The GameFan history thread

[Dolemite]

I still remember finding and purchasing issue #3 at the local mall video game shop. The magazine was just so different than anything else out there, and the screenshots were just insane. I remember these shots for the second Mickey Mouse platformer for Genesis where like only two shots fit onto a page because they were so huge. It was like they weren't just screenshots from a game, they were art or something. Also, the entire mag just had this feel, this vibe that no other game mag had. It wasn't these writers talking down to me, it was like a friend saying, "Hey, seriously, check this game out."

I know how you feel. I first discovered Gamefan with their August 1995 issue. I was looking for a review on the SNES version of Killer Instinct and noticed GF's KI cover. I flipped through the issue, thought the review looked great, so I picked it up. The writing, screenshots, and especially the personality completely drew me in. Most mags seemed rather generic in their writing, but GF really allowed the editors to show that they were individuals. These were guys that loved gaming. Also, I've never read a mag before that covered imports and the Japanese gaming scene, so it open up a whole new world to me. Plus, the mag was just plain funny. I used to buy every issue the day it hit the stands, read every word, then show it off to my friends with their faggy Gamepros and Game Players.

[ChaoofNee]

Honestly the mag failing hurt more than the money ever did. =)

That's how you can tell it would've been a good mag.

Plus, the mag was just plain funny. I used to buy every issue the day it hit the stands, read every word, then show it off to my friends with their faggy Gamepros and Game Players.

Funny thing is, GamePro is part of the reason why I never got into GameFan. I saw a comic and, being that I hated GamePro with every fiber of my being for saying all the games I liked sucked (Yeah, I know.), I didn't want to read another comic or character-based magazine. How wrong I was... I wasted all that money on EGM...

[Dolemite]

Has anyone played arournd with an idea for the title of the new mag?

"Big 'Uns."

Wolfie can draw an Al Bundy-like mascot.

[Mzo]

GAMEST!

The logo could be like, in smaller type Game - Gamer, and then the title GAMEST!

Yeah XD!

...

=*(

[Dolemite]

It is so totally there. I'm not saying it was intential on our part, but I can see it clear as day.

It's there, alright. Dyne's blind.

[ChaoofNee]

Just call it, "Not Dave Halverson's Mag."

[Diff-chan]

Yeah, well, I extended the proverbial olive branch to ECM via a couple of methods and didn't hear back - not that I blame him at all. As for the sub fees, it's something that both of us felt terribly about and I can't believe that __ years later people are still bitching about it as if we took the money and went to Hawaii with a couple of whores. Most of you lost $20.00 (-1 issue, -1 issue via PDF (perhaps) in the GameGO! venture. I lost $25,000.00 trying to create "the next GameFan". Yeah, we were hoping for an angel investor at some point to help share the load and none of us made a nickel doing it. Sure, it had some great moments and I still say it was a good idea. In retrospect, we should have had major/minor financing in place, ad support and perhaps an even greater sub base before we started anything but when the wheels are turning and the fire is burning, you just go for it. We were so confident that it would take off that we leapt before we looked and perhaps our own enthusiasm made us more short sighted than we would've liked to believe.

In hindsight, it shouldnt be hard to see why a mag that promoted Stretch Panic like it was the best game ever failed so miserably.

[haohmaru]

In hindsight, it shouldnt be hard to see why a mag that promoted Stretch Panic like it was the best game ever failed so miserably.

It's nice to know that you never skip the opportunity, even in a thread like this, to be an asshole. Nice work.

ECM genuinely liked Stretch Panic while many others don't. The thing about opinions, especially yours, is that they can never be right - that's why they're "A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof".

Get over it, already.

[Mzo]

Can we not TNL up this one thread? Guys?

[Diff-chan]

I dont believe that anyone can actually "genuinely like" Stretch Panic. Itd be like genuinely liking Ebola or something.