83 replies to this topic

[NAL]

RekameMag Issue 4 is the latest issue of the magazine that focuses predominantly on my own personal opinions and expressions of the world of GameMaker.

Articles in the magazine include a rant about numeric ratings, how independently developed games like most GameMaker games fit in a world of hundred-million-dollar games, and the best ways to go about selling your games. Reviews include Air Hockey Unlimited, In A Dungeon, Highway Racer, and the boxed commercial yet still GM-made The Little Cars In The Big Race.

Also featured: a casual interview with fellow GM user, flatmate and YoYo Games employee Darrell "dadio" Flood, a competition to win a brand new, physical copy of The Little Cars In The Big Race (mailed worldwide free of charge), and a bit of silliness in the end in the form of "If GameMaker Invaded Film".

As usual, I hope you enjoy the magazine, and once again any and all feedback is welcomed!

Issue 4 download (Dropbox // 7.80MB)
Issue 4 download (Host-A // 7.80MB)

(ISSUE 3)

Spoiler

Rekame Mag, Issue 3, is a magazine written and compiled by myself (like with Issue 1). Continuing the three column layout and general looks, but updating the logo a little and making the title more decorative and informative, it contains 15 pages which include three articles and four game reviews.

The main article is a pick of thirty of the games I enjoyed from YoYo Games' just-ended Competition 06, with a short paragraph and screenshot, which spans four pages of the magazine. Other articles include The Power of 2 (a look at sequels) and an article on increasing addictiveness of your games (with looks at recent successes in the field such as the commercial ModNation Racers and the indie Minecraft).

Reviews include Katamari Kazoku (a Katamari series fan-game) and CoolDog, a game made nearly a decade ago in Game Maker 4. And to top the content off, there's an interview with Ted "rotten_tater" Lauterbach, a Spelunky Spot the Difference, and a 100% fair duel - Game Maker vs iPad.

I hope you enjoy the magazine, and once again any and all feedback is welcomed.

Issue 3 download (Dropbox // 8.32MB)
Issue 3 download (Host-A // 8.32MB)

(ISSUE 2)

Spoiler

Rekame Mag, Issue 2 is a magazine compiled and partly written by myself (as opposed to Issue 1, written all by me) and partly by other "guest" contributors. It follows a three-column layout and a theme which is a slight evolution from the first issue's, and spans 13 pages (most of which are full of content). Issue 2 of Rekame Mag contains the following:

• Introduction, Contents & UAQ2
• Article: Tired of Single Player? (w/b Dan Fornace)
• Article: What's Your Media?
• Article: GM and the Makers (w/b Rebecca Clare Smith)
• Article: Communities Past & Present
• Interview: Philip Gamble (Game Maker Blog)
• Review: A Picture is Worth 1000 Orbs
• Review: Ninja Rush (w/b @Alex@)
• Review: Essence Child
• Review: Anyman (w/b @Alex@)
• Crossfire + Issue 1 crossword solutions
• Last Word: If GM Affected the Music Industry

There's a far milder (though in similar vain) front cover this time around.

Feedback is appreciated, and thank you for taking the time to read this, and the magazine too if you decide to! Hopefully if you do, you will enjoy it.

Issue 2 download (Dropbox // 8.35MB)
Issue 2 download (UpUrLoad // 8.35MB)

(ISSUE 1)

Spoiler

Rekame Mag, Issue 1 is a magazine written by myself. It contains 12 pages, eight of which are good, solid content. The magazine contains the following:

• Introduction & GM Magazine Overlook
• Review: Perpetual Run 2
• Review: Blopper
• Review: Skullpogo
• Review: This is Infinity
• Interview: Greyson Wright (Overbyte Magazine, The Black Hole That Wants To Eat Me)
• Article: Originality in Games
• Article: Keeping it Kosher
• Article: The Moderator's Manual
• Cryptic Crossword
• Last Word: A GM Parody of Ozzy Osbourne's "Hellraiser"

Each of these takes up a page, which are in a condensed but perfectly readable three-column format:


Credits, legal etc are listed on the back page along with the parody. And I apologise if the front cover hurts! If I do make an Issue 2 (see the introductory segment) I'll tone it down. A lot.

Feedback is appreciated, and thank you for taking the time to read this, and the magazine too if you decide to!

Issue 1 download (Dropbox // 4.66MB)
Issue 1 download (Mediafire // 4.66MB)

Edited by NAL, 18 August 2011 - 10:40 PM.

[Caniac]

AWESOME dude, I LOVE it! Great Job! Whens issue two coming? D:

Edited by Caniac, 07 June 2010 - 07:28 PM.

[brod]

Damn it man, what can't you make?

[Broxter]

Haha, as I expected: awesome. The name is genius.

The layout is slightly rough around the edges but who gives a crap? The content is of good quality and I actually believe what is being said (unlike I do with other GM magazines...). The cover was also nice.

[jsmithLMSL]

Nice job, NAL. I like how your magazine revolves mostly around, but not limited too, your own opinion which I found to be non bias and quite honest.

I really enjoyed the review sections; very thorough and well thought out. It was great seeing you say "Screw that", and going back into 2d's past to review one of his first games in oppose to reviewing his latest and greatest. Not only is it entertaining and informing to see somebody's roots before they really became popular in the indie community, but it sends a good message to up and coming programmers that we all have to start somewhere...

The interview was good though I wasn't hooked, got a couple questions in and thumbed the rest.

I enjoyed the kosher and originality sections, but the MOD do / do not section felt kind of out of place as far as content with the rest of your mag. Maybe a nice off content breather for some, but didn't hold genre for me.

Overall I think you did a great job and if you choose to release another issue, I will definitely check it out.

