Your favorite video game magazines, memories of them, and have they aged well?

[CreeB]

Nintendo power was awesome when i was young.. loved the atari mags too..

 

Gamepro i remember did a section on their april 1st issue about the TOP FOUR HOT VIDEO GAME HUNKS,,, and it turned out to be joke ones.. i was highly offended ESPECIALLY since they never made up for it with a REAL one . Where would solid snake have been???? THAT DRAWING IN THE MANUAL UGHH,,

[+bent_pin]

Somewhere, I still have my copy of Nintendo Power Book with the walkthroughs for SMB3 and several other games.

 

It's a fantastic book and when I find it, I will digitize it for sharing.

[newtmonkey]

VG&CE

I'm a quarter of the way though the 1992 issues of this mag, and it's not as bad as it was the previous year.  However, I still have some major issues with this mag in 2023.

 

First, it's really industry-focused, even though the editorials and letter section replies try to pretend otherwise.  For some reason, they keep going on and on about what a good thing licensing is, even though garbage licensed games were already a major issue with the NES library toward the end days of that system.  It's really weird in 2023 to see them focusing on this, issue after issue.  If feels a bit like modern game review sites, like, "The video game industry is putting out more licensed games AND THAT'S A GOOD THING".

 

Second, there is so much wasted space.  As much as one-third of each issue is devoted to hints and tips and cheats, industry news (press releases), and almost always a "feature" on some specific topic (for example, Sci Fi games) where they just give a single paragraph overview of a dozen games.  It's a total waste of space without any substance, and they always run out of good games halfway through and start just coming up with games that are only tangentially related to the topic (A Boy and His Blob is a fine game, but in a feature about Sci Fi games???).  Frustrating.

 

Finally, two of their staff reviewers are just horrible.  I won't name names, so I'll give initials: HHW and JM (I know that JM went on to become a successful game designer/writer).  Neither of them seem capable of looking beyond the surface, so their reviews are basically worthless.  HHW in particular is insufferable, because he spends multiple paragraphs each review telling you how dumb video games are.  Why would I listen to anyone who thinks video games are dumb, but is getting paid to write video game reviews in a video game magazine?

[newtmonkey]

VG&CE - May 1992

Kind of a slimy issue.  The cover is Jordan vs. Bird: One on One, which was just hopelessly outdated in 1992, yet the game gets an excellent review in the mag.  I remember renting this on the NES back in the day and being shocked at how simple it was, even compared with Double Dribble from 1987.  I mean, this was a full two years after the somewhat clunky but far superior Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs on the Genesis.  It was just a joke of a game at that point, not to take anything away from the original One on One (from back in 1983!).

 

There's also a lot a love for FMV and CD "multimedia" garbage in this issue, which was becoming a major theme across all video game mags at the time.  Even EGM was into this stuff for a while, though they quickly realized what a dead end it was, thankfully.  You'd think these guys, who had been playing and reviewing game for 10+ years, would have realized immediately what a joke these barely interactive non-games were, but I guess they just had the best interests of the industry in mind when writing all this stuff, to the detriment of the kids spending their allowances on this trash.

 

The most interesting thing about this issue, in 2023, is a brutal letter from Joe Redifer (later of Game Sack fame).  He rightfully calls out the mag for using reviewers who hate shooters and platformers to review shooter and platformers (simply makes no sense in 1992 imo), calls the Game Doctor a dumbass for making a mistake, but then ruins a perfectly good letter by complaining about the mag wasting space on "boring" computer games.  That's Game Sack in a nutshell, basically (and I say that as a fan of the channel).  I do respect the mag for printing his letter, though, even if their reply seems a bit argumentative and childish... after all, these were adults replying to a letter from a kid, after all.

Edited October 2, 2023 by newtmonkey

[Lord Innit]

My favourite video game magazine was ACE, standing for Advanced Computer Entertainment. It was a bit more mature than the other UK magazines of the time. The style of the writing had a little bit more of a serious tone, but not as much as what Edge later became. It is often cited as a precursor to the Edge magazine. I have just finished collecting all 55 issues and am enjoying reading through them.

