Grab the first issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly in glorious PDF & CBZ

Those lovable retro gaming maniacs running Retromags.com, the premier resource for downloadable retro magazines, have gone and done something particularly impressive. Yes, again, and as you might have already read over at dear racketboy's they have scanned the historically important and immensely enjoyable premiere issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) for our reading pleasure. What you might not know, though, is that -in pure Retromags tradition- we're talking about something more than a mere scan. We're talking about a version of EGM that has been touched up and enhanced to remove any sign of old age and only then masterfully packed into a 68-pages long PDF/CBZ file.

To download EGM #1 you can either use the torrent created by racketboy, go for the direct PDF download or grab the CBZ file. Better yet, visit Retromags and grab a few more retro mags while you're at it or even stay and lend a helping hand. The retro gaming community after all probably needs you too. Yes, even you.

EGM #1 (May 1989) Table of Contents

Insert Coin (editorial) ...p.6
Top Ten Games ...p.8
Next Wave (short previews) ...p.8-11
Press Start (news) ...p.13-15
Letters to the Editor ...p.18
Contest ...p.19
At the Arcades (Atari Hard' Drivin' review) ...p.20
Game Gossip ...p.22
Preview '89 (the issue's main feature) ...p.23-29
16-Bit Sizzler (PC Engine, Mega Drive, SNES, Slipstream) ...p.30 & 62-63
Dare to Compare (Tecmo Bowl vs. Quarterback) ...p.31-33
1943 review (NES) ...p.40
Racket Attack review (NES) ...p. 41
Ultima Exodus review (NES) ...p.42
Bubble Bobble review (NES) ...p.43
Bump 'n' Jump review (NES) ...p.44
Y's review (Master System) ...p.45
Rastan Review (Master System) ...p.46
Time Soldiers review (Master System) ...p.48
Hat Trick review (Atari 7800) ...p.50
Tetris review (NES) ...p.51
F-19 Stealth Fighter review (PC) ...p.54
Zak McKracken review (PC) ...p.56
Hybris review (Amiga) ...p.57
Double Dragon review (C64) ...p.58
Sword of Shodan review (Amiga) ...p.60
Offshore Warrior review (Amiga) ...p.61
Game Over ...p.66

The complete guide to Taxan Games booklet

A short Retromags Interview with Phillyman

1. Who are you, oh retro loving giver of magazines?

I go by the name Phillyman, but the real name is Rob. I am 28 years old and got into video games early on in life; my first systems were an Atari 2600 and a NES. I grew up mostly playing Nintendo based systems, but I did have the Sega Channel...who here remembers that service? Anyways now I collect older games and systems. I am also a fanatic of Halo 2 and 3!

2. Care to share bits of the history behind Retromags?

I used to be a member on website named grh.se. Through that website I found a group of people scanning video game manuals. I had always wanted to help out with the emulation community, and knowing that my programming skills are not good enough to create emulators, I had the idea to scan my old Nintendo Power magazines. We were going to originally be called Powerscans.com, but a week later that domain name was taken. I then thought of the name Retromags because its more generic and doesn't tie us into just scanning Nintendo Power magazines.

3. Any significant future plans?

We are working towards a few goals right now, one of them being scanning the first 10 years of Electronic Gaming Monthly. Other goals we are looking to accomplish by the end of this year are putting together a final set of Nintendo Power issues 1-165. Oh and I would also love to get PSM issues 1-53 and Sega Visions 1-25 all scanned and released to the public. Goals for next year include providing the first 10 years of GamePro and the first 5 years of Next Generation magazine. Beyond that I am not sure..Gamefan and GameInformer maybe?

4. As for EGM issue 1, you must be quite proud, eh? How did you uncover this rarest of gems? Which parts of it did you enjoy the most?

The first issue of EGM has been on my hit list for the past 18 months or so, and through relentless searching on Ebay I finally found a copy for sale. I had to have it and placed a max bid of $100 on it...luckily I got it for around $37. I then took the $63 dollars saved and managed to snag EGM Issue 4, 8, 9 and 11 also! I think the best part of these magazines is really the advertisements, you can really get a feeling for the time the magazine was released in.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: A ton of free retro magazines, The DOOM Bible, ZX Spectrum's Rex, Mersey Remakes interview