Classic gaming magazines - Scans, downloads and nostalgia (Update: Loads of PDFs now on Archive.org)

NickSCFC · Last edited by NickSCFC on Wed Jun 05, 2019 8:42 am, edited 3 times in total.

Ad7 wrote:My chest hurt looking through that issue. So many feels.

The special reserve ad!

I get a weird feeling in my stomach from things like this, I'm remembering taking them into class and reading them with friends I'd forgotten about.

I think the memories are so vivid because I was excited when reading them and playing the demos in a way I don't get about gaming anymore.

I can remember every detail about buying the Dreamcast from Electronics Boutiques, who I was with, the naff Venga Boys song that was playing, the journey home...

I haven't got a strawberry floating clue how my PS4 or Switch found their way into my house.

NickSCFC wrote:Found a new website with PDFs available...

Oh, wow, this is an awesome site, Nick!

The first computer magazine that I bought... Computer & Video Games, back in August 1984! TV Soaps on the cover :lol:

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Anyone remember the readers screenshots section in PC Gamer? Have a vivid memory of seeing a screengrab of a modded Champ Manager which had an image of a chimpanzee instead of a stadium as the background with the text in the top of the game window reading "Chimp Manager: Ook ook ookity ook ook ook!".

Also remember the running joke in the letters/emails section where they'd keep putting peoples location as Loughborough for almost every single one.

Quoted for new page because why not

Preezy wrote:I'm on my phone so can't link but if anyone is interested there's a great YouTube channel called Classic Gaming Quarterly, he often does hour-long specials where he reads through retro magazines, it's amazing

I remember reading the Metal Gear Solid issue of OPM in 1999 on the bus on my way to my grandparents house, eating a Milky Bar Choo Bar of all things.

The Resident Evil 2 review issue meanwhile was bought in a WHSmith in a hospital, and read in a Burger King...also in the hospital.

The special edition demo of Tekken 3 I absolutely hammered with my next door neighbour for weeks, every night after school. She was always much better at it than me however. And I’ve only got worse at beat em ups as the years have gone on...

Bizarrely I recall so many people standing around in WHSmith always reading Essential PlayStation.

Always buying PowerStation magazine in Virgin Megastores.

Strange how you remember the most innocuous of things.

I am glad however I’ve thrown away so little over the years, but it does require an awful lot of room to store. Stuff not in boxes has unfortunately yellowed more than I’d have liked.

NickSCFC

KK wrote:Strange how you remember the most innocuous of things.

I've been reading some articles about this, apparently older people remember their childhood/teenage memories more vividly than those from any other point in their lives.

The ones that are most vividly remembered are those where happiness or excitement was involved. Music and smells can trigger it, and that's why they play old music from the 40s in retirement homes (they're experimenting with this on dementia patients).

I vividly remember getting my NES, MegaDrive, Saturn, PlayStation and Dreamcast and the surrounding memories.

God knows where my PS2, GameCube, Xbox and subsequent consoles came from, everything after my teens is a bit of a blur.

NickSCFC

KK wrote:I remember reading the Metal Gear Solid issue of OPM in 1999 on the bus on my way to my grandparents house, eating a Milky Bar Choo Bar of all things.

The Resident Evil 2 review issue meanwhile was bought in a WHSmith in a hospital, and read in a Burger King...also in the hospital.

The special edition demo of Tekken 3 I absolutely hammered with my next door neighbour for weeks, every night after school. She was always much better at it than me however. And I’ve only got worse at beat em ups as the years have gone on...

Ok, read your post a bit more and my memories of those 3 issues are just as strong.

MGS issue - I used to have a paper round and I bought it in the the morning, I remember dashing straight to a friend's straight after my round was done so we could play the demo and my friend became obsessed with the wall press mechanic.

Resi 2 issue - Bought it for a friend as he wouldn't get served in Game as it had an 18 logo on the cover, guess I was lucky as I got it for him.

Tekken 3 issue - After being thrown out of Topman due to my friend molesting a manequin we played the demo in HMV for about an hour, my mates kept going on about how Eddie was the coolest thing in the world and took the piss because there was nothing like that in Virtua Fighter 2 on my Sega Shiturn, this song brings that moment rushing back every time I hear it...

I was about to mention Kiwis World which has tons of very high quality UK gaming mags in full, but it seems they've stuck all the content behind a paywall. Not really sure how ethical or legal it is to charge for .pdf copies of magazines they had no part in creating, but whatever. They do have a couple of 'free' N64/NGC Magazine downloads, like these:

http://kiwis.world/index.php/test/file/ ... 8?start=25
http://kiwis.world/index.php/test/file/350-ngc-060

KK wrote:I remember reading the Metal Gear Solid issue of OPM in 1999 on the bus on my way to my grandparents house, eating a Milky Bar Choo Bar of all things.

Well now I just miss Milky Bar Choos.

My podcast has loads of episodes with interviews with the people behind a lot of the mags from our youth. Steve Jarret, Andy Dyer, Jaz Rignall etc

suzzopher wrote:My podcast has loads of episodes with interviews with the people behind a lot of the mags from our youth. Steve Jarret, Andy Dyer, Jaz Rignall etc

Linky please.

Grew up on Total so Jarret and Dyer were the magazine personalities I got to know well.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:
suzzopher wrote:My podcast has loads of episodes with interviews with the people behind a lot of the mags from our youth. Steve Jarret, Andy Dyer, Jaz Rignall etc

Linky please.

