Retro Gamer #62 - Amiga special

Paul_s · 23 March 2009, 19:38

An 8 page spread on the history of the Amiga....

It ain't laminated so my copy is stuck together after one read

pubzombie · 23 March 2009, 20:24

Just got mine and it looks cool - sat on the loo and opened it 10 mins ago

they must have been listening to us

prowler · 23 March 2009, 22:05

Hey guys,

Thanks for starting this "Retro Gamer subscribers' early announcement thread" for all us non-subscribers.

Looks like I'll be buying it again this month, then!

Keep up the good work,

prowler

PS. It's good to see that it's not 'Off Topic' this month!

blackcornflake · 23 March 2009, 22:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul_s

An 8 page spread on the history of the Amiga....

It ain't laminated so my copy is stuck together after one read

I won't ask

Graham Humphrey · 23 March 2009, 22:56

Got mine through the post today but only opened it a few minutes ago - haven't read it properly yet but it looks like a very interesting feature, and indeed some good articles in general.

cosmicfrog · 23 March 2009, 23:18

Cool so when can us mortals expect to see it in smiths

Graham Humphrey · 23 March 2009, 23:34

Thursday I think but don't quote me on that.

prowler · 23 March 2009, 23:40

Quote from Retro Gamer, issue 61, page 110:

Quote:

LOAD 62
NEXT ISSUE on sale 26 March 2009

r0jaws · 24 March 2009, 00:17

Another must have copy for me, looks like I'll be getting a subscription at this rate!

cosmicfrog · 24 March 2009, 00:26

thats like 2 days a way .....................

spose i can wait

cheers for the info, know what I`m buying and reading at the weekend

Zetr0 · 24 March 2009, 02:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by r0jaws

Another must have copy for me, looks like I'll be getting a subscription at this rate!

I have not been let down by an issue yet, all top notch!! a sub is the only way to go, not only do you save a few pints worth of pennies, you get a cracking read befor anyone else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicfrog

thats like 2 days a way .....................

spose i can wait

cheers for the info, know what I`m buying and reading at the weekend

well worth it Cosmi! some fantastic retr0-ribbits in this issue, with a company profile on DMA design, Definitive write up on Metal Slug, the Sega Megadrive Celebration, Amiga Special, retr0-reviews on Saboteur, and sooooo much more.... its almost enought to make your head explode..... errr.... kinda like Paul_s....

Calgor · 24 March 2009, 05:34

How large (in pages) is this magazine? The subscription cost to Oz is 80GBP for 13 issues. That's about $AU15 per mag even at a reduced subscriber's rate. I wouldn't know where to get a single copy if I wanted to just see it.

Graham Humphrey · 24 March 2009, 07:50

It's 116 pages.

Oh and for all those people who buy it on occasion and don't subscribe (in the UK at least), I don't know whether they still do, but they used to run an offer where if you subscribe you get three issues for £1, which is what finally persuaded me to take out a subscription. That was about September/October last year so I really have no idea if this offer is still running.

chiark · 24 March 2009, 10:56

It's great to see an 8 page article on the Amiga, it really is. Big hugs to RG for doing it!

However... I don't want to be a whinger, or a pedant... But.

The article is good, but misleading in some places, and wrong in others.

Of the top of my head:
The author's lack of understanding of the A1000 kickstart is quite "special". Apparently, it needs to be installed after purchase: true I suppose, but I suspect the author has never used one... Or heard the special little tinkle when it's alive

Jay Miner's dog is Mitch, apparently. Most famous dog related to the Amiga, and the name is wrong. No mention of Joe Pillow, which I think is a fantastic story of the prototype amiga and would explain why that name is on the inside of the 1000 cover.

The 1500 being "better" than the 2000, because you can add a hard disk?

There's one boxout saying "did you know..." that the A1000 UK launch was delayed due to the ROM being rewritten because of the easter egg messages in there (the 'we made the amiga, Commodore 'ked it up' one). I've never seen that particular rumour before, but it doesn't make any sense. Yep, those are the same messages that are in 1.3...

It's a good article, but a little fact checking wouldn't have gone amiss, as there's plenty of knowledge in this community and others that could have been drawn upon.

But it is great to see a new article on the Amiga, and it is a difficult task to fit 28 years history into 8 pages, but I was hoping for revelations and not of the "did you know why the 1000 was delayed" type! Difficult after all this time, admittedly...

but thank you to RG for publishing it! I'm just hard to please

ImmortalA1000 · 24 March 2009, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiark

It's great to see an 8 page article on the Amiga, it really is. Big hugs to RG for doing it!

