Official Feedback Issue 103

[merman]

I personally think the cover works well, when you take into account the tweaks like the price "sticker" and the rainbow bars top left matching the arch. (And you also get a glimpse at what might have been, with alternative covers on the letters page).

Excellent content, read it all today. Well done to Ian on the flight sim overview, good mix of detail and description. Marty's inside knowledge of Atari is always worth reading, complemented by the 40 things piece. I was a little disappointed to see Hogs of War making of confined to two pages, but it was still fun to read. And the Double Dragon piece by Stuart was great - I really learned a lot from it, and we got a fantastic glimpse into the process.

[martyg]

I got mine this morning and so far it's an amazing issue.

Right now I am pouring over the Atari article and as good as it is it's a shame that a few mistakes still crept into it.

What others besides the two opinions you mentioned below? It looks like you're referring to the 40 Ways sub-article that Stuart wrote and I proofed vs. the article proper?

The big 2 I noticed were:

If you're going to call out "big errors" at least make sure they're 1) Actually errors (vs. dirrerences of opionion) and 2) they're Big.

Atari Jaguar - "Following its abandonment of the Lynx" - Not true, the Lynx was sold side by side with the Jaguar and the last Lynx game by Atari came out in 1995, 2 years after the release of the Jaguar.

There's a difference between selling a large abundance of backstock from over production (which btw NOS Lynxes were still being sold in to the 2000's through retial chains like Radio Shack) and still manufacturing a product. They were not with the Lynx during the time of the Jaguar, production had stopped. By the time the Jaguar was at full swing in '94, it was the sole gaming product they were focusing on manufacturing and developing. They simply didn't have the resources anymore for anything else. With the exception of one or two late games on old properties finishing development in '94 (which includes the game claimed for '95, Battlezone 2000), the bulk of Lynx development at Atari had stopped in '92-'93 with that last batch of games released then.

Atari Lynx - "the Lynx sadly bombed and was eventually forsaken by Atari Corporation after an unsuccessful relaunch with the redesigned Lynx II" - Again this is well off the mark. The Lynx was very successful as far as Atari were concerned and it was the launch of the Lynx II, and the big Batman Returns movie tie-in, that boosted sales massively.

Nope. Who is "Atari" when you say "As far as Atari was concerned"? I spoke direct to Leonard about this several times. They considered it a good product with a decent market performance, something to be proud of, but nowhere near what they would consider a success on the market against the GameBoy. As Leonard said, they simply could not price it competitively because of the LCD cost. To which Atari Corp. wound up suing the LCD manufacturer for not meeting their previously promised price point obligation. Likewise they ramped up for higher sales by over-producing the Lynx II, but sales went nowhere near their intended projection. With Game Gear on the market as well, they stopped the Lynx and started focusing on the Jaguar instead as previously mentioned.

[martyg]

Just to prove that the hobby of Retro gaming can touch our hearts as well as our trigger fingers I just read the article in tribute to Jack Tramiel.
I didn't know anything about the Commodore back story to be honest, cause I'm a blinkered Speccy lover, and I wasn't even sure if that part of the magazine would be of interest to me, but wow, what a story.
I had to read it out loud to my fiancee because whether you are interested in video games or companies or not, that guy was an amazing success story. Picking himself up from the early years spent in a concentration camp then working crappy jobs to end up producing a defining computer, if not more than one and a company so dear to people... good on him. I don't tend to mourn much for the death of people I never knew in 'showbiz' unless they were a major part of my life (Jim Henson/ Joey Ramone etc) but I choked up reading that story. Wow.

I meant to comment about issue 100s informative and also touching Ralph Baer article too. Finally getting credit for the console that started the industry, and still inventing at his ripe old age!

People wouldn't believe that this subject could be so emotive !


ps. Cheers for printing my letter about SCORES !! I'm very passionate about that !! ha

Glad you enjoyed it, I tried to make it more about the person and his legacy vs. the individual businesses and products. I had literally just come back from visiting his fresh grave when I started writing that, so the human factor was certainly on my mind.

[The Laird]

You know how much I respect you and your knowledge Marty so I guess we have to agree to disagree here.

