the tipping point was seeing 35 copies of the same issue on eBay as a retailer's bundle. Seriously, as a retailer, I'd want like maybe five. Maybe. The shark was jumped before the first issue was printed, and I have to confess I didn't see it, neither did UK Mike and Willie as well. The way it was presented to us by Socal was that he had this idea for a magazine and was going to kickstart it. We were all asked to be writers and there was allot of discussion about how the magazine and the show would have a synergism, the first part of that (the show helping the magazine get funded) was a daily utilization of the RetroGaming Roundup social media and lots of talk on the show about the project as it went through the promotion and kickstarter phases. The payback was supposed to be several things, among the things planned were a rundown of show highlights including funniest lines, interesting bits, a full page advert, and transcripts of interviews done on the show. As the kickstarter moved forward I noticed that Steve Sawyer was no longer involved and I asked Socal about it, it wasn't an ah-ha moment but rather one of mild curiosity and he gave me the line about how Steve wasn't really involved other than writing some stuff and wasn't really a part of it. I recalled the two of them co-creating the project right in front of me during the week of E3, they were bantering back and forth developing the idea but it didn't put up a red flag because there was no history of dishonesty and people leave projects all the time, teams change, and it didn't stand out. In hindsight it was the template for things to come, buddy buddy pep talks, partners that do most of the work and are suddenly dropped for new ones and declared to be minor players if even that, isolation of team members so that all communication went through Socal, and shifting sands of ownership. In reality Steve was soft fired from the mag by virtue of just not being involved as somebody new was brought on board, that somebody was Mark Kaminski who is a legitimate talent in print and digital media, and of course the project was presented to him as an original Socal idea not not the co-creation involving Steve as well. So Steve watched as his project went through kickstarter and got funded with him excluded, and it pushed him over the edge so he made death threats against Socal. The only side of the story we got was from Socal, that Steve had some crazy breakdown and was making these threats and that the police took it seriously coming to his house and some sort of protection at E3 since that was where Steve threatened to find him at. So the mag went forward with Mark taking the helm as the talent and a few other team members brought onboard with some Chameleon style changes in lineup, including the addition of Brandon who I had never heard of. As the first issue was being planned I had an arrangement already made with Socal that my first piece would be a deep dive into the technical aspects of Computer Space, and out of the blue this guy named Brandon calls me up and starts telling me what would or would not happen and I didn't even know he was part of the mag. So I filled him in that as part owner of the company that was producing the mag and having a pre existing agreement on what my contribution would be that this conversation was over. Then Socal called me to start smoothing things over and such and it was pretty clear that he had been telling a different story to different people but again, without a history I chalked it up to chaos and the pace of trying to take on such a big project as a first timer so we worked out a compromise and things went forward. When the first issue arrived I went through it and saw that other than being placed mid-way on a top ten podcast list that the show was totally absent from the mag, but Gamegavel was lavishly plugged. I called up Uk Mike and he had the same reaction, so we had a long back and forth with Socal and lots of excuses were made that actually raised suspicions that something was not right. Finally we ended up on skype and we kept giving him one simple statement, why was the other side of the bargain that the show would be integral to the magazine abandoned? After over an hour of bringing the discussion back to that he simply said that he screwed up and would fix it. The next issue was the same thing, and we came right back to the same discussion and we got a very formal, impersonal and arrogant email that magazines simply do not have podcast content and that was that. Tensions got allot higher at that point and he was flaking out on the show, missing recordings and blowing it off for the most trivial of things, listen to the episode "Surf Dogs". After another shuffle of the team at Retro and more of Socal very clearly communicating that we were down the org-chart and not dealing with him directly UK and I dropped out, Mark (not knowing any of the details as to why) made a very kind and heartfelt request that we return to writing for the mag while Socal resisted saying we were hotheads and such. After one more issue of the same Uk Mike, Willie, and myself all dropped out for good. Mark will have to tell his own involvement in detail but Socal tried to alter the agreement of stock distribution, there were lots of threats, "checks in the mail", "he was difficult to work with", and of course the standard denigration of Mark's contributions. Since then the downhill tumble of the mag has been pretty public. In hindsight the mag project was run just like the RVGS/Chameleon other than that the prototype was real. That was why the scam was so clear to us as the RVGS/CC unfolded, the mag's history suddenly came into focus and everything was right there in plain sight. 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1500 Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 Death threats? Over writing for a magazine? That sounds more interesting than the magazine articles itself. Serious business! