The Pixel Nation is Formed....

[Lorfarius]

As a few of you are I'm sure are aware I recently worked on a magazine for NES-Bit, a small community based project which I think met with great success. During the later stages of this magazine I got to chatting to a few other forumites and started working on something completely new, a retro publication called Pixel Nation.

After 5 months of hard work, determination, professional designs and gallons of coffee I'm now proud to announce that the first issue and website is finally complete:

http://pixel-nation.co.uk/

We are launching with a regular quarterly book with Issue 1 consisting of 100 full colour printed glossy pages, packed with articles/exclusive interviews, in handy A5 book size. Perfect for train journeys! We also have a PDF version as well for all those who prefer to read it on tablets, PC's etc. It's packed full of content, including the following:

Can video games be considered art? - We talk to Jose Emroca Flores (responsible for our cover), Dutch artist Metin Sevin from Seventh Heaven as we attempt to answer the question “Can video games truly be considered as art?“
2D Platform Revival - An in-depth look at the classic 2D Platform genre, how it faded away, and its current resurgence on modern platforms.
Design Classic: NiGHTS into Dreams - Huge feature on the beautiful Sega title Nights into Dreams. This is a “Design Classic” concept, where we outline in detail a particular game, and what makes it a design classic as well as its history.
Retro Icon: Outrun - Yes, we obviously love Sega, but really, all the cool kids do! A huge in-depth feature, and our regular “Retro Icon“ concept, going into mega detail about the original Outrun Coin-Op and what makes it unquestionably a Retro Icon.
Bob Wakelin Interview - We interview super influential 80’s British video game artist Bob Wakelin, and take a look at some of his favourite pieces of game art.
Retro Collect guide to Floppy Discs, the Gaming Black Market and the Far East - Yeah, we’re going there! The awesome and very knowledgeable Adam of RetroCollect joins the Pixel Nation, and gives you a wonderfully entertaining look at the various copying devices and black market shadiness from the world of retro games.
Confessions of a Girl Gamer - But I thought this was a geeky boys club? No! Geeky girls play too! An excellent and thought provoking look at some of video games most iconic female characters, as written from the perspective of an actual real life girl gamer!
Zelda Cartoon Feature - “Well, excuse me Princess!” We interview the two voice actors from the 1980’s Zelda cartoon, to get an insiders perspective on the show.
Spotlight: Koji Kando - A look at some of the awesome output from the Japanese video game music composer who has composed some of the most iconic game music of all time.
Amiga 1200 Look Back - Who doesn’t go weak at the knee’s for Commodores super beast of an Amiga? This is a richly detailed look at the history behind the system and how it came to be.
Shadow of the Beast Interview - Another exclusive interview, as we talk to the man behind the Amiga classic Shadow of the Beast, Martin Edmondson, in the first of a two part special speaking to the people behind the games.

Also:

· Tomb Raider 2 – A Saturn vs. PlayStation Story
· The Rise & Fall of Arcades
· The Year in Games - 1985

And many, many more!

We basically went all out to get some great stuff and I'm very proud of the Legend of Zelda cartoon interview! The printed version includes the PDF for those who simply can't wait for it to arrive! There's a few pics towards the end of the post so let me know what you think!

U-Publish

In creating NES-Bit magazine I was always wandering around the web, trying to see what other fan based communities were trying to come up. One thing I noticed is the huge number of fanzine type books/mags that were available yet most of the time are hardly seen by many. So with this in mind I came up with the idea of why not have a central place where everyone can visit to discover retro publications that you might have missed. I managed to add a few books to the library so far in Pixellation Issue 1 and Hidden Treasures but I'm really hoping this will expand over time. It's on the site so please have a look at the few we have to offer.

The whole goal of Pixel Nation is to create a dedicated retro community that can actually share stuff with everyone, get things published without spending thousands (something I found the case to be with NES-Bit Magazine System). I'm very, very excited about all this as I'm sure you can imagine and I'm looking for as much support as I can muster, so please visit the site! There's also a store packed with retro goodies so I'm hoping its enough to entice you all.

