Videogame Magazines - - Game Sack

Episode 84 - This is how we got our information when retro games were current and it as a really fun way of doing it! These are some of the greatest mags in the US. What is your favorite gaming magazine? How about least favorite? Why? Our second episode about videogame magazines - • Videogame Magazines 2 ...
Be sure to check out the Game Sack Episode Guide:
www.gamesack.net

[@GameSack]

Yes! This was one of our goals, to enable the use of the PAUSE button if desired so people can read. I scanned the pages at 400dpi and made sure that even when the pages were "moving" the pause button could be used to read to read the page if it was zoomed in enough.

[@GameSack]

Dave has been saying "shampoo" since before the game was released. I still have yet to crack a smile.

[@dimitripapadopoulos5180]

I would say that as well, really annoyed my friends lol.

[@t0xcn253]

The real reason why Dave left the show right here.

[@teen_laqueefa]

Ironically Dave needs shampoo less than ever

[@alainsoucysergerie9879]

What about a decade later? Have you finally?

[@mikedx42]

Anybody who complains about this episode might be a "retrogamer" but they didn't play "retro" games when they were new. Magazines were practically as important as the games themselves during that era. GamePro, EGM, Nintendo Power... essentials.

[@Jesse__H]

Church.

[@daisukegori2112]

So true. Even us arcade gamers would buy magazines.

[@danwroy]

EGM and Nintendo Power was about it. GamePro was a joke.

[@AlphaOmegaSin]

EGM was basically my go to magazine for the longest time, while I did read Nintendo Power, GamePro and Gamefan, for whatever reason EGM was just my preferred mag. It's also pretty amusing finding the old magazines and reading through them, easy way to find out about older games you may not have paid attention to back when they were first made

[@MetalJesusRocks]

Well done on this episode.

[@rbust]

I still have all my subscription EGM's from the early 90's.They still make great reading.Viva Sushi-X!!!

[@Polecat666]

Crispin Boyer forever!

[@JoolsGuitar]

"My grandson introduced me to a Nintendo game, That I play on my TV most of the day, The Legend of Zelda has taxed my brain, Outwitting many demons throughout the play! My wife says that I have lost my mind, And I have made her a house reclused, That doing so I have been most unkind, She states that it´s a form of spouse abuse! I told her the alternative is my visiting pubs, And possibly becoming a drunken souse, Or go swimming with girls in hot water tubs, So what is wrong with my playing in the house! My wife's answer was a real doozy, She called the plumber and ordered a jacuzzi So there goes the old Nintendo game, I guess I have only myself to blame!" William Convery, a Zelda and poetry fan.

[@erikhicks07]

Big like - game mags were a huge part of the gaming experience back in the '90s

[@t0xcn253]

My poor grandparents had so many of them thrown onto the grocery store conveyer belt along with the stuff they were actually there to buy.

[@Godsgood111]

​@@t0xcn253and they bought them too!? I love your grandparents

[@t0xcn253]

@@Godsgood111 they were just glad i liked reading they dind't care what hehe, those same grocery stores carried Spawn comics which I innocently slipped in as well haha

[@GameSack]

Ed rarely if ever wrote his own material. Someone was trolling Ed that day I believe. He deserved it. :)

[@kingofshmups3390]

I'd buy a gamesack magazine

[@zachary_attackery]

Not sure if you really care or not but Jesse Ventura talked about this wrestling game recently on his podcast. He said that Vince McMahon tried to claim he owned the "character" of Jesse Ventura and threatened to sue the company putting the game out, which is why it was never released.

[@GameSack]

Very interesting. Thanks for the insight!

[@Strikedarkness]

Game Sack what are you using to convert the composite signal for the older systems?

[@dacypher22]

Makes sense. Dozens of wrestlers over the years have complained that Vince makes them sign paperwork that he owns their name and personality if they wrestle for him, even if you wrestle with your real name. No idea how it is even legal for someone to contractually give their real birth name to someone else.

