The Mark Green interview
NGamer magazine editor Mark Green talks Nintendo, social media, the early days of broadband, and how everything changed in the mid 2000s.
Forgotten Worlds #1. Ask me anything…
Exhaustion, panic and creeping dread - ask me anything about publishing a magazine about old video game magazines.
The final days of the Sega Dreamcast
Five years after Sega pulled the plug on its hardware division, the Dreamcast has found itself in a weird purgatory. Neither alive, nor dead; the system has managed to sustain itself with a drip feed of import titles.
Why the metaverse failed
“We don’t need expensive VR headsets to experience alternative realities, we’ve already walking around inside them thanks to the intangible flow of data that emits form our phones, TVs, laptops, cars, and fancy refrigerators.”
The Richard Monteiro - Paragon Publishing - interview
Richard Monteiro started his career as a staff writer with Amstrad Action, eventually went freelance, and ultimately co-founded Paragon Publishing - which was responsible for magazines like Sega Pro, Play, Games (™) and a bunch of others.
Raze magazine
I always liked Raze and its multi-format approach. But I was also fascinated by the chaos within the magazine. It felt like a mish-mash of several different publications thrown together, all competing with each other. I finally understand why…
The Paul Glancey interview
“It was a nightmare. With no more than about two weeks before the print deadline, I managed to get an old computer and started writing features and reviews of every Mega Drive game we knew of. Then, with about a week to go, I was joined by an art director from a London creative agency.”
The Dan 'Shoe’ Hsu interview
“When I started writing for EGM, I remember I was one of the lower reviews for Turok on Nintendo 64, and I didn’t know this until years later, that Acclaim pulled advertising because of my review…”
Video game fandom before the internet
Arnie Katz calls for the establishment of a national fan organisation. A way for people to communicate and share their interest in gaming. This is 1992. Pre internet.
The Julian ‘Jaz’ Rignall interview
“People are far more sensitive these days, and I imagine the sort of rhetoric we got away with back then would be very poorly received today. In the 80s and 90s, people were far more tolerant to that sort of humor…”
The Richard ‘Rich’ Leadbetter interview
“The working conditions were pretty disgusting, the office was a mess, there was no air conditioning, probably about a quarter of the people smoked in the office — and the games room was stiflingly hot in the summer. I was pretty surprised at how bad it was when I went to interview for the job…”
A sudden creative burst
I’ve had a few commissioned pieces published across various websites in recent months. If anyone is interested here’s a summary.
How to get drugged and robbed in Tokyo
Being the victim of organised crime in Tokyo is actually REALLY, REALLY difficult. But it’s not impossible…
My 1992 Game review database
I took it upon myself to compile a handwritten database of game reviews. Which, fine, whatever. The weird part is I also decided to add my own review scores - whether I had played the games or not. And in 80% of cases I definitely hadn’t.
Mean Machines VHS promo tapes
I recently found some more treasures at my folks’ house. Anyone else remember these promo VHS tapes that came with Mean Machines?
Snapshot: Game Players. June 1996
Sega’s Panzer Dragoon 2 is the highest rated tile. But the Sega Saturn is already on the backfoot, as Sonic flounders in development hell…
Forgotten gaming magazines
Unless you’re talking about Mean Machines, C+VG, EGM, Nintendo Power, SuperPlay or GameFan no one seems to care. Here are some classic 90s gaming magazines that deserve more attention.