Scott Beeby is the founder of Brisbane Byte, a magazine dedicated to all things gaming in Brisbane. “I’ve had an appreciation and interest in video games for as long as I can remember, starting on an Atari 2600 and Commodore 64 all the way up to the modern consoles,” said Scott.
When he moved to Brisbane more than five years ago, Scott was aware of Halfbrick (developer of popular game, Fruit Ninja) but wanted to know what else the city had to offer when it came to gaming. “Before long I had found out about all of these extremely talented people working on games, and then I wanted to know if there were any arcades or something similar where I could meet like-minded people,” he said.
There began his love affair with discovering many weird and wonderful holes in the wall of gaming. “There was plenty around that I had no idea about. I figured if I didn’t know about a particular pinball parlour or arcade then how would anyone else?” The main aim of the magazine is to inform as many people as possible about cool events and establishments happening in their own backyard. “For example, there’s a Street Fighter themed burger joint in Fortitude Valley and a monthly VR club where people of all experience levels can play VR games for free,” said Scott.
“Originally the magazine was released quarterly as it was a lot of work. Everything from sourcing of information and creating graphics and layout, to the physical act of stapling, folding, and distributing the magazines was done completely by myself and continues by myself today.” With the help of a reliable printing business, the free magazine is now released monthly. Scott says his only source of revenue comes from curated paid advertising within the magazine and has promise for the future. “I have built many great relationships within the industry since starting Brisbane Byte and I hope to be able to devote myself to it full time as it’s currently a night and weekend project.”