[@Timic83tc]

Game Sack Aw cmon, tony hawk 2 is great

[@JDangelo187]

dacypher22 Legal names are not property of Vince. However...if that legal name portrayed a "character", good old Vince claimed owning the character as a loophole. But anyone signing with WWE knows the Vince cut throat tactics they're signing up for, and gladly does so regardless. It's hard not to when the man has a monopoly on the rasslin biz. Edit--in the U.S. at least.

[@AlphaOmegaSin]

Admittedly though Nintendo Power gave you the most bang for your buck considering you got walkthroughs, posters, stickers, cards, iron ons for shirts, and a bunch of other random shit.

[@Dre2Dee2]

We need a part 2!

[@user-vc3ki4zd2f]

We got it

[@jawnsunn]

I really enjoyed Dave reminiscing about his family when he mentioned the Lightboy.

[@Y2JLionTamer]

Come on guys, no mention of GamePro at all? That mag was awesome, i remember every April issue had LamePro for April fools day

[@rodmunch69]

I have all the magazines they're talking about in this issue, at least the older ones, and I have a few GamePro's. I'd put GamePro at the bottom of the list - it seemingly was aimed at young children and it was nearly all fluff. Maybe later - like the mid 90s - it got better, but those early GamePro's just aren't very interesting, at least the ones I have.

[@samfrito]

Great idea. The mag industry is so missed to me. I loved the goofy ads and all the mind-blowing news of the time.

[@dorkplanet]

I love old video game magazines. My favorite was Gamefan by far! I still flip through them frequently and it's a great reminder of stuff I still need to try.

[@MyRetroLife]

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the hard work you guys put into making these episodes. This kind of quality production is time consuming and must take a lot of energy to create, and we, the subscribers reap all the nostalgic goodness. You guys are super talented. KEEP GOING!!!

[@ALitleBitSpecial]

Took like 2 hours to watch this as I paused and read almost everything.

[@djpeterabreu]

Same

[@DeathCrustPunk]

Was looking thru a pdf of EGM 59 (June 1994), the letters section features a letter from David White of Arvada, CO. Is that Gamesack's very own?

[@GameSack]

If he was asking about S-video on the SNES then yep! Dave was down at my house when we turned on that glorious Capcom logo on Mega Man X. You can hear the story in our episode about Fanboys Forced to Switch Sides.

[@AHeroAlmost]

Loved this episode, could really tell ye enjoyed making it by the enthusiasm in yer voices!

[@channelsurfing]

Who else is in favor of a Part 2 video?

[@jhsdemo]

This brought back so many memories. I used to collect and read absolutely every page of these magazines. I still own every single one. I'm glad you mentioned Game Players. Loved it but my favorite was definitely GameFan. Great vid!

[@iClone316]

I remember reading Gamepro magazine every month. I would read the pages about the games I cared about first (cover article, etc). Then I would go back through and literally read every page of the magazine. Even the ads were interesting. Back then, that was the only way to get into the video game "world."

[@TheFLOMAN76]

I am glad that I grew up discovering video games with my late Aunt Betty. She helped me find my way through life... playing some good old classic Nintendo and Atari.... and even some simple Pong play throughs.... proved to be a life long love of the technology that is video games! Game sack rules!!!!!

[@professors84]

Hey! New to your show and I gotta say, this is one of my favorite episodes. I love perusing old game mags...I think my favorites are those 400+ page EGMs from late 1994 and Game Players after they went insane around 1995 or so. I actually collect magazines more than actual games nowadays...it's a lot cheaper.

[@shazzbutter]

How could you guys not have read *** NEXT GENERATION *** !?! Hands down best video game mag ever. The interviews with video game creators were incredibly enlightening, especially for the 90s. Far more mature and not all 'extreme' or whatever like EGM and other rags.

[@Shady00018]

Had so much nostalgia from Game pro though. That was all we can get our hands on back then being here in the Philippines. It's all good! Love your Channel btw!

[@benjaminschreiner1542]

What?! No Gamepro love? I had Gamepro for 10 years and still have issues collecting dust. The coverage they had on Mortal Kombat 3 before it was released was unrivaled by anybody else. They also had the most accurate Resident Evil walkthrough.

[@danwroy]

GamePro was for babies

[@rodmunch69]

I have all these issues, at least the ones from the 80s / early 90s. I still love going back and looking at them every few years.

