3/5ths Man: One of several Quartermann parodies that
popped up in fanzines from the hobby's second generation (circa
1992-1994). The 3/5ths in his name was derived from the assertion
that he was, in fact, "more than a quarter", and better than the
author of EGM's Gaming Gossip. After 3/5ths Man attacked, and was
attacked by, countless fan-eds, Project: Ignition editor Jess Ragan
wisely chose to retire the character.
Jon Althouse: Jon was one of
the founders of the NAEGE (National Association of Electronic Gaming
Enthusiasts) and edited his own fanzine SAGA. SAGA was a member of
the short-lived organization FANN (FANzine
Network).
Mark
Allen: Nobody, but nobody was more devoted to the
Atari Jaguar than this columnist for Pat Reynolds' popular
gaming newsletter Fantazine.
Mike Balshi: Mike penned some raw articles for Matt
Lotti's Hyper'zine which seemed to indicate that he wanted to be as
profane as possible but never really understood what he was talking
about. Mike was given the boot after a few issues because Matt
considered him to be "a pain in the neck".
Ralph Barbagallo: Ralph
contributed to Aaron Buckner's MindStorm and now edits his own video
game web site, appropriately titled RalphSpace.
Jeff Beedham: The editor
of Game Force, Jeff also contributed editorials to Matt Lotti's
Hyper'zine and Brian Pacula's The Good, The Bad, and The Eight-Bit.
He was also the first to publish a collector's guide for fans of the
Nintendo Entertainment System.
Greg Bemis: Greg was the
driving force behind the mature game fanzine High Density, which was
co-edited by Jonah Jackson.
JAK Bennett: JAK never
edited a video game fanzine, but he did support this fandom and even
wrote a game review for his personal newsletter Nagaraja.
Chris Bieniek: Chris
reviews fanzines in the professional game magazine Tips &
Tricks, and even contributed an article to one, GEA News, about
violence in video games. Chris is considered one of the most
respected men in the professional video game magazine circuit thanks
to his humble nature and strong support of fandom.
Dave Blank: An artist
for George Wilson's Video Universe, Dave contributed covers to that
fanzine as well as a Final Fight comic which ran several issues. His
style of artwork typically consisted of burly, flat-faced men
struggling for superiority against gritty backdrops. Eventually,
Dave left Video Universe to pursue a career as a comic book artist.
Bob: This plainly named
little guy with the thumbprint-shaped head was designed as a cartoon
representation of Brian Pacula, the editor of The Good, The Bad, and
The Eight-Bit. Bob was the star of Roadside Comics, a series of
witty cartoons which became one of the fanzine's most popular
features.
Bill Boehmer: Better
known as "The Dangerous Billy Masters", Bill contributed the comic
Shotpots to his brother Scott's fanzine Random Access. In it, Bill,
Scott, and a friend were pitted against the stars of the World
Wrestling Federation (that is, when the WWF still HAD stars...).
Bill could also be found in the letter columns of other fanzines,
including a doozy in MindStorm where he berated its editor, Aaron
Buckner, at length.
Scott Boehmer: Formerly
of Porta-Play, Scott abandoned the concept of a fanzine with a focus
on handheld game systems and forged onward with Random Access, the
free-spirited newsletter with a style similar to that of Ben
Leatherman's Fanarchy. Scott rebelled against the fandom status quo
with such features as a bowling column and covers with intentionally
bad artwork.
Jeff "Talon" Bogumil:
Jeff edited Concordant Opposition and also contributed comics to
such fanzines as Noah Dziobecki's Phanzine Star.
Dan Bowden: Dan was the
editor of the fanzine Digital Flair.
Lee Bridges: Lee, more
commonly known by his pseudonym Shadowfire, edited Infiltration, a
video game newsletter with artwork supplied by Dave Dunlap (who also
created SuperCoot for Alex Frias' Video Gaming Monthly).
Andy Britton: Video
Apocalypse editor Josh Lesnick's close friend, Andy penned music and
movie reviews for VA alongside an amusing definition of Texas
rednecks.
Aaron Buckner: This
controversial Mindstorm editor was so dispised by fandom that an
organization was created to prevent his return, THWART (Totally
Humiliate and Wreck Aaron's Reestablishment Tactics). Because of
THWART (or perhaps in spite of it) Buckner's other miscellaneous
fanzine was never released.
Mike Burns: Mike edited
Game Star, a fanzine with an unusually high amount of Macintosh
shareware coverage.
Will Capallero: A contributor to Matrix3, Will is best
remembered for the comic Sumo Sphere. In it, a homicidal orb works
odd jobs and takes his aggressions out on anyone who crosses his
path.
James Catalano: The
editor of Metropolis, a short-lived miscellaneous fanzine, was more
famous for his tirades against Arnie Katz, whom he repeatedly called
a "pussy" in several fanzines. James also created concept art of a
2600 version of Doom, which quickly found its way into the pages of
Russ Perry's Slap-Dash.
Joon-Yee Chuah: A
regular contributor of columns and artwork to Josh Lesnick's popular
Video Apocalypse.
