General Retro Discussion

[Helmsly]

funny enough, I've also recently been reading through issues of N64 magazine as well. N64 magazine really had a great sense of humour about itself which I feel is missing from game coverage these days.

[Hero-of-Time]

6 minutes ago, Helmsly said:

funny enough, I've also recently been reading through issues of N64 magazine as well. N64 magazine really had a great sense of humour about itself which I feel is missing from game coverage these days.

Yeah, it was my go to magazine back in that era. The writing and game coverage were fantastic. I loved how they would cover weird import stuff that many other magazines at the time wouldn't touch.

[nekunando]

N64 Magazine was brilliant

I was looking for my collection a few years ago but my parents threw them in the fire (along with some perfectly good, and barely worn, football boots)

Parents, eh..?

 

[Mandalore]

7 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I also enjoyed looking through the challenge section of the magazine. They would give you a load of tasks that needed to be completed, such as getting all the stars in Mario 64 or achieving a set time on a certain track in Mario Kart 64. I think you had a year to get through as many challenges as you could. You would reach different tiers (bronze, silver, gold, platinum) depending on how many you completed and the list would be updated every month so you could keep track of players who were rising through the ranks. Had something like this been around now I would totally be getting involved with it.

I remember that section, always an interesting read. I did try quite a lot of their challenges, kinda regret never sending off my results to them! 

I suppose N-Europe would be as good a place as anywhere to recreate a modern equivalent?

[Hero-of-Time]

2 hours ago, Mandalore said:

 

I suppose N-Europe would be as good a place as anywhere to recreate a modern equivalent?

As someone who loves to 100% his games I would happily sign up for something like that. Sadly, I just don't think we've got the numbers on here to pull off such a thing or interest for that matter.

[Fierce_LiNk]

5 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

As someone who loves to 100% his games I would happily sign up for something like that. Sadly, I just don't think we've got the numbers on here to pull off such a thing or interest for that matter.

I'll happily pose as the nude model on Page 3.

Wait, wha-

[Nicktendo]

I've got issue 16-60something still stored in my parents' loft. Try to go through them every once in a while when I'm back home and they always bring a smile to my face.

I subscribed back when I was at school and when it was delivered it always felt like such a massive event. Agree completely that we have too much news these days, dunno if it's simply age or the fact that info was so scarce back in the day, but the magic of getting a new game and discovering everything has definitely worn off for me. 

[nekunando]

21 hours ago, Mandalore said:

I remember that section, always an interesting read. I did try quite a lot of their challenges, kinda regret never sending off my results to them! 

I suppose N-Europe would be as good a place as anywhere to recreate a modern equivalent?

When I started here back in 2005, or shortly after, I remember trying to get people into a little bit of light competition with things like high scores in 1080 Avalanche for the Gamecube

There is a little bit of potential for something like this

[lostmario]

On 8/24/2018 at 12:01 PM, Hero-of-Time said:

I found one of my old issues of N64 magazine in the cupboard the other day. This was said issue.

I kept it all these years as I had my name printed in it.

 

What did you do to get your name printed in it?

[Hero-of-Time]

1 hour ago, lostmario said:

What did you do to get your name printed in it?

There was a bargain section in the magazine where people had to send in the best bargain they had found when out and about. I managed to find Currys selling Donkey Kong 64 with expansion pak for £14.99. Sadly I didn't win and was just a runner up.

[Fierce_LiNk]

We're clearing out @Eenuh's old room in Belgium and she has a stack of NGC and N64 magazines. Some of them are in Dutch. Man, I've had a flick through them and it's been very fun reminiscing about that little period of time where the N64 was coming to its end and the Cube was on the horizon. Seeing screenshots, impressions and news for Luigi's Mansion, Xtreme G3 (what a game, laaaads) and Star Wars Rogue Leader has been great.

Also, the magazines have got some excellent previews for Kameo and apparently Perfect Dark 2 has just been announced. Can't wait to see what they're like on the GC!!

[Hero-of-Time]

Man, I miss this series.  

Fire Emblem has had its day in the sun and it's time this series got some love.

[Ike]

On 24/08/2018 at 12:01 PM, Hero-of-Time said:

I found one of my old issues of N64 magazine in the cupboard the other day. This was said issue.

 

I really liked their spin off magazine, GameBoy Planet, but they either only ever made 5 issues or all the stores near me stopped carrying it. It's where I found the ad for mail ordering the US versions of Pokemon. They were only £22.50 which was really good. They put the price up later when the games started becoming more popular over here, but it only went up to £25 if I remember right.

I still have my issues of NGC magazine but was considering throwing them out as they take up too much space.

[Hero-of-Time]

5 hours ago, Ike said:

I really liked their spin off magazine, GameBoy Planet, but they either only ever made 5 issues or all the stores near me stopped carrying it. It's where I found the ad for mail ordering the US versions of Pokemon. They were only £22.50 which was really good. They put the price up later when the games started becoming more popular over here, but it only went up to £25 if I remember right.