[@GameSack]

No, different Dreamworks. This Dreamworks came before Dreamworks. In fact, when Dreamworks came about, I thought they were gonna release a Target Earth or Trampoline Terror movie, not The Peacemaker.

[@NinteSegaRarew]

These magazines are so very awesome that they bring back so much nostalgia! Those are what we had before KZbin in order for us to know the reviews of a certain game.

[@bluetiger8716]

I read all the video game magazines and always looked forward to the next issue! My favorite magazine: Electronic Gaming Monthly. I miss video game magazines too, but will always have the memories. Thank you for this video it was very well done and full of nostalgia!

[@NYCJoeBlack]

Blue Tiger - Electronic Monthly Magazine was/is my all-time favorite magazine next to NEXT GENERATION magazine which is EDGE in Europe. I really miss dedicated video game magazines. We still have GameInformer via GameStop, but it’s still not the same and isn’t my favorite magazine. Electronic Gaming Monthly came back a few years ago and was bi-monthly, but I think it stopped after a year.

[@WHATISUTUBE]

Man, video game magazines. An entire book of video game screenshots and art and topics. I mean, I know the internet covers this but having it in physical form in a compact book is nostalgic.

[@foxyman9449]

My best magazine memory was going to a garage sale and finding a box filled with Nintendo Power Magazines (issues 1-60 with a few missing in between) the box said 50 cents each and, as a 6 year old, I couldn't afford that so I stayed and read through all of them for hours. The owner was shocked how interested I was in reading every page of every issue that he sold me the whole box for 50 cents. Best guy ever! I still have all of them and hope to share them with my kids, someday.

[@henrydave6603]

Gamefan was awesome! Use to have a whole stack of them and read them over and over. So many games I thought I'd never get a chance to see. Now I'm looking at these to see what I'm missing for my collection :) My Dad was a big into "PC Gamer". When he was done I would steal it away and read up on latest tech and games! Ah, miss those old times *sigh*

[@strider6425]

I love this show. You guys definitely hit the nail on the head about mags. The charm all those had is definitely being lost to the cold silicon age. I hope some mags stay around for a while

[@BarnyButteli]

Great episode! I love looking at old game mags, brings back so many memories! I'd be happy looking at more episodes like this one.

[@brianmcdonald7017]

Absolutely love this channel. You guys ARE KZbin. This is what it's about. By the fans for the fans. The best

[@CalaveraCandy]

I still go back and look at a few old issues of PC Gamer, EGM, an 'Tendo Power myself. I get all nostalgic and remember tracing my finger along the maps imagining how cool an upcoming game would be. Another great video! :)

[@hhectorlector]

before the days of smart phones (and having the internet at home) - magazines were pretty much all we had (although there were some gaming TV shows/ channels)

[@LukeDodge916]

Gaming mags were such an important part of my gaming experience. I would pick them up at every store I'd see them, all in all, I'd saved up about 10 boxes worth before tossing them in probably 2010. I still lament putting all those heavy boxes out to the trash. I should have at least recycled them! Lol but honestly I'd love to have some of them back to put on the shelves and sit through once in a while.

[@jayjakab74]

Nice change of pace. Even though I didn't collect a lot of gamer mags, I still found this episode to be highly entertaining. Great job.

[@Tankdomain]

One of my favorite video game magazines was *Next Generation*. Even when they underwent a re-vamp and became *Next Gen*. The issues were always super thick and had articles about gaming culture, interviews with developers and studios that handled things like mo-cap or whatever. I remember flipping through the back 30 pages and wondering at the adds for job applications or studios specializing in game audio. An industry focused magazine that was designed to talk about video games in a way that would appeal to not just the everyday fan but the people in the industry as well. By fans, for fans and about everything related to the thing we love.

[@Redfoot138]

I'm totally fine with you guys doing another magazine episode. I was pretty much exclusively an EGM guy back in the day so I like seeing some of the other magazines. In the mid to late 1990's I started reading others like Gamefan and Next Gen.

[@Jellycakelap]

Not meaning to gatekeep, if you collect games, but don't know how these magazines were important to gamers of the time? This video does a great job of explaining it.

