Any of these look familiar?

Took a trip back to my old dojo and found a few boxes of videogame magazines from back in the day.

It didn’t really dawn on me until I was taking out pile after pile of boxes that the sheer amount of big-name videogame magazine titles that were once staples of our gaming world are nowhere to be heard of in today’s common gaming vocabulary.

-You’re just realizing this now, Ninja?-

Titles like Electronic Gaming Monthly, Gamepro, and a myriad of others now seem like old relics of the past rather than the pillars of gaming notoriety each once stood for.

It goes without saying that the digital age is the reason for the now defunct and archaic world of print so it just made it all the more tantalizing as my eyes scanned over each glossy cover before diving in.

I know it sounds strange but there was something “powerful” about looking through those old images again. It wasn’t just the nostalgia playing up in my head but something more. A kind of connection, one that is in some ways lost today in the fast pace instantaneous world we live in today.

-Okay, Ninja. We get it. Today’s world sucks and everything in the past was better.-

Not at all.

Things are way better now when you think about it. Back then we had to wait 2 to 3 months for coverage on the latest news and gossip on our favorite developers and games; things that nowadays we get at the instant tap of our fingertips.

Today we know the second a developer unveils to the world their new wares (think E3.) at the same time everyone else in the world does (editors, gaming journalists, etc...). Back then such a world could only be dreamed up of in the most outlandish science fiction movies/novels. So, NO… things definitely weren’t better back then; at least not as it pertains to information, tech, etc…

But still, there was something amazing about fingering (-Ha! You said fingering, Ninja!-) through the various pages, advertisements and all, in an attempt to decipher and pick through information that screamed to readers about what new game or piece of hardware was the next big thing everyone would be talking about.

The other things that few people ever talk about was the unbelievable pieces of artwork that littered the covers and insides of these “out of date” pieces of gaming. While not every magazine used this as a selling point there were a notable groups of mags that seemed to pride themselves on stellar pieces of art that today just seems to be lost.

Gaming publications like GameFan and Gamer’s Republic were known for having “stop in your tracks” pieces of art that screamed at the hearts of young and impressionable gamers. Images that subconsciously demanded they pick that latest issue off that convenience store shelf and take it home. I can tell you personally that looking at certain covers for myself (now.) instantly brought with it a cascade of memories as well as a detailed recollection of just what exactly was behind each cover.

I know that a fair amount of what I’m talking about is pure nostalgia (-A fair amount, Ninja? How about… All!-) but for those of us out there that lived through this “prehistoric” time it was something special.

Gamespot community, I know the pictures I’ve enclosed aren’t the best but how many of you actually remember some of the issues on display?

Are there any specific memories any of these covers bring back?

-VIDEOGAME NOSTALGIA NINJA APPROVED-

I recognize all those Electronic Gaming Monthly and Gamefan magazines. I purchased those two magazines regularly. I really loved Gamefan, it had some great quality paper and pictures. I use to have stacks of those magazines but got rid of them a few years ago, probably should have kept them.

Gamers Republic and CVG were the ones I used to have.

I have boxes and boxes of them going back 3-4 decades including rare Sega mags as well and yes I recognize them all with, GAMEFAN, being my overall favorite back in the day. :D

I had Gamefan, EGM, Computer Gaming World, (Computer Games) Strategy Plus, Amiga World, PC Accelerator, and the early PC Gamer.

I also had Maximum PC until about 2008 when I scaled down from high-tier to mid-tier PCs.

Oh man, that's some nostalgia overload man...

I miss the demo's man, especially the PS1 demo discs.

@videogameninja: I remember looking at the Tips and Tricks Magazine's last pages to look for the Cheat codes for GTA III/Vice City/San Andreas, and Hitman.

Also, man....I loved reading those magazines, also enjoyed playing those demo discs that some magazines included

EGM was my mag back then. I remember the Twisted Metal Black, Masters of Teras Kasi issues for sure. I was so stoked for Masters of Teras Kasi and it ended up sucking horribly. One of my biggest gaming let downs of all time.

Yep, since my gaming career started in 1993, I was so addicted to those video game magazines, those were the best years of my life, I read just about every megs in my life time. Gamepro was my first gaming magazine my parents got me and more. These are the gaming magazines I own at the time:

• Gamepro
• Gamers Republic (love those because they talk about Anime stuff as well)
• Tips & Tricks
• Electronic Gaming Monthly
• Xbox/Nintendo/Sony/Dreamcast Magazines of their own

It's a damn shame we don't see anymore gaming magazines due to the rise of the internet but of course, there is only one gaming magazine still exist and that's GameInformer. I did sub to GameInformer around 2013, but as time pass, I just didn't have the time to read them and social media really just made it easier getting on the game info at the speed of light, I can see why it's easier to get all the gaming news through gaming sites, I just stop using them. By the way TC, I still got a lot of my gaming magazines somewhere stored in the garage.

Edit: Funny thing is, I never ever read any PC gaming magazines at all, only because I came late to PC gaming.

Yes, I remembered many of these magazines. Too bad that the Internet made them obsolete.

what does this have to do with spider-man?

I had almost every issue of Gamefan, used to love that mag. Had so much drama behind the scenes of the publication though. I also had most of the issues of PSM back when the covers were done by popular comics artists. Good times.

Gamefan was really something special. I loved all the personalized high quality art work they had littered throughout the entire magazine. Gamer's Republic was similar in that sense too.

You mentioned you got rid of all those mags. Any particular reason? Most of the time I usually hear people were moving or their parents got rid of them all when they moved out. Similar for you?

-STACKS UPON STACKS NINJA APPROVED-

Yeah I have boxes like that at home, Nintendo power too. My favorite was EGM, I still think they had the best review system in theory because you would get 3-4 opinions rather than 1, and each reviewer had a specialty in a genre they were more experienced with....but the problem was that the reviews were too short(by today's standards anyways). I also remember the Quarterman...he had juicy news bits most of the time.....today is a completely different world, news is instantly shared on the internet.

There is something about mags I miss for sure, but the access to information today is much quicker and easier for the most part, so we also gained a lot of good things too. It's one of the reasons I love tablets for internet surfing, it does not feel like a mag but it does not feel like a traditional PC either, somewhere in between.

Some of those demos were the primary reason for introducing me to some of my favorite game franchises of all time despite having no particular interest before hand.

I specifically remember getting the demo for Metal Gear solid before it was first released (it was in Japanese voice with English subtitles only, lol.) and thinking "what is this? All the game mag previews are so excited with this demo but I have no interest in it." Oh boy, did that one little demo change my outlook on gaming.

-DEMO DISCS FTW NINJA APPROVED-

Yes that MGS demo, my god, played it over and over and over.

Most played demo for me is the THPS2 Marseilles (?) level...Damn