Writing for a Magazine, Waxing Nostalgically About Them—Plus Zines and Games

If you came here from Twitter, then you may already know that, a few months ago, I wrote a thing for Nintendo Force—a review of a game called Hpynospace Outlaw from Jay Tholen and his team at Tendershoot. In short, without spoiling anything, it's a lovely tribute to the web of the late 90's with a keen eye on details and aesthetics. Unlike the review I did for 1324, this one is only accessible via purchasing the issue on their website—available either as a print copy or digital file. If you're a huge fan of Nintendo, especially if you remember reading Nintendo Power back in the day, I would also consider a subscription to the Force through their Patreon page. Much like Hypnospace Outlaw, editor-in-chief Lucas M. Thomas and the rest of the Nintendo Force crew make the magazine feel like what preceded before it—a true spiritual successor that brings the same magic to generations of fans, both old and new. 

I thought that, instead of a regular entry, I would talk about my nostalgia for magazines like the Force and showcase a a few different publications from my collection—including a few zines. 

Nintendo Power was, in a manner of speaking, the magazine that started it all. Or rather, it was one of a few brands—including Expert Gamer, and Electronic Gaming Monthly—that piqued my interest in both the format and video gaming proper. There were also strategy guides for Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color games games that my family and I ended up renting months after their initial release.

I should probably set up the picture: It's the late 90's and I was enrolled in an elementary school in Poulsbo, Washington that closed its doors in 2013 due to low enrollment. My first introduction to the Nintendo 64 was at a kiosk at the local Toys 'R Us in Connecticut, shortly before my first cross-country move, in 1996. I remember being more impressed by the fact that it was in 3D than anything else and many of the strategy guides—from Nintendo Power in particular—used models that were full-3D maps of the areas including Banjo-Kazooie and Ocarina of Time.

In fairness, I was more impressed by the strategy guides at that time for their maps. Nintendo Power for those full-on renders—shrunk down to fit a two page spread—and Versus Books who's maps had a more hand-drawn or canvas-esque look to them. I also had an obsession with collecting maps at the time, but that's a story for a different post.

It actually wasn't until 2003-2004 when I was gifted an Nintendo Power subscription that I became obsessed with them—both the magazines and the games. I was more keen on the Gameboy Advance, as I remember reading through the issue with the E3 announcements being stoked for the chance to play Super Mario Bros 3 on a handheld with the Super Mario Allstars touch-up alongside a new role-playing game in the series. The issue where they showcased the upcoming Nintendo DS was one of my favorites and, even with the awkward control scheme, I was as excited to play an updated port (or remake of sorts) of the game that got my attention at that same kiosk with more playable characters. 

It was another move—this time to a more permanent residence—that I decided to get rid of those strategy guides and magazines. This was shortly before I graduated high school when I started getting more social—more so than in elementary school—and I looked at those magazines at large alongside what was going on in video games and thought that having them around would feel somewhat juvenile, and weird to others. This of course was before I discovered how much the ecosystem around gaming has changed drastically—in many areas, for the better—and before I started not to worry so much about what other people thought about my own geekiness. 

While I digress, I did discover Douglas Adams and The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy through a Mario fan web-forum, so denying this whole aspect of myself—in full, or in part—was rather silly in hindsight. Most if not all of my interest in media across the Atlantic would stem from this moment alongside from my Dad putting on BBC podcasts—most notably the World Service bulletins and Chris Evans Drivetime highlights in the mid-2000s.

Other things about Nintendo Power before we move on: Biggest thing to note is that they were a publication initially published through Nintendo of America. Many issues that I had contained tips and tricks on recent releases and sometimes, they even did a small walkthrough—they did this with Tales of Phantasia on the Gameboy Advance. Almost every year that I was subscribed to it, they had their own awards with an issue for nominations. I don't remember if readers could submit votes though. 

Also, the issue pictured next to the Force was a gift that my late Uncle won for me on an Ebay auction—while I was still receiving my subscription. Surprisingly inexpensive, from what I remember, at around $10-20, but I can imagine that it's worth much more now.   

While I discarded those old magazines, I never forgot about the personal fondness I had for the games I played. There weren't many people I knew offline that I could discuss gaming with—without diverging into gatekeeping by either side, or with me doing into an ad nauseam explanation of a particular facet. However, there was one person who—much in the way that Mario led to Hitchhikers Guide—would eventually lead me to start collecting gaming publications again—both magazines and zines.

This was between 2009 and 2010, shortly after I graduated high school and begun my academic studies at a local community college. I helped tutor at an after-school program at a middle school that I used to attend and one of the adults, who I believe may have been a janitor or was related to one of the people who ran the school's library, introduced me to both Zero Punctuation and Unskippable. The comedy troupe turned small video production house, LoadingReadyRun, was responsible for introducing me to the Commodore 64 microcomputer. 

