Old mags v new mags

[D.K. Tronics]

Anyone remember the good old days of

C & VG
Crash!
ZZap!
Your Computer
Your Commodore
ACE
Amiga Format
Amiga Power
ST Format

These were great mags that had great reviews, great previews, great competitions, great letters, even great ads.
They were run by people who had a passion for video games, and not run by bribes and free trips around the world.

Today's mags are very much a lads "loaded" aproach. Toilet humour, on the street style talk, and reviews made by idiots.
Edge isn't bad, as well as a few specialist PC mags.
But PC Format went downhill. More so when the team told it's readers who wrote in complaining about all the sexism in the mag, and the woman on the covers, that
"would they prefer games and hardware ?", in a sarcastic tone.
Well YES, it's a PC mag.

I still got the early C&VG mags with the listings in them that you had to type out and hope they worked.
Your Computer had the same thing, but many listings had errors either mis-printed or just didn't work.
Still, I had fun spending hours typing out some 3 page speccy game, only to find it didn't work. Then in the next issue was an apology and the missing line I needed Never mind.

And who could forget
Jaz Rignall
Gordon Houghton
Eugene Lacey

[Lester M Fong]

well I'm a little wary of slagging off computer mags (new or old), coz I don't want to offend any of the seemingly thousands of journos registered on these forums

having said that though, even in those good old days, there were definitely mags that seemed to give favourable reviews to certain companies, for who knows what reason...

I think there are still some good mags around - I enjoy a flick through PC Zone every now and again, etc.

and as for toilet humour, rather that than no humour at all

[moobaa]

Anyone remember the good old days of

ZZap!
Your Computer
Your Commodore

Oh yes... Still got a Zzap! #1 at the parent's place. They were a breath of fresh air, since the reviewing system made sense - I rapidly came to realize I had a correlation with Rignall's taste in games, and so placed more emphasis on what he said than the other reviewers. That's how it's meant to be - another form of "word of mouth", recommendations by people you trust

Of course, Zzap! #1 also had a column by this wacky guy I was increasingly interested in because of his penchant for camel-oriented games...

The thing is, reading those old mags shows a certain... naivety? ... of the time. The 8-bit days were days of wonder, where pretty much anything was a miracle...

Mmmmmm, rose-coloured spectacles of hindsight

[shimeril]

heheh - I also have Zzap #1. And I too liked the tastes of one J Rignall. Shame I couldn't play Impossible Mission like him, but no Zzaper ever got near my best Iridis Alpha score!

I don't know whether it's so much the mags that I don't like, I think it's the product. For example: I bought 2 games for my PC last year and only 2 the year before. They were GR++, Dungeon Siege, Everquest and Championship Manager 00/01, and the respective ratings would be , , , . GR is a much improved remake of an old idea, DS is a much improved version of a very old idea, EQ is a painful version (due to bandwidth and support - the game is good) of a very old idea and CM is also a much improved version of an old idea.

Think back to C64 and Speccy days when games like The Sentinel, anything of Yak's, Lords of Midnight, Paradroid, Populous and the like were around. These were new ideas. I overheard a young fella talking about what a great concept The Sims were and how it would have taken a genius to come up with it. Horseshit - ever hear of Little Computer People? I seriously think the old days were better due to the limitations of the hardware. It meant programmers had to be something special, with a damn fine idea, to make something attractive to hard core gamers. Now I see hordes of barely post puberty kids salivating over the latest Quake style game, or the new Colin McRae Rally MCXXVIII. I mean really, how much do they improve. They look prettier, but what difference in gameplay. For my money, I'd rather play GR++, Spheres of Chaos, MAME and my C64 until the cows come home, mate, and their offspring leave.

And just to finish my rant, EB are selling second hand PS1 games at 30% off, so I helped myself to a few games I didn't have the readies for at the time. Soul Reaver, Metal Gear Solid and Wipeout 2097 (replacing a previously stolen copy). This cost me $50. For 3 classics. No respect! (Oh yeah, A$1 = 35p)

[Elizian]

I can remember devouring every page of every issue of Crash! magazine - and, Yes, I typed those listings in, too, but with a bit of luck I would be able to send them a letter telling them which line was missing before the next issue arrived

I still have Issue 1-80+ of Crash! - minus cover tapes, sadly, but complete with artwork, posters, and the like. I have even been known to get them out and have a browse through them, from time to time.

