Any past (Die Hard) Game Fan readers? My short review.

[smokehouse]

Die Hard Game Fan Magazine
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/Game%20reviews/gamefanshot2.jpg

I’m here to say that this magazine was the best of the best when it came to the early nineties and what I consider the golden age of gaming (16-Bit generation). EGM? GamePro? Nope, both of these paled in comparison when it came to Game Fan. Although slightly tilted in the Genesis direction, GF gave some of the best info to be found in any magazine (Sometimes they were REALLY in favor of the Genesis). Their colorful, eye-popping reviews were a breath of fresh air when compared to other magazines. Add great sections like their cheats section Hocus Pocus (actually featured Pro Action Replay codes), Graveyard (featured retro games) and the Postmeister (Cuz’ I’m CrAzY!!!) and this made for some of the best gaming reading to be found anywhere.

One amazing thing about this magazine was its willingness to report on foreign systems and titles. Up until this magazine I never knew of the Famicom, Super Famicom, Mega Drive, PC Engine nor did I know of current foreign events. They also reported on the rare, oddball systems other magazines neglected. Systems like the Amiga CD32, FM Towns Marty, Turbo Duo, Neo Geo, 3DO, Jaguar and Pioneer Laseractive were regulars in GF. Hell, they even reported on arcade titles. This magazine was also fast to report on new, secret gaming news; often they were the first with clean pictures and solid info (although not always right).

All in all this was the magazine to read back in the day. Although sometimes a bit of a fanboy magazine and often giving numerous pages to 2D fighting titles, they also dove into avenues where other magazines wouldn’t. Unfortunately, not enough magazines have this kind of honesty and passion now, thus the fact my EGM subscription ran out years ago. If you can pick up some older copies I highly suggest it.

[Steven]

Nice.

I liked GameFan in the early-mid 90's... but to me it never topped EGM led by Semrad and Harris.

Still, no one did shot grabs like GameFan did!

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Hell yeah, Smokehouse. Gamefan! Now that was a magazine I couldn't wait to pull out of my mailbox every month. That is, till ECM came and started all his fanboy, anti Final Fantasy crap in all his reviews. Too bad it went under along with Gamers Republic.

[petewhitley]

I can't imagine any self-respecting gamer from that time period not loving GameFan. Still the best gaming mag ever made if you ask me. Despite it's often wonkying editing ...

[shopkins]

I was more of an Ultra Gameplayers reader at the time, but I did buy Gamefan occasionally. I think I remember getting annoyed with them because they went through a phase where they started trying to write "hip" and give "props" to things, stuff like that. And they didn't use their real names, which sort of left a nasty "Gamepro" taste in my mouth. I remember liking Eggo, though, and it was a decent magazine.

My impressions might be different than yours because I started reading it nearer the end of its life, though. Probably read it from near tthe end of 1996 to about 98.

[cityside75]

Somewhat related question - was there also a store chain known as Diehard Gamefan? I seem to recall a store in Buffalo Grove, IL in the early nineties called Diehard Gamefan (it was in the Ridge Cinemas complex for those familiar with the area). I believe there was a tie-in to the magazine as well, I remember it being prominently displayed.

It was a really cool store, I remember seeing some cool games and systems for the first time there including a Neo CD, 3do and 32x.

Anybody else remember these stores? Am I thinking of something else?

Regarding the topic - I always found GF to be a quality magazine, and I preferred it over EGM and others of the time.

[unbroken]

i was always into NP and gamepro, gamepro sucks now and i think egm is the best nowadays.

[Damaramu]

ALL HAIL GAMEFAN! :hail:

This was my favorite gaming mag of the 90's by far, with Next Gen coming in 2nd.

In fact, it was Gamefan's write-up on Guardian Heroes that convinced me that I NEEDED a Saturn and GH.

Oh hell yes, I still have my stack of Gamefans proudly filed in one of my bookcases. :rocker:

[smokehouse]

Shopkins

I stopped reading GF around 95. They started to drop off in the quality about that time so I imagine that what you said is probably right. I imagine they simply lost their fan base but I’m not completely sure what finally drove the nail in the GF coffin.

Cityside75

To the best of my knowledge the magazine was affiliated with the store. The first issue was offered only by mail order through the store (thus the fact that I don’t have it, I have issue 2 and up). And yes, that was a cool store; they offered everything including the oddball systems and imports.

Damaramu

Were you able to get a copy of the first issue? I have been looking for one for years! Like I mentioned earlier it was only available via mail order.

[segagamer]

Cityside75, I used to go to that store for 16-bit MegaDrive and Genesis games, as well as other neat stuff they had. The store owner was a really cool guy.

