To what extent should foreign gaming be included in a commercial retro magazine?

[RetroRevival]

Should it be in the form of an article about the gaming in each region (ala the John S articles in Retro Gamer) or should it be more of a "section" in a commercial publication as apposed to a single article?

If you could write for a commercial magazine, to what extent would you include foreign gaming content?

Regards
Simon

[Baseley09]

Depends on if the product is going to get a domestic release, or at least is probable, such titles should be left for review, just mentioning that it is out on import.

Foreign games should be covered, but in a small section, i.e. 3 or 4 pages worth per month.

[qupe]

Possibly a small section at the back of the mag, few pages and see what the feedback is like and build/cut back from there. I have only over the last few years released what we in the Pal countries miss thanks to minor coverage in magazines.

I think you also need to bear in mind the language barrier if a game is heavy in japanese text and it's important to the gameplay element do these really need to be covered? Which does effect a lot of RPG's.

Maybe include a little column that covers some of the common words, i.e start, options, level select etc and the translations.

[Yakumo]

Super Play used to cover mostly Import stuff as far as I remember and that was the best games magazine EVER!!

Yakumo

[Wil]

Surely it depends on what sort of gaming you like. Personally I'd jump at a mag that was full of all the odd stuff that only gets snide, single paragraphs from normal mags.

So, I say the more, the merrier!

Wil

[Leon Retro]

A good retro mag should cover games regardless of where they were made.

RetroGamer started to cover Japanese stuff etc.. but it wasn't enough, and the amount of British stuff was tooooo much.

I guess it's more difficult to cover Japanese retro, one of the reasons being a lot of journo's were heavily in to the Western computer scene and didn't play many Japanese consoles or computers in the 80's. Another reason is probably the difficulty in tracking down and interviewing Japanese creators, say for example the people behind F-Zero.

Maybe it would be best to have a magazine dedicated to Japanese retro. There are sooo many games and machines to cover- and if the journo's are commited to getting interviews and articles I think it would be possible.

As much as I like reading about British,American and European retro, I'm not interested in the emphasis on 8bit stuff because it's before my time. The 16bit era is my passion- and arcade gaming is very important to me. If a retro magazine focused more on these area's- I would buy it without hesitation!

16bit Rulez!

[Leon Retro]

Surely it depends on what sort of gaming you like. Personally I'd jump at a mag that was full of all the odd stuff that only gets snide, single paragraphs from normal mags.

So, I say the more, the merrier!

Wil

When you talk of odd stuff what sort of thing are you thinking of?

I would love more space dedicated to shooters, and unique types of games. Coverage of Cave and Psikyo and all the other smaller unsung devcos who deliver such passionate beautiful games would be good.

There are tons of retro games away from the big names. Many titles that though brilliant have been lost in the mists of time. I love it when these gems are found and appreciated once again!

The GamesTM retro section has the passion but not the space. RetroGamer had the space but was too narrowly focused. Is there a market and the will to produce a truely great retro magazine though? Someone needs to do the maths and research the viability?

[Sketcz]

I think several people have made important points. If a game is (was) good, then it should covered regardless of region. There shouldn't be any kind of divide in games because of country. Great retro games will always be great. I find it strange that people have such an ingrained concept of "foreign games".

Superplay is a great example. They covered games as and when they were released, from any region, regardless. Then, as these games were released in other regions, they had a few update pages reminding people. I was looking back over old issues, and the sheer genius of what they were doing still astounds me. I was looking a double page spread by Zy, and he going over games they had reviewed ages ago, that were then getting PAL releases.

That's the way all magazines should operate. If it exists, and its good. Cover it. I don't care where it comes from. Good games need to be covered.

Any future retro mags, I would expect them cover all regions, games for everywhere, otherwise I simply won't buy them. I may like Head Over Heels, but I also like Popful Mail and other imports. I only hope that any future retro publications cover the wierd, unusual and the foreign, since that is where my interests lie. Not because they are exotic, but because it was import systems like the Famicom (instead of a Spectrum) that I grew up with.


My Global Gaming features (which if I recall, RetroRevival lambasted on several forums), tried to cover the really unusual or unique sides of these areas, as well as the cultural integration of games. Such as the way the Russian language has adapted to use Western words, when they have their own equivalents.

A colleague actually pointed out I could probably do a book on global gaming, with a chapter dedicated to each country covering the weird and the wonderful. I'd love people to start taking the whole world of gaming seriously like this, but I think it may still be a while before many take an interest. Hopefully these gaming histories are not lost by then.

But yeah, there MUST be global coverage in retro mags, as much as possible.