[Lostdragon]

Atari User saw me through the drought of games coverage, as an 800XL owner. 

 

C+VG had a few classic periods.. 

 

Zzap64! was the C64 bible, until issue 50,quality went rapidly downhill afterwards. 

 

Loved The One, until it split into separate ST and Amiga magazines. 

 

 

Mean Machines and Raze were great,ditto The Games Machine. 

 

Sadly, my memories of most UK magazines these days, has been tainted. 

 

I spent so many hours going through the, looking for material to assist lost games sites, following up made up claims, highlighting bullshot screenshots... 

 

 

I just can't view them in the same light. 

 

 

 

[Lord Innit]

 

1 hour ago, Lostdragon said:

Loved The One, until it split into separate ST and Amiga magazines

Didn't some of the ACE staff go to The One when ACE was closed down? 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Lord Innit

[Lostdragon]

18 hours ago, Lord Innit said:

 

Didn't some of the ACE staff go to The One when ACE was closed down? 

I believe they did, for the revamped version of The One.,thw magazine then came with ithe subtitle "Incorporating all the best of ACE" 

 

[newtmonkey]

I've been reading a lot of old magazines lately.  This has been a bit of a pet project of mine the last couple of years, where I have been reading various mags from the first issue until the end.  When I read through an old mag, I basically read it cover to cover, though I skip worthless content like PR stuff, celebrity profiles, etc.  I did read a lot of these mags back in the day, but it's been fascinating to revisit them now and see the video/computer game industry changing over the years.  Anyway, here's some general comments of what I've been reading:

 

VideoGames & Computer Entertainment

I'm nearly done with the 1992 issues, and my opinion of this mag has just worsened and worsened year by year.  Halfway through 1992, most of the core team left the mag (shockingly, to join up with rival mag Computer Game Review and CD-Rom Entertainment) and while I thought that might be a good opportunity to make some good changes, the magazine doubled down on its nonsense.  There was the holographic Sonic cover.  There was a notable increase in "how do you do, fellow kids" pandering, culminating in the embarrassing review of Todd's Adventures in Slime World, which is basically a grown man going "dude, bogus, boogers" paragraph after paragraph.

 

Now we have the November 1992 issue, where reviewer Bob Strauss attempts to tell us with a straight face that the licensed mediocrity that is Felix the Cat (NES) is a 9/10 masterpiece that's more "user-friendly than Megaman" and "less clumsy than Mario."  Outside of the gross PR masquerading as articles that the mag was fond of publishing, the absolute worst thing about this mag is the reviews.  Nearly every game gets a full page review, but you can safely ignore half the text because it's just a story summary from the manual, and then some jokes about how dumb games are.  You can also tell just by reading the reviews that none of these guys even attempted to complete the games they reviewed.  That's not the end of the world, because the EGM guys obviously didn't all complete a dozen games every single month... but the complete lack of taste or even understanding of what makes one game good compared with another, completely kills the reviews in this mag.  Even though the EGM guys were barely literate, at least they actually played and understood games, and could string together a caveman sentence telling you if a game was actually worth playing or not.

 

Electronic Gaming Monthly

I'm reaching the end of the 1991 run, and you can see it slowly transitioning into the giant it would become in 1992 and 1993.  This is an interesting mag, because the writing actually got WORSE with time, as the first few issues (1989) were actually written quite well with full page reviews and even computer game coverage.  Even with the poor writing, though, this mag is a blast to flip through.  The layout is just awesome even at this point, though it would get even better in 1992.  Even though their reviews are poorly written, I find their scores to be pretty much right on the nose; these guys clearly played games and knew a good one from a bad one.  Compare EGM's negative reviews of the awful Fantasia (GEN) with VG&CE's glowing review of the same game... this tells you all you need to know about which mag was actually reviewing games on their merits.

