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We did but they backed out after doing only a couple of pages.  They wanted to go up on their per page rate and I couldn't cover the additional costs they wanted added. 

I only use Alexa as a yard stick, nothing concrete.  For stats I go with several from Google Analytics to Wordpress and raw server stats and do an average between them.  I have learned Alexa is a wild unreliable beast to say the least but it is still used by PR companies as the holy grail when working with sites so I have to keep an eye on that aspect.

Until we can put together a team with a layout designer the mag won't be back.  It was my own hard headedness that pushed it through as it was and it was obviously not the right thing to do.

Good luck with it fella, one thing i noticed was your lack of Pageranking on google??

I am working on improving (getting anything) on Google Page Rank for RGM.  This could be because it is a new site and less than 100 "more credible" sites are linking in (right now, Alexa shows about 55). 

The mag is not completely dead at this time but it is on severe life support.  Sucks but it is just not meant to be at this time, if at all.

We will no longer be pursuing a print/PDF version of Retro Gaming Magazine at this time.  While this is not a cancellation of the magazine, it is putting it on indefinite hiatus.  Due to unforseen costs and trouble finding a place in the gaming community, the magazine is not financially capable of continuing.

The site will continue onward though.  We will be looking to add additional staff to assist in producing quality articles online in the retro realm.  Once we have a stable staff on the site and have built a sizeable fanbase, we may attempt the magazine again.  This is a forward-thinking goal at this time and one that I personally believe is attainable within a respectable time frame.

At this time, the website needs to be our focus as it allows our best qualities to shine without being held back by a predetermined time frame.  Editorial goals will be easier to reach and easier to promote on gaming news sites.  The current success of the website is solely due to being able to promote the available content widely on the web and have other, more prominent sites such as Polygon, Cinemassacre and others link to it.  Right now, RGM has more regular visitors than several other websites classified as "retro".  RGM is nearing the top 100,000 websites in the United States (well under the 600,000 most popular websites in the world).  This is because of the great support modern day gamers have placed in the website.  We simply were not able to convert that attention into support for the magazine.

By continuing the lackluster magazine we risk losing the momentum that we have built up with the site.  Losing that momentum now could be detrimental to RGM in the longterm on many levels.  With the current size of our editorial staff, we can support either the site or the mag but not both.  This decision is one that was hard to accept but we have to do what is most likely to keep RGM going forward.

I want to personally thank each and every one of our readers for their support and assistance in the creation of the first two issues of RGM.  Issue three will come some day, just not in the next few months.

Refunds of subscriptions will begin shortly and will be made to the account that they were paid from with Paypal.

I believe in as much transparency as humanly possible, especially in business related issues, but that doesn't make it any easier to say this next part. 

RGM #3 will be delayed until we can find a layout designer.  I have approached several and all have had one reason or another to not be able to do the work (life is busy basically).  I am continuing to search though and hopefully the delay will be short. 

I feel this is best for the magazine as it is quite prominent that I am not a layout designer and I agree with the many many comments that the design is holding the magazine back.  There is only so much time in the day and I am much more capable in promoting the product than I am at building it.

If it is to go too long, I will personally contact subscribers and arrange for refunds for unused portions of the subscriptions on a case by case basis.

Thanks everyone for understanding.

Honestly, I thought they had discontinued this years ago.  It looks like about a nine year lifespan for the hand held.  Not bad.

Honest question here.  What do you want to see in a magazine, especially one like RGM?  The reason I ask is because judging by what is rocking on the site and what goes in the mag, we have two different platforms going here.  The site is running away with traffic but that traffic is not translating into downloads of the mag, let alone purchases of the print.

So, what do you want to see in a magazine like RGM?  Should we push more "modern" retro like Shadowcrypt, The Goonies remake and Perseus 230 (the top 3 articles of the last month or so)?

Do gamers care to read about games that are 20+ years old?  Are the other mags that cater to retro onto something by inserting more "modern" retro games into their pages? 

I ask these questions because, well, that is how you find out what people want.  We are going to be going with a professional layout designer with issue #3 onward (all in so to speak) so that should cure most of the problems with the layouts and such.

I feel that we are RIGHT there but just a "hair" off from the mark to breaking out into something bigger with RGM.  The market is there, it is just that the current mags don't cater to that market.  Everyone is just slightly off target in my eyes but I want to hear from the people that support these mags on what you want to see in the mags.  What would make you download the PDF and/or buy a print?

Informal poll:  How important is a physically printed magazine to you?

This is the reason we won't be using Paypal buttons in the future.  I checked it before I posted and it worked fine.  Let me recopy the code over and see if that fixes it.

It is still there, just some code got messed up and part of it is mixed in with issue two's Magcloud separation area.

http://retrogamingmagazine.com/buy-rgm/

I am glad this issue was received better than the debut and understand there are still things that need working on.  I am hoping that the two new layout designers that have come forward will work out (we have already gone through four or five over the last couple of years).  I know layouts are not my strong point and that the look is the biggest problem we have with RGM right now.  As they say, two wrongs don't make a right.

We are receiving good feedback on the second issue.  Many more people that have downloaded it are more vocal about different things (always a good thing to hear both good and bad).

Both issues are available on Google Play, which has helped us reach more readers (nearly out pacing the downloads on the main site).  I am working on finishing the little details to get RGM listed on Amazon Kindle and on Amazon.com for prints/digital.  Also working on getting the issue carried by some bookstores and game stores that are primarily "southern" in the United States.  I have put in some work to get listed with Barnes & Noble (digital and prints) but I don't see that coming to fruition anytime soon due to various concerns on both sides of this deal.

Basically, once we have a layout designer on board, I can focus more on the stuff I do best- promoting, making agreements and securing exclusive content for the mag and the site.

The first issue was a victim of my having to complete some work with my PR firm around the time of release so I was not able to focus on the issue as much as it really needed.  I pulled the trigger on releasing it when I did because we were already behind and the other work was only going to take more of my time.  As you can see between the issues, I was able to focus a lot more on issue two and it shows, I think, in the final result.

We are working with many indie game publishers on exclusives, yes they still exist in this day and age.  These are mainly new games but in at least one case, there is new gaming hardware involved that will be revealed in the pages of Retro Gaming Magazine first. 

The issues we had with issue #2 pre-orders and the Paypal button have probably cost us a few new readers (I was receiving fie to ten messages per day that the button wasn't working).  I was constantly re-pasting the button and it would work for a little while then it would inadvertently go down again and not work for someone else.  That is more egg on the face of RGM, something I am going to avoid here on out.

Pre-orders will now be available on Magcloud only.  Pre-orders will receive the digital for download (even though I am not happy with the compression implemented) so readers that pre-order won't have to wait for their digital.  The digital will be released on the site approximately one to two weeks after the pre-orders are opened.

We are slowly figuring out the right process to make a success with RGM and I can only offer a deeply heartfelt thank you to the fans that have supported the mag now and are helping it become the best it can be.  Can't wait to see what people think of issue #25.

I find on screen controls are not that bothersome with turn based RPG's and strategy titles but forget it with action games.  At least that has been my experience.

I have to go with Shogo.  It was an Anime style FPS that had giant robots and transforming mechs and on foot levels with scale setup right.

It is up now.  There were only nine downloads of the old version.  If you have one of those, you are in extremely limited company.

Some typos were corrected in the new version of the issue.  Nothing major if you are happy with the version you have, cool.  If you want the corrected version it is being uploaded now.  This newer version will be the print proof.

Thanks,

Carl