As for the magazine, I always liked the fact that GameFan reported on the Japanese import scene with lots of info that most of the gaming mags at the time did not (only the original EGM provided readers with info on Japan gaming).

[Damaramu]

Damaramu

Were you able to get a copy of the first issue? I have been looking for one for years! Like I mentioned earlier it was only available via mail order.

IIRC, the earliest issue of GF I have is Volume 1, Issue 3.

I think what did them in was their unhealthy obsession with Jen Seng and her rediculous Guile infatuation. :wink 2: LOL

[Anthony1]

GameFan is a dream of dreams.


Nothing will ever touch that magazine.



The early years of GameFan was the best. I love this magazine like none other, and one day I hope to have a complete collection. Right now I'm missing about 15 issues or so.


Hey, does anybody have any doubles for sale?

[NE146]

Gamefan was great.. if simply for the cool game genie hack that allowed you to play a buggy version of the bosses in SNES SF2.. remember that? LOL

I used to have a complete collection of the major released Gamefans (although I knew of others in the L.A. area who had their initial newsletters).. but as I've spoken about on these forums before, I lost almost all of them including the ones pictured above in a typhoon back at home. They all got waterlogged, soaked, then dried up and when I found them they were 100% ruined.

[smokehouse]

The issue pictured above with Sonic 2 on the cover is Vol 1 Issue 2. Vol 1 Issue 1 was all black with Mario, sonic and Monitaur on the front.

NE146, I’m sorry to hear of your loss. It sucks, some things simply aren’t replaceable.

[goatdan]

GameFan was awesome because they really reviewed things properly, straight across the board. While it always seemed that other magazines had a bias towards certain systems by how they wrote their articles about other things (go see how many swipes places like EGM and GamePro took at the Jaguar / 3DO for instance, but then "fairly" reviewed their games.) GameFan was the only one that took a levelheaded view on all games and basically said, "Every system can have some great games!" For that, I loved it :)

I also loved them for the one page article that they wrote up about the Jaguar JAMMA Joysticks that a very young GOAT Store was making at the time. We got a lot of people to come check out what we were doing thanks to that :) And being on the same page as BattleSphere with anything... Awesome!

[smokehouse]

Hey GOAT! (Sorry, Adam Sandler reference, I’ve been waiting to say that) Anyway, you mention that you had a write-up in GF, do you remember which issue? If I have it I can scan and post it for you.

[RCM]

Hell yeah, Smokehouse. Gamefan! Now that was a magazine I couldn't wait to pull out of my mailbox every month. That is, till ECM came and started all his fanboy, anti Final Fantasy crap in all his reviews. Too bad it went under along with Gamers Republic.

I do not agree. The best years of GF were the last few when ECM was at the helm. It was the hardest and best version. My world was rocked pretty hard a couple years ago. December 2000 GF died and January 2001 DC was cut off. Dark days for sure.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[smokehouse]

Any reason why the magazine went under? I stopped back in 1995 so I never followed the later years.

[poopnes]

Any reason why the magazine went under? I stopped back in 1995 so I never followed the later years.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/showthread.php?t=33808&page=1&pp=30

There's 37 pages worth of catching up for you. I guess for a quick answer Dave sold out and it was mishandled...but if you really like GF and want to know some inner secrets you have to read it. After reading that thread over the course of 3 days I don't have the same nostalgia for the magazine I used to. I mean Dave Halverson is just..well crazy. I'm never going to read Play that's for sure.

On a related (not really) note there's this blog ran by Chris Johnston of EGM fate at http://homepage.mac.com/chris_johnston/index.html He talks a bit about his EGM days and gives out a few secrets too.

[rbudrick]

I miss VG&CE. <sniff>


Does anyone remember Die Hard Game Club (I know, a threadjack, but DHGF magazine reminded me)? It was a chain that delat in domestic and foreign games. A true marvel of marvels back in the pre-internet early 90s. There was one in Nashua, NH when I was young, but the store disappeared before I really got to check it out....it was too far for me to drive back then. Damn the laws that make driving age 16 and up!!!

-Rob

[Captain Wrong]

Any reason why the magazine went under? I stopped back in 1995 so I never followed the later years.

http://www.the-nextlevel...hp?t=33808&page=1&pp=30

Linky no worky.

[poopnes]

Any reason why the magazine went under? I stopped back in 1995 so I never followed the later years.

http://www.the-nextlevel...hp?t=33808&page=1&pp=30

Linky no worky.

Linky fixed. Here it is again: http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/showthread.php?t=33808&page=1&pp=30

[Trevor Belmont]

Thanks VERY much for the link, poopnes. I'm six pages into the thread and I'm absolutely hooked.

