Ages by It-gymnasiet

So why do you want to read this magazine? You know when your grandpa speaks about the good old times and you be like, Please stop talking I'm going to fall in sleep. But what comes out of your grandpa mouth can be also very interesting and I think that's the best way to explain our magazine. You maybe want to hear how it was to play games in the 90â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Just saying so pleas give us a try :D

So in this magazine we are going to talk about stuff like; Gaming history Old games And a lot more

History of the Old Relics

Do you remember the old games you used to play? Donkey Kong, Sonic, Pac Man and Tetris all used to be big games but now are just old relics in the name of retro games. Therefore, I thought, “why not look back at the old relics and their history.”

Tetris Tetris was made by Alexey Pajitnov while he was working for the Dorodnitsyn Compu ng Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow. Alexey was both the original designer, programmer and the one to make its name, which is derived from the Greek numerical prefix “tetra” and his fa‐ vorite sport tennis, it was then released June 6 1984.

An arcade game developed by Namco and created by game designer Toru Iwatani. Pac Man was one of Namco`s biggest successes in game release. Pac Man was released in Japan in May 1980 and in the US October the same year. Pac Man was inspired by a mere pizza which had 2 slices eaten and it made it look like a mouth the same way Pac Man looks. Pac Mans release in Japan received unenthusias c response but on the other side, the US response was completely diﬀerent. Investors in the US didn’t see any poten al in the game and weren’t im‐ pressed by it and threw it oﬀ as being forgo en. Then the game became an extreme hit and sur‐ passed Space Asteroids in revenue in only a year.

Sonic Sega`s biggest hit and one of the most iconic char‐ acter ever made spanning games, clothes, shows and more. Programmer Yuji Naka and his team in Sega called Sonic Team which they named a er their mascot Sonic, finally created the first sonic game which they released to the public on June 23 1991. Sonics release was an instant success with its diﬀer‐ ent style of 2D gameplay it outshined other Sega and other companies´ games by a large margin while also skyrocke ng the sales of the Sega Gene‐ sis console. It wasn`t only its gameplay that made it so popular, Sonic was a fresh style of a hero with a diﬀerent personality than usual and that made him

Tetris popularity was a slow climb even though stand out to the younger audience. many had invested a lot in the game, the problem was that not many people had computers and emu‐ lators to run the game, un l the Gameboy was Donkey Kong launched in 1989 by Nintendo with Tetris pre‐ installed, skyrocke ng its success to arguably the Donkey Kong was an arcade game created by a first most popular game ever made. me video game designer named Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo`s chief engineer Gunpei Yokoi by drawing inspira ons from Popeye, Beauty and the Beast and King Kong. They made a new way of cre‐ Pac Man

a ng games using graphics and cut scenes to fur‐ ther advance characters and story elements.

Donkey Kong was extremely popular with the US and Canadian popula on having the game selling 2000 units at its launch and leading to interna onal This is an adverƟsement game making. Its recep on in Japan were mostly happy reviews but nothing as explosive as in North America. Now that ends the retelling of some of the most popular retro games and their releases. Funny how most were thought as not “successful” but have changed gaming history for probably the be er, don’t you agree?

Retro Gaming is back! As I said in the title was ever retro gaming gone or was it hiding somewhere in the deep in our memory’s. However, if I told you retro gaming was here all along not even the next generation of games would stop the creation of new retro games or even the culture of retro games. What have done this and how it is this still popular for some people is the real question but this article is going to explain all the things you should now about the retro gaming community.

May 22, 1980, an old game if I would say so but what happened to pacman or even all the others games considered as a retro game some just died out but many other games is s ll alive on this day. So what are those people doing with those old games? There is many ways to play or even enjoy a game and one of those popular styles in these retro genera is speed running the games. Speed running is when you try to complete games in the fastest way possible and compete with other people around the world to take the thrown at just your game. Who is the fastest in just that game? For an example what if I told you someone have beaten the popular game Pokémon red/blue (also a retro game) in under two hours! I remember it took me more than a week to complete that game. Some people is using the old games as an advantage. For an example some people took their me in their life too break old games and what I mean with breaking a game is to find a way to break the coding for an example run through walls or even find a way to glitch the way to victory.

