NZ Retro - Magazine Review

The small scale retro gaming and computing magazine market has exploded over the last few years. As readers of this blog will know, I have covered a fair few of them here, as well as actually writing for one. However, most of these publications are either UK or US based, so it was lovely to see another new magazine try it's hand on Kickstarter, this time from New Zealand. NZ Retro had a good funding campaign, reaching 425% of its original target. After a few hiccups here and there (always well explained by the creator, Karl Burnett, in regular backer updates), the first issue arrived last week. Was it worth the NZ $30, including shipping? Read on.

Signed too. A nice touch.

First impressions and I have to say that the physical quality is really good. At 88 pages, the magazine feels weighty and the quality of the stock used gives it a wonderful feel. This is a point I have remarked upon in previous magazine posts, but with these niche publications, the physical quality goes a long way to justify the higher prices you pay. 

The magazine begins with an introduction by Julian 'Jaz' Rignall, a name familiar to those of you around in the 1980's and 90's. There's a short editorial from Karl before we reach the contents page, divided between Features and the regular departments. 

For the features, we have a look at the most important space-based videogames as well as Auckland Coin Machines. The regular departments include a news section, a Vs section, pitting two retro titles against each other, games reviews, hardware (focusing on the A500 Mini for this issue), a nice piece on a New Zealand based retro collector, and then finally, an interview with YouTuber Wrestling with Gaming.

The Vs section was quite neat, pitting Transbot against Astro Warrior. Whilst I have never played the latter, I do recall the former being more than a tad disappointing, so can agree with many of the comments made here. Gaming reviews covers a smorgasbord of formats, from the Spectrum to the Amiga, the NES to the Atari Lynx. All are graded out of ten, with individual scores for graphics, sounds, playability and lastability. Having played some of the titles featured, I'd say the reviews were mostly fair.

It must be noted that Karl has done the majority of the writing here, with some additional writing by Alan Bell and the excellent cover (and poster art - remember the days of unfolding the staples to take a poster out - that's what you can do here) by Trevor Storey. Each writer lets their voice shine through, and this really was an entertaining and fun read. This was also helped by the layout, which as you can see is clean spaced out and really does help with my tired old eyes. Some might suggest that the layout is to cover the lack of content (certainly some mainstream magazines are guilty of that approach), but that is certainly not the case here. This is a good read!

Of adverts, there are a few, but they are not overly intrusive and hey, ads help get the mag made, and as a UK-based reader, it's interesting to see what other countries have with regards to retro-themed companies. Similarly, this magazine was my introduction to the Fountain Console, until a quick Google led me to this page where I vaguely recalled seeing magazine adverts for the UK variations back in the dim and distant past. You learn something new every day!

So that is NZ Retro, another fine entry into the retro gaming magazine market. It is, as it proudly proclaims, New Zealand's only retro gaming magazine, and it's always good to see how video gaming developed in countries other than the usual suspects. You can check out their website here, where you can visit their shop and purchase a digital copy of issue 1 (physical copies are sold out), as well as pre-order a copy of issue 2. The cover price of NZ $14.95 for the standard edition isn't bad, coming in at about £7.80. In my humble opinion, that's not stupid for the format and quality you receive. After all, it's a small run, niche publication. The digital copy of issue one is only NZ $5.95 (or £3.10-ish). What about shipping, I hear you ask? Well, for issue 2, that's listed as NZ $8, so about £4.20. Yes, the total is pricey but it's cheaper than the KS campaign and it's travelling half way across the planet.

I have ordered issue 2, as I'm intrigued to see how this title will develop. Given an option, I might start hankering for a digital only version, but that's a decision for Karl. After all, the economics of creating and publishing a magazine is a tricky business, and the aim of the original Kickstarter was to get the golden age of Kiwi gaming in print. We shall see. In the meantime, check out issue 1 if you can, issue 2 will start shipping in May. Oh, and you can follow the magazine on Twitter here.