I encourage anyone who had a passing interest in Gamefan to read through this thread that poopnes provided. It's an absolute eye opener and I guarantee you won't believe half of the things you'll read on there. On one hand, some of the stuff that is talked about is hilarious. On the other hand, some of the stuff is actually sort of sad in a way. All I know is that I'll never re-read the magazine and see it in the same light again, that's for sure.

An excerpt from the thread from an ex-Gamefan staff member's story. I've inserted brackets for those of you who aren't clear who's who:

"Oh, there's a doosy of a story behind that one. I shit you not, but Halverson [E. Storm, Mr. Goo, etc., it appears he had many aliases] was high on acid when he wrote the Cybermorph article, along with half the staff. We had just pulled a couple of all-nighters in a row, which was the norm at deadline times. Apparently, when The Enquirer [a reviewer, real name Andrew Cockburn] came back to work the next morning, he dropped some acid in the coffee pot, which most of the crew, including Halverson, drank from. I wasn't a coffee drinker at the time so I didn't really notice anything unusual and didn't learn what was going on until George started threatening to murder Cockburn.

So, re-read that Cybermorph article now that you know he was on acid, and it'll shed new light on just why he thought it was such a great game."

Insane stuff right there.

[goatdan]

The thing that I loved about GameFan and that I don't really see any more in mags was that the reviews were truly opinions. They could get a game that most people thought was awesome and give it a bad main score. Final Fantasy 8 and Donkey Kong 64, if I recall correctly, had reviewers basically say were utter crap in the magazines. While you may not agree, seeing a magazine ballsy enough to run an article on a game that was so well hyped with the main review saying, "Ehhhhhhh..." was interesting. I can't think of a time that a big name game has come out where I see Game Informer say that it sucked.

They would also sometimes overly hype games that most places thought were crappy. Again, I'm not necessarily saying that what they always wrote was the general consensus, but you really felt like their opinions were truly their opinions.

[Policenaut]

Gamefan, at least for me, was compared with the days EGM was handled By Ed Semrad, Steve Harris, Martin Alessi and Sushi-X. I always looked what they had to say in the editorials, and if the original Review Crew was there, if they were there I was happy and knew everything was fine. Both had their golden time, as Gamepro did eons ago when the fighting games was al the hype, specially Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat.

[Lothars]

I was never a fan of Gamefan, I admit I've only had read two or three issues

But for the most part I was more of a fan of Gamepro but now after reading some of that Gamefan Thread Im going to go and see if i can find some old issues of it.

[poopnes]

I was never a fan of Gamefan, I admit I've only had read two or three issues

But for the most part I was more of a fan of Gamepro but now after reading some of that Gamefan Thread Im going to go and see if i can find some old issues of it.

Make sure the issues are dated before 1998. When Dave left it wasn't the same. I though the issues around 1995 were the best, you could just feel the excitement of the upcoming next generation systems. Though the really early issues were awesome just for the layouts alone. The star of GF was really the writing, it wasn't professional but it was passionate.

[RCM]

I was never a fan of Gamefan, I admit I've only had read two or three issues

But for the most part I was more of a fan of Gamepro but now after reading some of that Gamefan Thread Im going to go and see if i can find some old issues of it.

Make sure the issues are dated before 1998. When Dave left it wasn't the same. I though the issues around 1995 were the best, you could just feel the excitement of the upcoming next generation systems. Though the really early issues were awesome just for the layouts alone. The star of GF was really the writing, it wasn't professional but it was passionate.

The very best issues were after Halversons reign. They had a sort of interim EIC for a bit before ECM arrived as EIC. Forget those issues too. If you must read GF go with the ECM years. With that said, even the stuff previous was really good.

Also as far as the writing style, who really cares if other mags are home to better writers? The GF teams demonstrated time and time again that they were better gamers and that should be more important to other gamers.

And I don't mean they had the highest scores or could beat everyone in Street Fighter. They seemed to truly live and breath gaming and that oozed through the pages month in and month out.

The magic that was created with Gamefan seems to be lost forever. Gamego's short run could have been better. Gamers Republic was ok too. Play is the best mag around currently but would be lost if Halverson exited the building. Hardcore Gamer is a joke and I have my fingers crossed that they either drastically improve or just go away. RIP Gamefan.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[smokehouse]

There was something about GF. Sure, they were rather “happy” with their reviews but I still felt like I was getting more truth than EGM was putting out there. EGM was all about the dollars where GF seemed to me a monarchy. The both have their problems but I’d rather see a review tilted towards the positive side in the name of personal opinion instead of fear of loosing advertising dollars. As for Gamepro, I despised it. I read less than 20 issues and thought of it as the bottom barrel, one step away from being a children’s magazine. The reviews were lame, they were (at least in the past) so far behind everyone else in terms of hot info and their overall layout looked like it was drawn with a crayon.