Mike Ciletti: Mike
co-edited Cyberbeat, one of the foundations of video game fandom. He
was also partially responsible for the National Association of
Electronic Gaming Enthusiasts.
Kevin Cline: Nobody
knows for certain why Kevin Cline retired his excellent RPG-oriented
fanzine Digital Savior after just two issues. Judging from that
fanzine's content and sharp layout, it can only be assumed that
Kevin went to work for a professional game magazine.
Francis J. Cone: Francis
was the author of As I See It..., a regular column in Sean
Pettibone's In Between The Lines.
Dennis Crowley: This
Dystopia editor was best (or perhaps worst) remembered for his
infantile, near-slanderous remarks about Josh Lesnick of Video
Apocalypse. In response to a negative review he'd received in VA,
Dennis lashed out with disturbing comments and an uncalled for
picture of Josh (assumably, as it was so inaccurately drawn)
enjoying the men of American Gladiators a little too much. Other
fan-eds jumped at the chance to attack Dennis for this, calling him
"a craphead of the highest caliber" and much, much worse.
Mark Cullison: A
contributor to Nate Hineline's Dominion, Mark's disturbing rants
about sodomy and vehicular homicide certainly made his reviews of
Mario Kart 64 and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, uh, unique.
Heather Daniels: Heather is the editor of GirlGames, a
newsletter about (surprise!) girls and video games.
Precious little is known about Heather, as she is not a part of
mainstream EG fandom. However, a brief interview with her can be
found in an issue of the mature video game magazine NEXT Generation.
Jeff Daniels: Jeff
created Denial, a newsletter devoted to the Commodore VIC-20
computer which was hugely popular in the early 80's.
Nick DesBarres: Nick
contributed a review of Phantasy Star 3 to Dennis Crowley's fanzine
Dystopia. He later joined the staff of Die Hard Game Fan, adopting
the pen name Nick Rox and aggravating much of fandom with his
sycophantic game reviews and ignorant observations.
Tom Donoho: This avid
fan of In Between the Lines had more or less revived it with his own
video game fanzine, Above & Beyond. However, it could be argued
that Above & Beyond was even better, as it had a higher page
count and a much stronger focus on video games.
Tim Duarte: Tim was the
former editor of The 2600 Connection, a long-running fanzine devoted
entirely to the ancient Atari 2600 video game system.
Dave Dunlap: Dave
created the comic SuperCoot, starring a geriatric superhero with
almost as many wrinkles on his face as there were in his ill-fitting
tights. SuperCoot appeared in several issues of Alex Frias'
Viewpoint... in his most memorable comic, he clashed with Santa
Claus, who made the unfortunate mistake of bringing him a crappy
handheld system instead of the incredible 63-bit Neet-o Geet-o
console he really wanted.
Chris Dyer: Chris
offered fandom the incredibly chaotic video game newsletter
Sub-Zero. This fanzine was chock full of crazy editorials, usually
with funky cartoon characters bouncing off them, and reviews which
proved without a doubt that Chris wanted to do things his way and
wouldn't settle for anything less. At one point, he did succumb to
the criticism he'd received from other fan-eds and published the
starchy Neo-Geo fanzine Neo-Lord, but it was quickly swept under the
rug when Chris realized that his heart wasn't in it.
Noah Dziobecki: The
editor of Phanzine Star, a tightly edited, intelligently written
newsletter with unbelievably detailed pencil sketches. After four
issues, Noah set sail for Japan with his classmates and returned to
edit Xenophilia, a somewhat pretentious miscellaneous fanzine chock
full of music reviews and poetry.
Greg Elwell: Greg co-edited one issue of Monitor with
David Weinstein.
Joaquin
Falcon: Joaquin wrote under the pen name Bladerunner
in Codename: Megazine, a newsletter created by six of fandom's most
visible and talented writers.
Bill Fasick: Also
known as the Game Geezer, Bill's The Unrest Home was one of Project:
Ignition's best, most thought-provoking columns.
Tony Fazzone: The editor
of Shoryuken!, Tony went on to reveal anything and everything about
Mortal Kombat 2 in the remarkably in-depth strategy guide The Joy of
Mortal Kombat 2.
Rick Florey: Editor of
the competant and unfailingly timely newsletter Overkill, Rick is
best known for his humble, unassuming nature and his strong coverage
of the failed Sega Saturn. Rick also attempted to bring fandom
together with a compilation fanzine known as The Consortium.
Pete Foote: A friend of
Pat Reynolds' and a member of Fantazine's editorial staff. A drawing
of Pete appeared in issue nine of that fanzine, which bore a
striking resemblence to D. Dark, one of the characters in the
Playstation game Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha.
Alex Frias: Editor of
two fanzines, Video Gaming Monthly (not to be confused with Ben
Leatherman's Video Game Monthly) and Viewpoint. Both fanzines were
good derivitives of Aaron Buckner's Mindstorm, but Viewpoint in
particular excelled with regular installments of Dave Dunlap's
hilarious SuperCoot comic.
