The GameFan history thread

[James]

Someday I'll get to hang with more of you than the handful I've seen at E3 too many years ago. I wouldn't be at TNL or know any of you without GameGO. Not a bad way to spend $24, really.

[RoleTroll]

RIP ECM.

I’m proud to have paid $24 to support GameGO. I knew it was risky when I signed up but I had no regrets. I thought it was pathetic to cry about a lost subscription at that time, but fifteen years later?

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

Bear in mind, no one has actually cried about the money. I threw it out there as a jokey possible reason that bbobb would continue to shit up a part of the thread just to announce how little he cared about the theme of that part of the thread.

[Mzo]

I subscribed, too.

IrishNinja stole my GameGo issue #1, though.

[Dunlap]

bbobb's post was a typical bbobb post.
No one on this site would care about $24 at this point in time. Though I think if there was a group that would cry about something so insignificant, it would be gamers.

I didn't know ECM, but I'm glad he was a polarizing figure and part of the roots of this community.

[KD_Hi-Fi]

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?

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

Thankfully we have a forum owner that for whatever reason likes us enough to keep this place around!

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

Are the Facebook posts public? If so, is there a link? I'd imagine some stories are being shared and I'd love to see them.

[KD_Hi-Fi]

It's just happening privately on my own wall, where I posted the news and a request that anyone who had any connections to his family, to try and confirm the news one way or the other. If any of those guys want to make a public comment, the link to this forum is in my post and they can do so - but we'll probably keep the conversation there private, amongst ourselves.

[KD_Hi-Fi]

I will tell you who's part of the conversation so far, though (others have been tagged in the post but aren't as active on Facebook, so haven't seen it yet):

Myself (Hi-Fi)
Jody Seltzer (Joe-D / VP of Publishing, GameFan Books)
Kim Tran (Layout artist)
Bruce Stockert (Layout artist)
Gerald Abraham (Layout artist)
Levi Buchanan (Angus)
George Ngo (Eggo)
Jason Weitzner (Fury)
Jay Boor (I don't remember what we called him)
Sam Kennedy (Cap'n Smak)
Geoff Higgins (El Nino)
Terry Wolfinger (Artist)

Friends yet to see the post and read of the news are Anthony Chau (Dangohead), Thomas Puha (Euro correspondent), Rick Mears (don't remember what we called him, either), Mike Wakamatsu (Waka / Layout artist) and Brandon Justice (Big Bubba). Also have a text out to Jeremy Corby (Core / Layout artist) who has sworn off social media.