[prowler]

GREAT work, Lorfarius! Thanks for the heads-up.

I'll definitely be ordering a printed copy of the first issue.

Will you be accepting subscriptions?

[Lorfarius]

Its something we are considering The issues are selling really quickly so I'd grab one while you can.

[Greyfox]

He didn't make this his company did, out sourced designers over at pixel nation, he been posting this all over other forums to generate awareness as he is part of the pixel nation brand and company partner , Something he should be mentioning before promoting , this is a money based venture, its nothing to do with expanding any communities .

Just setting the facts here is all.

[Lorfarius]

The company consists of me, another chap and 1 designer (a chap called Dave who currently works in Comet) using a couple of forumites to help with writing and yes I'm trying to drum up as much interest as I can, we've spent 5 solid months of hard work trying to get this going Not every day something like this comes along is it? Apologies everyone if this is out of line, but I think it's worth shouting about I only became involved with this because of my huge love of retro gaming and felt I had something to offer, as with the rest of the folks behind the first issue. The forums very own RetroSofer put a lot of hard work into the Amiga 1200 piece, so much we had to split it into two parts, its a great read too!

We've also got several people perfectly happy with the U-Publish side of things and I'm hoping to build it into something really special. Only time will tell but I think we have the best start possible right here

[Greyfox]

Debatable

[prowler]

Originally Posted by Lorfarius

The issues are selling really quickly so I'd grab one while you can.

Just tried, but I got the message "No shipping options are available" when I got to the checkout.

I have just scratched the account I had created.

[Lorfarius]

Originally Posted by prowler

Just tried, but I got the message "No shipping options are available" when I got to the checkout.

I have just scratched the account I had created.

That's an easy one Make sure you have your address selected in the list. If not click the "I want to use a new address" bit and then use that. Should sort it

[prowler]

Originally Posted by Lorfarius

That's an easy one Make sure you have your address selected in the list.

It was selected.

[Lorfarius]

Originally Posted by prowler

It was selected.

Weird drop me a PM and I'll see what I can do

[Mnemesi]

Smexy mag is smexy.

[prowler]

Originally Posted by Lorfarius

Weird drop me a PM and I'll see what I can do

No need for that, mate. I went through the loop again and suceeded this time!

Edit: Downloading the PDF copy now...

[fishyfish]

Cool stuff, but this part was very funny......

"......as written from the perspective of an actual real life girl gamer!".

LOL,... "a real life girl gamer!",.... as though such a thing was thought to be myths or something, or the equivalent of Ghandi? I loved the use of an exclamation point

[Lonewolf10]

It looks amazing. I'll be ordering mine tomorrow (I would do it tonight, but I'm very sleepy).


Regards,
Lonewolf10

[Lorfarius]

Originally Posted by fishyfish

Cool stuff, but this part was very funny......

"......as written from the perspective of an actual real life girl gamer!".

LOL,... "a real life girl gamer!",.... as though such a thing was thought to be myths or something, or the equivalent of Ghandi? I loved the use of an exclamation point

You wouldn't believe the amount of thought that went into that bit of text, difficult if you don't want to alienate the other half

Glad you got it sorted Prowler.

[fishyfish]

Hehe, it's all good. Im probably just amused by strange things, and it was pretty standard to exclaim pretty much everything on the front of video game magaines from the era your magazine focuses on.

Seriously though, good stuff. It looks to be right up my alley

[Lorfarius]

The writer found it just as funny, we triple checked

[wilshy]

Cracking work, as I said over on Retro Asylum Will be ordering one soon.

this is a money based venture, its nothing to do with expanding any communities

Shouldn't think there's a massive amount of money in a niche subject print magazine published by an independent group of people, so that's a ridiculous statement to make.

[prowler]

Received my printed copy this morning! So quick. Thankyou very much!

No regrets - I'm not really much of a gamer (retro or otherwise), but I found all the articles interesting.

The A5 format is neat, and it's nice to get a free PDF copy as well.

Please let us know when the next issue is out!

[lesta_smsc]

Quality magazine, reminds me of when I used to get the Amiga ones ... ah the memories. Keep up the good work!