To tell you the truth I don’t read current gaming magazines. I simply do not care about current titles and the constant, rolling ball of shit that is the library of titles that’s available for the PS2, Xbox and the GC. Halo, Halo, Halo, GTA, Doom 3, Doom3, GTA scandals, Halo 2, Halo 2, Xbox live…..bla,bla,bla,bla. Throw in some PS3 and Xbox 360 “rumors” and you have a current issue of EGM, simply not worth my $$ anymore. I read IGN from time to time and if there’s anything worth looking at, I’ll know about it eventually.

[Captain Wrong]

Any reason why the magazine went under? I stopped back in 1995 so I never followed the later years.

http://www.the-nextlevel...hp?t=33808&page=1&pp=30

Linky no worky.

Linky fixed. Here it is again: http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/showthread.php?t=33808&page=1&pp=30

Danke!

Yeah, I like reading "fly on the wall" type of stuff like this. Though I know that magazine was often times poorly written, heavily baised and much more like a glossy fanzine than a pro magazine, I can't think of anything else that had as much an influence on getting me back into gaming. There was a passion there and a taste for digging deeper than what was easily avaliable at TRU that is saddly missing in modern gaming mags. The number of current gen games I've purchased has gone down dramatically sinvce GF went under.

[Melf]

Hardcore Gamer is a joke and I have my fingers crossed that they either drastically improve or just go away. RIP Gamefan.

I'm sure you didn't develop your love and nostalgia for GameFan by the second issue, so why not give HGM a chance to develop and see where it goes? It's only been out two months.

[goatdan]

Hardcore Gamer is a joke and I have my fingers crossed that they either drastically improve or just go away.

Have you actually read Hardcore Gamer? I've been thinking about subscribing and / or picking up the issues, but I didn't know if they had been released or not. Regardless of if it is GameFan or not, I think it could be an interesting read.

Has anyone on here read HCG?

[16-bit]

In the early to mid-90s, print magazines were our only connection to game information. I don't think Gamefan was that great of a Magazine, but the fact that it convered obscure games and systems before the internet gives it a special place in many readers hearts. Now with the internet, it is a whole different ballgame. Gamefan as we knew it is obsolete.

[Melf]

Hardcore Gamer is a joke and I have my fingers crossed that they either drastically improve or just go away.

Have you actually read Hardcore Gamer? I've been thinking about subscribing and / or picking up the issues, but I didn't know if they had been released or not. Regardless of if it is GameFan or not, I think it could be an interesting read.

Has anyone on here read HCG?

I write for it, so go subscribe! :D

Issue #3 should hit stands the first week of August, and while there are some things that need work, I think we've hit the ground running and are steadily improving. No magazine starts out perfect (compare the early GF issues to later ones), and we have a dedicated group of gamers who are really into what they're doing.

You can find HGM at EB, GameStop, and Game Crazy already. Issue #4 or 5 will be the first to appear at book stores like Borders and Walden Books. Pick up an issue, give it a look-see and decide for yourself. I think it's a great read, and it'll only get better with time. :)

[zmweasel]

I write for it, so go subscribe! :D

What's your contribution to the magazine?

-- Z.

[smokehouse]

It’s no surprise to me that working for either EGM or GF sucked. First off, of all the bosses I’ve had, most are ass holes. Second, a magazine is a business so it’s money first, honesty second. The crap treatment some received is no surprise to me either. I’ve had my job threatened no less than 20 times in the last 5 years (my boss is a “do it or you’re fired!” type of guy) and I’m a good employee. The bad ones….well, they’re not with the company anymore.

I’ve come to expect biased reviews and reviews slanted to a softer side to insure future advertising dollars. What I don’t want is down right lies and filler material, something EGM does often. GF did have it’s fair share of poop, but the good content far outweighed the bad (at least up until I stopped reading the magazine).

[Melf]

What's your contribution to the magazine?

-- Z.

Reviews and articles. I did the Revenge of the Sith review in issue #2.

[gepeto]

I picked up the Hardcore gamer magazine this week because I found it amazingly similar to gamefan. I was blown away it is a great magazine I swear the original gamefan people are behind this mag the styles are just too close.

[RCM]

Hardcore Gamer is a joke and I have my fingers crossed that they either drastically improve or just go away. RIP Gamefan.

I'm sure you didn't develop your love and nostalgia for GameFan by the second issue, so why not give HGM a chance to develop and see where it goes? It's only been out two months.

I don't think many people can develop a "nostalgia" for any mag after an issue or two. But I did instantly connect with GF.