[@miscellaneouscentral4699]

Seriously guys...(I just said that because some other guy said it and you guys responded) You guys should do a series of these and include PSM (unofficial) in one. That was the best gaming mag I ever read. They were incredible their first few years.

[@dogmd7]

Luckily, the game magazine Retro exists. It's awesome, check it out if you miss gaming mags.

[@Nanofuture87]

Legendary Chop Chop There's also NF if you liked Nintendo Power.

[@TrinidadJamesWoods]

Just gotta tell you guys I love your channel. I watch an episode every day on my lunch and it's like a zen moment for me and helps me chill out for a bit. keep up the good work!

[@88skullkid]

i loved this! i have a HUGE stack of my old videogame magazines. i still look through them once in awhile.

[@Mario_N64]

VG&CE did walkthroughs for games no one played, but it was probably the best mag. It was the thinking man's gaming magazine.

[@snowontheweb]

This was great! Talk about a wave of memories! You guys kick ass once again!

[@canis77]

There used to be some excellent magazines in the UK. Mean Machines, Computer and Video Games, Zero, Ace and the excellent Edge (which is actually still going). My favourite ever was the issue of the Official Sega Saturn magazine which had the full first disc of Panzer Dragoon Saga on it!

[@dogmd7]

This was an awesome episode. Branching out to more episodes about gaming culture is an excellent idea.

[@TenchiJeff]

I loved those early Game Players mags. It felt like I was uncovering hidden knowledge. It's a lost gem now.

[@paulcool4384]

I think the current generation of gamers can not believe how great it was to read those mags in the '90s. Living in Belgium, we had no real game stores or gaming channels so the only news we had was from them. And even than we had to read them in English or French because the Dutch mags were months behind. Gaming was special in those days, now it is something erverybody does and much more common.

[@MilesKay11]

i love your guys' videos and hope you keep making them forever! game sack has become my favorite retro gaming channel in just the last couple weeks when i found you guys with the 32x episode. love your series! give us more!

[@GameSack]

Thanks for the comment, James.

[@VoltronPimp]

i remember pretty much all of these mags, but the VG&CE with the PC Engine stands out for me too. the second my eyes saw the PC Engine, i had to have one! unfortunately i only got a TG16 which is cool too, but not as cute as a PCE. it wasn't until about a year or two ago, that i finally got one, but i did it right and got a boxed one from Japan, the thing looks brand new. i felt an emptiness filled in my heart from this little thing, a piece of my childhood finally complete. great episode!

[@dsol9767]

I loved Video Games & Entertainment!!!! That along with Nintendo power were the two most look through gaming magazine's in my childhood... Really wish I hadn't gotten rid of them years back when I moved....

[@ibanez2010]

Awesome video. Count me in the camp that would like to see more of these! I still have a huge box of old gaming mag's that I will never get rid of.

[@majorsfool]

YES! The VG&CE "red" cover issue with the TG-16 on the hood of a Ferrari was my first game mag evar. I remember buying while at a summer camp and drooling over the reviews and screen shots. Thanks for bringing back that memory. I threw out all my gaming mags a decade ago during a move but I cut out that cover of VG&CE and still have it.

[@dadabubz2674]

One of my favourite episodes of Game Sack. I wish you guys would do a follow up

[@graphicsontelevision]

Very cool episode, and nice change of pace. We used to read a lot of those magazines too. Joe did a great job of voicing the review hotline recording at the end. lol

[@tetrisdave]

Good idea. If the Game Sack teet ever runs dry we can always go this way and talk about grass and gardening. Grass & Garden Sack!

[@captainnintendo]

Great episode. I really love to see videoes where people talk about the good old game magazines. I actually bought a big bunch of early 90s Nintendo magazines yesterday at a yard sale.

[@GameSack]

We like music from all avenues of gaming!

[@KMFDM_Kid2000]

EGM #25 was one of the first issues of theirs I ever read. And read, and read, and read. So many years was I a loyal EGM reader, almost right up to the end, then I subscribed to their digital mag for a bit.

[@smokeglacken]

Great trip down memory lane!!! I can still remember going to the local Hallmark store every few weeks to look at the latest issue of EGM...I can still remember my eyes bulging out when EGM featured a huge layout of the original NES Metal Gear!!! Great job as always guys!!! I love this show!

