An article about retro gaming from 1996

[Clippy]

So, I was reading some old gaming mags and came across an article about retro games and how they compare to what was new at the time. For those who want more details - these pictures are from the October 1996 issue of PC Zone, a British gaming magazine. I tried my best to make them as big as possible without separating them into 50 files and I think they came out alright but some of you might need to zoom in a little to be able to read the text. I'm sorry if that happens to be the case.

I find it interesting how the article's conclusion is similar to the sentiments most of us express today. Some things don't change much, huh. Either way, I wanted to see what you guys think.

BONUS: A silly Quake ad from the same issue

 

[Frickinfrik]

BONUS: A silly Quake ad from the same issue

Can’t have a gaming magazine without booba and hot women in it.

 

[Coon]

Yes those were the days But honestly, I haven't read such magazines for a long time, they've become too expensive and there's only weird stuff in them.

 

[Isegrim]

Donkey Kong cereal...wow...I actually ate some of that stuff and remember liking it.

The problem the articles mention are similar to our own. Except that everyone wants to make their own Fortnite now and want us to play there forever. At least back then, even shovelware was something you can own and play by yourself.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Magazines like these are really nostalgic to look at…man I feel old

 

[beefbowl]

Can’t have a gaming magazine without booba and hot women in it.

Boobs are cool, gamers like cool things. Hell yeah baby.

 

[ThatOneLum]

Super weird seeing gamers back in the day write about retro gaming during an era that is now considered retro.

Not as fuckin' weird as that ad tho
I'm honestly baffled that the advert really worked more than anything else.

 

[DrunkGecko]

i once cut out pictures in game manuals and taped them to paper and wrote entire articles to make my own nintendo power magazine
i wish i still had it

 

[ThatOneLum]

i once cut out pictures in game manuals and taped them to paper and wrote entire articles to make my own nintendo power magazine
i wish i still had it

ahh, back in the day when writing for a gaming publication was actually a desirable job

 

[qw90700]

TBH back then everyone said video game consoles ruined gaming because real gaming was in arcades.

Arcade logic is simple: Gameplay is based on fun and you have to survive. No story, no cutscene, you don't even know the name of the character you play as sometimes. There is just a goal and simple enough to understand but hard to survive. If you care you aim for highscore and that's it. However Nintendo ruined arcades with thier BS consoles and their games. And then $ony came and shit on it further. Relatively only decent arcade experience remained with Sega arcades.

Then video game consoles and their rubbish games came. You play Super Mario and he just jumps. Nothing fun about it. And then you constantly go to right and eventually it's barely a game, it's not fun.

In arcade the deal wasn't the goal, it was the gameplay. People enjoyed to survive as long as they can. Super Mario doesn't get fun at all. You just jump around and when you can't time it right you die lol.

And then there is Contra. You just shoot anything. No fun lol.

At least Sega Genesis did something else. In arcade games the visuals and music was kick-ass, but NES music and visuals was dull. So Sega Genesis captured arcade fun. NES games wasn't hard, they had no idea how to make the game fun so they ruined games with BS gameplay. The real fun was in Sega Genesis. The games were hard as how arcade games were. Music was kickass, SFX was wow, graphics were oww yeah lol.

And then PlayStation 1 came and things got more nonsense. BS character dramas, story, cutscenes, dialogues. Who would have known they believed SNES was hotshit and wanted to do something like that in 3D? And then they ruined arcade by insulting fun games that "it has no story" like it has to be, now enjoy your rubbish Death Stranding and walk from A to B just to watch 3 hours cutscene lol.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I always assumed that "Retro Gaming" conceptually began in the mid-00's after the introduction of the Seventh Gen when games became even more advanced and more often like interactive movies.

That was also why the XBLA and Wiiware/Virtual Console started a new trend of playing older games or indie games replicating the older style by being 2D or abandoned genres like platformers.

But I could somehow understand how older games were still seen in the late 90's with the firsts emulators and how the 90's as a whole had a massive technological gap in videogaming (remember that Wolfenstein 3D and Quake were merely four years appart) so this explains why a game from 1989 and a game from 1999 are almost like they were from 15 - 20 years apart.

TBH back then everyone said video game consoles ruined gaming because real gaming was in arcades.

Arcade logic is simple: Gameplay is based on fun and you have to survive. No story, no cutscene, you don't even know the name of the character you play as sometimes. There is just a goal and simple enough to understand but hard to survive. If you care you aim for highscore and that's it. However Nintendo ruined arcades with thier BS consoles and their games. And then $ony came and shit on it further. Relatively only decent arcade experience remained with Sega arcades.

Then video game consoles and their rubbish games came. You play Super Mario and he just jumps. Nothing fun about it. And then you constantly go to right and eventually it's barely a game, it's not fun.

In arcade the deal wasn't the goal, it was the gameplay. People enjoyed to survive as long as they can. Super Mario doesn't get fun at all. You just jump around and when you can't time it right you die lol.

And then there is Contra. You just shoot anything. No fun lol.

At least Sega Genesis did something else. In arcade games the visuals and music was kick-ass, but NES music and visuals was dull. So Sega Genesis captured arcade fun. NES games wasn't hard, they had no idea how to make the game fun so they ruined games with BS gameplay. The real fun was in Sega Genesis. The games were hard as how arcade games were. Music was kickass, SFX was wow, graphics were oww yeah lol.

And then PlayStation 1 came and things got more nonsense. BS character dramas, story, cutscenes, dialogues. Who would have known they believed SNES was hotshit and wanted to do something like that in 3D? And then they ruined arcade by insulting fun games that "it has no story" like it has to be, now enjoy your rubbish Death Stranding and walk from A to B just to watch 3 hours cutscene lol.

I don't know if you're trolling or actually never touched Super Mario Bros in your life.

Super Mario Bros as a whole changed how games were envisioned and added an actual progress with worlds rather than having more rounds with the same level but more obstacles or harder enemies.

Saying "you just go right and jump sometimes" is disingenuous at best.

 

[Zerpina]

@Clippy I love the fact that all the women are just the same woman in different poses and bikinis.
That's using your budget!... pay her for a few pictures and put Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V into overtime.
Also, very cool find.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Can’t have a gaming magazine without booba and hot women in it.

European magazines were a bit tamer.

And to be honest I don't understand the need to do that to sell a game...

 

[Zerpina]

European magazines were a bit tamer.

And to be honest I don't understand the need to do that to sell a game...

Well I never did either, but I understand it.
Sex sells, plain and simple, and as a lot of gamers were at that time horny young males, it makes sense from a business standpoint