[D.K. Tronics]

Think back to C64 and Speccy days when games like The Sentinel, anything of Yak's, Lords of Midnight, Paradroid, Populous and the like were around. These were new ideas. I overheard a young fella talking about what a great concept The Sims were and how it would have taken a genius to come up with it. Horseshit - ever hear of Little Computer People? I seriously think the old days were better due to the limitations of the hardware. It meant programmers had to be something special, with a damn fine idea, to make something attractive to hard core gamers. Now I see hordes of barely post puberty kids salivating over the latest Quake style game, or the new Colin McRae Rally MCXXVIII. I mean really, how much do they improve. They look prettier, but what difference in gameplay. For my money, I'd rather play GR++, Spheres of Chaos, MAME and my C64 until the cows come home, mate, and their offspring leave.

Couldn't have said it better.
Trouble is, if you'd posted that in one of today's multiformat forums you would of been slaughtered for living in the past Which just goes to show that many of today's youth judge games by graphics alone.
I recently posted a topic saying that I'd rather play MAME, or all my retro hardware/emulators than any of today's 3 consoles.
I had to register under a different name to escape the abuse. Yet none of them read the bit where I said that I enjoyed a lot of today's games, expecially Nintendo games.

I still have Issue 1-80+ of Crash! - minus cover tapes, sadly, but complete with artwork, posters, and the like. I have even been known to get them out and have a browse through them, from time to time.

You don't know how much I envy you
I tell you whats great about reading those mags and owning almost all of the speccy collection ?
Finding a review, or an ad where you liked the screenshots but never got to play the game, and then firing up Klive and seeing what it's like for the first time.

[shimeril]

Couldn't have said it better.
Trouble is, if you'd posted that in one of today's multiformat forums you would of been slaughtered for living in the past Which just goes to show that many of today's youth judge games by graphics alone.

Yep, I know all about it. Got flamed something chronic by some kid who wasn't even old enough to have acne, for living in the past.

Must say though, despite my rant that I do look at said graphics and wonder how much time goes into them. Time that could have been spent on gameplay instead...

must...stop...bitching...

ooh, only 4 posts to go before sheepie cannabalism

[Dr. M]

ooh, only 4 posts to go before sheepie cannabalism

Ye goats! what have I done

[shimeril]

ooh, only 4 posts to go before sheepie cannabalism

Ye goats! what have I done

Obviously your flagrant sheepie whoring has had an impact on those of us more susceptible to such influences. In other words, now I know when it changes from 3 little sheepies to 1 BIG MOMMA sheepie!

[junkster]

I overheard a young fella talking about what a great concept The Sims were and how it would have taken a genius to come up with it. Horseshit - ever hear of Little Computer People?

Well, that's an extreme reaction. LCP was about you interacting with a little guy, whereas The Sims is about the interaction between characters. Sure, there are similarities, but it isn't worth bursting a blood vessel over The Sims being a total rip-off of the concept.

Know your history, but don't let it make you a bitter old coot

[junkster]

I haven't read game magazines much for the last ten years because they've gotten very preview oriented. There's more print about a game months before it is released than in the review after it hits the streets.

The constant attempt at "street style" humor squarely puts most magazines in the "for 10-14 years olds" category.

I used to like Next Generation a lot, though, almost as much as I liked some of the 8-bit computer magazines.

[Sickboy]

I still have Issue 1-80+ of Crash! - minus cover tapes, sadly, but complete with artwork, posters, and the like. I have even been known to get them out and have a browse through them, from time to time.

Oh, Christ. One of these days, someone is going to discover the reviews of the text-graphic adventures I wrote with a mate and sold through mail order...

Or the tips on Frank Bruno's Boxing I remember having printed in Crash...

Now there's a challenge for your research skills, Elizian.

[moobaa]

Obviously your flagrant sheepie whoring has had an impact on those of us more susceptible to such influences. In other words, now I know when it changes from 3 little sheepies to 1 BIG MOMMA sheepie!

Hoy, it's "MAMA"!

[shimeril]

Know your history, but don't let it make you a bitter old coot

heheh, too late I think!

[Mayhem]

Oh, Christ. One of these days, someone is going to discover the reviews of the text-graphic adventures I wrote with a mate and sold through mail order...

Or the tips on Frank Bruno's Boxing I remember having printed in Crash...

Now there's a challenge for your research skills, Elizian.

Someone I know has scanned all issues of Crash and is making them available to buy on CD very shortly (costs just going towards materials and labour). Guess we can start searching then