[@AmberShort]

I loved getting game magazines back in the days. (Gamefan was my favorite.) Excitement always peeked for the next month and of course when the magazines started coming with game CD's. 🤤 By the way, does anyone remember a person by the name of Sushi X in EGM? I always wondered who that was. Has anyone ever found out?

[@dyingculture]

I can’t remember all the games I discovered through magazines but I distinctly recall reading about Chrono Trigger and later Morrowind pre-release. Probably because they actually lived up to the hype and anticipation.

[@marklinstom5145]

Video Games and Computer Entertainment was a great magazine. Always looked forward to the Game Doctor section where people would just ask the most random questions about video games.

[@OR2891]

Good episode, if you guys did more episodes centered around old game mags in the future I wouldn't complain. I always loved reading and skimming through these mags as a kid while my mom was grocery shopping. Best times were always when I could convince her to dole out the 5-8 bucks for one on occasion.

[@SpectrumFourEver]

This took me back when I bought magazines in the early 80's for my ZX Spectrum and later for other computers and consoles. Thanks for the memories :D

[@tetrisdave]

Yep. Even though it felt like torture I always loved the anticipation of getting a game that I would read about over and over in a magazine.

[@doncreech]

In its heyday, Game Players was the best publication of them all. The sense of humor on display was truly bizarre, but very charming. The personality of the editors kept me far more invested in the content than any other title. Then they gambled on a revision to compete with more streamlined 'serious' mags and ended up hemorrhaging fans. I still liked it, and the humor did return, but it became clear fairly quickly that the end was nigh. The internet would eventually kill 'em all anyway.

[@carlopton]

I like this episode. I remember perusing the magazines till they fell to dust onto my fingers.

[@SuperAstyanax]

The episode ending sketch was particularly good this time. Great job, and thanks for doing the show. It's always fun to watch. I used to browse through gaming magazines when I was a kid, and especially drooled over all the Amiga games. They seemed so amazing. But I never got one either.

[@jenniferpruitt6534]

I remember reading Nintendo Power w/ a classmate back when it first came out back in 1987-88. Blew my mind!

[@GameSack]

Awesome, thanks!

[@bartsimpson83]

I didn't really start reading game mags until I got my first job and bought a PS1, but when I was a kid, we got one random issue of Nintendo Power in the mail for free to try and get us to subscribe. I read that thing cover to cover countless times and thanks to the previews of upcoming games, I knew to ask for a Gameboy for Christmas that year so I could play Wario Land, which is still one of my favorite games to this day.

[@mrmacross]

Hah! That NP with Tetris on the cover was the only Nintendo Power issue I had as a kid. I asked my parents to buy it for me because of the Dragon Warrior guide, which super helpful. The only terrible advice in that DW guide was that it tells you something like the Princess is being held some place east of Garinham, which really is the equivalent of saying something in the USA can be found east of Seattle.

[@mr1000Cent]

Speaking of Fire Pro, Gamefan will always have a place in my heart as a gamer, because they were the only publication that did a review of "Firepro: Six Man Scramble" for the Sega Saturn. And it was done by a reviewer that, rare for the time, knew what ECW, UFC, and K-1 were. Compared to other mags, this IMO showed how far ahead Gamefan was in writing reviews over the other video game publications who seemed like they were writing for 13 year-old children.

[@sozaj]

I LOVE how you use music from the Shining the Holy Ark Soundtrack CD with the part about the Game Fan magazine (with Vagrant Story on the cover).

[@gnawingonfoot]

I remember jumping onto a few issues of GR when I saw EGM starting to go downhill. I always had difficulty finding it, and I was too young and stupid to realize the importance of subscribing at the time. I really thought this epiisode wouldn't be that good, but it turned out amazing. I love how you both approached individual issues instead of whole magazine runs. It made me really miss that format of getting game news.