Tom Fulp: The assistant
editor of Alex Frias' two fanzines, Viewpoint and Video Gaming
Monthly. Tom was often ribbed by contributors to the newsletter, as
their reviews of fighting games mentioned having to "beat opponents
to a fulp...er, pulp". Tom's work can now be seen on the
extremely popular (and controversial!) Flash game site
Newgrounds.
GameMan: The official mascot of Pat Reynolds'
newsletters, GameLord and Fantazine. GameMan is a small,
bulbous-eyed robot, adorned with dozens of controller buttons,
joypads, and a large joystick jutting forth from his helmet. Pat
designed GameMan as a tribute to his favorite game, MegaMan.
Girl in the Polka-Dot
Dress: A somber woman in a spotted gown who floated through the
pages of Mike Palisano's The Laser like a phantom.
Brian Goss: Editor of The
GURU, a spiral-bound, professional quality newsletter with fine
artwork and reviews of Japanese imports. Brian was also the editor
of a more humble fanzine in 1987, discrediting the theory that Arnie
Katz created EG fandom with his articles in Video Games &
Computer Entertainment.
Jon Griffin: Not
to be confused with Peter Griffin of TV's Family Guy, Jon wrote a
column about the media's refusal to accept video games as mainstream
entertainment in Codename: Megazine.
Nathan Hauke: Formerly the editor of Video Game
Revolution, Nathan branched out with Sensory Overload, a fanzine
focusing on both video games and other facets of pop culture. SO was
well received by most readers, but a column by Eric "The Butcher"
Vigoda which took (unprovoked) shots at other fan-eds didn't sit
well with either Matt Lotti or Todd Lintner, who took Eric to task
in his own fanzine MASTERminds. Nathan was also partially
responsible for the Gaming Enthusiasts of America along with Chris
Johnston and Andy Saito.
Brent Hepner: Brent
penned fanzine reviews for Video Universe under the name L. Brent
Hepner, then sent editor George Wilson a controversial opinion
column called Deep Space. Its attacks on Project:Ignition editor
Jess Ragan and others were not well received, and it wasn't long
before the column was cancelled.
Nate Hineline: This
Dominion editor is best remembered for his fanzine's surprisingly
raw game reviews. These reviews spring forth from the mouth of
contributor Mark Cullison, and are then copied to audio cassette and
typed up by Nate as filler for the newsletter.
Janice Hrusecky: Like
Counterpoint!'s Tabitha Indigo Paige, Janice claimed to be a female
fan-ed, but many suspected that she was a fraud. It is uncertain as
to whether or not this is indeed true.
Mike Hrusecky: Mike
published The Game Guru (not to be confused with Brian Goss' The
GURU), the only video game fanzine distributed on a computer
diskette instead of paper. This allowed Mike to utilize a
menu-driven interface, making the fanzine more organized than others
of its time.
David Hunt: This Entry
Level editor defected to the game magazine Tips & Tricks when it
was still in its infancy. David no longer writes for that magazine,
and his current occupation is unknown.
Jon Hustoffitz: A
regular contributor to both Nathan Hauke's Sensory Overload and Ben
Leatherman's Fanarchy, Jon fit the style of both fanzines like a
glove with articles like The ULTIMATE Fighting Game Character: Mr.
Vibrator, which detailed the adventures of a brawling adult novelty.
Jonah Jackson: Jonah co-edited High Density, a mature
video game fanzine with computer software coverage, with Greg Bemis.
Jocko: A muscular green
man with curly black hair, Jocko is best described as a cross
between Beavis and the Incredible Hulk. This character was the star
of Alan Lanoie's two fanzines, Cheaply Produced, Crappy Video Game
Newsletter About What Sucks! and Infestation.
Tim Johnson: A member of
the quartet of editors who claimed responsibility for Paradox
(although it's generally agreed that Chris Johnston was the backbone
of that fanzine). Tim also edited Blip!, a less inhibited gaming
newsletter, with support from Sub-Zero's Chris Dyer and others.
Chris Johnston: Chris
started out editing The Bombadier and eventually graduated to
Paradox, a professionally done (if somewhat conservative) video game
newsletter far better than his last. Chris also co-founded the
Gaming Enthusiasts of America with Andy Saito and Nathan Hauke and
is currently the news editor at Ziff-Davis' magazine Electronic
Gaming Monthly.
Edwin L. Jones
III: Edwin, better known as
"Japanaman", contributed to fandom's only "multi-magazine",
Codename: Megazine.
Jared Jones: The editor
of Video Vision.
Arnie Katz: Arnie is considered the father of EG
fandom. While this is not entirely true (embryonic fanzines were
created or conceptualized by Jess Ragan, Brian Goss, and Ken Uston
as early as the 1980's), Katz' editorials in the defunct video game
magazine Video Games & Computer Entertainment were largely
responsible for the hobby we know today. Arnie Katz also published
MegaGaming as well as dozens of science fiction fanzines.
Ulrich Kempf: Ulrich
published the respected gaming journal Video Views. Kempf's
persistance was amazing in that he'd continued to edit Video Views
long after other fanzines went out of circulation... over thirty
issues of Views were published.
