Bill Kunkel

[megamaniaman]

Very late to hearing this. I met the man, the man was one of my favorites to listen to at CGE. When they have another expo in Vegas is will not be the same without him.

[Gameguy]

I remember reading some articles he wrote, it's a shame he's gone.

[YoshiM]

It was quite the shock when I first read this. Bill's writing was what inspired me to look into video games beyond just reviews but into the industry itself. His topics as the Game Doctor in VG&CE also motivated me to check out the golden age game systems. His work motivated me to do my own writing, which have seen publication on paper on on the web.

I got to meet him once at CGE 2007 and was speechless when I tried to ask him for his autograph when I bought his book. I did get opportunities to message with him on J2Games. Great discussions.

He will be missed.

[MarioMania]

What I read on wired..he sufferd a Heart Attack

Kunkel complained that he was not feeling well at about midnight on Sunday, his wife Laurie told Wired. Soon thereafter, he suffered what doctors believe was a heart attack and died in his home, she said.

[Dire 51]

I'm genuinely saddened to hear this. I spent quite a bit of time in the late '80s reading his articles in VG&CE, and when I decided to start writing reviews for various websites early last decade, I considered Bill to be one of my influences. I never did meet him in person, but did PM him here once back in 2005. He was kind enough to reply to my (fairly long winded) PM, answering all the questions I asked about his old VG&CE articles, among other things.

However, as I just learned now, I never did send a reply back (I was going through a lot back in '05, to be fair to myself) - nor did I ever pick up a copy of his book, which he'd even offered to have autographed - and of course, time passed and I forgot all about it. I'm definitely kicking myself now. I really missed an opportunity to not only correspond with a man I considered to be an influence on my writing, but a really nice guy as well.

R.I.P., Mr. Kunkel. You will be missed.

[AB Positive]

Damn... I actually found out due to, of all things, a random visit to Wrestlecrap.com - I knew his passion for classic gaming but never knew he also wrote for 'the dirtsheets' and had a large hand in backstage reporting for pro wrestling.

I loved reading his articles via here and VG&C and... wow. Never got a chance to meet or talk to the guy but his knowledge was clear and his writing well done. A damn shame. RIP

[8bitgamer]

To honor his memory, McFarland has posted a pdf of Bill's foreword to Classic Home Video Games, 1985-1988:

http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/excerpts...3.Foreword.pdf

[rolenta]

Bill's obituary is in the New York Times today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/10/te...ref=obituaries

[atrionfo]

The passing of Bill has made me feel just AWFUL. In many ways, to me, he and his Electronic Games crew represent classic gaming. What's strange about that is that I didn't read "Electronic Magazine" until the 1990's, when I read some articles on the Internet, and then again in the LATE nineties when I got some issues of the classic magazine. Somehow though, Bill's writing washes over me with the 1980's and nostalgia. I saw him speak at a couple of conventions and I read his autobiography. But really, I knew him through his writing about games. I know that he had MANY, MANY more other interests, but that is how I think of him.

I had no idea that the death of someone who was on the fringes of my life could have such an affect on me.

Bill wrote well. He wrote funny. He wrote for you. He wrote for me. Really though, Bill wrote for us!

Adam Trionfo

[8bitgamer]

The passing of Bill has made me feel just AWFUL. In many ways, to me, he and his Electronic Games crew represent classic gaming. What's strange about that is that I didn't read "Electronic Magazine" until the 1990's, when I read some articles on the Internet, and then again in the LATE nineties when I got some issues of the classic magazine. Somehow though, Bill's writing washes over me with the 1980's and nostalgia. I saw him speak at a couple of conventions and I read his autobiography. But really, I knew him through his writing about games. I know that he had MANY, MANY more other interests, but that is how I think of him.

I had no idea that the death of someone who was on the fringes of my life could have such an affect on me.

Bill wrote well. He wrote funny. He wrote for you. He wrote for me. Really though, Bill wrote for us!

Adam Trionfo

Well said, Adam.

[Kid Ice]

Bill's Bio at the end of Confessions of the Game Doctor mentions he "writes novels under a pseudonym". Does anyone happen to know the pseudonym and if the novels were ever published?

[God-Zilla]

Deep sympathy to all who knew Bill. I was just another kid who loved E.G. and LOVED his stuff in E.G. (EG is still my fave vid game mag... are there any online archives?) I read the issues so SO many times (Most of them wore off their covers. ) I still have all the ones I bought as a kid (though I missed a few, welfare, natch.)

I remember one of his letters allowed me to get in touch with one of the Vectrex programmers back when I was in high school around 87ish. A friend of mine and I wanted to
start programming new Vectrex games and we actually had a few (very expensive,) long distance phone calls with him. He was going to GIVE us dev kits compatible with our atari 800s! Then he moved and we lost his number. But still, without his letters column, we never would have even gotten that close!

[rolenta]

EG is still my fave vid game mag... are there any online archives?

http://www.digitpress.com/library/ma...onic_games.htm

[wataru330]

Bill's Bio at the end of Confessions of the Game Doctor mentions he "writes novels under a pseudonym". Does anyone happen to know the pseudonym and if the novels were ever published?

http://www.orphanedgames.com/kunkel.htm

I have also gotten into writing fiction. I just finished serving as an editor/co-author (under my fiction name, M. Burroughs) on a book called The Noble Society by Melissa Henry. I hope to have my first novel out before the end of the year. It's about drug addicts in 1970s New York.

[J2games]

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"Bill's Bio at the end of Confessions of the Game Doctor mentions he "writes novels under a pseudonym". Does anyone happen to know the pseudonym and if the novels were ever published? "

Indeed, Bill was working on a book when he passed. This was being co-authored with a friend and long time associate of his. I had the honor of being asked to critique several chapters of the book and while rough, was quite the departure from what I was used to from Bill, but excellent none the less. I have asked Laurie (Bill's wife) to keep me in the loop on the progress. Hopefully one day Bill's co-author might choose to share this with everyone.

[otaku]

been out of the loop when it comes to the gaming world very sad to hear about bills passing I loved his work always informative and entertaining. Hell he even answered emails and gave me advice on pursuing a career in game journalism when that was of interest to me a few years back. He will be missed greatly by myself and I am sure many many others

[lendelin]

I'm sorry to hear about the death of Bill Kunkel. This is just sad. One person with lots of personality who left a significant mark in early gaming history passed away.