Video game fandom in mourning [Archive]

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ManekiNeko

06-20-2003, 03:19 PM

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20030610/FN_004.htm

Eric Longdin, the editor of the popular miscellanous fanzine Splat! and a video game newsletter devoted to the Super NES, died last month from heart disease. He was thirty years old.
I didn't know Eric well, but he was popular among fanzine editors on the East coast. I have no doubt in my mind that he'll be missed.

JR

digitalpress

06-20-2003, 03:38 PM

HOLY SHIT.

I still have my "Splat" 'zines... I never had the honor of meeting Eric but I always enjoyed his work. I'm very sorry to hear about this...

RetroYoungen

06-20-2003, 03:47 PM

I have a lot of respect for people who can do things like fanzines and keep memories of the good ol' days alive, it's not an easy thing to do (believe me I've tried). What a loss.

udisi

06-20-2003, 07:40 PM

that is very sad...30 and heart diesese? I wonder if he had a pre-exisiting condition.

Lasermouse

06-20-2003, 09:50 PM

This is truly a sad day for us involved in fandom, we have lost one of the good ones.

Eric's loss leaves a definite void for me.... and for all of us who remember his zines, I am sad but sure that he is with the angels now.

- Michael Palisano
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Dan Iacovelli

06-20-2003, 10:26 PM

Although I don't Eric, but I know he will be missed.
I don't think I have exchamged fanzines with him
but I'm sure he did a good job.
Dan Iacovelli
Editor of the Atari Zone Fanzine

slapdash

06-21-2003, 01:17 PM

that is very sad...30 and heart diesese? I wonder if he had a pre-exisiting condition.

Yes, he did. Eric had often written or talked about his condition. He'd had it since birth, and is perhaps lucky to have made 30 years (30 years... man, I still think of him as a young'un). I don't know the name of his condition, but basically, he doesn't get enough oxygen, so any kind of exertion is very tiring. He tried not to let it keep him from doing things, which is cool.

This is a shocker... Thanks for passing that on Jess. I kind of wish I'd stayed in better contact with him, now. Besides Jess, Joe and Cory You, he's one of the few faneds I've had frequent contact with well past the fanzine heydays, up until a few years ago. Bummer that he's gone.

digitalpress

06-21-2003, 05:22 PM

Dan Iacovelli

06-22-2003, 09:46 AM

- Michael Palisano

Michael Palisano?!

Now THERE is a name from the past! I must have missed your earlier posts! Welcome aboard and please introduce yourself at the thread on the top of this forum - you've got quite a gaming history yourself to share!

I thought that name seemed familar too (I used to trade fanzines with him for while what happened)
Dan Iacovelli

Lasermouse

06-22-2003, 10:49 AM

I thought that name seemed familar too (I used to trade fanzines with him for while what happened)
Dan Iacovelli

Hey everyone,

I stopped sending out zines when I got into professional writing. I've written for several sites over the years including Insidegames.com (now defunct), Gamepen.com (now defunct), coremagazine.com (now defunct), and most recently videogamenews.com (almost defunct). Also, In case any of you haven't heard, I re-started my old fanzine as a semi-pro website complete with some archive material (scanned covers, articles, etc.) from the olden days. You can check it out here: www.the-laser.com (don't forget the dash)Mostly new stuff online, but I still collect classic games, though not nearly at the intensity I used to. Quite literally, I'm running out of space :)

Anyway, this thead really isn't about me and the news about Eric kinda put a damper on the whole weekend with the endless rain here in the Northeast only adding to the gloomy feel of the past few days. Sigh.

- Michael

kobunheatforum

06-22-2003, 12:03 PM

...why it always takes a death to bring people back together...

I'm stunned, but of course I always knew about Eric's condition.

I just told Al Riccitelli over IM. He said he had just been thinking about getting back in contact with him. Splat! influenced The Dark Side quite a bit.

Guess I'll go read The Laser...

-Chris Kohler