Brooks King: Brooks was
the editor of Monty's Kitten, a publication with similarities to
MASTERminds, Video Apocalypse, and The Good, The Bad, and The
Eight-Bit. Brooks emulated the styles of all three fanzines with
nonsense phrases, bitter sarcasm, and cutting satire lampooning the
trends of the video game industry.
Chris Kohler: Widely
considered one of the most talented of the third generation of
fan-eds, it's ironic that Chris has been publishing Video Zone since
1994. Chris' dry, biting humor and strong layout sense made Video
Zone one of the best fanzines still in publication. Chris now
writes professionally for Wired magazine... and publishes his own
web site, Kobun Heat, on the side.
Travis Krause: Travis
wrote several downright weird reviews for Jeremy Statz' Matrix3 and
sent letters of comment to other fan-eds, including Josh Lesnick and
Brian Pacula.
Darren Krowlewski:
Darren's claim to fame was The Shape of Gaming To Come, one of
several professional quality fanzines of the early 90's. His strong
layout sense and five-star writing made that newsletter a hot item,
but sadly, Darren removed much of Shape's editorial content as the
fanzine became more popular, reducing it to a pretty but vapid
GamePro wannabee.
Genesis Krycscki: The
co-editor of Access Time, a wacky fanzine in the tradition of
Infestation and Sub-Zero. Ironically, Krycscki hated the Sega
Genesis and wasn't afraid to make that abundantly clear in his
editorials.
Bill Kunkel: A member of
The Communique Group alongside Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley.
Alan Lanoie: Alan first tried his hand at fanzine
publishing with Crappy, Cheaply Produced Video Game Newsletter About
What Sucks, which was basically just that- a demented, low budget
fanzine complaining about lousy games. Alan later graduated to
Infestation, a slightly less insane version of his previous
newsletter with stronger editorial content and better artwork.
Chris Larson: After
contributing to Aaron Buckner's first effort Video Scope under the
pen name Vapor, Chris wrote his own newsletter, The Panic Zone, and
left it to work on the compilation fanzine Codename: Megazine with
Noah Dziobecki and others.
Ben Leatherman: Formerly
of Video Game Monthly (not to be confused with Video Gaming Monthly
by Alex Frias), Ben broke out of the generic EG fanzine mold with
Fanarchy, a more intense publication which isn't afraid to tell
greedy game companies and the hobby's other unsavory elements to
shove it. In its premiere, Fanarchy was paired with Duh!?, an even
more outrageous publication with a tentative focus on video games
and an even less firm grip on reality.
Jeffrey Lee: Jeffrey
edited The Obsessed Game Fan, an obscure video game fanzine. There
was a review of The Obsessed Game Fan in Brian Pacula's The Good,
The Bad, and The Eight-Bit, but little else is known about this
publication.
Lee-Mon: The trusty (if
not especially bright) sidekick of Josh Means in the Video
Apocalypse comic series Asylum.
MJ Lesnick: See Josh
Lesnick.
Josh Lesnick: Josh's
Video Apocalypse was one of the funniest and most popular video game
fanzines in the second generation (from '92 to '94) of the hobby. In
VA, chaos reigned supreme with hyperactive cartoon characters,
downright nasty game reviews, and plenty of humor that was just
plain weird. Josh now edits his own web site (devoted to anime', not
video games) and draws comics, hoping one day to become a
professional artist.
Josh Leverich: Josh
co-edited the frenetic game fanzine Access Time with his friend
Genesis Kryscski.
Ralph Linne: Like Tim
Duarte of The 2600 Connection, Ralph created a fanzine devoted
entirely to his favorite classic game system. Intellivision Lines
covered all aspects of Mattel's Intellivision game system, from
reviews of its software to opinions about its acquisition in the
late 80's by the INTV group.
Todd Lintner: Todd was
the editor of MASTERminds, a publication devoted not only to the
Sega Master System but other Sega consoles as well. Todd, dubbed the
William F. Buckley Jr. of fandom, took society's ills, lousy games,
and the questionable practices of other fan-eds to task with brutal
parodies and reviews filled to overflowing with bitter sarcasm that
went straight for the throat. Todd did become a bit too full of
himself in later issues, but MASTERminds is nevertheless held in
fond regard as the most intelligently written fanzine of its time.
Byron J. Lisamen: The
cuddly but sarcastic bear who was the unofficial mascot of
Project: Ignition. He later shared the honor with two other
characters in Jess Ragan's most recent fanzine The Gameroom Blitz.
Casey Loe: The editor of
Next Generation, a professional-quality newsletter with up-to-date
game news, and, surprisingly, a cutting wit which made its more
negative game reviews wickedly entertaining. It should be noted that
Next Generation has no relationship whatsoever with NEXT Generation,
the professional video game magazine tailored to adult readers. In
fact, Casey went on to write for an entirely different game
magazine, the infamous Die Hard Game Fan.
