20th Century Gamer

Online game and software archives for Commodore computers have been available since before the internet became a household standard. It’s great to have access to classic software, but until recently most archives omitted the manuals and documentation that originally accompanied applications. DLH has come to the rescue by scanning thousands of manuals and magazines.

DLH’s Commodore Archive is broken down into sections for both the Commodore 8-bit computers and the Commodore Amiga. PDF versions of books, newsletters, advertisements, and manuals can be directly downloaded from the site. Magazine PDFs are posted to newsgroups and torrents.

Anyone who has scanned printed materials for digital archiving understands that it is a very time consuming process. Of course, the original printed material has to be available to scan in the first place. Put the two together and the massive amount of time and money invested to collect and scan these materials is impressive. I’m sure Commodore enthusiasts everywhere appreciate DLH’s dedication and hard work.

Over the last several years, I have had many discussions with friends about the general state of game journalism. Most of us have concluded that the majority of mainstream websites and magazines have lost their objectivity, with coverage that is increasingly biased towards major advertisers. The anecdotal evidence seems to be corroborated by our recollections of the “good old days,” when game reviewers weren’t afraid to publicly berate a lousy game. Another subject we have discussed is the increase of lengthy and overly positive “game previews” that are essentially free advertisements for large game developers.

But are we wrong? Is the warm, fuzzy fog of nostalgia leading us to idealize the past? Did the naiveté of our youth make us more accepting of hype and less aware of impartial journalism?

The best way to resolve the debate is by looking at old game magazines, either physically or online. Retromags is a great source for digital scans of classic game periodicals. The site specializes in 20th century publications, and there is a broad selection of US, UK, and international content. It’s a lot of fun to read about game favorites from days past, and I have also found myself discovering titles that I missed when they were originally released.

Reading through vintage magazines has tempered my disappointment with contemporary game journalism. Much to my surprise, promotional “game previews” plagued even the earliest magazines. Classic publications were not immune from partisanship, occasionally with coverage and reviews that recognizably favored advertisers. Today’s game journalism is generally better written and with significantly improved presentation than magazines that predate 1995.

The lesson I’m taking from this experience is that I should stop being a cranky old man, basing my opinions on memories tainted by the idealism of youth. Perhaps I will remember this the next time I’m telling kids to get off my lawn.

On January 7, 2009, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) was discontinued. The magazine’s online cousin, 1UP, was sold to UGO, a division of Hearst Publishing. EGM has been around for just shy of 20 years, and love or hate it the printed magazine was the most established rag in the game industry.

Regardless of the economic climate, the demise of the magazine was predictable. In the last several years it had followed the self-dooming trend of publishing abbreviated content in the magazine with, “read more about it on our website,” accompanying too many of the articles. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that by putting more content on the site than in the magazine, readers would eventually skip the step of reading the magazine altogether. It should have been the other way around, in which the site presented teasers that would make readers buy the magazine for the more comprehensive journalism. Unfortunately, many other magazine publishers are making the same mistake and will undoubtedly follow EGM to the grave.

I am saddened by EGM’s passing, not because the familiar magazine was superior, but because it represents the end of an era. No longer do I have the convenience of reading the magazine casually in the bathroom, bedroom, or car — places not always suited to using a portable electronic device for reading. And let’s face it, reading printed material is more relaxing than reading from a screen, especially when dealing with lengthy content. Regardless of what the technology industry would have us all believe, many people (myself included) do not like to be plugged into the network during all waking hours and at all locations. Printed material, even when about gaming or technology, is a way to unplug from the demands of our in-your-face society.

Another thing that will eventually be lost by the demise of printed publications is the timeliness of the non-journalistic content, including advertising. Old magazines represent a time capsule, not only from the written content but from the design, layout, imagery, typography, and overall presentation. Websites are ever-changing to meet contemporary needs, a good thing for revenue but a bad thing for preserving culture.

As EGM fades into history, it illustrates how drastically our society has changed in only a few decades. Change is often good, marking progress and creating opportunity, but for every printed magazine that disappears I have my doubts.