The close of 2025 brought us the tragic news that Retro Gamer's Nick Thorpe had sadly passed away.
The latest issue of the magazine is dedicated to his memory, and Retro Gamer editor Darran Jones has penned a heartfelt and very moving tribute at the start of the new issue.
We've republished some of that tribute below:
"Nick could often be a shy, thoughtful, introspective guy, but he came alive when he talked about games, Sonic The Hedgehog, wrestling, heavy metal music, politics or anything else that he was passionate about. He had a particular love for that blue hedgehog and anything Sega related and was fortunate enough to interview a number of his Sega heroes, including Kenji Kanno, Yu Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka.
His skills went beyond his exceptional writing and he did a lot of unseen work behind the scenes, especially when it came to the quality of the magazine's screenshots. He was a guy of extreme generosity and he left a mark on all who met him.
Losing Nick so early in life has been crushing, but I can only imagine how devastating it must be for Denise, Erik, his stepmum Fiona, and Nick's sisters, Louise, Lianna, Kerri and Emily. Our thoughts go out to all of Nick's friends and family at this difficult. time. You'll be missed, friend."
Jones dedicates other pages of the magazine to Thorpe, including a short retrospective on his friendly rivalry in fighting games like Street Fighter Alpha 2, but the latest issue also has input from readers and developers, including RapidEyeMovers' boss Jörg Tittel:
"Nick was a true aficionado and a brilliant games journalist. He poured an enormous amount of thought, effort and love into his work, and it showed with every new issue of Retro Gamer. I last saw Nick in person a few months ago when he came to visit RapidEyeMovers' studio in London. We hung out for a couple of hours, played some classic games, as well as our titles we haven't announced yet. I'll miss our many little online exchanges, Nick's passion, knowledge, diligence and, most of all, his kindness. Nick deeply cared about those around him - and his words made every reader feel welcomed into his heart. Nick, you have now taken up a permanent place in our beautiful medium's precious history."
Retro Gamer issue 281 is now shipping out to subscribers, and will be available to purchase from newsagents soon.