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevnaguy Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 Ya, the last straw for me was getting a call from brandon the night before the publication deadline that I had to change my article. I was on a business trip (yes I have a real job) and had not access to my personal computer or files. He did the same thing on my first article as well. The articles you see in issue 1 and 2 of Retro CrapZine are not the articles I orignally intended or was told I could do. My original article idea was to talk about a classic arcade game, then talk about its ports to home systems. Plus a review of a classicl themed arcade I visited. And news of any interesting new arcade games coming out and any recent world records for Arcade games. The only thing that made it to the mag was the new arcade game release and any new world records. Not what I had intended at all. They also did not pay me for my second article which was another reason I left, even though I left they still published my article and did not pay me for it. I am a very easy going guy, I try to see the good in people and so the blinders remained on all throughout the Retro VGS/Chameleon fiasco. After him going silent on me, blocking me off facebook and selling off some of my stuff I Ioaned him I finally had enough. I am very grateful that UKMike and Scott (Pipercub) stuck by me and tried their darnest to get me to see the light. Although I was thick headed, they stuck by me. That is true friendship. Pat and Ian from the CUPodcast really helped open my eyes as well which I am grateful for. I only wish when I was at Game On Expo in 2015 and Mike and I stopped by Pats booth to talk to him, he would have pulled me aside and set me straight I have closed that chapter and moved on 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 I have closed that chapter and moved on From what I have gathered about you it seems you are kind to a fault. Better than the opposite. In the long run you figured things out so it's all good. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipercub Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 Knowing now that Brandon, and John Carlson were both sold a total line of BS I take a slightly different view of them now. I imagine Brandon had no disclosure about my status or previous agreements and was told something like "Yeah, yeah, Brandon your in charge of the writers and their content". In Carlson's case I am sure he was never told about any planning or effort and that the whole thing as it stood was presented as an original idea developed to that point by Socal with slight assistance from Steve. Trying to see it from Brandon's side he calls this guy up to give an assignment and gets told to go $^#* himself, and Carlson, same sort of thing, what a crap storm all out of trying to get something for nothing from so many. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cernex Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 I have closed that chapter and moved on Sounds to me like that was the right thing to do. God knows things haven't improved and most probably things will get worse before they get good... if ever. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 The way it keeps getting delayed to make it even better, Issue#12 will be the best thing in the universe! Out of curiosity, to those that have read the eleven published issues, when do you think it jumped the shark? Definitely the full page Coleco Chameleon ad near the back of issue #10: Looks like Mike is so cheap, he only "paid" for a one page spread in the very back page of his most recent issue. He could have used the entire magazine as an opportunity to pimp the crap out of Chameleon, but is too cheap. That would have taken too much effort... http://atariage.com/forums/topic/247145-coleco-chameleon-hardware-speculations/?p=3448426 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cernex Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 (edited) "Remember when consoles were made out of thin air?" "Play again when pigs fly." Edited December 4, 2016 by Cernex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 "Remember when consoles were made out of thin air?" "Play again when pigs fly." Yeah, I seen all that too I seen a peanut stand, heard a rubber band I seen a needle that winked its eye But I be done seen 'bout ev'rything When I see a elephant fly (What d'you say, boy?) I said when I see a elephant fly I seen a front porch swing, heard a diamond ring I seen a polka-dot railroad tie But I be done seen 'bout ev'rything When I see a elephant fly I saw a clothes horse, he r'ar up and buck And they tell me that a man made a vegetable truck I didn't see that, I only heard Just to be sociable, I'll take your word I heard a fireside chat, I saw a baseball bat And I just laughed till I thought I'd die But I be done seen 'bout ev'rything When I see a elephant fly Well, I be done seen 'bout ev'rything When I see a elephant fly (With the wings) When I see an elephant fly... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 In a parallel universe, flying elephants could exist I guess. In those same realities, the CC is still an SNES stuffed into a console shell... just a different shell... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 “Ford!" he said, "there's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macdude22 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Longtime lurker first time poster. I'm just an old coleco fan along for the ride. Just got a notification from patreon that I might be interested in...... https://www.patreon.com/readretro?utm_campaign=creatoryousupport&utm_medium=email&utm_source=growth&utm_term=creator 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Longtime lurker first time poster. I'm just an old coleco fan along for the ride. Just got a notification from patreon that I might be interested in...... https://www.patreon.com/readretro?utm_campaign=creatoryousupport&utm_medium=email&utm_source=growth&utm_term=creator You gotta be kidding me. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Just when you think he's gone ... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Longtime lurker first time poster. I'm just an old coleco fan along for the ride. Just got a notification from patreon that I might be interested in...... https://www.patreon.com/readretro?utm_campaign=creatoryousupport&utm_medium=email&utm_source=growth&utm_term=creator I wonder why comments are disabled on that video? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Can't believe there are 33 people as of this writing willing to fund the damn thing. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Can't believe there are 33 people as of this writing willing to fund the damn thing. That's why we still need this thread. 33 is already too many. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipercub Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 "Patreon had been courting us for months" 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 only thing to say about that... oh, for f__ks sake. I suppose we needed something to lurk out from the MK swap just to keep this thread going. So he could barely deliver on the original magazine (with an issue to go), was of subpar quality, and 33 people are backing a new effort? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Just got YET ANOTHER email from Subscription Genius or whatever the hell it's called about this. I think this makes my SIXTH FUCKING TIME unsubscribing from them? Maybe more? I've literally lost count. LEAVE ME ALONE, MIKE Angry Edit: SEVENTH 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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