There's a difference between selling a large abundance of backstock from over production (which btw NOS Lynxes were still being sold in to the 2000's through retial chains like Radio Shack) and still manufacturing a product. They were not with the Lynx during the time of the Jaguar, production had stopped. By the time the Jaguar was at full swing in '94, it was the sole gaming product they were focusing on manufacturing and developing. They simply didn't have the resources anymore for anything else. With the exception of one or two late games on old properties finishing development in '94 (which includes the game claimed for '95, Battlezone 2000), the bulk of Lynx development at Atari had stopped in '92-'93 with that last batch of games released then.

Still dosn't change the fact that the Lynx was:

A) Still being advertised in the press off the back of renewed interest in the Jaguar.
B) New games were still being released by Atari and by third parties.
C) The Lynx was still a commercial product - Atari had not announced ceasing their support as yet.
D) Retailers (like Game who I worked for) were still selling & pushing the Lynx as well as ordering new stock.

Nope. Who is "Atari" when you say "As far as Atari was concerned"? I spoke direct to Leonard about this several times. They considered it a good product with a decent market performance, something to be proud of, but nowhere near what they would consider a success on the market against the GameBoy. As Leonard said, they simply could not price it competitively because of the LCD cost. To which Atari Corp. wound up suing the LCD manufacturer for not meeting their previously promised price point obligation. Likewise they ramped up for higher sales by over-producing the Lynx II, but sales went nowhere near their intended projection. With Game Gear on the market as well, they stopped the Lynx and started focusing on the Jaguar instead as previously mentioned.

Ok but it still didn't bomb, your statement there even proves that so I still think that the wrong choice of words was used.

Like I have already said, that article is still one of the finest things to ever appear in Retro Gamer and I salute you for that. It was also great to see my own Atari 2600 be a part of it

[ChipTune]

both of you get a life .. fantastic issue!

[DreamcastRIP]

fantastic issue!

Given your track record for repeatedly stating everything Atari ever did, Paperboy excepted, was awful it is somewhat surprising you find the current issue of RG so "fantastic".

[retrosofer]

I got mine this morning and so far it's an amazing issue.

Right now I am pouring over the Atari article and as good as it is it's a shame that a few mistakes still crept into it.

What others besides the two opinions you mentioned below? It looks like you're referring to the 40 Ways sub-article that Stuart wrote and I proofed vs. the article proper?

The big 2 I noticed were:

If you're going to call out "big errors" at least make sure they're 1) Actually errors (vs. dirrerences of opionion) and 2) they're Big.

Atari Jaguar - "Following its abandonment of the Lynx" - Not true, the Lynx was sold side by side with the Jaguar and the last Lynx game by Atari came out in 1995, 2 years after the release of the Jaguar.

There's a difference between selling a large abundance of backstock from over production (which btw NOS Lynxes were still being sold in to the 2000's through retial chains like Radio Shack) and still manufacturing a product. They were not with the Lynx during the time of the Jaguar, production had stopped. By the time the Jaguar was at full swing in '94, it was the sole gaming product they were focusing on manufacturing and developing. They simply didn't have the resources anymore for anything else. With the exception of one or two late games on old properties finishing development in '94 (which includes the game claimed for '95, Battlezone 2000), the bulk of Lynx development at Atari had stopped in '92-'93 with that last batch of games released then.

Atari Lynx - "the Lynx sadly bombed and was eventually forsaken by Atari Corporation after an unsuccessful relaunch with the redesigned Lynx II" - Again this is well off the mark. The Lynx was very successful as far as Atari were concerned and it was the launch of the Lynx II, and the big Batman Returns movie tie-in, that boosted sales massively.

Nope. Who is "Atari" when you say "As far as Atari was concerned"? I spoke direct to Leonard about this several times. They considered it a good product with a decent market performance, something to be proud of, but nowhere near what they would consider a success on the market against the GameBoy. As Leonard said, they simply could not price it competitively because of the LCD cost. To which Atari Corp. wound up suing the LCD manufacturer for not meeting their previously promised price point obligation. Likewise they ramped up for higher sales by over-producing the Lynx II, but sales went nowhere near their intended projection. With Game Gear on the market as well, they stopped the Lynx and started focusing on the Jaguar instead as previously mentioned.

