The GameFan history thread

[Mzo]

Thank you for the confirmation. I figured it was too strange and obscure a thing for anyone to fake, unfortunately.

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

That's fair. A bunch of those guys popped in here before, hopefully they will again.

I had no idea my nemesis Brandon Justice was a part of Gamefan, that's awesome. What about Nick Rox (didn't he carry over to the ECM era or did he leave with Halvy, I don't remember) and MVS/ Kodomo?

[Shin Johnpv]

I was just going to ask if anyone was still in touch with MVS to let him know. It seemed him and ECM were some what close towards the end of gamefan/gamego days.

[BonusKun]

Thanks for posting Hi-Fi. Glad to see you guys are still around in some way shape or form. You guys are always welcome here.








P.S. From this point on, Any shit posting by anyone gets a month off from the forums. Just fucking try me.

[mollipen]

Not going to say anything directly about the ECM situation yet, because I want to properly compose my thoughts.

...

Hey Hi-Fi, could we get friended on Facebook (www.facebook.com/mollipen) so that I can be part of that conversation? Since you haven't been around to be kept in the loop, I am/was shidoshi. I can also help you connect with some of the other ex-staff you might not have on there. (I've been meaning to create a GF Facebook group for years but never have.)

For those who missed it, I uploaded every "ECM-era" issue of GameFan from his beginnings as a writer all the way to him becoming Editor in Chief.

How far does your digital collection run? I've got every issue in print, but should snag digital copies at some point here (and I know Dave made it harder to find them when he relaunched GF).

What about Nick Rox (didn't he carry over to the ECM era or did he leave with Halvy, I don't remember) and MVS/ Kodomo?

Nick was either gone by the time the split happened, or went with Halverson at that point. I just remember him not really being around the office at that point.

There was a strip in which the old crew were wiped out and the new guys rose from the ashes.
Hilariously (in a premonition way, not a mean one), Shidoshi was shown to wear women’s underwear.

That was Knightmare, not me. The funny part was that I was the one to find that out and reply "Yuck!"

[IrishNinja]

oh man, always cool to see more alumnus in here

I subscribed, too.

IrishNinja stole my GameGo issue #1, though.

i totally did, and you're awesome for that
my apt got flooded recently, like i was saying...fortunately, those mags were fine; it was a few old Next Generations & Gamepros that got water damaged but you know, could've been worse

I got his respect the moment he learned I'd beaten Chakan: The Forever Man.

shit man, you got mine for that too

How far does your digital collection run? I've got every issue in print, but should snag digital copies at some point here (and I know Dave made it harder to find them when he relaunched GF).

still jelly of folks having a complete run of GF! and yeah, i was gonna ask that same question - dave's clearly made it hard to find any scans of the magazine online, always hoping to find more of them (especially rare early ones)

also howdy shidoshi

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

Goddamnit.
That's why relying on memory is pretty damn useless.
I'm pretty sure I even put that particular panel in this thread somewhere!

[Low]

RIP ECM. Thanks for the shooter spreads.

[Changeling]

RIP ECM. Thanks for the shooter spreads.

You know, that's something I always liked about that guy. He turned me onto a lot of different shmups back in the day. Of course I took the weaklings way out and just emulated them but still, the guy had good taste in that category. I also remember him giving EGM shit for their Strider 2 review as well. I think he said that they hit the continue button over and over like sex crazed boys or something alluding to wacking off, I don't remember exactly. I thought it was funny and definitely true. You CAN restrain yourself, esp on an arcade port!

[Millar Time]

Hey, it's Kevin Deselms (aka Hi-Fi/Postmeister) - this thread and obituary was brought to my attention yesterday, and I reached out to all of the GameFan alumni that I'm still in touch with, all of whom worked with Eric. Naturally, we all wanted more confirmation than a random website post - so one of us who still had connections to his family reached out and confirmed the news, much to all of our great sadness. So I just wanted to make a post here to confirm the veracity of the report, and we're all very shocked and saddened by the news. Over the years, Eric withdrew from pretty much all of us and seemed to want to separate himself from that time in his life, so most of us hadn't been in touch with him for many years. He was, without any doubt in my mind, the most hardcore gamer I've ever known in my life. He took a tremendous amount of pride in skillful video game play, and wasn't satisfied unless he was the best in the office at any given game. I got his respect the moment he learned I'd beaten Chakan: The Forever Man. I'm quite sure that he'd be pleased to know that any obituary regarding his life would draw his gaming skill into SHARP focus.

I feel bad about how we left things...I never got to clear the air with him, and I guess I always felt that someday down the line, when we were all old and reunited for some random gathering in LA, we'd be able to laugh about how things went and how much we'd all changed. Unfortunately, that day will now never come. It brings back memories of another GameFan friend we lost tragically and way too early, in Dan Grannet (Stalker/Darkfact)...a guy I helped get hired there, through my connections to the magazine at the time.

I don't know if any of the other alumni will weigh in with their thoughts, but on Facebook we are all expressing our grief and regrets to each other. This is sad news, indeed. I don't know what he'd gotten into in the years following the GameFan and subsequent GameGo implosions, the reports of some extremely conservative political leanings don't surprise me...but I am sure all the other GameFan folks would join me in expressing regret that we weren't able to remain connected to him in some way, even just to offer support or encouragement. Because of how mysterious and tight-lipped the circumstances of his death are, and the family's unwillingness to elaborate, makes me think the worst...especially given how withdrawn he had apparently become. I don't want to speculate too much though, and I'm sure we'll probably never know all the details. But we got the confirmation we needed and now we'll grieve the loss of one of the gaming industry's better-known veterans.

I can't believe this thread still exists. Who says the internet is impermanent?

Kevin, thank you for your kind words, it is greatly appreciated.