 

Unfortunately, 1991 saw the introduction of "contracted publishing" in EGM.  This was basically just pages of ads that weren't labeled as ads (though the editorial would mention if a particular issue had any of this content in it).  This was a really scummy move, and I think the editors of the mag knew that most kids back then didn't bother reading the editorial page.  It's also a bit shocking to read these now, because the quality of the writing suddenly improves 500%, since the articles were probably mostly written by the PR departments of whatever company EGM was shilling that issue.  Of course, the EGM letter column is full of totally for real not fake letters begging EGM to do more of this stuff.

Edited October 29, 2023 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

The final two issues of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment for 1992, and this mag is just awful now.  Most of the core team has left by this point, and the remaining staff members are doing everything they can to try to stay afloat.  The magazine would basically shut down the following year, though it continued under a completely different name with a new team with some 90s 'tude, with the true successor to the magazine being Electronic Games from '92 (with much of the core team intact, except executive editor Andy Eddy).

 

At this point, it's just a wordier version of EGM, where reviews are assigned to reviewers who do not like or even play games in the respective genre.  There's a waste of a page that is the review for Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes.  I actually agree with the reviewer's scores, but the text is just a page full of his woeful attempts at humor without even a single sentence reviewing how the game plays.  It's a joke review, and it's a disservice to the readers who were relying on this mag for info on making purchases.  If you hate the game, tell us why instead of trying to just be funny.  I was shocked this review even was accepted for print.

 

It gets worse in the last issue.  I don't know if Great Naval Battles of the North Atlantic 1939-1943 is a good wargame or not, but reading the review of it in this mag sure didn't help.  The reviewer starts by stating his bewilderment that people actually like wargames, makes fun of the long title, and then admits that he doesn't understand WTF he's doing.  His conclusion is basically that wargames are too complicated and hard for anyone who doesn't like wargames.  Why have this guy review the game, then?  It's embarrassing to read, and I don't even like wargames.  At this point, even the reviews of PC games are worthless.

 

There's a particularly shameful review of Lure of the Temptress, where the review mentions its "Virtual Theater" system but completely misunderstands it (I actually have played this game; the "Virtual Theater" system actually has NPCs in the game go about on their own schedules). He describes it as "you make decisions, engage in conversations, walk to places, etc."  That describes every point and click adventure ever made, so it makes me wonder if the reviewer actually even played the game, or if he is just regurgitating PR from the developer.

 

Once most of the core team left, the remaining editors replaced the regular insider industry column with total PR masquerading as an article, where they have some PR guy from this or that company telling you how awesome their product is.  The next to last '92 issue was Al Nilsen (former Director of Marketing at Sega of America) lying to you about how then SoA CEO Tom Kilinski is a total gamer, dude, and his favorite game to play is Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and the last '92 issue has Graeme Devine (co-founder of Trilobyte and programmer of The 7th Guest) trying to convince you that The 7th Guest is definitely a playable movie, and not just some basic logic puzzles stitched together with FMV.

 

I've criticized this mag a lot in this topic, but it's sad to see it go so low.  Even though most of their console reviews were really bad, they did have some excellent PC coverage during the early years.

Edited November 1, 2023 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

I decided to start reading through GamePro magazine.  Back in the day, I'd pick this mag up if there was nothing else of interest.  I didn't dislike it back in the day, but it felt somewhat redundant if you were reading any of the other multi-format mags.

 

I recall it having a decent layout, nice quality screenshots, and competent writing... but also that the reviews were pretty dull and dry level-by-level descriptions of what happens in the game ("In level 1 you are in a warehouse attacked by ninjas. After defeating the head ninja, you are off to level 2, which is a forest full of owls and bears...").

 

Anyway, I decided to start from the beginning with the very first issue from May 1989.  It's pretty much exactly like I remember, though I was a bit surprised by how professional it looks (and reads) compared with EGM from the same time period.  I was also surprised (in a bad way) by the reviews in this first issue, which are more like previews than reviews as they contain no criticism at all (not even a final paragraph recommending the game or whatever).