Eric Longdin: Eric
published Super NES Gamer, a video game fanzine devoted to
Nintendo's wildly popular 16-bit game system. After acquiring a
TurboDuo, the fanzine was redubbed Super Gamer and given a slightly
wider focus. Eric's next publication was Splat!, a
miscellaneous fanzine with little actual video game coverage.
Regrettably, this would also be his last... years after the
premiere of Splat!, Eric died of a terminal illness.
Matt Lotti: Matt created
Hyper'zine, a video game newsletter with a format similar to that of
Ulrich Kempf's Video Views. The main difference between the two
publications is that Matt took his work a little less seriously,
printing articles by Jess Ragan and Pat O'Donnell that Ulrich
wouldn't have touched with a ten foot pole.
Russell Loudin: Russell
published Forgotten Words, a fanzine which really lived up to its
name as its circulation was severely limited. Little is known about
Russell or his publication except for a review that appeared in
Digital Press.
Dan Thomas MacInnes:
Dan was the editor of V: The Video Game Experience, a well
written but underappreciated video game fanzine from the early to
mid 1990's. After several issues, Dan changed the format of
the publication, devoting some of its content to outside interests
like poetry.
Chris
MacDonald: Chris MacDonald, aka Kao Megura, was best
known for his work on the GameFAQs web site, where he wrote over a
hundred excellent strategy guides for games such as Final Fantasy
VII and Marvel vs. Capcom. He also supplied the last issue of
The Gameroom Blitz with a detailed review of Street Fighter III:
Double Impact. Sadly, Chris MacDonald died of undetermined
causes in 2004.
Mark Martin: Mark ran a
video game store in southern Michigan, where Jess Ragan lived for
several years. Without this store and Mark's generousity, much of
the content in Project:Ignition would not have been possible. Mark
also contributed a CES article to that fanzine.
Kanawful Massengille: A Sub-Zero contributor and one
of Chris Dyer's friends. Despite Chris' off-the-wall nature, it
should be noted that he never once made fun of Massengille's name in
the pages of Sub-Zero.
Andrew McNaughton:
Andrew penned Super Power Bi-Monthly, one of several fanzines
devoted to the Super NES in fandom's second era (from '92-'94).
Josh Means: One of several
characters in the hilarious comic series Asylum, a long-running
feature in Video Apocalypse. Josh, of course, was loosely based on
the editor of Video Apocalypse, Josh Lesnick.
Kao Megura: See
also "Chris MacDonald."
Zach Meston: A freelance
journalist for a wide variety of game magazines, Zach also
contributed to Dirty Secrets, a scathing report on the video game
industry's use of cartridge copiers. Dirty Secrets was featured in
an issue of Tom Donoho's Above & Beyond.
Greg Meyers: Greg was a
younger fan-ed who published Game Masters for a brief period of
time. He left fandom after countless bad reviews in other fanzines,
most notably Chris Kohler's Video Zone. So disliked was Greg Meyers'
fanzine that the term GMS, Greg Meyers Syndrome, was created as an
explanation for why some fan-eds have poor layout and writing
skills.
Ter Micharoni: Ter
edited one of the two fanzines entitled Zap!. The other, by Scott
Weller, had two exclamation points in the title. Zap! was unique in
that it focused as much on Ter's conservative political beliefs as
it had video games.
Mike Mignola: A
contributor to Rick Florey's Overkill.
Ramiz Monsef: A friend
of Brian Pacula's, Ramiz added this unforgettable comment to a
review of Bart's Nightmare in The Good, The Bad, and The
Eight-Bit: "Basically, it bit walrus penis." Ramiz also
contributed a Yuppie-Man comic and reviews of old slasher films to
older issues of the popular fanzine.
Fernando Mosquera: Also
known as Lagi (the dragon in Panzer Dragoon Zwei), Fernando supplied
the readers of Rick Florey's Overkill with his own blend of
no-nonsense opinion and Saturn reviews in the popular monthly column
Lagi's Lair. Fernando last edited SegaNet, a web site largely
devoted to Sega's last game system, the Dreamcast.
Mr. Nutz: Editor of
G-Force, a seldom seen newsletter with reviews of video games and
other pop culture paraphenalia. Mr. Nutz isn't fondly remembered in
fandom because he refused to send issues of his fanzine to members
of the Gaming Enthusiasts of America. Making matters worse,
he even lit many of the fanzines he received on fire
and sent the remains back to their publishers with
threats and insults.
Nickelmann: A more recent Quartermann parody than
those by Joe Santulli and Jess Ragan, the cleverly named Harris
Stevens once wrote a Gamin' Gossip column in Chris Kohler's Video
Zone.
Pat O'Donnell: Pat offered his thoughts about arcade
games and, in one instance, a very scary rant about controversial
fandom figure Aaron Buckner in Matt Lotti's Hyper'zine.
Chad Okada: A public
relations representative for SNK, Chad (who regularly used the
psuedonym Game Lord) pressured Pat Reynolds to change the name of
his fanzine, also titled GameLord. Frustrated, Pat took the fanzine
out of circulation and returned to fandom shortly thereafter with
Fantazine. Oddly, nobody from the Coca-Cola Company has attempted to
strongarm Pat into changing the name of his more recent fanzine due
to its apparent association with the refreshing low calorie beverage
Fanta.
