Nostalgic and/or Favorite Video Game Mags

[MSR1701]

Howdy, all!

Was thinking on old mags I used to read and realized that a lot of them were video game magazines. Was curious as to what, if any, magazines everyone read or remembers fondly (or otherwise).

Here's a list of some of the ones I grew up reading:

Electronic Gaming Monthly (specifically around issue 50 thru 70ish)
EGM2
GamePro (mid-90s)
Nintendo Power
Game Players

And some that I found in more recent times:

Retro Gamer (current publication out of the UK, very good!)
MEGA Magazine (old UK Sega magazine, quite cynical but funny!)
Super Play (old UK Nintendo mag, also with a heavy focus on 90s-era anime)

[Retro STrife]

Off the top of my head, EGM and Gamepro were the ones I always remember liking growing up. EGM especially. At least before they started going downhill. I also wish I had the chance to read more of Game Players magazine. I found one old issue at a flea market like 15 years ago, and I loved it. I still have the old issue hanging around and wish I found more, but it seems a lot less common than other magazines.

I'm sure I'm in the minority on this- but I never understood the appeal of Nintendo Power. I thought it was a bad magazine back in the day. And now, when I see old issues for sale at conventions, flipping through them makes me still think it was a bad magazine. I love flipping through old magazines, but NP doesn't do it for me. Good for the strategy guides, tips, tricks, etc., but way too biased when it came to previews and reviews. Since it was an official Nintendo magazine, it read more like a giant advertisement for the company. Even if it wasn't biased, my attention span is too short for a magazine that focuses narrowly on just one system or company.

[ActRaiser]

Yeah, for me my favorite was definitely EGM or Electronic Gaming Monthly. I loved the four person review crew takes on games. At $50 to $60 or more per game it was a huge investment and I wanted to make sure I was going to get a good game.

My second favorite magazine would have been Video Games and Computer Entertainment. It had a little bit of everything and felt more like a magazine for adults.

My third favorite would be Nintendo Power. Sure, it was all about Nintendo and you could only take the reviews with a grain of salt but it was still awesome.

My absolute least favorite was Game Pro. I swear the reviews were trash and every game had some stupid excited face for an icon. It's like every review was positive in some manner. At least with EGM and its number scale I could clearly and quickly understand if a game was worth my money or not. I never could tell with Game Pro and assumed the worst.

[MSR1701]

Yeah, for me my favorite was definitely EGM or Electronic Gaming Monthly. I loved the four person review crew takes on games. At $50 to $60 or more per game it was a huge investment and I wanted to make sure I was going to get a good game.

My second favorite magazine would have been Video Games and Computer Entertainment. It had a little bit of everything and felt more like a magazine for adults.

My third favorite would be Nintendo Power. Sure, it was all about Nintendo and you could only take the reviews with a grain of salt but it was still awesome.

My absolute least favorite was Game Pro. I swear the reviews were trash and every game had some stupid exciting face for an icon. It's like every review was positive in some manner. At least with EGM and its number scale I could clearly and quickly understand if a game was worth my money or not. I never could tell with Game Pro and assumed the worst.

With Gamepro, one of my favorite bad review was for Mega Man V on the GB, where the review trashed the game for how it played on the Super Game Boy, not on the native portable.

EGM reviews were usually helpful, though they had a bad habit of scoring 7s waaay to often...

[ASalvaro]

my favorites easily were Electronic Fun & Electronic Games

[ActRaiser]

With Gamepro, one of my favorite bad review was for Mega Man V on the GB, where the review trashed the game for how it played on the Super Game Boy, not on the native portable.

EGM reviews were usually helpful, though they had a bad habit of scoring 7s waaay to often...

Yes! I usually only bought games with 8s or 9s. The games with 7s were usually super average and worth a rental perhaps. Or they kind of fit the RPG side of things that still might be fun if you were into that particular genre.

[Retro STrife]

Good points about Gamepro. Now that you mention that terrible review system, maybe I disliked it more than I remember.

[MSR1701]

Good points about Gamepro. Now that you mention that terrible review system, maybe I disliked it more than I remember.

I usually used their reviews to contrast EGM. I did like their tips n strategies, and the annual Lamepro April Fools bits were deliciously funny (and now very not pc).

[Gentlegamer]

I liked early GamePro mostly because it had the best covers and interior art, done by a comic-artist.

[Matchstick]

The annual Lamepro April Fools bits were deliciously funny (and now very not pc).

Boy, you ain't a'kiddin'...

There was a similar topic a week or two ago about GamePro mags from the 90's. After posting a few replies to that topic, I went back and read a few of my older issues just for fun. One of them, Issue 91, from April of 1996, had the LamePro feature tucked inside.

Among the "games" listed, along with some of their descriptions:

Post Office DOOM: The Employee's Edition - "NoTip: When you see yourself on a Most Wanted poster, you're halfway through the game"

OJ Simpson's 'Search for the Real Killers' Golf Tour '96 - "OJ works on his slice... in this combination sports / puzzle game"

Pokerhontas: The Casino Game - "Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon? You'll cry all the way to the bank as Pokerhontas soon parts the fools from their money"

Virtuous Fighter 3: Nuns With Guns - "Fighting is a hard 'habit' to break"

Picard vs Kirk in Trekkin' 2: Captain's Flog - (...okay, that's just clever...)

The best part of the "issue" was a fake ad making fun of the Virtual Boy - "The new and improved Virtual Box - now featuring two colors!" "Easy to set-up! Easy to use! Requires 150 AA batteries (not included)." "Buy one today, and tomorrow you'll say, 'I got The Box... and the shaft was free!'"

Twas a simpler time ^_^