 

This issue does have a very cool preview of Super Mario Bros. 3, however.  It goes into way more detail than any other contemporary mag, which is impressive.

 

Finally, it was cool to see some Atari 7800 game coverage in this issue.  Every other multiformat mag was basically ignoring Atari at this point.

Edited November 9, 2023 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

My GamePro adventures continue!

 

I'll be honest.  This magazine sucks to read today.

 

Three issues in, the "reviews" are basically just walkthroughs that go into no detail.  Sometimes, in the very last paragraph, they will tell you that the game is good... but not always.  It's a weird format reading it now, but back when you had dozens of games on the shelf, reading this kind of level by level breakdown of a game probably served some purpose.  I dunno, GamePro was not my primary mag back in the day.

 

Anyway, reading this magazine today is a total drag.  A level by level walkthrough of the SMS version of R-Type might be pretty cool to read even today, but there really aren't any tips or anything in this mag.  It's all, "In level 1 make sure to shoot the enemies! Defeat the boss and you're off to level 2! Be careful not to be defeated and then it's off to level 3!"

 

It's such a weird mag honestly.  The layout and writing are very professional, but there is absolutely nothing worth reading.  I'm hoping the mag will get a bit better as they start to introduce the rating system.

Edited November 10, 2023 by newtmonkey

[NE146]

Joystik

To me my ultimate nostalgic favorite is definitely Joystik magazine. At the time when arcade games were the most exciting thing around, they fully complemented it with their nice layouts and coverage and strategy/tips. It was a gamers magazine through and through and was also the first time I would read about "secrets" or easter eggs in games, like the Galaga stop the bugs shooting trick, which was so awesome at the time.   I think these magazines still hold up but to me reading scans of them feels a little flat compared to their nice glossy  actual physical copies. 

 

Electronic Game Player

This is actually EGM magazine before they changed their name. Staffed by Steve Harris, Ed Semrad, Don Nauert, etc.  Didn't see any mention of it here so figured I'd give them a shoutout. If you look at EGM's first issue, and the various issues of EGP.. they're obviously one and the same mag. I actually scanned one of their mags years and years ago for retrogamemags.com when I used to actively contribute... been a long while though.  I still like these magazines for what they were.. magazines for the early exciting days of console gaming when the SMS & NES were really making their mark in the U.S. and they weren't afraid to talk about rumors, upcoming games whereas the other mags were a little hamstrung about talking things that were "unverified" or not in stores yet. Still fun reads overall.

 

Video Games Magazine

My other nostalgic favorite.. this one talked games but also talked industry with interviews with the players of the time etc. This magazine is the very first time I saw Colecovision Donkey Kong and I just could not believe my eyes.  This mag still holds up for the interviews.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tanooki]

Now here's a variation I don't recall if it were brought up or not on this, but I think it's totally worth discussion.

 

Some of these magazines lasted closer to 5 years, 10 years, then over 20 years right?  As times change, the world more so changes, how media is fed changes, each of them if they lived long enough had to adapt to last longer, or just die off.

 

This plays great into the question, did they age well?

 

Given the insane amount of time it lasted until in part it didn't, then totally ate it a few years after, Nintendo Power would be a fantastic call out.

When it started back in the late 80s into and up through the pre-3D era a big staple of the magazine was to highlight a few games in each issue and they would with care either draw some high quality colorful maps with icons, or they'd tile screen after screen of shots of the stages and icon them out too, pop up boxes with lines, added tips, etc.  It was the golden age of Nintendo Power where it had the most qualitative help with full game guides on a issue or a few, partial guides to really get you going, and solid tips that really snapped.  Of course there was the other fun fluff with fan art, questions (pre-email days!), celebs, technology forums, the full comics and Howard&Nester gems too, etc.