Best of luck,
-J

[TerraFriedSheep]

Great mag, it kept me reading for the longest time out of any GM mag I have looked at before.

[2DLuis]

Excellent typography!

[Caniac]

Okay, now that I have seriously read [most of] the magazine, here are my opinions:

• Interesting cover page. Not sure why everyone is screaming bloody murder about it, as it does not seem to bother my eyes at all.
• an amusing choice of a "last word", although I must say I would have put something else there.
• putting a picture of two members of opposite genders, in bed and under blankets is always a great way to get people to read that article, amiright?
• I enjoyed reading your article about moderating YYG, although I find that most of the points don't apply until you *are* one. (But that was the original topic, so umm... yeah.)

Edited by Caniac, 07 June 2010 - 10:03 PM.

[Broxter]

putting a picture of two members of opposite genders, in bed and under blankets is always a great way to get people to read that article, amiright?

Think of the images he didn't put in the mag (when looking for one to put in).

Edited by Broxter, 07 June 2010 - 10:10 PM.

[TheMordeus]

Magazines really does seem to be the latest trend, as you point out. In forms of presentation and content, this is one of the better. I must admit that I've stopped caring about new "mag attemps", but since this was posted by a well known and respected member, it cought my eye. You've obviously put some good time and effort into this, and noone could argue with your academic skills.

My one complaint is that its all your work, and dont take this the wrong way The great thing about gaming magazines is that it feels like you (often) get a really objective opinion about stuff, since there are alot of people involved and much reputation on the line. This feels abit more like a blog or a personal article disguised as a magazine. The one area that you could improve is to get more people involved. I realize that this is tough though; the more people that gets involved, the more management is required.

The reason that this works despite its a one man show, except for the great presentation, is that like I said, you're well known and people trust your opinions. Im looking forward to more issues!

[Caniac]

putting a picture of two members of opposite genders, in bed and under blankets is always a great way to get people to read that article, amiright?

Think of the images he didn't put in the mag (when looking for one to put in).

I can just imagine him trying to find an appropriate one on Google Images, that is not "R" rated, and has an acceptable licence

[2Dcube]

Reading the review of Blopper puts a smile on my face Totally didn't expect someone to review it these days. Thanks!

I also liked the article on originality and attempt to group types of original games (and I guess now we need to make games that don't fit them).

[Keiferr]

Short and to the point, I enjoyed it. Though, I'm not sure why you would review a game that you gave such a low score.

Hope to see more.

[NAL]

@Caniac Glad you liked it! Don't know about an Issue 2 - people seem to be liking Issue 1 so I guess it'll probably happen sometime in the future.

@brod RPGs, good FPSes, TBSes, freeze rays, death rays, any kind of rays, ...

@Broxter glad you liked the cover and the content. There's certainly room for improvement where the layout is concerned, yeah, though I guess that's what future issues are for!

@jsmithLMSL glad you liked it for the most part. On the subject of the Moderator's Manual article, it was a mixture of being stuck for ideas and wanting to go a little leftfield with an article.

@Soulsnatcher/2DLuis thanks!

@Caniac2 I thought it'd be the best kind of picture to go for with the subject matter - violence had been covered with the GoW screenshot and swearing isn't really representable well in picture format.

@TheMordeus Thanks, glad you generally liked it and it's really nice that you think of me that way I'm sure if I go for an Issue 2 it'll have at least a couple of other contributors - I know that even if my motivation kept me going, my ideas would disappear fast.

@2Dcube Glad you liked the review! I included it as it provided a nice variety of covered games, and I do genuinely think it's worth a look even though it will pretty much always get eclipsed by your newer works. And thanks for the feedback on the article as well.

@Keiferr I was generally aiming for memorable games when selecting them. This Is Infinity, while being very confusing, was definitely memorable. And I'd like to think the review of it covered all its content fairly instead of just slagging it off or anything.

[NakedPaulToast]

Of all the "first issues" of GM related publications seen lately, this one was the most enjoyable to read.

And no, you didn't need to explain the meaning behind the magazine name.

[KC LC]

This is a very good magazine. I've only read the intro and two reviews, but the writing is excellent. The tone and style are just perfect for this purpose. I also like the column format for your reviews -- with the 3rd column providing a quick-review summary.

Overall, very nicely done. This seems like the quality of magazine that YoYo Games might want to feature. I hope you'll continue this effort.

[Dan The Man]

Yeah, I agree with KC LC, this magazine has potential to be a YoYogames staple. I would be interested in helping out if you need some guest articles / have ideas for some. Send me a PM if you would be looking for help.

I really enjoy your writing style and overall presentation. I think that the articles about Game Design are particularly valuable and I would enjoy sharing some thoughts for future articles.

-Dan

[Loaf]

Don't care if you are trying to be clever with a backwards name, Rekame sounds stupid.

[brod]

Don't care if you are trying to be clever with a backwards name, Rekame sounds stupid.

Ah see what you pointed out there. But uh, yeah. Rekame does sound a little.. weird? Well, I guess it's how you pronounce it. Re - cam sounds kinda cool, Re - kay - me sounds uh.

[NAL]

@Loaf/brod It's "Ree Came", though without too much emphasis on the "ee". Think "We came, we saw, we conquered", with Rs replacing the Ws and, of course, without the last four words

@Dan The Man I think I probably will produce a second issue. If you would like to contribute - it can be a review, a tutorial, an article - anything you like, you're more than welcome to.

@NakedPaulToast A couple of people had asked me what it meant so I thought I'd save people asking by mentioning it. Glad you enjoyed it.

@KC LC Glad you liked it and thought so highly of it!

Edited by NAL, 08 June 2010 - 11:57 PM.