Grew up on Total so Jarret and Dyer were the magazine personalities I got to know well.

Have a butchers https://www.maximumpowerup.com/

That site is excellent, but unfortunately very few places seem to have copies of my old staple PC Gamer.

suzzopher wrote:
Cheeky Devlin wrote:
suzzopher wrote:My podcast has loads of episodes with interviews with the people behind a lot of the mags from our youth. Steve Jarret, Andy Dyer, Jaz Rignall etc

Linky please.

Grew up on Total so Jarret and Dyer were the magazine personalities I got to know well.

Have a butchers https://www.maximumpowerup.com/

Cheers man. I'll check that out later.

My.very first issue of N64 Magazine is on that site too. Issue 36, Christmas 1999.

I used to get the Official Nintendo Magazine, which was pretty much my first gaming magazine (unless you count Sonic the Comic). I started getting the around Spring 1998, not long after I got an N64.

On special occasions, like if I was heading on a trip, during the school holidays etc. I'd often get another magazine "for a treat". That Christmas I got N64 Magazine for the first time.

Firstly, it was a packed issue. A ridiculous amount of games were released so there were tonnes of reviews.

Secondly, mid-December 1999 saw my first real experience of a death in the family, so it was a pretty miserable Christmas holiday. But actually, seeing as I spent a bit of time at home, N64 Magazine thoroughly cheered me up at times. Not just due to the bumper content inside but also the jokes and writing style. That, along with getting a GBC and Pokémon Blue on Christmas Day, was the highlight of my Christmas.

I actually still have all my old N64 Magazines back at my parents' place in the UK. Bar Issue 37 and Issue 38, I got every issue since then, all the way up to the final NGamer. What's more, I found a job lot of all the past issues too, so picked 1-35 up too, years later. And actually read them all for the first time, in around the mid-2000s, way after the N64 had died. They still held up.

Also the mag is what brought me to Future's Daily Radar forums, so you have it to thank/blame for me being here today.

Archive.org is an absolutely brilliant website that I'm surprised more people aren't aware of. I've used it for getting hold of plenty of stuff that just isn't available elsewhere like old podcasts that are no longer on iTunes or old radio shows that are simply not recorded anywhere. :wub:

So much nostalgia for old magazines, I used to love reading through them back in the day - analysing the tiny screenshots and digging into all the details as it was the only source of information before the internet! I never had a particular affiliation for any one magazine, dipping my toe into many different titles over the years as and when something caught my eye. If there was a big console release coming up or after an E3 had happened I would grab whatever mag was offering the most juicy details on it. In terms of numbers of copies purchased I probably picked up more issues of PC Zone and PC Gamer than anything else, although EDGE would probably come close too. Held on to them for years as well, lugging them around uni houses whenever I moved! Finally ditched them all about 6 or 7 years ago I think which was a surprisingly hard task as I think I am a bit of a hoarder! :lol:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:
suzzopher wrote:
Cheeky Devlin wrote:
suzzopher wrote:My podcast has loads of episodes with interviews with the people behind a lot of the mags from our youth. Steve Jarret, Andy Dyer, Jaz Rignall etc

Linky please.

Grew up on Total so Jarret and Dyer were the magazine personalities I got to know well.

Have a butchers https://www.maximumpowerup.com/

Cheers man. I'll check that out later.

Cool.

Amazingly I’ve just been kicked off the team :lol:

I had a massive pile of EDGE (Probably just over a decades worth) from 97/98 right up to 2009/2010ish and ended up just binning them as realistically I didn't expect to ever go back to them. Kinda wish I'd kept at least some of them now.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:I had a massive pile of EDGE (Probably just over a decades worth) from 97/98 right up to 2009/2010ish and ended up just binning them as realistically I didn't expect to ever go back to them. Kinda wish I'd kept at least some of them now.

I know that feeling.

I held on to a couple of "key" issues for a while - the 100th issue etc. but in the end I just decided to get rid of them all.

Jenuall wrote:...So much nostalgia for old magazines, I used to love reading through them back in the day - analysing the tiny screenshots and digging into all the details as it was the only source of information before the internet!...

When I started getting Computer & Video Games, the reviews didn't have screenshots... you'd didn't see screens until you looked at the back of the game packaging in a shop :lol:

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Jenuall wrote:...In terms of numbers of copies purchased I probably picked up more issues of PC Zone and PC Gamer than anything else, although EDGE would probably come close too...

I had all of Zzap! 64 from issue 1 through 48, plus loads of C&VG, Commodore User and Amiga Power issues, but I eventually chucked them all out and I still feel pain from that decision today

. I still have loads of Amiga Format, CU Amiga, Official PlayStation, PlayStation Power, gamesTM and Official Nintendo up in the loft, though.

Jenuall wrote:...Held on to them for years as well, lugging them around uni houses whenever I moved! Finally ditched them all about 6 or 7 years ago I think which was a surprisingly hard task as I think I am a bit of a hoarder!

Mags can take up tons of space. As above, I somehow hauled all of mine up into the loft but I can't imagine having space to bring 'em back down again. Then again, I wouldn't want to chuck them away, either.

Classic gaming magazines - Scans, downloads and nostalgia (Update: Loads of PDFs now on Archive.org)

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