 

But as the N64 took off things changed, let's call it a silver era you could do the maps but less as well due to 3D spaces, yet the Gameboy into Color side still got the solid maps, the tips weren't as nice as they used to be for help, seemed more lazy in some cases, but largely still were a good bit of solid info far more than not.  Some of the old fluff still was retained, some expanded, some was just lost.  With N64 games you would get 3D spaces depopulated and have icons again like the 2D which was super helpful, but far less games due to the space needed for 3D titles meant far less meaningful coverage.  This lasted full well into the and throughout a good period of the Gamecube and GBA era.

 

Then you had I guess the bronze age, this would be the DS and Wii spread with he dying days of the GBA and end tidbits of the GC.  At this point they refreshed the magazine and largely for the worse.  Feeling the pressures from online scooping them, info getting just dated quicker, people typing up mega guides with shitty MS paint images on gamefaqs(which still are there and heaps more) they cut out so much great stuff.  Good bye to the trading cards, the power card sets from the NES/SNES/GB times, the comics were done, the fluff pieces largely gone.  The print of the magazine by here and starting before slowly morphed into some generic almost sterile format to match like Game Informer, Edge, and the other hang ons.  The magazine suffered for it, lost subs, wasn't making bank as it did because it didn't offer so much.  Even the age old staples of a full on guide in an issue and partials were gone.  Mostly you get blurbs, screen shots, some discussion, basically sadly almost like tabloid fluff pieces in quality and quantity.

 

At this rate, NP died, they no longer supported it, but for the tens (hundered) of thousands of people left they sold out to a bad entity, Future One.  This was issue 222 I believe.  Here you had more sections reorganized, others removed, some stuff just altered, the old bones were skinned in not the best ways.  The staff also didn't have the old Nintendo rule of don't be too cruel, but the opposite.  They openly shit on the Nintendo games in a Nintendo magazine, 2 starting editors in their HI page in the magazine openly showed contempt having to come from the MS and Sony books the corporation ran, and they were the ones shitting on games in the review areas leaning to buy another copy level of deceit.  At that rate the magazine just sucked, sure it covered Nintendo stuff, but they not being nintendo didn't really get scoops, the quality was shot, it was super bland.  I cut them off with their first issue but saw a few others and it blew, made me wish it just died when Nintendo stopped caring.

 

So did they age well?  The farther you go back, definitely.  They were precursors to the stand alone game guides that rose up slowly and steadily into a huge published racket in the 90s.  They were done with the look of for fun even if it was for profit, and the info, images, tips, were amazing and still quite helpful in a world of still text based guides unless you slog through a youtube video.  But I would not wish any issue F1 did at all on anyone, nor would I strongly suggest someone bother with the GBA/GC era either given the slide it even had at that rate unless you were just a sub then or a huge fan of the two platforms.

[newtmonkey]

GamePro (1989)

I finished the first year of this mag just now.  Everything but the writing is actually excellent; it's a very professional looking mag even from the very first issue, with a pleasing layout and great screenshots.  It also covers a ton of games each issue, and in some impressive depth.  I came away with the impression that the reviewers actually completed the games they were writing about (though it's certainly possible they were using cheat codes to skip through the games).  They cover so many games, in fact, that they end up covering games no other magazine at the time would touch.  What other mag would devote two full pages to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and actually describe in some detail how to actually play it?

 

One very weird thing about this mag during the first year is that it's clearly written for kids, but then they'll have a 1-2 page interview with some marketing executive at Taito or Acclaim or something.  What is the audience for this kind of stuff?

 

The writing is just awful though.  Don't get me wrong; it's actually written very competently.  However, the majority of the content is "proviews" which are supposed to be reviews, but are just dry level-by-level descriptions of the game in question.  It is so tedious to read this stuff.  "Level one is in the forest. Dodge the birds and bears! Then it's off to level two, which is in the castle.  Watch out for rocks and goblins!  Level three is in a space station.  Don't let the aliens take you down!"  They don't even really review the games at this point (they would add their iconic face rating system in 1990).

 

It's not even worth reading out of nostalgia at this point, but I did skip ahead a bit and skim future issues, and the magazine does actually improve quite a bit... so I'm looking forward to the 1990 issues.