However... I don't want to be a whinger, or a pedant... But.

The article is good, but misleading in some places, and wrong in others.

Of the top of my head:
The author's lack of understanding of the A1000 kickstart is quite "special". Apparently, it needs to be installed after purchase: true I suppose, but I suspect the author has never used one... Or heard the special little tinkle when it's alive

Jay Miner's dog is Mitch, apparently. Most famous dog related to the Amiga, and the name is wrong. No mention of Joe Pillow, which I think is a fantastic story of the prototype amiga and would explain why that name is on the inside of the 1000 cover.

The 1500 being "better" than the 2000, because you can add a hard disk?

There's one boxout saying "did you know..." that the A1000 UK launch was delayed due to the ROM being rewritten because of the easter egg messages in there (the 'we made the amiga, Commodore 'ked it up' one). I've never seen that particular rumour before, but it doesn't make any sense. Yep, those are the same messages that are in 1.3...

It's a good article, but a little fact checking wouldn't have gone amiss, as there's plenty of knowledge in this community and others that could have been drawn upon.

But it is great to see a new article on the Amiga, and it is a difficult task to fit 28 years history into 8 pages, but I was hoping for revelations and not of the "did you know why the 1000 was delayed" type! Difficult after all this time, admittedly...

but thank you to RG for publishing it! I'm just hard to please

I don't agree I think you are expecting exactly what a knowledgeable customer paying for a magazine should expect. A feature on the Amiga that I have to pay money for to read that gets basic facts wrong like not knowing the A1000 loads kickstart and may lack EHB is a bit of rubbish journalism

Jeez the A1000 is one of the best computers ever made full stop, whether you're a Commodore fanatic or not you should get basic things like that right and it just shows me what a waste of money this magazine still is.

I could probably write a more interesting feature on the early history of how the Amiga came to be

1/10 FAIL please try harder or pay someone who knows about the Amiga inside out to write about it Retrogamer ta.

chiark · 24 March 2009, 13:12

I didn't want to start a whingefest, as it could rapidly appear that our community is a bunch of grumpy old gits

. Let's try to keep it positive.

I am going to write a letter pointing out a couple of corrections: i'll post it here before I send it if people like?

tomcat666 · 24 March 2009, 13:55

I think I have first 20 or first issues of RetroGamer and I loved it back then. Bought an issue last month (it was from two months ago) and the magazine is not even remotely as good as it used to be

A shame... it was just stuff you read on the internet anyway, for me it had almost no added value ... it might be just that issue though...

seuden · 24 March 2009, 14:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImmortalA1000

I could probably write a more interesting feature on the early history of how the Amiga came to be

/me looks forward to reading it

Calgor · 24 March 2009, 15:20

@chiark

Hidden easter egg - famous story, I already heard it before but could not remember which version it was for v1.2 or v1.3. I read about it years and years ago or so on a web page that no longer exists. Much of those old stories no longer exist on the internets (most now are just rehashes and copies of existing webpages).

http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news...y-part-5.ars/3

If you read ars technica and commodore: on the edge as well as amigahistory.co.uk you will get an excellent overview of the history. Unfortunately it's only 3 sources (i.e. they themselves may contain mistakes). Old archived newsgroup messages also contain some gems.

chiark · 24 March 2009, 15:30

Ah, thanks for the link.

Quote:

The message was discovered embedded in the ROMs for the European PAL version of the Amiga 1000, just after the computer had gone on sale in the United Kingdom. Managers at Commodore UK pulled tens of thousands of Amigas off the shelves and refused to sell the machines until replacement ROM chips were sent

but.... but... but...

The Amiga 1000 didn't have a ROM chip!

Which sorta shoots this story down.

It was certainly there in my Amiga 500 with 1.2

Reading the ars story again, it's fairly obvious where the main research for the article in RG was done!

23 March 2009, 19:38	#1
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,333	Retro Gamer #62 - Amiga special An 8 page spread on the history of the Amiga.... It ain't laminated so my copy is stuck together after one read

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23 March 2009, 20:24	#2
pubzombie Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: westmids Posts: 900	Just got mine and it looks cool - sat on the loo and opened it 10 mins ago they must have been listening to us

23 March 2009, 22:05	#3
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Hey guys, Thanks for starting this "Retro Gamer subscribers' early announcement thread" for all us non-subscribers. Looks like I'll be buying it again this month, then! Keep up the good work, prowler PS. It's good to see that it's not 'Off Topic' this month!