Have you actually read Hardcore Gamer? I've been thinking about subscribing and / or picking up the issues, but I didn't know if they had been released or not. Regardless of if it is GameFan or not, I think it could be an interesting read.

Has anyone on here read HCG?

Yeah I've read the first 2 issues that I was able to download and I also signed up for the free sub. I wouldn't bash it if I hadn't read it Dan.

I stand by my comment Melf, but don't take it personally. I guess if you're going to target hardcore gamers you should be harder edged than everything else on the market. From what i've read so far that's really not so. I just saw Issue 3 can be downloaded so i'll have to take a look.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[goatdan]

Yeah I've read the first 2 issues that I was able to download and I also signed up for the free sub. I wouldn't bash it if I hadn't read it Dan.

Sorry, I didn't mean that to come out that way. The reason why I asked it as such was that when I saw that supposedly two mags had already been published after hearing the ideas forming for it in the GameFan appreciation thread linked above, I honestly didn't believe they had come out yet. I was sitting at a Web site today about to sign up for a subscription, but then I thought that it must be some sort of scam or something...

I'll admit though -- I hate finding mags I like and subscribing to them. I bought GameFan issue by issue at the news stands for years... then I finally signed up for a three year subscription and I got one in the mail and that was that. There was also Next Generation, which really started impressing me so I signed up for the mag... next issue they announced there would be only one more. Then, I signed up for Gamer's Republic in the middle of their run, and got like two mags... Then, there was GameGO!... And ManciGames...

Seriously -- even mags that I want to support I haven't been signing up for subscriptions because every time I do, I end up spending a TON on one or two mags and the darn thing goes bellyup.

I do have free subs to EGM and Game Informer right now, but I don't really read them anymore, so it doesn't really count in my eyes ;)

[NEOFREAK9189]

This was my all the time favorite gaming mag of the 90's :P

[gepeto]

I am going to subscribe to Hardcore gamer magazine. To me I liked some of the in depth articles they had and there magazine wasnt saturated with more advertisment than content. I know ads bring in money but I found with some magazines it is hard to tell what is ad and what is content. I enjoyed reading there take on each of the next generation games and systems and I found the clarity of there pictures very good.

[Melf]

I stand by my comment Melf, but don't take it personally. I guess if you're going to target hardcore gamers you should be harder edged than everything else on the market. From what i've read so far that's really not so. I just saw Issue 3 can be downloaded so i'll have to take a look.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

No offense taken, man. All I ask is that you evaluate it on its merits. It's not going to appeal to everyone, but once my army of laser-wielding monkeys are unleashed, you will yield. :)

[booyakasha]

I am hoping you can help me
with my request. I have been looking all over creation for SNES PAR and Game
Genie codes for the following Super NES games. If you can not accomodate I
understand.



Street Fighter II Turbo

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat II

Super Street Fighter II

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters

Justice League Task Force


I DON'T want links to websites with game genie or PAR codes. I DON'T want codes
that modify (damage, timer or opponent to battle)

BTW there was a code for SF2 that gives Chun-li an extra frame of animation. If anyone has that code please post it.

[Anthony1]

I picked up the Hardcore gamer magazine this week because I found it amazingly similar to gamefan. I was blown away it is a great magazine I swear the original gamefan people are behind this mag the styles are just too close.



If what you say is true, then I would definitely like to take a little look-see at HCG. Never really peeped it out before.

[Anthony1]

The very best issues were after Halversons reign. They had a sort of interim EIC for a bit before ECM arrived as EIC. Forget those issues too. If you must read GF go with the ECM years.





The early years of GameFan were the best issues in the history of Video Game magazines period. See my avatar over there? That issue happens to be the December 1994 issue and it will kick just about any other issue of any other magazines ass up and down the street and twice on Sunday.




But I must say that maybe the best single issue of any magazine in the history of Video Game magazines has to go to the Die Hard GameFan November 1994 issue with Donkey Kong Country on the cover. Basically the November and December issues of 1994 just kick major ass. No other way to say it. If you are going to look at any particular year of GameFan, then I would probably say that 1995 is the best 12 issues of GameFan, from a year standpoint. Of course, having said all of that, the earliest issues have something special about them, that is just so hard to capture.


I collect GameFan, which means I collect every single issue, but it's the Halverson era issues that are the truly special ones, and the ones that have the most $ value on the open market. Not that the fact that they are worth more $$$ has anything to do with them being special, but it's just something to point out.

[booyakasha]

I am hoping you can help me
with my request. I have been looking all over creation for SNES PAR and Game
Genie codes for the following Super NES games. If you can not accomodate I
understand.