Now you say “but why do you want play a broken game that doesn’t even work”. Let me explain if we didn’t have retro games or even a base in the start we wound not have development those games we have today because you can say retro started every‐ thing in the gaming history. It was the start of some‐ thing big and the big thing is today’s games. Just look how far we have come with gaming we have So let us start with the history of retro and it mean‐ now virtual reality in our hands. ing. So what is a retro game? A retro game is a game older than the 2000 for an example the However, what else have retro games done for us? games started to be popular in 1970 and those games up to the 2000 is considered as a retro game. You know how people have hobbies to collect for an example stamp. What if I told you people could pay So retro games are like the old school games. An example for an old school game is the popular game thousands of dollars for old retro games and con‐ pacman. Pac man started as an arcade game as al‐ soles, just for collect them! Some people do not even play on it just have it to show oﬀ. most every retro game was meant to play in I ar‐ cade. Anyways it was very popular. It was release in

Let us end this with a kind of funny thing. Retro games was kind of never gone because many peo‐ ple have been inspired to make games look like ret‐ ro game like simple pixels and the only thing the care about their games is the quality of the game. They do not care if there games is not good the im‐ portant thing is that people like it and enjoy it. For a good example for a good game with good story and good character development is s game called Un‐ dertale. Undertale was release 15 September 2015 buy one person who said he was inspired by game However, what else have retro games done for us? called earthbound and earthbound itself was creat‐ You know how people have hobbies to collect for an ed in 1994 and was very popular in its me. In addi‐ example stamp. What if I told you people could pay on, Undertale itself was a big hit with over ten thousands of dollars for old retro games and con‐ thousands of copies have been sold out but that is soles, just for collect them! Some people do not not all. It got very good ra ng in many of the biggest even play on it just have it to show oﬀ. game cri cs. As pc gamers, IGN and many more So if I would answer my own ques on. Was retro

gaming ever gone I would say no, it was never gone and I think it will never disappear and will just be‐ come be er and be er

Retro Music How it works

So when you were a little kid you probably played Super Mario, and if someone were to play the three first notes in the theme song, you would probably recognize it. How is that?

If you listen to the most famous retro game music, you can tell that most of them use a pluck sound in their melodies, so most of the games had the same feeling in their background songs, and it is that feel‐ ing to the melody that retro games is known for. It also uses a very easy technique to build the melo‐ dy; there are five sound outputs, which delivers all diﬀerent parts to the melody. The first output that delivers a square wave is usually used to make the top melody, which is the melody you will hear the most and it’s the melody which you’ll remember. Then there are the second output which delivers the middle part of the melody, this just makes the melody to not feel so empty. The third output is the bassline which consists of a triangle waveform, and this is the part which fills out the lower frequency of the melody. The fourth output is just white noise, this is used as a sort of hi‐hat to make a rhythm to the melody. Now the fi h and last output is just used to put in sounds that fit what you’re doing in the game, like the sound which comes when Mario goes down a barrel. This technique is used a lot in today’s EDM music, just to make the track more filled out.

In this article I’m going to tell you a little bit about the retro music today, how the retro music has influenced today’s music with its recognizable sound. I’m also going to tell you about what it is and how you can recognize it.

Then what is retro music? Retro music is historical music, which is star ng to make its way back in today’s community; it doesn’t mean that I’m referring to Mozart, Beethoven or Bach. In this case I am specifying the music used in retro games.

What is so special with retro game music?