23 March 2009, 22:56	#5
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	Got mine through the post today but only opened it a few minutes ago - haven't read it properly yet but it looks like a very interesting feature, and indeed some good articles in general.

23 March 2009, 23:18	#6
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	Cool so when can us mortals expect to see it in smiths

23 March 2009, 23:34	#7
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	Thursday I think but don't quote me on that.

24 March 2009, 00:17	#9
r0jaws Amibay fanboi Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Boston, Lincolnshire Age: 49 Posts: 154	Another must have copy for me, looks like I'll be getting a subscription at this rate!

24 March 2009, 00:26	#10
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	thats like 2 days a way ..................... spose i can wait cheers for the info, know what I`m buying and reading at the weekend

24 March 2009, 05:34	#12
Calgor (Amigas && Amigos)++ Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Anrea Posts: 999	How large (in pages) is this magazine? The subscription cost to Oz is 80GBP for 13 issues. That's about $AU15 per mag even at a reduced subscriber's rate. I wouldn't know where to get a single copy if I wanted to just see it.

24 March 2009, 07:50	#13
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	It's 116 pages. Oh and for all those people who buy it on occasion and don't subscribe (in the UK at least), I don't know whether they still do, but they used to run an offer where if you subscribe you get three issues for £1, which is what finally persuaded me to take out a subscription. That was about September/October last year so I really have no idea if this offer is still running.

24 March 2009, 10:56	#14
chiark Needs a life Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: England Posts: 1,707	It's great to see an 8 page article on the Amiga, it really is. Big hugs to RG for doing it! However... I don't want to be a whinger, or a pedant... But. The article is good, but misleading in some places, and wrong in others. Of the top of my head: The author's lack of understanding of the A1000 kickstart is quite "special". Apparently, it needs to be installed after purchase: true I suppose, but I suspect the author has never used one... Or heard the special little tinkle when it's alive Jay Miner's dog is Mitch, apparently. Most famous dog related to the Amiga, and the name is wrong. No mention of Joe Pillow, which I think is a fantastic story of the prototype amiga and would explain why that name is on the inside of the 1000 cover. The 1500 being "better" than the 2000, because you can add a hard disk? There's one boxout saying "did you know..." that the A1000 UK launch was delayed due to the ROM being rewritten because of the easter egg messages in there (the 'we made the amiga, Commodore 'ked it up' one). I've never seen that particular rumour before, but it doesn't make any sense. Yep, those are the same messages that are in 1.3... It's a good article, but a little fact checking wouldn't have gone amiss, as there's plenty of knowledge in this community and others that could have been drawn upon. But it is great to see a new article on the Amiga, and it is a difficult task to fit 28 years history into 8 pages, but I was hoping for revelations and not of the "did you know why the 1000 was delayed" type! Difficult after all this time, admittedly... but thank you to RG for publishing it! I'm just hard to please

24 March 2009, 13:12	#16
chiark Needs a life Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: England Posts: 1,707	I didn't want to start a whingefest, as it could rapidly appear that our community is a bunch of grumpy old gits . Let's try to keep it positive. I am going to write a letter pointing out a couple of corrections: i'll post it here before I send it if people like?

24 March 2009, 13:55	#17
tomcat666 Retro Freak Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Slovenia Age: 51 Posts: 1,646	I think I have first 20 or first issues of RetroGamer and I loved it back then. Bought an issue last month (it was from two months ago) and the magazine is not even remotely as good as it used to be A shame... it was just stuff you read on the internet anyway, for me it had almost no added value ... it might be just that issue though...

24 March 2009, 15:20	#19
Calgor (Amigas && Amigos)++ Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Anrea Posts: 999	@chiark Hidden easter egg - famous story, I already heard it before but could not remember which version it was for v1.2 or v1.3. I read about it years and years ago or so on a web page that no longer exists. Much of those old stories no longer exist on the internets (most now are just rehashes and copies of existing webpages). http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news...y-part-5.ars/3 If you read ars technica and commodore: on the edge as well as amigahistory.co.uk you will get an excellent overview of the history. Unfortunately it's only 3 sources (i.e. they themselves may contain mistakes). Old archived newsgroup messages also contain some gems.

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