Topic: What are/were your favorite gaming magazines?

[Phil]

I remember my older brother and me subscribing to Nintendo Power starting with the January 1994 bonus issue, a silver covered Mega Man X issue, and that started my love with not only Mega Man X, one of my favorite games of all time, but also Nintendo Power. From that point on, my brother and I would anxiously await each month's end for next month's issue. We subscribed to the very end. I ended up buying a good deal of back issues that predated our subscription. It's so awesome thumbing through old issues, looking at in-depth looks and strategies on games I loved, wanted to play, or have forgotten completely about.

Another magazine I really enjoyed was one I got to in the middle of its life, Tips & Tricks. I got my first issue at a Borders, the Viewtiful Joe/Mega Man X7 issue (there's Mega Man X again!). I became a regular subscriber from that point until the magazine's end. I have good memories of Tips & Tricks because a lot of the issues I've gone back to collect are from the GameCube era, a favorite of mine, most likely because I was in high school at the time, so there's a nostalgia piece there.

In any case, there was nothing like waiting for a magazine, not knowing what would be on the cover, getting the issue, seeing the cover art, and being pleasantly surprised. It's something the Internet sort of spoiled in later years, that element of surprise.

So what are/were your favorite gaming magazines?

[Ian Sane]

I had a subscription to Gamepro for a year in 1994-95.  The era covered reviews for games like Super Metroid and Donkey Kong Country.  I don't think Gamepro is all that well regarded but at the time it was such a treat to get a new issue.  I don't know if a younger person raised in the internet era could truly understand what it was like.  This was my sole source of videogame news aside from TV commercials and schoolyard chatter.

My favourite section was the Fighter's Edge as Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat were huge at the time and the mags were the place to get the move lists!  I actually didn't even own a console yet when my subscription started but there was a video rental store within cycling distance of my house that had some arcade machines and they usually had the latest fighters so I played there a lot and used the guides to know the moves (and yet I was terrible at the games themselves often losing to the computer as I fumbled around trying to do the moves).  I distinctly remember an issue that had all the fatalities for Mortal Kombat II with several screenshots for each of them.  I looked over that issue a lot.

I also remember in the S.W.A.T.Pro section, which was for cheats, they had the Hadoken in Mega Man X.  This cheat was especially interesting since Mega Man X was one of the first games my brothers and I had for the SNES.  And really the Hadoken was a bonus.  Since you had to have completed all the stages and collected all the power-ups prior to obtaining the Hadoken they included the password for being at that state.  That was very important because we were terrible at the game and this let us see what it was like to play fully powered up and with the bosses already defeated (which was important since the bosses were what we had the most trouble with).  This worked as a sort of training mode for us as we got used to the level layouts and the gameplay and then got to the point where we could take on the game properly.  I don't think that would work for me as an adult as playing fully powered up would make the game too easy and dull.  But as a kid with weak gaming skills it was good to have a "training mode" to get good at the game.

After the subscription was over I was occasionally able to get the odd issue as well as the occasional EGM.  After things went online it was never the same because you just didn't NEED to get a mag to get the info and see the screenshots and learn tips.  I remember getting some free Nintendo Power subscription during the Gamecube years and it was just pointless because by the time I got an issue everything was old hat.  There was a time in place for the gaming mag scene (which lasted like ten years maybe; most of them didn't start until the late 80's) but once it was over it was over.

[rygar]

It's not directly responsive since it related to tabletop games but I absolutely loved Dragon magazine as a child/teenager. White Dwarf was another one. I wasn't as into Nintendo when Nintendo Power became prevalent but the Offical Nintendo Players Guide was passed around my neighborhood like it was the Necrocomicon.

[ejamer]

A friend had a subscription to Nintendo Power for a while, and it sticks in my mind as the best overall quality due to high quality maps, along with the regular comics and codes provided. Content was obviously biased, but there wasn't much competition until later so the magazine had a sizable head start when it comes to mind share.

GamePro is the third party mag I enjoyed most. It seemed to have more focus on fun than some others, and a pretty healthy tips/tricks/codes section. But even at the time, content inside seemed pretty light and fluffy as if it was targeting a younger audience. If reading at a magazine now, I suspect it wouldn't hold up that well. (The GamePro TV show was also a delight - not saying it was particularly good, but anything video game related on Saturday morning TV was fantastic.)

EGM was good for hype and rumors, but I don't actually remember any useful content from the magazine. That didn't stop me from spending hours poring over all the screenshots and reviews anyway. I vaguely remember thinking they took themselves too seriously? Even though it wasn't my favorite, it's probably what I ended up buying most often from the local grocery store.

Of course this is all through the eyes of a child, so take any criticism with a large grain of salt.



I miss the days where games often had unannounced secret codes that you could use to power up with - if you could find out what any of them were. Those days long past of searching for secrets in a magazine at the grocery store, trying to memorize arcane input patterns before your parents started the trek home, then frantically writing down what you hoped you knew, knowing that it could mean seeing new levels and challenges the next time you rented a game. There was a sense of mystique when trading tips on the playground, or of power when you mastered the right codes.  All of this is now forgotten or made too easy due to the internet...

[ShyGuy]

Video Games and Computer Entertainment

https://www.retromags.com/magazines/category/usa/video-games-and-computer-entertainment/

[Shaymin]

I went GamePro -> Nintendo Power (once I realized I wasn't getting a Saturn or PlayStation) -> EGM before they died the first time.

Transition points were roughly 1997 and 2006.

[NWR_insanolord]

I subscribed to Nintendo Power and EGM back in the day, as well as Computer Gaming World before it folded or rebranded or whatever it was.

[Order.RSS]

There's this guy on YouTube who went through some issues of N64 Magazine, they're pretty fun to watch even though I never read this myself. Episodes are a bit long though, but if anyone's interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjMGMdNcAKY&index=1&list=PLP2ND-Cdj88jjqMpHCkWBYMgUXQTUB3EA