Street Fighter II Turbo

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat II

Super Street Fighter II

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters

Justice League Task Force


I DON'T want links to websites with game genie or PAR codes. I DON'T want codes
that modify (damage, timer or opponent to battle)

BTW there was a code for SF2 that gives Chun-li an extra frame of animation. If anyone has that code please post it.

If anyone other than Smokehouse has any codes from Gamefan Magazine for the games I have mentioned that they would be willing to contribute I would appreciate it.

Here is what has been contributed by Smokehouse so far.

SF II
Dragon Punch/Fireballs- 7E0D8000
Slow Fireballs- 7E0CB91A
High fireballs- 7E100A70
Missing backgrounds- 7E00A249
Burning uppercuts- 7E0EF201
Modified backgrounds- 7E0301B6
Fast fireballs- 7E0CB909
Turbo- 7E0C6030
Quick D Punch- 7E0E3249
No Stars- 7E0C8900
No Special moves-7E0CB201
Invisible- 7E0C1645
RYU red fireballs- 7E04B300
Auto Flash Kick- 7E0D9904
Auto D punch- 7E0D9608
Blanka Elec roll- 7E0C2030

Game Genie code for SF II ED8E-0FD9

MK
Slo Motion- 7E03B023
Fight Reptile- 7E02C102 + 7E00DEFF
PL2 always wins test your might- 7E1D2084
Start fighting before “Fight”- 7E048300
PL1 has to only win one round- 7E196E02
PL2 1 million points- 7E002C01
No weapons- 7E004601
PL2 Reptile with Sub Zero’s moves- 7E02C102+7E1ACE05
PL2 Reptile with Scorpion’s moves- 7E02C102+7E1ACE04
PL1 Reptile with Sub Zero’s moves- 7E02C101+7E197205
PL1 Reptile with Scorpion’s moves- 7E02C101+7E197204
Replace X with the following number’s to be the computer’s player- 7E00E20X
00-Cage
01-Kano
02-Rayden
03-Liu Kang
04-Scorpion
05-Sub-Zero
06-Sonya
07-Goro
08-Shang Tsung

Replace X with a background # (1-6)- 7E00080X


One last thing. Gamefan = greatest game mag ever made.

[drwily008]

The early years of GameFan were the best issues in the history of Video Game magazines period. See my avatar over there? That issue happens to be the December 1994 issue and it will kick just about any other issue of any other magazines ass up and down the street and twice on Sunday.


Anthony, it's funny, I keep meaning to tell you this. My very first issue of GameFan is none other than your avatar. My younger brother needed something to get me (cheap) for christmas. I remember opening it and not being too excited (I had browsed through one at the drugstore).

Man did that ONE single magazine start a whole obsession! I started getting more into imports (I only had like 3 or 4 before that), I started getting more into anime (I only owned Akira, Appleseed, and a few others), and really started appreciating the value of a muthaf'in 2-D game.

I know I got into the game a little late, but hey you know what they say!

Y'know, one thing about that link from earlier is the fact that Nick Rox was only like 16 when he wrote for the mag! That's just crazy!

[Ed Oscuro]

Hardcore Gamer is a joke and I have my fingers crossed that they either drastically improve or just go away. RIP Gamefan.
I occasionally find errors in HG, but...it's not that bad!

[JPeeples]

We do the best job we can to keep the mag error-free.

[smokehouse]

Man did that ONE single magazine start a whole obsession! I started getting more into imports (I only had like 3 or 4 before that), I started getting more into anime (I only owned Akira, Appleseed, and a few others), and really started appreciating the value of a muthaf'in 2-D game.

I have to credit GF for getting me into the import and rarity scene. If it hadn’t been for GF I would have never really noticed the Turbo Duo, Neo Geo or Jaguar. At the time I had a subscription to EGM as well and although they did an occasional review for the oddball systems, they never gave them the time that GF did.

GF was also the fist place that I saw anime and how huge the Japanese gaming market really was.

[drwily008]

We do the best job we can to keep the mag error-free.

Not ass kissing or anything, but I really like your magazine. I have a subscription and look foward to the mew issue coming every month.

I would, however, highly suggest something in the mag to set it aside from the rest. There are so many mags that review games. While I do appreciate the occasional hack spread or old school review, it really needs to be more.

I think at least 20 pages dedicated to retro and imports would be an amazing addition.

I am also a member of your forums and if you notice almost everyone there talks about retro stuff. I would really take this all into consideration and pass it on to Tim and the others.

Seriously though, keep up the great work and hit me up (via e-mail or PM) if you need someone with a huge passion for games (retro & new) with a large library of games to help you with anything!

[Tan]

What's your contribution to the magazine?

-- Z.

