News from Lorfarius via English Amiga Board
As a few of you are I'm sure are aware I recently worked on a magazine for NES-Bit, a small community based project which I think met with great success. During the later stages of this magazine I got to chatting to a few other forumites and started working on something completely new, a retro publication called Pixel Nation.
After 5 months of hard work, determination, professional designs and gallons of coffee I'm now proud to announce that the first issue and website is finally complete:
http://pixel-nation.co.uk/We are launching with a regular quarterly book with Issue 1 consisting of 100 full colour printed glossy pages, packed with articles/exclusive interviews, in handy A5 book size. Perfect for train journeys! We also have a PDF version as well for all those who prefer to read it on tablets, PC's etc. It's packed full of content, including the following:
Can video games be considered art? - We talk to Jose Emroca Flores (responsible for our cover), Dutch artist Metin Sevin from Seventh Heaven as we attempt to answer the question “Can video games truly be considered as art?“
2D Platform Revival - An in-depth look at the classic 2D Platform genre, how it faded away, and its current resurgence on modern platforms.
Design Classic: NiGHTS into Dreams - Huge feature on the beautiful Sega title Nights into Dreams. This is a “Design Classic” concept, where we outline in detail a particular game, and what makes it a design classic as well as its history.
Retro Icon: Outrun - Yes, we obviously love Sega, but really, all the cool kids do! A huge in-depth feature, and our regular “Retro Icon“ concept, going into mega detail about the original Outrun Coin-Op and what makes it unquestionably a Retro Icon.
Bob Wakelin Interview - We interview super influential 80’s British video game artist Bob Wakelin, and take a look at some of his favourite pieces of game art.
Retro Collect guide to Floppy Discs, the Gaming Black Market and the Far East - Yeah, we’re going there! The awesome and very knowledgeable Adam of RetroCollect joins the Pixel Nation, and gives you a wonderfully entertaining look at the various copying devices and black market shadiness from the world of retro games.
Confessions of a Girl Gamer - But I thought this was a geeky boys club? No! Geeky girls play too! An excellent and thought provoking look at some of video games most iconic female characters, as written from the perspective of an actual real life girl gamer!
Zelda Cartoon Feature - “Well, excuse me Princess!” We interview the two voice actors from the 1980’s Zelda cartoon, to get an insiders perspective on the show.
Spotlight: Koji Kando - A look at some of the awesome output from the Japanese video game music composer who has composed some of the most iconic game music of all time.
Amiga 1200 Look Back - Who doesn’t go weak at the knee’s for Commodores super beast of an Amiga? This is a richly detailed look at the history behind the system and how it came to be.
Shadow of the Beast Interview - Another exclusive interview, as we talk to the man behind the Amiga classic Shadow of the Beast, Martin Edmondson, in the first of a two part special speaking to the people behind the games.
Also:
· Tomb Raider 2 – A Saturn vs. PlayStation Story
· The Rise & Fall of Arcades
· The Year in Games - 1985
And many, many more!
We basically went all out to get some great stuff and I'm very proud of the Legend of Zelda cartoon interview! The printed version includes the PDF for those who simply can't wait for it to arrive! There's a few pics towards the end of the post so let me know what you think!
U-Publish
In creating NES-Bit magazine I was always wandering around the web, trying to see what other fan based communities were trying to come up. One thing I noticed is the huge number of fanzine type books/mags that were available yet most of the time are hardly seen by many. So with this in mind I came up with the idea of why not have a central place where everyone can visit to discover retro publications that you might have missed. I managed to add a few books to the library so far in Pixellation Issue 1 and Hidden Treasures but I'm really hoping this will expand over time. It's on the site so please have a look at the few we have to offer.
The whole goal of Pixel Nation is to create a dedicated retro community that can actually share stuff with everyone, get things published without spending thousands (something I found the case to be with NES-Bit Magazine System). I'm very, very excited about all this as I'm sure you can imagine and I'm looking for as much support as I can muster, so please visit the site! There's also a store packed with retro goodies so I'm hoping its enough to entice you all.
My very own retro Youtube gaming channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/LorfariusLorfarius