Brian Pacula: This The Good, The Bad, and The
Eight-Bit editor started out humbly enough as the editor of The
16-Bit Pit. He eventually graduated to GB8B and made a name for
himself with his trademark sarcastic reviews and the side-splitting
comic series Roadside Comics. Later issues of GB8B had a noticable
undercurrent of bitterness and low-key hostility, but even they were
terrific.
Tabitha Indigo Paige:
Paige shook up fandom with Counterpoint!, called the first fanzine
by a female gamer. Counterpoint! was put under a great deal of
scrutiny by fan-eds as it was believed that its editor was not real
at all but a hoax created by another member of fandom (who wishes to
remain anonymous). It should be noted that nobody who made these
accusations had anything but circustancial evidence to back up their
claims.
Nate Palmer: Nate's
fanzine Mediapoint was a reliable source of information about the
video game industry, if not much else.
Mike Palisano: Nicknamed
Mouse in his early days as a fan-ed, Mike is best known for The
Laser, a popular fanzine with an intriguing blend of video game
commentary and disturbing prose. Mike experimented with other
fanzines, including LaserCade and The Escapist, and last published
MMCC, a sort of sequel to The Laser with a more cynical look at
video games.
Jeremy
Parish: Jeremy started publishing a print companion to
his popular video game web site Toastyfrog in 2002. He may
have came a little late to the party, but his newsletter was every
bit as good as those published in the 1990's.
Eric Patterson: Also known
as Shidoshi, Eric published the immensely popular Digital Anime', a
professional quality newsletter with reviews of RPGs and other games
with a heavy Japanese influence. Eric is probably best known for his
contributions to the Die Hard Game Fan, a professional video game
magazine which has since gone out of publication.
Mandi Paugh: The
editor of the Official Mega Man Home Page also wrote a brief review
of Tails' Adventure for the last issue of The Gameroom Blitz, and
drew a cover illustration for Fantazine.
Russ Perry, Jr.: Perhaps
the most beloved of fan-eds, Russ ironically enough started out not
as an editor of a fanzine, but a frequent letter writer whose razor
sharp wit and insightful commentary were seen in dozens of video
game newsletters. Later, Russ wisely decided to put his talents to
good use in his own fanzine, Slap-Dash, a
video-games-plus-a-whole-lot-more publication which was published
for several years. Russ also took control of The 2600 Connection
immediately after Tim Duarte left the fanzine due to a lack of spare
time.
Sean Pettibone: Sean was
attacked in such fanzines as Paradox and Hyper'zine for allegedly
conning game companies out of prototypes. It wasn't long before Sean
fired back with The Johnston Files, a scathing reply to these
accusations which also marked the birth of the first issue of In
Between The Lines. After vindicating himself, Sean went on to
release four more issues of the fanzine, and all were applauded as
intelligent and sharply written. Sean's punk sensibilities did
tarnish the fanzine's content, and contributed to outings with other
fan-eds.
Jim Pittaro: Jim
edited Total Supremacy and frequently contributed to his brother's
various fanzines.
Mike Pittaro: The editor
of several fanzines, including Megamania (not to be confused with
the 2600 game of the same name) and Uproar.
Rich Plummer: A good
friend of Pat Reynolds, Rich contributed both artwork and reviews to
his newsletter Fantazine... when he wasn't busy performing his
duties as a naval officer overseas.
Frank Polosky: This
classic game trader sells Video Magic, a combination
newsletter/catalog.
Keith Previc: A
contributor to MASTERminds, Keith was largely responsible for many
of the fanzine's best reviews. Keith and Todd made a fine team as
their writing styles complemented one another.
Tim Priest: The most
memorable of Fantazine's contributors, Tim Priest doubled as The
Intimidator, a superhero wannabee with an advice column for
blossoming crime fighters.
Tom Priest: To be
honest, Tom was overshadowed by his outrageous brother Tim, but
never let it be said that he didn't supply Fantazine with great
content of his own. Tom Priest wrote a top ten list about that
mightiest of heroes, Superman, that was just as funny as anything
his brother could dish out.
Adrian Jourgenson
Proctor: Another of Pat Reynolds' friends, Adrian is best known
for his mad rants in the Fantazine column The Gripes of Wrath. His
iconoclastic nature added spice to Fantazine, whether he was
discussing his favorite video games or complaining about the
prejudice he's had to face as an African-American death metal fan.
Jess Ragan: The editor of
Project:Ignition, Jess had an uncanny knack for stirring up
controversy, often angering other fanzine editors such as Pat
Reynolds and Sean Pettibone. Jess's almost unending war with Arnie
Katz was perhaps the most memorable of these encounters. Jess also
published the electronic game design fanzine Concept, then went on
to do a last issue of that fanzine and The Gameroom Blitz,
considered a huge improvement over the somewhat incoherent P:I.
Sahil Rahimi: Sahil
contributed a lengthy CES report to Alex Frias' newsletter
Viewpoint.
