Bill Kunkel

[Badhornet]

Very shocked to hear of his passing. Definitely a pioneer in the industry and was very nice and informative

[j_factor]

Well that was unexpected. Although Bill and I were not close personal friends or anything, I did have the pleasure of meeting him in person. I also fondly remember the games journalism panel at CGE 2K7 consisting of him, Chris Bieniek, and Chris Kohler. He had some interesting things to say there.

He was a great writer and a stand-up guy. He will be missed.

[rolenta]

In honor of Bill, I dug out these never-before-seen photos of him and Ralph Baer at the 2005 Videogame Expo outside of Philadelphia, where they both attended to promote their new books.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...149c4e4&type=1

[Mayhem]

We didn't get EG in Europe back in the day, but when I got into classic gaming in a wider sense, I learned how it, along with C&VG here in the UK, were the pioneers in videogame journalism. So it was a pleasure to sit in on one of the panels at CGE with Kunkel and his two partners in crime, to listen about how things took off in the US. It is really sad that he is no longer with us...

[Sanriostar]

It always got to me that he never lost the passion for video games; and that his older works were still close to his heart. I always hoped that we'd see a recollected volume of EG with a foreword from all 3 of them. I'm gonna be thinking about this all day.

P.S. "EG over Joystik, man!"
(amazing how priorities change when you get older)

[XYXZYZ]

I loved Bill's interviews on Retro Gaming Radio, I could listen to him talk forever. For example, his involvement in video game magazines taught him what makes a truly great game:

When it's not out in Japan yet, it's the best game ever made. When it comes out in Japan, it's better than any domestic game. When it's finally released over here, it sucks.

I'd love to find some audio archive of Bill rambling on about the good old days of the video game industry.

[RCM]

This is the first coverage I've seen regarding Bill:

http://gamepolitics.com/2011/09/05/r...ctor039-kunkel

Also, Chris Holm is a comic artist I used to work with on J2 along with Bill. He featured Bill in a few of his comics, like this one (which I'm also in):

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/20...chochris20.jpg

[Pete Cahill]

I'm shocked to hear this news. Doc, you'll be dearly missed.

Pete Cahill

[MarioMania]

He was on G4's Icon "The Crash"

I had to look up the name..RIP

[Balloon Fight]

Really sad to hear this. RIP.

[Dan Iacovelli]

I met bill mostly at cge, but I do remember his columns in egm and other mags like video game and computer entertainment.
I think in his honnor CGE 2012 should be dediacted to him

[rolenta]

Don't forget Jerry Lawson who also passed away this year.

[rolenta]

A list of DC comics that Bill had stories in can be found here:

http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Bill_Kunkel/Writer

Marvel can be found here:
http://marvel.wikia.com/Category:Bill_Kunkel/Writer

[Nz17]

If anyone would like to read a past article of Bill's out of respect or new-found interest, please feel free to read some these which were written for DP:

http://www.digitpress.com/archives/k...onfessions.htm
http://www.digitpress.com/archives/kunkel_sports.htm
http://www.digitpress.com/archives/k...ickaxepete.htm
http://www.digitpress.com/archives/kunkel_ces.htm
http://www.digitpress.com/archives/k...ywanderboy.htm
http://www.digitpress.com/archives/kunkel_batman_1.htm
http://www.digitpress.com/archives/kunkel_batman_2.htm
http://www.digitpress.com/archives/kunkel_sony.htm

[bangtango]

RIP Bill. Always liked his work in VG&CE and EG.

Favorite magazine piece from him was the response he gave in VG&CE to a technical question from someone who asked him about the "expansion port" on the bottom of the NES.

[Xian042]

I used to live his "Ask the Game Doctor" section in VG&CE. I also read the articles on here. I just signed up to his site not too long ago and he responded to a post I made. Glad to have had that brief correspondance with him.

My condolences to all friends and family. He sounded like a really great guy.

[Amos]

Some video footage of Bill from 2007:

http://www.videojug.com/user/USEX0113

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Audio quality isn't spectacular, but here's links to Bill's Q&A at NAVA back in 2008:

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxZBzoy-efw
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxZBzoy-efw
Part 3 http://youtu.be/hDXthUiXYAQ
Part 4 http://youtu.be/HIn7sw4ZNCQ
Part 5 http://youtu.be/HFVfa5UZJTQ

[Daniel Thomas]

I'm going to reprint what I just wrote down at the comments section at Wired:

This is a devastating shock. I'm speechless. As Chris Kohler noted, many of us began our writing careers as fanzine editors in the early 1990s, inspired by Arnie Katz' columns in VG&CE, and later in the revived EG. We looked up to KKW (Katz-Kunkel-Worley) as heroes and role models, and during the glory days of hte 16-bit era, an underground video game community grew and flourished. Quite a number of us (including Chris) managed to score writing jobs with the professional video game magazines (the "prozines"), to various degrees of success in and out of the industry. Tyrone Rodriguez, Ara Shirinian, and Chris Johnston are three other alumni from our select group. I'm sure there were a few others. I was lucky enough to meet Bill Kunkel, Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley in Las Vegas in 1994, and a group of "faneds" were invited to the Katz estate. It was a wonderful evening full of stories and laughs and kindness all around. Bill will be very sorely missed.

[spoonman]

Sad news indeed.

I grew up enjoying his work in Electronic Games in the 80's and several other magazines as well.

I also just bought his book "Confessions of the Game Doctor Bill Kunkel" book.