Edited November 11, 2023 by newtmonkey

[Tanooki]

I read a few of those on the rack stuck at the store with mom in the day as she was sooooo slow.  You're right, and even their TV show that ran for a bit was equally as dry when it came to competent but utterly boring and tedious descriptions of stuff as you just put an example of.  I mean great, but also greatly useless.  The only one I can think of who was pretty good with it was Jeff Rovin in his paperbacks, the ratings didn't make sense at times making you wonder, but the dude basically almost did this guide/novella thing for games that actually made it fun (almost?) to read through to get a real taste and what he did put could be actually put to use.

[Flojomojo]

I love flipping through scans of these old magazines but can’t believe I ever paid money for any of them. 

[Tanooki]

9 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

I love flipping through scans of these old magazines but can’t believe I ever paid money for any of them. 

Sad you think that, but not sad those scans exist as they're a goldmine of fun.  I have one I saved from the archive for the Fun Club which has all, then another has every issue of NP from #1 up until 2004 or so without a skip.  I mean enough of them are kind of lousy for content like the early Gamepro, but those that really had quality images of the game stages, tips, help, secrets there's no fault in those really.  That's like saying, it's dumb I bought an official players guide for $15.

[NE146]

I'm still a fan of having physical magazines.. but it gets a bit much. I USED to have an entirely complete collection of EGM for example from Issue 1 up through like the early 2000's but it was just such a space hog taking up all these heavy boxes I ended up dumping most everything except the first 2 years, and a number of "select" issues (e.g. Issue #100).  I also had a complete collection of Gamefan but all of them were lost during a typhoon back home which flooded our downstairs and waterlogged them all. Like I said, I used to be a scanner for retromags.com (not sure why I put "retrogamemags" above) but just kind of fell off that wagon. 

 

That said, I definitely do not frown at all on digital copies.. It's the exact opposite. I download anything and everything I can find off the internet and have bunches stored on my iPad for easy reading.

 

 

[newtmonkey]

I'm still working my way chronologically through a bunch of old mags:

 

GamePro (1990)

I've read up through the August issue, and this magazine is still a bit of a drag.  It looks great, the screenshots are surprisingly nice, and the writing is fine.  However, the magazine has yet to add its infamous rating system yet, and the "proviews" provide no criticism.  These make up most of the content of the mag, so it's basically just a bunch of wasted space.  Making things worse, the magazine started introducing some 'tude halfway through the year, so now you have (I assume) grown men writing about how "totally rad" some game is or whatever.  Embarrassing.

 

EGM (1991)

I completed the run of 1991 issues, and at this point the mag is getting really good.  Awesome layouts, tons of detailed coverage of import (Japanese) games, and just a ton of fun to flip through even today.  The writing started to improve halfway through the year, though the reviews are still written very poorly.

 

Computer Gaming World (1984)

I've now read up to the June issue, and the magazine is getting both better and worse.  Better in that there is a greater variety of games covered (earlier issues were almost completely devoted to wargames, mirroring what was available for computer games at the time)... but worse in that you are getting some really garbage reviews now that spend paragraph after paragraph trying to be funny without actually talking about the game at all.  For example, David P. Stone's review of Bruce Lee, a side scrolling platform game, starts with four full paragraphs of complete nonsense ("I don't know what 'martial arts' is... [but] it delivers all the... action-packed adventure you'd expect from a... martial arts movie") with plenty of what I assume was meant as comedic asides delivered in parentheses... but even though the review takes up most of an entire page, you really get no idea of how the game actually plays.  I could only understand what he was saying, because I have actually played this game!  It defeats the purpose of a review.  I've enjoyed this magazine until now, so I hope this is just some kind of growing pains, or maybe a bad batch of reviewers or something.

[schuwalker]

Had to run to the storage shed today so I decided to hit up some of the totes I had my gaming mags stored. Quick trip so I only grabbed a few.