Great work guys by the way, great issue.

On another note, you guys didn't hoestly think you could do an Atari article, especially one on the 2600, without it being signed off by Jagfest_UK did you? You know you should have had it quality assured by Jagfest_UK first, honestly lol.

Plus i love how Jagfest_UK went from this on first page;

OMG! I am already drooling over that new issue!!!!!

This has potential to be my favourite issue ever looking at the list of contents!!!

My good old 2600 sure looks sweet on the cover too

to picking the said article in question apart in the second page, funnyest thing i seen on here in a while , there is just no pleasing some no matter how hard you try.

[DreamcastRIP]

... Plus i love how Jagfest_UK went from this on first page;

OMG! I am already drooling over that new issue!!!!!

This has potential to be my favourite issue ever looking at the list of contents!!!

My good old 2600 sure looks sweet on the cover too

to picking the said article in question apart in the second page, funnyest thing i seen on here in a while , there is just no pleasing some no matter how hard you try.

So, he said,

I got mine this morning and so far it's an amazing issue.

Right now I am pouring over the Atari article and as good as it is it's a shame that a few mistakes still crept into it.

The big 2 I noticed were...

... and your fantastical mind interprets that as "... picking the said article in question apart". Makes sense.

[The Laird]

On another note, you guys didn't hoestly think you could do an Atari article, especially one on the 2600, without it being signed off by Jagfest_UK did you? You know you should have had it quality assured by Jagfest_UK first, honestly lol.

Plus i love how Jagfest_UK went from this on first page;

OMG! I am already drooling over that new issue!!!!!

This has potential to be my favourite issue ever looking at the list of contents!!!

My good old 2600 sure looks sweet on the cover too

to picking the said article in question apart in the second page, funnyest thing i seen on here in a while , there is just no pleasing some no matter how hard you try.

Seriously, stop trying to troll. You just look ridiculous.

There is NOBODY I respect more in the Atari community than Marty G, I have spoke with him several times over the years and his knowledge is unsurpassed.

This thread is for feedback, thats what I gave, unlike you who just posted in order to ingnite some sort of childish flame war. I will say it again for those that missed it - this is one of the best issues Darran and the RG team have ever produced with Marty's article being the real jewel in the crown. They all deserve a massive pat on the back for putting it together.

[retrosofer]

I did leave some feedback of a kind, i like the issue and said so.
I'm not Trolling, the 'Troll' word is used far to easily on this forum of late, and usually after a couple of posts were people dont agree with each other. There was some truely nasty Trolling here in years past as people well know, and that is 'Trolling,' i was just pointing somthing out i thought was funny, thats all, am i not entitled to do so on here any more?

[Nemesis]

I'm not Trolling, the 'Troll' word is used far to easily on this forum of late, and usually after a couple of posts were people dont agree with each other.

Very true, usually being uttered by the same individuals time & again.

[jdanddiet]

yeh take it easy Jag or I'll write a SNES article!

[DreamcastRIP]

I'm not Trolling, the 'Troll' word is used far to easily on this forum of late, and usually after a couple of posts were people dont agree with each other.

Very true, usually being uttered by the same individuals time & again.

Yes, the very same "individuals" who correctly identified Jonboy1977 and CaptainN as being the same person who was also a blatant troll... when certain others were gullible enough to be taken in by him and proceeded to attack those calling him out.

[Nemesis]

I'm not Trolling, the 'Troll' word is used far to easily on this forum of late, and usually after a couple of posts were people dont agree with each other.

Very true, usually being uttered by the same individuals time & again.

Yes, the very same "individuals" who correctly identified Jonboy1977 and CaptainN as being the same person who was also a blatant troll... when certain others were gullible enough to be taken in by him and proceeded to attack those calling him out.

The same "individuals" were hardly innocent parties despite Jonboy's split personality.

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Retro surfer wasn't trolling he was pointing out something he found amusing. It amused me as well
Jag feast has an article in issue 105 so it's going to be interesting to see how his "how nintendo saved gaming will go down*



















*it is actually about the Atari st