[Wil]

Looking at it objectively, I find it hard to see how any retro magazine can really succeed in the mainstream. Not only do you have an enormous range of different machines to cover (of which, I'll hazard a guess, most of your readership only ever had one or two) but you're also battling against a generational gap. It seems to me that most of Retro Gamer's readership had their formative years in the early to mid 80s so their fond memories of gaming are wrapped up in that particular decade. Sure, I was gaming then but I had already left college and was working so no - C64 vs Speccy playground battles for me and certainly no glowing nostalgia of getting x console/computer for Xmas; I grew up in the 70s when it was nothing until b&w pong games and Atari came along. So you're never going to be able to please all of the people all (or even most) of the time; something borne out by a lot of RG forum posts that seemed to only want that golden UK age of Sinclair/Commodore/Acorn covered.

More than just a retro mag I'd like to see an 'import' (for want of a better word) title that just doesn't bother with the Fifa's and GTAs but just picks up on all the weird and wonderful stuff (yes, Cave shooters etc.) and includes retro stuff as well. Sure, it's never going to be mainstream and sell loads but find the right core team (someone who can write and speak Japanese so you can write nice polite letters to Japanese softcos asking for interviews), don't work from fancy offices and make sure the word gets out to all the right sort of gamers around the world (no point in trying to get it into WHSmiths) and I don't see why it wouldn't pay its way. But it has to be done well - no 'anyone could write this' top 10s and series' roundups.

I'm sure I've waffled all this before so apologies. Seem to have wandered off topic, too. Er... yes, er... games from everywhere, good thing, yes. Hurrah!

wil

[Sketcz]

More than just a retro mag I'd like to see an 'import' (for want of a better word) title that just doesn't bother with the Fifa's and GTAs but just picks up on all the weird and wonderful stuff (yes, Cave shooters etc.) and includes retro stuff as well.

Would you say though, that the actual amount of such quirky games has gone down in recent years? I remember in previous generations, so many titles trying to outdo each other in terms of what they actually were. Today I find that fewer developers are trying to push the envelope. It's why I play so much retro or indie games these days. Only a handful of recent games seem to try and capture that long forgotten spirit.

I take you've played the indie developed game "Cave Story" (Doukutsu Monogatari)? I wish more mags gave coverage to decent indie games such as that. Sadly it seems only websites and forums actually bother mentioning them. I guess it's because they're not commercial titles.

[Wil]

Maybe they have but it doesn't have to exclusively be 'wacky' games. How much mainstream mag coverage do you think the new DS Goemon or Castlevania games will get? A page in NGC? Maybe half a page in either GamesTM or Edge? What about Ouendan? Even NGC seem to want to shy away from this sort of thing now. They should have had a massive article on Jump Stars by now!

Cave Story is great. Sadly, you really need half-decent writers to do this stuff. Most of the people working in games mags now just aren't up to it. You have to almost be - gasp - a proper journalist.

wil

[Leon Retro]

I think the viability of a good Retro mag needs to be investigated.

A lot of people may have given-up gaming and have other things to concentrate on now, such as a family etc... There are lots of people from the 8bit/16bit generation though that are and will probably always be obsessed with games regardless of what else life has to offer and commitments they have.

I know for a fact that the Retro phenomenon is global. It is a generational thing- people in their 20's, 30's and even 40's are passionate about the history of gaming. Look at Japan- people have over recent years been going crazy for Famicom machines and games, Nintendo even released the retro GBA titles to feed peoples desires. In Britain a lot of people are heavily in to the 8bit computer scene and it's growing and expanding in to other areas. America also has it's own particular retro trends such as the love for Atari.

One thing that brings retro fans together is the love of classics and the appreciation and discovery of unsung titles. Most people talk passionately about Outrun, Shinobi, Mario, Sonic and all the other well known franchises. These classics are a common bond gamers of a certain generation share and enjoy discussing.

Even the current teens and kids of today are going to eventually have a desire and interest in Retro. These people were kids when Mario64 amazed the world and Lara Croft seduced schoolboys across the globe. To a lot of these gamers the PS1 is their retro machine that brings back good memories of their first steps in to the world of gaming.

All this retro activity suggests to me that the scene goes way beyond a few internet forums dedicated to the subject. All gamers, and even casuals have fond memories of their favourite games, and also games they read about but never owned back in their childhood/youth. These people are looking to feast on nostalgia and enjoy all the great games from the distant past. A passionate and quality publication needs to be made for all generations of gamers- and I have no doubt if done right it would sell amazing numbers!