 

One I picked was Diehard Gamefan from Dec. of '93. It was promoting the new system from Atari called the 'Jaguar'. I might've stated this before on this thread, but I never really bought into any of these reviews of any of these magazines when I made game purchases. When game rentals became more ubiquitous I just rented everything under the sun if it sparked my interest... if it was good - probably would've just purchased it. I mostly used these magazines as a gateway for what's coming down the pipeline and screenshots if applicable. That being said, reading these reviews in hindsight are funny. That did a big review on Sega's Eternal Champions where they weren't too kind on the game for the most part. And after renting that one bitd, they had a valid stance.

 

My biggest gripes with this magazine is the colored text they used blends in with the particular color of the background shot. Tried reading a review on Mega Man X... just painful to the eyes. Now that I'm older reading with these older eyes I also finding it too busy. Most pages are just crammed with some screenshot or something arbitrary. Probably would've thought that was awesome 30 years ago... not much now.

 

Chuckled when I found the ad for the Diehard Game store. I almost imported Sunsoft's Batman for the Sega Genesis when that was first announced. I believe it was around $90 at the time. I love that game and what an incredible Kodaka score but gameplay-wise - it's too easy even on hardest difficulty. Thought that was a funny trigger moment. 

Edited November 19, 2023 by schuwalker

[newtmonkey]

Computer Game Review and CD-ROM Entertainment (1992)

I think this mag is not known very well today, but it's a PC gaming magazine published by Sendai (yes, the EGM guys... and the overall layout is very similar to 90s EGM).  The quality of the writing is generally better than EGM, but still below other mags of the day.  They review a LOT of games each issue, and while they clearly don't play each game to completion (they often mention this in their reviews), it does feel like they play the games enough to form a valid opinion.  Other than reviews and news, the rest of the mag is usually devoted to a few somewhat in-depth strategy articles, mostly for RPGs, or strategy/sim games.

 

Anyway, I completed reading through the 1992 issues, and so far I still like this mag.  Their reviews are really too short to be of any use, but they're good for what they are, and I find their scores to be pretty much right on the money (with the exception of their review of Wizardry VII, a beloved RPG classic that even their RPG fans inexplicably didn't like).

 

In a shocking twist, much of the core team of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (Arnie Katz, Joyce Worley, Bill Kunkel aka The Game Doctor) left that mag to write for this mag partway through 1992.  It's nice to see The Game Doctor in this mag, and I assume Joyce Worley was mostly working behind the scenes because I didn't notice any articles by her.  Arnie Katz brings his bizarre fixation/misunderstanding about CD-ROM technology to the mag, which feels completely out of place.  He's still going on and on about the promise of the truly interactive FMV that the CD-i and 3D0 will (somehow?) bring to gaming, even as the other editors/reviewers (who seem to know better) continue to savage the barely interactive CD garbage that was starting to be released.  Hell, even Katz himself in his column reviewing so-called "CD-ROM entertainment" struggles to come up with anything good to say about the digital comics and encyclopedias being released.

Edited November 22, 2023 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

GamePro (1990)

I finished reading through the 1990 issues of this mag and, believe it or not, it actually makes some impressive improvements over the year.  The writing and layout are still just as good as they were from the first issue... but 1990 is pretty much the year that the magazine becomes "GamePro" as they introduce the famous GamePro rating system late in the year, and in the final issue of the year they start adding the famous GamePro "character" reviewers (such as Slasher Quan and Abby Normal).

 

Having finally added a rating system, the mag actually starts to introduce some criticism in their "Proviews."  Yes, a lot of the text is just mind numbingly dull stage by stage descriptions or lists of enemies and powerups, but you are starting to get some actual content worth reading toward the end of 1990.  Even more shockingly, I find myself agreeing with a lot of their reviews so far.  Reading their RPG reviews is a treat, because their reviewers come off as understanding and liking the genre, and rate the games accordingly.  It's completely bizarre to read GamePro of all things (rightfully) going on and on about how awesome Wizardry and Ultima: Quest of the Avatar are, when most of the other multiformat mags simply detested RPGs.