Reviews and articles. I did the Revenge of the Sith review in issue #2.

i remember that review, well written, pretty much summed up what i thought of the game as well 8-)

[JPeeples]

We do the best job we can to keep the mag error-free.

Not ass kissing or anything, but I really like your magazine. I have a subscription and look foward to the mew issue coming every month.

I would, however, highly suggest something in the mag to set it aside from the rest. There are so many mags that review games. While I do appreciate the occasional hack spread or old school review, it really needs to be more.

I think at least 20 pages dedicated to retro and imports would be an amazing addition.

I am also a member of your forums and if you notice almost everyone there talks about retro stuff. I would really take this all into consideration and pass it on to Tim and the others.

Seriously though, keep up the great work and hit me up (via e-mail or PM) if you need someone with a huge passion for games (retro & new) with a large library of games to help you with anything!
We'd all love to do 20 pages for retro and import stuff, but it just doesn't seem to be in the cards right now. This is the most consistent criticism we've received, so hopefully we'll be able to find more room for retro and import coverage. There defintely seems to be a big market for it, and we've got the outlet to do it.

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, hey, you guys admit that there's constraints...and I appreciate that. Actually I just like game writers, in general.

Again...how many print mags ran Vice: Project DOOM stories after '91? Hell, I don't think any but Hardcore Gamer have.

I did say I didn't know about the covers, but there are some fine ones - even though I think it looks dreadful, the Serious Sam II cover is pretty funny. I don't know about that DoA4 cover, though.

A while back I latched onto this quote (and even considered putting it into a "What are people saying?" section of the Contra H.Q.'s NES Contra page, which I still might) as being immensely shameful, can you shed any light on it?

V1i6, "We've lost our dongles"

4thletter's "Without Warning" review:

Do you remember the game Contra? The whole point of the game was to show off and nail the high score. Contra used competition to hide the fact that it was an absolutely repetitive, one-note game, through no fault of its own. Contra gets a bye because videogames were baby-faced back then. This is the 21st century now.
I like how HCG mixes things up with some wildly different perspectives, and I know I'm biased towards Contra, but...what?? HERESY!

[smokehouse]

That review of Contra was shit. That game was tough and the challenge to the game was beating it on the 3 lives, 2 continues that they gave you. In my opinion, if it hadn’t been for Contra there wouldn’t have been Metal Slug.

Man, that was a bit harsh wasn't it?


Oh, well...DON'T MESS WITH MY CONTRA!!!

[Ed Oscuro]

Oh, well...DON'T MESS WITH MY CONTRA!!!
Yeah, seriously. I wouldn't want anybody to get the idea that Without Warning (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/withoutwarning/review.html) is a Contra equivalent LOL

[Ed Oscuro]

Speaking of Without Warning, something I found:

From Alex Navarro's GameSpot review (Nov. 8, '05):

Sometimes you'll get lucky and pick off a guy from hundreds of feet away with a machine gun. And sometimes you'll have to shoot a guy three to four times with a shotgun at point-blank range to take him down.

From Jason D'Aprile's G4's review (Jan. 17, '06):

At times, you’ll nail an enemy at long range with one shot of an assault rifle, while the shotgun at close range often takes three or four rounds to kill.
GameSpot's review is better written, too :P

[zerohero]

I’ve only owned 1 issue of Gamefan when I was younger which was thrown away when I had to move unfortunately. Today I received my 2nd Issue, and it brought back lots of memories from the 90’s even some that I had forgotten.

I remember in the issue I had there being a section called “Winnie of the month”, and in the section I had it showed this guy who sent in a picture of his huge gaming setup. At that time it was pretty damn cool to see someone that had amass a collection that big. If anyone knows the print date, or issue number of that issue please let me know so I can try to seek it out, and find it.

Thanks

http://i20.ebayimg.com/02/i/07/8d/ag/8f_1.JPG

BTW, Next Generation takes the cake is the best magazine ever IMO. Especially before its finaly year of production, anything before that was awsome. And even in its final year it gave out great comparisons of all the upcomming next gen consoles. Dont even get me started on its coverage of Dreamcast. I miss that magazine. Now all I have is lame EGM which I wont continue to subscribe to anymore after that one expires. I guess I'll look into HCG.

[zerohero]

I’ve only owned 1 issue of Gamefan when I was younger which was thrown away when I had to move unfortunately. Today I received my 2nd Issue, and it brought back lots of memories from the 90’s even some that I had forgotten.

I remember in the issue I had there being a section called “Winnie of the month”, and in the section I had it showed this guy who sent in a picture of his huge gaming setup. At that time it was pretty damn cool to see someone that had amass a collection that big. If anyone knows the print date, or issue number of that issue please let me know so I can try to seek it out, and find it.