How is it used today? As I said before the games uses plucks in their melo‐ dies, and also some vocal shouts and other random sounds depending on what you are doing in the game. All those sounds you can today find in sound banks or sample packs which you can use in your own tracks if you are for example a music producer. Be‐ cause today music producers have started to use

some vocal shouts or plucks in their tracks, espe‐ cially in the EDM genre. But as a youtuber by the name of “UberVice” explains in his video “Top 10 Overused EDM Sounds”, this is a hard sample to use in today’s music because the music today is a lot diﬀerent than what it was during the retro era. So people are used to hearing these samples in the retro games, and that makes it hard to sort of blend in with the music mixes today. One person who did this really well in my opinion is Mar n Garrix. He made a track called “Oops” to the gaming convent E3. So in the breakdown he used a retro game sound, and made the melody to the ret‐ ro game feeling that we know.

So to summarize this, retro music is something that you probably have heard, maybe not all of them but probably the most famous ones. Now you also know how easy it is to make this kind of music.

RETRO COMPUTER RESTORATION GUIDE Do you happen to have an old computer, with yellowed and dirty plastic sitting in your attic? Well, stick along, as we teach you how to fix it up, and make it a beautiful display piece that’ll make for some interesting discussions when visitors pass by. What you’ll need: 1: Computer in need of some new life 1: Bo le of Retr0Bright (or any hydrogen peroxide solu on) (read more about Retr0Bright and where to find it in the wiki link at the bo om of this page.) 1: Roll of plas c wrap (make sure your parts fit in‐

side of it. 1: Large paintbrush 1: Box of Isopropyl alcohol wipes 3: Hours of pa ent scrubbing and massaging

So, now you’re si ng there, drooling at these beau‐ ful pictures of retro computers that don’t look all yellowed and dirty. Step one: Get a dirty retro computer. Usually garden sale or online classified adver sing are the way to go. EBay can be of some help, but if you can’t test the computer, you should at least ask for a picture of the mainboard to see if there is any corrosion on it. If there is, make sure you test it as corroded traces on the motherboard stand for a big chunk of the broken retro computers out there. Repairing is pos‐ sible, but you’ll usually be paying more than a new computer altogether. Step two: Take the computer apart. The retro computers are usually split up into three groups. The first is computers built inside the keyboard. Most popular are brands like Commodore and Sin‐ clair. These computers are quite easy to take apart, just look up a specific guide to make sure that you don’t break something that might be hiding inside small lips around the external casing. The second group are computers built inside their monitors. Apple used to do this with their Macin‐ tosh Plus and SE line‐up. Again, an online guide will make most sense, but make sure the first thing you do when ge ng inside is disconnec ng the CRT cone. The cones have a tendency to stay charged electrically which might discharge to the ground through you. Most cases

end up being mostly psychologically scarring, but if you’re really unlucky you might be quite *roasted* pun intended. The third group is the most common nowadays. These are separate computer towers, like IBM PCs. For these, you’ll most likely not need any documen‐ ta on at all if you’re familiar with today’s PCs. When ge ng the case apart, put the electronics aside, set all the outside plas c pieces in a big enough container. The plas c parts will most likely need a good rinse. Cleaning anything that isn’t plas c is very im‐ portant, as Retr0Bright simply won’t restore parts of the plas c it doesn’t have access to. Things like permanent marker usually won’t go away with just water. Take an isopropyl alcohol wipe and scrub it oﬀ. Usually, permanent marker usually sits pre y well in so er plas cs, but on ABS (plas c used on most computer cases), it goes away a er a bit of scrubbing in diﬀerent direc ons.

Lay your parts on the wrap, and make sure to “paint” the en re part with Retr0Bright. When you’re done, make sure you close the wrap ght enough so that the Retr0Bright doesn’t evaporate. Pro p: When trea ng keyboard keys or other small plas c parts, use a Ziploc bag filled with clear hydrogen peroxide solu ons (liquid and transparent, not creamy and white.) Now lay out all the parts out in the sun. This will most likely take AT LEAST four hours. Make sure that you’re able to rotate the parts around during the day to give them equal exposure to the sun. When turning them around, you can “massage” the parts to move the cream around a li le inside. This will usually help to make the treatment equal through the en re pc part.