 

One thing I appreciate about this magazine is that the editor will bring up some topic in his editorial each issue, and then the letter column the following issue will be mostly devoted to readers giving their opinions on that topic.  It gives the magazine a sense of community, in a way.

 

My cutoff point for GamePro is 1996, so I still have many issues to go... but I've been pleasantly surprised with the 1990 issues.  Hopefully the mag will continue to improve.

Edited November 22, 2023 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (1993)

I finished reading through the 1993 issues of this mag.  Although Aug 1993 was the final issue of this magazine, it did continue the following month as VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine, though by this point it was pretty much a completely different mag (the core team of Eddy/Katz/Kunkel/Worley was gone, and they not only dropped PC game coverage, but injected a lot of 90s attitude.. including a completely embarrassing editorial that definitely reads like a grown man trying to sound hip and with it).  So I'm not gonna bother continuing with the successor mag.

 

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This magazine had a lot of problems, but I'm sad to see it go.  It had a pleasant layout and nice screenshots, and when they managed to get the right person reviewing the right game, their console game reviews were quite good.  Their PC game reviews were mostly excellent, though the quality for even this content began to really slip in '92 and especially in '93.

 

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My biggest problem with the magazine is their poor selection of reviewers.  Several of their reviewers couldn't tell a good platformer, shooter, or beat'em up from a bad one, which is absolutely insane for someone professionally reviewing console games in the early 90s.  Instead, they would just go on and on about meaningless stuff like how funny they thought the animation was when the character stood still, or how great the digitized voice was, but not mention anything about level design, play control, difficulty, or whatever.  The problem is that this was true for several of their regular reviewers!  This would lead to absolute nonsense like their review describing unparalleled masterpiece Contra III: The Alien Wars as a mediocre side scroller that's just Contra with nicer graphics, but then turning around and praising the absolutely dire Dragon's Lair (SNES).  Yes, they were different reviewers, but this is not GameFAQs where everything goes... you need to exert some editorial control so that people can actually trust your reviews.  Imagine being the kid that passed on Contra III to pick up Dragon's Lair, thanks to VG&CE.

 

They also had one reviewer in particular, Howard Wen, who seems completely miserable in every single one of his tedious, sarcastic reviews.  The guy comes off as hating every game he plays, even those he scores highly, because he just goes on an on about how dumb the story is, and how he's reviewing yet another platformer/shooter/beat'em up.  His reviews are honestly a complete waste of space, and it's unbelievable that he was one of their main reviewers.

Edited November 28, 2023 by newtmonkey

[Emehr]

These magazines were my only window into the video game industry in the late-80s/early-90s. I can look back on them now and realize they were mostly schlock but they were like brain food and I couldn't get enough of them. They were my prime reading material while I ate breakfast before getting ready for school. The gateway drug was, of course, that "Free Sample Copy" of Nintendo Power in late-1988 (which was just Issue #1 for slight late-comers to the NP subscription).

 

Later on when I was sick with pneumonia and home from school my mom came home with the November 91 issue of EGM and ohh boy that was it. The Atari Lynx?! What is this?! Hard Drivin'! Xybots! STUN Runner! RAMPAGE! I love those games at the arcade! and this Warbirds game looks cool as hell! 3D graphics on a handheld! I had to have it and by that Xmas I did. That Atari Lynx insert in EGM#28 is the sole reason I am a Lynx fan to this day.

 

I loved reading EGM. I'd pick up an issue of VG&CE or GamePro here and there. VG&CE felt like it was trying to be the "grown up" in the room and GamePro was the sugar-infused kid. EGM was somewhere in between and appealed to me the most. And those issues got THICK! The rebooted Electronic Games came along a little later and I really enjoyed that one even though I don't have many issues of it.

 

The late-80s/early-90s were an exciting time for video games I wonder how many of those publishers realized just how perfect of a storm it was. Some of my fondest issues are my first ones (attached). I also loved the EGM Buyer's Guides. Chock full of reviews and technical bits!