I still have my issues of NGC magazine but was considering throwing them out as they take up too much space.

Apparently there were only 4 issues or at least that's all I can find evidence for.

The magazine name wasn't ringing any bells but after searching for it on Google the memories came rushing back. I definitely had the first issue as I remember the front cover.

[Ike]

11 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Apparently there were only 4 issues or at least that's all I can find evidence for.

Probably because I got the wrong way round.  (Planet Gameboy).

[nekunando]

5 hours ago, Ike said:

I still have my issues of NGC magazine but was considering throwing them out as they take up too much space.

Is it all NGC or are there a few issues of N64 magazine too? If so, I'd be tempted to pay for postage and have a few of them here.. for the memories

[Hero-of-Time]

I was sorting out some of my retro stuff this evening and came across another Nintendo mag that I kept ahold of.

It's Official Nintendo Magazine issue 99. I kept it because I had my name in it for entering the Pokemon Stadium Sushi Go Round mini game competition. I didn't win but I managed to make the top 10.

It was the issue with the Majora's Mask review, if you can call it that. It's mainly a bunch of pictures notes. What little writing is there just reads like a guide for early stages of the game and they also spoil 3 of the 4 temple bosses. The magazine did have a great advertisement for the game, though.

The issue also had a few bits and bobs about the Gamecube. It showed blurry screens of Wave Race 128, Too Human, Luigi's Haunted Mansion, Rebirth and The Legend of Zelda. There was also a snippet about how Miyamoto said it would only take a year to produce Mario 128 and the magazine speculated that it would obviously launch with the Cube.  

The GBA section at the end of the magazine ( it was less than a year away from release at this point ) had screenshots of Yoshi's Story, Castlevania, Mega Man and Ougon No Taiyo which would become Golden Sun.

Right at the back of the magazine there were a bunch of advertisements for various gaming companies. Stuff like Special Reserve, King Cat, Direct Intel and Consle King. I used to use Special Reserve and the others I remember always looking at, due to the import games and Pokemon merch they sold, but I never used them.

 

[killthenet]

NOM's reviews were always pretty bad weren't they? They basically just gave everything 90% or above unless it was Superman 64 or Carmagedon.

[Hero-of-Time]

22 minutes ago, killthenet said:

NOM's reviews were always pretty bad weren't they? They basically just gave everything 90% or above unless it was Superman 64 or Carmagedon.

Haha. Yeah. In this issue they gave Mickey's Speedway 92%. It's been a while since I've played it but I remember it being a very average game.

 

[Grazza]

This takes me back.  Basically, in the early '90s, Mean Machines was the best games mag about.  I suppose Nintendo noticed and gave them the official licence, hence the split into Nintendo Magazine System (which presumably was the precursor to NOM?) and Mean Machines Sega.

 

Mean Machines Sega was slightly more like its predecessor, although neither matched the original.  I remember being absolutely furious with Mean Machines Sega after they gave away a free Saturn demo disc, which wiped the save data off my Saturn memory card.  I was so angry I phoned them up and berated one of the reviewers!  They printed an apology in the next issue!

[Mandalore]

I remember Console King, they sold me a counterfeit copy of Pokémon Yellow. After reporting them to Trading Standards they sent me a legit copy, never used the scummy company after that.

One actual decent company I remember from N64/ONM ads was called something like Tunza Games. Used them quite a few times to get PAL games earlier and cheaper, they were Australian based. If only I'd known back then to get a copy of Snowboard Kids 2.

[Hero-of-Time]

Good shout on Mean Machines @Grazza. I used to love reading both the original and Sega versions.

Looking back at all of the official magazines I have to say I think Nintendo had the worst. Sega Saturn, PlayStation and Dreamcast ones were brilliant and had great coverage and articles. ONM/NOM were always pretty poor in comparison, with very biased reviews and very few articles worth reading. 

[Ike]

20 hours ago, nekunando said:

Is it all NGC or are there a few issues of N64 magazine too? If so, I'd be tempted to pay for postage and have a few of them here.. for the memories

I think mostly NGC, not sure I ever bought any issues of N64. I'll need to sort through them at some point to see if there's any I want to keep first. If you're still interested I'd rather pass them on then recycle them.

[Ronnie]

On 8/24/2018 at 12:01 PM, Hero-of-Time said:

I loved N64 magazine but looking back, that's probably the worst cover design I've ever seen, from any magazine!

[Hero-of-Time]

2 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I loved N64 magazine but looking back, that's probably the worst cover design I've ever seen, from any magazine!

Haha. Yeah, there's stuff all over the place on it. Very busy. In fact, there were always like this.

https://www.retromags.com/gallery/category/89-n64-magazine/