FunFactor

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/9e656342-878a-4098-9f49-0ca4dc313cb2It's a huge episode for a huge issue: EGM No. 100! Aidan and Ty go through the magic of Christmastime gaming, before settling in to a nice long trip through this 100-game time capsule of how EGM's staff viewed the history of games at the time. Some such lists were made before, and many many many made since--but the choices they made say a lot about both themselves and the industry at the time. And once again, we recorded it LIVE and ON-CAMERA for FunFactor ULTRA members! The edited video version is up at our YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/@FunFactorPod), if you want to check it out. And if you want to attend a recording session? Well, we hook up everyone in #the-ultra-lounge, the members-only channel of our Discord, with the dates, times, and stream links. Join now and get in on all the benefits--including ad-free episodes and bonus episodes! https://funfactorpod.com/-----Sources include the Video Game History Foundation, the Internet Archive, Retromags.com, our original research, and our personal magazine collections. The FunFactor theme, and all other original songs, are composed and performed by Millennium Falck. Check out his work at millenniumfalck.com!

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/official-u.-s.-play-station-magazine-volume-1-issue-02-november-1997For the first time, we were ON CAMERA as we dug in to The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine's hard pan of The Lost World, a beautiful and ambitious mess from Dreamworks that barely connects to the blockbuster Jurassic Park movie sequel it's an adaptation of. Check out the video on our YouTube channel! https://youtu.be/DRaYBvpndkk Are negative reviews like this one, as Ratatouille's Anton Ego said, "fun to write and to read?" As a Hugo Award-winning critic himself, Aidan has a lot to say. We're working on a lot of the technical aspects of this, from getting zoomed-in shots of the content to getting Ty better framed in the video, but we'd love to hear your feedback! Join our Discord server and let us know: https://discord.com/invite/5VBpWGSuz6----- Sources include the Video Game History Foundation, the Internet Archive, Retromags.com, our original research, and our personal magazine collections. The FunFactor theme, and all other original songs, are composed and performed by Millennium Falck. Check out his work at millenniumfalck.com!

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/gamepro-issue-108-september-1997/GamePro%20-%20Issue%20108%20%28September%201997%29/mode/2upGrab your whip, your holy water, and your PlayStation 1, because we're reviewing GamePro's review of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night!We also get on one of Aidan's biggest hobby horses--2D graphics vs. 3D graphics, and whether the latter inherently beat the former--and ride. We had a ton of fun talking through the different biases that we (and different magazines, editors, and writers!) had when discussing the power of novel technology versus, and in the pursuit of, creative ideals.-----Sources include the Video Game History Foundation, the Internet Archive, Retromags.com, our original research, and our personal magazine collections.The FunFactor theme, and all other original songs, are composed and performed by Millennium Falck. Check out his work at millenniumfalck.com!

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_31/mode/1upGreat jumpin' ray guns, or some similar 1950sesque exclamation!Captain Blasto, everyone's favorite James Bond-meets-Inspector-Clouseau-meets-Flash-Gordon, except make it a parody, and also it's Looney Tunes, superhero got a big, splashy cover and a huge preview spread in this issue--and why wouldn't it? A bold, new, original-IP action platformer from Sony's top U.S. studio, led by legendary programmer Dylan Cuthbert. Except, well, it didn't turn out great--and the seeds of why it didn't were right there in the preview. How did they handle it? And how did WE handle how they handled it?? Listen to find out!!We also go long on journalists' role in the PR hype cycle, then and now, as well as dig in to NG's big interview with Sid Meier, and super-ambitious feature declaring the six essential elements of great game design.-----Computer Entertainer images and information are sourced from the Video Game History Foundation, under the Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.enOther sources include the Internet Archive, Retromags.com, our original research, and our personal magazine collections.The FunFactor theme, and all other original songs, are composed and performed by Millennium Falck. Check out his work at millenniumfalck.com!

ISSUE LINK: Computer Entertainer, Volume 5, Number 3 | Video Game History Foundation Library – Digital ArchiveVHGF HOME: Home | Video Game History FoundationBONUS UNLOCKED!! This week, for our six-month anniversary, we're making one of our favorite bonus episodes available for everyone--one featuring a pair of guests we've been dreaming about landing since before we launched the show: Frank Cifaldi and Phil Salvador of the Video Game History Foundation They're two of the highest authorities on the planet on retro games, games media, and the culture around it all.The VGHF recently acquired the copyright to the 1980s game mag Computer Entertainer, and their contemporary review of Super Mario Bros. for the NES might be the only such surviving American professional written critique of one of the pillars of console gaming history.Unusually for one of our bonus episodes, we--as well as Frank and Phil--review it!As always, we thank all of you so much for supporting the show. If you dig it, please tell people! We'd love nothing more than to get more cool people in the ULTRA Lounge of our Discord server--and have the support we need to keep doing this show we love.-----Computer Entertainer images and information are sourced from the Video Game History Foundation, under the Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.enOther sources include the Internet Archive, Retromags.com, our original research, and our personal magazine collections.The FunFactor theme, and all other original songs, are composed and performed by Millennium Falck. Check out his work at millenniumfalck.com!