Thanks

http://i20.ebayimg.com/02/i/07/8d/ag/8f_1.JPG

BTW, Next Generation takes the cake is the best magazine ever IMO. Especially before its final year of production, anything before that was awsome. And even in its final year it gave out great comparisons of all the upcomming next gen consoles. Dont even get me started on its coverage of Dreamcast. I miss that magazine. Now all I have is lame EGM which I wont continue to subscribe to anymore after that one expires. I guess I'll look into HCG.

[drwily008]

I'm pretty sure you are talking about "Sausage of the Month", they did it in practically every issue towards the end.

But yeah, that was always one of my favorite sections. I used to want to send in pictures of my stuff to try to get in the magazine. I had a nice sized collection even back in the mid-90's.

[Anthony1]

BTW, Next Generation takes the cake is the best magazine ever IMO. Especially before its finaly year of production, anything before that was awsome. And even in its final year it gave out great comparisons of all the upcomming next gen consoles. Dont even get me started on its coverage of Dreamcast. I miss that magazine. Now all I have is lame EGM which I wont continue to subscribe to anymore after that one expires. I guess I'll look into HCG.


Next-Gen is my second favorite mag of all time. Especially liked the earlier years, 95, 96 and 97. I have a complete collection of the mag, although I'm missing an issue they gave out at e3 with a gold N64 zelda cart on the cover. I love Next-Gen, although their review system was weak. Still, Die Hard GameFan is easily the No.1 ranked mag, and Next-Gen is a distant second, at least to me anyways, but I still have much love for Next-Gen and I strongly encourage people to track down the first 40 issues or so.

[Masked Avenger]

Die Hard Game Fan Magazine
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/Game%20reviews/gamefanshot2.jpg

I’m here to say that this magazine was the best of the best when it came to the early nineties and what I consider the golden age of gaming (16-Bit generation). EGM? GamePro? Nope, both of these paled in comparison when it came to Game Fan. Although slightly tilted in the Genesis direction, GF gave some of the best info to be found in any magazine (Sometimes they were REALLY in favor of the Genesis). Their colorful, eye-popping reviews were a breath of fresh air when compared to other magazines. Add great sections like their cheats section Hocus Pocus (actually featured Pro Action Replay codes), Graveyard (featured retro games) and the Postmeister (Cuz’ I’m CrAzY!!!) and this made for some of the best gaming reading to be found anywhere.

One amazing thing about this magazine was its willingness to report on foreign systems and titles. Up until this magazine I never knew of the Famicom, Super Famicom, Mega Drive, PC Engine nor did I know of current foreign events. They also reported on the rare, oddball systems other magazines neglected. Systems like the Amiga CD32, FM Towns Marty, Turbo Duo, Neo Geo, 3DO, Jaguar and Pioneer Laseractive were regulars in GF. Hell, they even reported on arcade titles. This magazine was also fast to report on new, secret gaming news; often they were the first with clean pictures and solid info (although not always right).

All in all this was the magazine to read back in the day. Although sometimes a bit of a fanboy magazine and often giving numerous pages to 2D fighting titles, they also dove into avenues where other magazines wouldn’t. Unfortunately, not enough magazines have this kind of honesty and passion now, thus the fact my EGM subscription ran out years ago. If you can pick up some older copies I highly suggest it.

Are those your mags? If so, I have a vague request. I've never seen any of the Gamefan magazines prior fall 1993. No, I am not asking you to part with your precious collection, but I'd be interested in seeing some further photo samples. In your photo, I can see the Sonic 2 and Cool Spot issues. I'd be interested in seeing photos of the reviews and previews of those same games. No fancy photographic work, just enough for me to be able to read those particular items. Would it be too much trouble for you to grant this request?

Use www.imageshack.us to upload the photos and just keep it under 1,5 MB for each photo, I think.

Thanks for any help you can provide. ;)

Oh yeah, if anyone else has some Gamefan issues and access to a scanner/digicam, I'd have another request. :)

[Anthony1]

I swore at some certain website they actually have the first 10 issues of Die Hard GameFan completely scanned in. Only thing is, you have to register with the site first before you could see them. If anybody remembers this site, let us know.


It would be really cool if somebody who had any of the 3 catalogs could take some pics of those, I'd be really interested to see that!

[Masked Avenger]

Is it this site?

http://www.retromags.com/

[Masked Avenger]

Checking the site now...

Gamefan doesn't seem to be supported really.

[JPeeples]

zerohero, you can download issues of HGM here - http://www.luv2game.com/luv2game/index.html?fuseaction=main.download

If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe. Fileplanet might be the site with Gamefan downloads. They at least have the spiritual successor to it in GameGO on there.

[Masked Avenger]

Ah well, at least I asked.