When there is literally nothing le on the plas cs, rinse it again. You want to make sure there is no alcohol or other corrosives le as it could damage the plas cs or even create a chemical reac on with the hydrogen peroxide in the Retr0Bright solu on. Now that there is literally only plas c le , lay out a large sheet of plas c wrap on a flat surface. Pour out some Retr0Bright cream onto the wrap, and spread it out using the paintbrush.

When the sun goes down, take the parts inside, and rinse them all oﬀ. Now you’ll see that they’re back to their original colours, and that the terrible retro beige yellow colour is gone. If it isn’t, you did something wrong. Try again, you’ll end up ge ng the hang of it. If there is no sun where you live, you can always use a UV bulb or fluorescent tubes, but if you do, make sure you won’t need the part any me soon, as it’ll most likely take around a week to fully cure the plas c. When reassembling the computer, use the same steps you

The Growth of Retro Gaming

Retro gaming is the genre that has defined and laid the foundation for modern gaming, paving the way for blockbuster games today. Yet these games have faded into mere memory and nostalgia in the mind of old gamers. But retro games have made a comeback and is topping the sales chart once again fueled by the wallets of these crusty old gamers. Games like Owlboy, Undertale, Shovel Knight and tons more keep topping the sale charts even though they have subpar graphics and are inspired by “inferior” games. So why is it that these games are selling like hotcakes and have the reviewers raving with decade old technology?

how they look/play. So the term “retro” is mostly used upon games from the 1980s to the 1990s since they are well older than 20 years. Even during the retro stage where gaming was considered to be a small and rela vely new industry it was s ll packing some serious cash.

The annual revenue of the gaming industry was 50$ mil‐ lion in 1978 which inflated to a massive 900$ million dur‐ ing a mere 2 years! This charge was led by the arcade cabinets taking the public by storm with games like Namco’s Pac‐Man at the forefront. And by the year 1982 the gaming industry was genera ng 5$ BILLION dollars annually. At the same me videogame journalism was star ng to take place boos ng the industry further into unknown territory. But thunder has to strike and the thunder was the year of 1983 with the North American Video Game Collapse which sent the revenue down to the depths. The revenue of 5$ billion dollars annually spiraled down to a mere 100$ million (a decrease by 97%). This crash has several reasons like the satura on of the market due to an overabundance of new consoles, com‐ pe on from the PC and the loss of publishing control. All of this caused several big shot companies to come crashing down like the monoliths they were. The saying “The bigger they are, the harder they fall” held true in this situa on. Yet one blockbuster console managed to get the video game industry back into the scene. And that console was the NES. It was a huge hit with young kids spor ng classic games such as Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong and countless more classics hailing like bullets from Nintendo. This piqued the interest of the common consumer and saw the sales of consoles back up again.

With the gaming market surging again a er the collapse the gaming industry came back swinging stronger than Well firstly let’s look at what is technically classified as a ever, releasing groundbreaking consoles one a er the retro game. It’s commonly said that a game that is older other. And the technology kept improving with be er than 20 years old can be considered a retro game. But and be er storage, graphics, length and much more. But the thing with this defini on is that “retro games” have nowadays all of this is a mere shadow of the quality and no rule set in stone about how old they should be and or cra smanship going into modern games right? But the

pre est girl doesn’t stand up to the loveliest girl. Retro games have a simpler and much easier goal or quest to grasp for the common consumer. The mere scale of a modern AAA game can even overwhelm the most expe‐ rienced of gamers. Taking hundreds if not thousands of hours to complete, so understandably it’s quite a com‐ mitment. But the simple nature of these “outdated games” is a huge hit with the younger audience yet it s ll remains relevant in the older audience because of the nostalgia and memories ed to a game of this style. You may be looking forward to the next shiny toy but you s ll have a special place in your heart for that old teddy bear you loved as a kid. In these picture examples you can decide which one looks more welcoming and easier to grasp and pick up. While one of the games has a broader nature and more content it doesn’t mean it has the best content. This is why Retro Games have made such a comeback through crowdfunding via websites like kick‐ starter.com, indiegogo.com etc. And they’re here to stay…