[Lorfarius]

Originally Posted by prowler

Received my printed copy this morning! So quick. Thankyou very much!

No regrets - I'm not really much of a gamer (retro or otherwise), but I found all the articles interesting.

The A5 format is neat, and it's nice to get a free PDF copy as well.

Please let us know when the next issue is out!

Thanks for your support

[S0ulA55a551n]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

He didn't make this his company did, out sourced designers over at pixel nation, he been posting this all over other forums to generate awareness as he is part of the pixel nation brand and company partner , Something he should be mentioning before promoting , this is a money based venture, its nothing to do with expanding any communities .

Just setting the facts here is all.

Dude what is your beef ????? I don't understand how on earth you could get so offended by this ?

[Greyfox]

Originally Posted by S0ulA55a551n

Dude what is your beef ????? I don't understand how on earth you could get so offended by this ?

hey, I'm not offended by anything..best of luck to them, you just don't know the guys behind this aswell as I do is all..just leave it at that. , so there is no need for battering to go on..no one wants to open a can of worms..especially me.

[mikele]

just to throw my two cents, I probably know what Greyfox meant. Frankly speaking I am sick and tired of companies that desperately try to jump on "old school bandwagon". They simply take advantage of this nostalgic note just to make huge profits. There's nothing spontaneous, nor "indie" about them, but a marketing strategy planned to the finest detail. Not implying there's a catch behind Pixel Nation, but my message to those people pretending to be a part of vintage/nerdy communities is clear - screw you, impostors.

[Lorfarius]

Well I also run a NES community which I've talked about on here before, for the launch alone I wrote 40'000 words worth of reviews and articles, not to mention learning how to code a website:

http://www.nes-bit.com/

And had many a few subscribers to my retro channel over on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Lorfarius

There's about 400 vids of a mad man rambling on there who owned far too many retro games and systems (me) .

I also do a fair bit of writing for the books as well as organising the articles/design side, my latest piece is the Ultima special for issue 2. I'm working my way through the full series first as its a tale that needs to be told! I'm sure there's a few here that have tried a couple of Ultima games and it's not going to be an easy task. Not to mention the Dizzy article I'm also working on.

I am trying to make a go of PN as something huge if I can, because simply put I love retro gaming and this is a dream come true. Its the perfect opportunity to create something special and I'm chuffed to bits to have been a part of it Can't help but shout about all the hard work, long hours (all done in spare time, I have a full time office job!) and effort that's gone into this. Personally for me the proudest moment was having Bob Wakelin agree to let me interview him, the guys art is a legend.

The people here who have bought a copy, I hope the work we put in has really come across and I'm forever grateful you have taken the time to grab a copy.

[prowler]

Originally Posted by Lorfarius

The people here who have bought a copy, I hope the work we put in has really come across and I'm forever grateful you have taken the time to grab a copy.

Well, I bought a copy, as you know, so to all those doubting the motives behind Pixel Nation let me say this:

Your writers have an interesting and witty style and they know what they're talking about.

The book is filled with editorial content and there are no adverts, so profiteering is not high on the agenda.

I would advise anyone not sure about this to pick up the PDF version from the website at just £3.99 and see it for yourself.

[wilshy]

Greyfox, you opened the can of worms. No one else.

Mikele, I didn't realise the "vintage/nerdy" communities were closed to new members. I must have missed that memo.

Hard work has clearly gone into this, so regardless of motives, that has to be applauded.

[Lorfarius]

Been a hectic month but now things have calmed down a bit, work has started on the second issue! It's turning into a full time job!

[prowler]

Originally Posted by Lorfarius

It's turning into a full time job!

That sounds like bliss.

Originally Posted by Lorfarius

Been a hectic month but now things have calmed down a bit, work has started on the second issue!

Great news! I hope you have continued success with this venture.