[@someinterwebguy]

EGM Issue 33 - April 1992, with its previews of both Street Fighter II for the SNES as well as Champion Edition for the Arcade and the infamous Sheng Long April Fools joke, remains one of my most beloved issues. I remember everyone trying to get to Sheng Long in my local arcade in San Francisco. I've never heard so much swearing in Chinese before or since. Joe - You're not the only one who stared at screenshots in magazines for long periods of time. I've moved onto staring at my monitor/tablet.

[@anthonyjohnson9088]

guys I'm right there with u...I'm 39 years old and GameFan was my go to magazine...Dave like u said I just love the Layout...I have every issue...my 2nd fav was Gamepro!!!

[@Ghost_Of_SAS]

Nice to see the mismatched font/background colors in magazines wasn't just a problem in my country. 20 years later I'm still trying to read a review of Street Fighter 2 something which was printed dark purple on red background.

[@richardbyatt4018]

I miss magazines, this was a great episode

[@sunnohh]

That gas station is so awesome. I visit it every string cheese at least once!

[@johneygd]

Haha, that telephone call end was the funniest part of this video.

[@rars0n]

90's EGM was great. My favorite magazine by far. I'd sometimes read GamePro and it was good, and Nintendo Power was nice if you were a Nintendo fan, but EGM had everything. Last week I was going through archives and read the September and October issues from 1994, and they talked about how Capcom had blacklisted them from advertising and upcoming game information because they dared to give the latest iteration of SF2 perfect scores because EGM felt that it was basically just another rehash. I always appreciated what appeared to be integrity on EGM's part. Also, you cannot show a screenshot of an entire Quartmann's column and not expect me to pause and read the whole thing. That was my FAVORITE part of the magazine! It's always interesting to look back in hindsight and see what was right and wrong, but I think the Q-man's track record was pretty good, all things considered. You have to remember that SO often plans change, so a lot of what he got wrong was actually correct at the time. It's very interesting to see the speculation from a future perspective.

[@MrSerpico145]

I miss those gaming mag days too. It was so awesome to read those mags from front to back.

[@nicholasbullock1709]

Over and over :)

[@MrSerpico145]

Nicholas Bullock Absolutely!! LMAO Couldn't get enough.

[@PeteSkerritt]

Some whippersnappers may not remember the Golden Age of Gaming Magazines, but I sure do... and you nailed it. I was just talking on Twitter not too long ago about how times were so much different then. Info was limited to monthly magazines and there was still a lot of mystery and excitement surrounding game releases. Not so much anymore-- Let's Plays and walkthroughs are up within a day or two, and media/video basically plays games for us so that we don't have to anymore. Very strange to me.

[@x54]

I miss gaming magazines and I've been watching a lot of videos about them. You guys did a great job.

[@ThePractitioNERD]

I definitely have more "Sega Visions" memories than "Mega Play" ones, but nice to see "VG&CE" get some deserved love!

[@JoeyJ0J0]

The magazines I used to read were GMR (Got it through EB games), Nintendo power had a few issues in 04 , Game Informer (My brother in law gave me his back issues, Xbox magazine (Mainly for the Demo Disc) and Shonen Jump (They taled about anime themed videogames but It was a manga rag)

[@edwinquintanilla7999]

I love retro video games magazines, thank you.

[@BlackmageAlexi]

I loved this episode, it brought me back to simpler time before rent and such. I hope you guys cover magazines again sometime.

[@dacypher22]

I loved this episode, too, as well as AVGN's Nintendo Power episode. Check out Retromags dot com. I just stumbled across it a few minutes ago, and it appears they actually archive game mags from the 80's and 90's. Still trying to see if you can download them...

[@BlackmageAlexi]

dacypher22 Yeah that's one of my favorite AVGN episodes. Thanks for the tip I will check it out!

[@RyanMartinez]

Quartermann! I was a huge EGM fan in its early days. I had a Nintendo Power subscription as well (I had Killer Instinct envelope art featured in the letters section of the Earthworm Jim 2 issue of NP). I also sometimes bought Game Pro at the local Fleet Farm. Then there was Computer Gaming Magazine. Remember Next Generation? Other than a subscription to MacAddict these were some of the ones I had along with various random pickups from book stores and such like EGM², a grab bag of guides, and (usually uninformed and basically lame) gaming inserts from non-gaming magazines like Time and Popular Science.