Carlton Rahmani: The
editor of Duh!?, a raw game fanzine with more profanity than your
average Andrew Dice Clay performance. He also contributed to Ben
Leatherman's Fanarchy, a more coherent work with a similarly
rebellious attitude.
A.J. Ramos: A.J. edited
MegaForce briefly before quitting it to do a music fanzine.
David Ramsden:
Contributed to the debut of Dokuritsu, a short-lived successor to
Josh Lesnick's Video Apocalypse.
Jon Ratcliffe: The
editor of Game Mag, a tightly edited video game magazine with a
strong emphasis on layout and up-to-the-minute game reviews. Jon has
been harshly criticized for his fanzine's resemblence to
professional publications like EGM and NEXT Generation, but
Ratcliffe has dismissed his detractors as "jealous" of his
impressive editing and layout skills.
Pat Reynolds: Pat made
news right from the start with a controversy surrounding his first
fanzine GameLord. A PR agent from SNK who used the pseudonym Game
Lord pressured Pat to change the name of the newsletter, forcing it
out of publication. Soon after the incident, Pat released Fantazine,
a more serious and tightly edited work, with the help of his friends
Pete Foote, Adrian Proctor, and fellow fan-ed Jess Ragan. Pat
Reynolds is now a monthly contributor to Tips & Tricks
magazine.
Al Riccitelli, Jr.: The
editor of The Dark Side, an entertaining fanzine with coverage of
both video games and professional wrestling.
Tyrone Rodriguez: Tyrone
created Entry Level with David Hunt, then went solo with the greatly
improved Hardcore. Since then, he's worked for everyone from
Tips & Tricks magazine to Black Ops Software to the web site
IGN. Busy guy, huh?
Glenn Rubenstein:
Glenn's ludicrously priced At The Controls retailed for $125 (yes,
that was not a typo) per six issue subscription. It was intended as
a newsletter for the video game industry and was even quoted by Sega
in an ad for one of its games. Glenn now writes game reviews
professionally.
Pan Ryuken: The
assertive female star of Asylum, a long-running comic series in the
fanzine Video Apocalypse. Ryuken was one of many characters editor
Josh Lesnick created as an homage to (or parody of) his favorite
Japanese animated features.
Andy Saito: This Totally Super NES editor was also
partially responsible for the Gaming Enthusiasts of America and
published its bi-monthly newsletter. Andy was regularly lambasted by
other fan-eds for reviewing games optimistically, apparently in an
attempt to grease the wheels of video game companies and get free
prototypes in the process.
Erik Schimek: Erik had
much to say about society, religion, and on rare occasion, video
games in the fanzines Mindstorm, MASTERminds, and Video Gaming
Monthly. This self-proclaimed Deicide even tried to thwart THWART,
the organization dedicated to preventing Aaron Buckner from
returning to EG fandom.
Robert Schmitz: Robert's
Shining Force is considered by many to be the best RPG devoted game
fanzine ever published. Artist John Watkins-Chow's spectacular
Japanesque drawings and Schmitz' own in-depth game reviews made that
fanzine extremely popular in the third era ('95-present) of video
game fandom.
Justin Schuh: One of the
four editors of Paradox, a popular gaming fanzine of the early to
mid '90s.
Travis Scott: Travis was
the editor of Video Game Review, an early video game newsletter
inspired by such fandom mainstays as Digital Press and Phanzine
Star. Travis had strong ties with game companies and aspirations of
"going pro"... it is not known if this ever happened.
Senzuri: Senzuri is a
contributor to the fanzine Thy Holy Handgrenade and also publishes
his own newsletter, unrelated to video games.
Ara Shirinian: Ara was
the driving force behind Spectrum, a no-nonsense video game fanzine
which prided itself on having terrific back covers (as opposed to
most fanzines, which preferred spicing up their front covers with
excellent artwork). Ara now works for Chris Bieniek at the
professional game magazine Tips & Tricks.
Scott Slauson: A
contributor to In Between The Lines, whose work was ported over to
Jeremy Statz' Matrix3 for one issue.
Matthew Smith: Matthew
edited WarpZone, but many best recall his wacky antics and thick
Southern accent from phone conversations. You couldn't find the name
Matthew Smith without seeing the word "Yeeeeeeehaw!" next to it in
most fanzines.
Matt Sonefeld: Matt
was a frequent contributor to the Pat Reynolds fanzines GameLord and
Fantazine.
Joe Souza: A frequent
contributor to Fanarchy, Joe even took over the editorial reins for
one issue.
Jeremy Statz: The editor of
Matrix3, one of several "wacky" fanzines which were popular in 1993
and 1994. In addition to morbid horoscopes and pie charts
demonstrating the stupidity of NRA members, Statz also offered his
readers thoughtful reviews and some of the best anti-Nintendo
articles ever written. Jeremy was last seen at Raven
Software, where he contributed to the design of several
popular computer games.
Bill
Suszynski: Bill offered his opinion of the
Nintendo 64 and a handful of first generation releases in
the fanzine The Gameroom Blitz.