[Lorfarius]

I'm literally spending hours, if not days constantly sorting stuff but the strange thing is its actually quite fun. I wish my real job was this fulfilling

[Lorfarius]

Couple of new titles added to U-Publish, PC Engine Gamer and ZX Spectrum Gamer:

http://pixel-nation.co.uk/index.php/...c-engine-gamer

http://pixel-nation.co.uk/index.php/...spectrum-gamer

There's 8 issues available and all free to download. It's a very good start for the U-Publish concept as I want this to grow and offer a central download section for people to visit. We will offer free downloads as well as books/mags that authors want to sell so it's well worth checking back. Just in talks with another author for a further 4 magazines, so more to follow!

[Lorfarius]

Very proud to announce that we have just added Retro Action Magazine to the U-Publish section of the site:

http://pixel-nation.co.uk/index.php/...ction-magazine

We have all fours issues available and free to download.

[Lorfarius]

Just had a new entry in the U-Publish library, the second issue of Retrocade magazine:

http://pixel-nation.co.uk/index.php/...lume-1-issue-2

Also in other news... PN2 is almost complete! Designers have been working like crazy and the last page designs are almost there. Not much longer now.

[Lorfarius]

Well it’s been a long month but after many late nights (far too many early mornings!) I’m proud to announce that issue 2 of Pixel Nation is now available on the site and of course every printed copy comes with a free PDF for those who can’t wait:

http://pixel-nation.co.uk/index.php/...nation-issue-2

One of the great things about PN is that we can really take feedback on board and make changes yes we have listened to everyone’s comments. This time offering a more streamlined and professional look yet still maintaining that retro feel the first issue brought. We have also changed the binding and page sets of the books which was a comment a few made with PN1, it’s a much nicer look and feel all round!

With a mix of hired writers, designers and a push to improve here’s what we have to show for all our efforts:

Wizard of Woz - Proud to present an interview with Steve Wozniak who talks about his time developing the BASIC language behind Apple Computers and his own introduction to programming. You have no idea how big of a plus this is for us! Not just another Apple story, it goes into details you won't have read about before!
Atari in the Land of the Rising Sun – There aren’t many retro gamers that don’t know the rise and fall of Atari. But little is said of what happened to its Japanese division during these times. Pixel Nation explores the unknown history behind Atari Japan.
Dizzy: The Journey – One of the most fondly remembered heroes of yesteryear, we take a walk through the full series from past to present.
Philip Vachey interview - A chat with the composer behind Alone in the Dark, Little Big Adventure series and the Dreamcast classic Toy Commander.
Bluffers Guide to Touhou – A literal trip through a series of bullet hell shooters, our Touhou article aims to give the definitive introduction to this classic series.
Guy Wilhelmy – One of the most infamous Spectrum games collections ever committed to tape, Pixel Nation speaks to the man behind Cassette 50 of Cascade Games Ltd.
Final Fantasy VII: Through the Lifestream – A series without an end, there’s nothing Final about this Fantasy. In this issues cover special we take a closer look at the effect of Final Fantasy VII on the JRPG genre and the road to its development.
Peter J. Favoro Ph.D – We sit down with the original Alter Ego creator to discover the story behind its creation, so join us on a journey through the mind and the games creation!
Tim Wright – Discusses the music behind the Shadow Of The Beast games
The Cats out the Bag – Before the Atari Jaguar there was another cat that prowled the gaming forest. We take a look into a lost piece of gaming history, the Atari Panther.

Also:

Bubble Bobble Design Classics
World of NES Accessories

And many more!

[prowler]

Hi Lorfarius,

Did parts 2 of the "Confessions of a Girl Gamer" and "The Amiga 1200" articles make it into the Pixel Nation second issue?

[lesta_smsc]

Looks great!

[Lorfarius]

Originally Posted by prowler

Hi Lorfarius,

Did parts 2 of the "Confessions of a Girl Gamer" and "The Amiga 1200" articles make it into the Pixel Nation second issue?

Yep, both in there

[prowler]

Originally Posted by Lorfarius

Yep, both in there

Thanks, mate. I'll get my order in tonight!

[prowler]

Order submitted!

PS. Once again, I had trouble getting the shipping option accepted, even though there was only one option available and it was selected! I had to restart the checkout process three times before I could get beyond that point.

[Lorfarius]

I'll have a word with the web guy.