It was the sketches featuring the C64 and their web sitcom, Commodore Hustle, which made me fall in love with the SID chip before I fully knew what the SID chip was. I missed the old SID tunes when LoadingReadyRun transitioned to modern jingles in future episodes (from mid-2014 onward), but the impact the SID chip had would make itself known years later.

That would be in 2016, when I started getting back into gaming proper with a 3DS, Majora's Mask 3D, and ultimately the Sega 3D Classics Collection. I remember going onto YouTube one day browsing Steve's Benway's back catalog—I found his channel back in 2012, but I forgot who introduced me to him—and I noticed that Nostalgia Nerd was one of the suggested channels.

This was my foray into the YouTube rabbit hole of vintage tech and software and it was slightly overwhelming—Kim Justice, Banjo Guy Ollie, RMC, Metal Jesus Rocks—but I was reintroduced to both the SID chip by exploring YouTube's retro gaming sphere and also discovered the Commodore Amiga with its MOD community. 

As for the associated magazines, I'll go through them in brief...

FREEZE64 (pictured above) is a fanzine for the Commodore 64 created by Vinny Mainolfi and he puts a lot of work into each issue. Each one features an interview with a developer who worked on some Commodore 64 games, a closer look at the game featured on the cover including cheats, the "Mouldy Cupboard" where Vinny plays an obscure or poorly rated game to see if it holds up, the "Secret Squirrel" which unearths hidden secrets within the code of Commodore 64 games, and "ZZAPBACK" which looks back at the highly rated games in a past edition of the Zzap 64 Magazine. 

(FREEZE64's also how I knew about the 8-Bit Symphony Kickstarter with the add on the back of my first issue.)  

The Amiga Power album (also pictured above) is a creative tribute to the Amiga Power magazine in the UK. There are two CDs filled with remixes to classic Commodore Amiga games—Speedball 2, the Chaos Engine, Cannon Fodder, etc—from well-known Amiga composers like Chris Huelsbeck and Barry Leitch among many others. The Mighty Booklet provides a snapshot into the humor and style of what the Amiga Power magazine was like with each track looking back at how the game was covered by the writers. I personally enjoyed the entire thing...and wish that I could find an Amiga of my own or at least be able to play with one in a museum—playing Turrican the proper way among other games.       

So lastly, there are these...

The Zzap 64 Annuals, much like the Amiga Power album, harken back to Zzap 64 of the 1980s. They are another UK-based publication, but unfortunately, I don't know as much about them. I enjoyed reading through the 2020 Annual, but haven't had the opportunity to start on the 2021 Annual. The cover art by Oliver Frey is incredible and well-detailed, and there were a few neat pieces including an article on a Steampunk Commodore 64. They also review games recently developed for the microcomputer from both indie and more mainstream developers which is really neat! 

I'm done waxing nostalgically about gaming magazines, but I wanted to showcase one more set of magazines from my collection that I enjoy reading... 

   

I'm very biased here with this set for many reasons that go without saying. For those unfamiliar, I'm a huge fan of the CheapShow podcast which I started listening to three years ago. It's a podcast that has changed my life for the better in myriad ways—but more importantly it's a podcast that is hilarious and brings spark to the more inexpensive side of life. 

Now the humor will not be for everyone—they sometimes engage in huge swaths of blue humor—but the passion they put into each episode is further reflected by the fans. There's the CheapShow Awards with the voting organized by Rhianan, the Urinevision Song Contest, the logo designs by Page (ep. 50-149) and Tony (ep. 150-present), and there's also the Unofficial CheapShow Magazine from Ivenne who is also responsible for the 1324 zine.

YouTuber Timmus TSET has done quite a few videos showcasing the magazines—including one dedicated to the D10 issue and another for the Sticky Album (both pictured above)—that I recommend giving a watch to get a more detailed look.

Here's what I will tell you in brief: These magazines are well-designed from cover to cover and serve as an excellent companion piece to the podcast. There's a theme to each issue and many of the sections from the show—including Silverman's Platters, Price of Shite, Cheap Eats, and a section dedicated to noodles—are well-represented in print. Every issue also has a few puzzles to solve and features interview with one of CheapShow's hosts or friends of the pod, which made it one of the highlights of supporting CheapShow via Patreon. It was also one of the things that made me appreciate the podcast and what Paul and Eli try to do with it on a now-weekly basis. 

Of course, having them in print was even cooler. From the sixth issue onwards, there were cover gifts which ranged from Barcode Battler tribute cards, a mini cd, and a booklet on Asian brands, to an entire tabletop campaign. I finally got around to trying the first campaign of the D10 issue last summer and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also appreciated how easy it was to understand—especially as someone who has never played Dungeons & Dragons outside of Baldur's Gate on Switch—and was already knee deep in the campaign within ten minutes.   

If you're a CheapShow listener and love what your hearing, I'd go over to Patreon, give them some monetary support, and check out the magazine—Issue #11 came out in April and Issue #12 is just around the corner.

...and that concludes my nostalgic waxing on gaming and magazines, along with showcasing some of my favorites in the collection. I hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to be less sporadic and more frequent in posting from hereon.