James Thomas: James' New
World News achieved great notoriety as the spit-polished Neo-Geo
fanzine with the remarkably self-absorbed editor. Some fan-eds
applauded James' dogged coverage of SNK's arcade-quality game
system, while others griped about his inflated self-image.
Dennis Thompson: Dennis
published the fanzine Slipstream for a brief period of time. His
fanzine is said to have resembled early issues of Video Zone and The
Dark Side.
Brian Tramel: Brian
Tramel wasn't so much a fanzine editor as he was a fanzine
critic. He published a brief newsletter reviewing a wide
variety of 'zines, ranging in topics from video games to human
sexuality.
Ken Uston: A famous blackjack dealer and video game
player, Ken Uston wrote such excellent guides to video games as
Score! Beating the Top 16 Arcade Games and Mastering Pac-Man. Ken
also published a video game newsletter in the early 80's- not a
fanzine, per se, as it was advertised in his books and had a focus
on tips and strategies, not editorial content as is the case with
true video game fanzines. Mr. Uston died in 1987; it is rumored that
a drug overdose was responsible for his demise.
Michael Vafaes: Michael's
reviews are the backbone of Jon Ratcliffe's fanzine Game Mag.
Steve Van
Neste: Steve was a big fan of Armored Core, and
contributed a review of that game to Pat Reynolds'
Fantazine.
Eric "The Butcher"
Vigoda: A contributor to Nathan Hauke's Sensory Overload, Eric
became infamous after he'd attacked Hyper'zine editor Matt Lotti
without provocation in the short-lived opinion column Welcome To The
Slaughterhouse. Eric was dropped from the fanzine shortly after the
hate mail came pouring into Sensory Overload headquarters.
Ken Walls: Ken edited KC Connection, a video game
newsletter with ties to FANN (the FANzine Network which allowed
members to borrow articles from other members' fanzines).
David Weinstein: David
edited Monitor, a fanzine originally designed to cover older
computers. Monitor eventually widened its focus to include
console games.
Scott Weller: Scott
edited one of two fanzines entitled Zap!!. The other, by Ter
Micharoni, had only one exclamation point in the title. Scott was
also one of the chairmen of the fandom organization NAEGE (the
National Association of Electronic Gaming Enthusiasts).
Lester Welsh: Lester
first wrote editorials for Jon Ratcliffe's Game Mag, then eventually
started his own fanzine, Thy Holy Handgrenade. Handgrenade is an
energetic mix of video game and cartoon coverage, with tons of clip
art from Japanese comics strewn throughout.
Matt Wensing: Matt was
the co-editor of The Enigma Journal, and contributed two Playstation
reviews to Chris Kohler's Video Zone.
Jason Whitman: A member
of the quartet of editors who published Paradox. Jason's most
memorable moment in that fanzine was when he'd smashed his face on
the copy plate of a Xerox machine and offered the end result to
Paradox founder Chris Johnston as a cover for the usually reserved
newsletter. I wonder if he knows what people do with copiers after
hours...?
Colin Williamson: A
latecomer to Sub-Zero's editorial staff, Colin contributed some
great 32X and PC reviews to the fanzine. Colin eventually
migrated to the professional gaming web site
IGN.
Greg Wilcox: Greg
started out as an artist and writer for Sacrificed Trees, an
underground comic book publisher. Years later, he began work
on Continue?, a video game fanzine with diverse content and plenty
of his great artwork. Continue? is no longer being published,
but Greg is still involved with the video game industry, having most
recently written for the magazine Foul.
Dave Wilson: Dave
was the author of Willard's Words, an opinion column that ran
infrequently in Pat Reynolds' Fantazine. He was a strong
supporter of modems, years before the creation of the Internet as we
know it.
George Wilson: George
was at the head of Video Universe, a fandom staple of the early
90's. This newsletter was best known for its loyalty to Street
Fighter 2 and other fighting games... in fact, the only fanzine with
a stronger focus on the genre was Tony Fazzone's Shoryuken!, which
was devoted ENTIRELY to them.
Joyce Worley: The wife
of Arnie Katz, Joyce created The Communique Group with husband Arnie
and Bill Kunkel and wrote news articles and editorials for the
defunct video game magazine Video Games & Computer
Entertainment. She also wrote an installment of Fandom Central for
Arnie Katz in one issue of Electronic
Games.
Danny Yan: A contributor to the NAEGE Journal and, for
a brief period of time, the co-editor of Circuit City Report, a
newsletter which covered the latest in computer software.
Danny was the co-owner of a business named Circuit City...
however, we're not sure if it's the national chain of
electronics stores we all remember from the advertisements on
television.
David Yan: David's
Phantasy Flight is considered one of the best RPG devoted game
fanzines ever published.
Terence Yee: Terence
co-edited the computer software journal Circuit City Report with
Danny Yan.
Corey You: Formerly of
Ultra Bit Magazine, an underground tip sheet for popular games such
as the Mortal Kombat series, Corey later wrote the cyberpunk
fanzines Digital Storm and DSX.
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