FunFactor

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_36

It’s time to review…the consoles??

NEXT Generation issue 36 marks the start of the magazine’s third year–and they’re not only calling winners and losers of the console generation the magazine was named after, this issue has leaks and rumors of the specs of the next-next generation! And then, wonder of wonders, they declare *the PC* the best console of the year!

That said, they also declare Lara Croft *the most famous woman in the world*, and we unpack a deep (and deeply cringey) interview with one of execs of the developer who created her. Then we reviewed their review of the SEGA Saturn!

Once again, we streamed this recording session live to FunFactor ULTRA members–so if you’d like to get in on the fun, just sign up at https://funfactorpod.com/! See you on the Discord, and you’ll see us when we next go live!

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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://www.retromags.com/files/file/6814-pc-gamer-issue-037-june-1997

One of the world’s biggest, hottest developers took an unprecedented dive into the rich fantasy world of one of their beloved gaming IPs, and pulled strings to get its beautiful, hand-painted art onto the cover of PC Gamer.

So why didn’t it ever come out?

PC Gamer’s huge feature preview of WarCraft Adventures: War of the Clans had great art, full professional voice acting, and young Aidan holding his breath for a game that would never be released. He and Ty talk about the pain of canceled games, and review PC Gamer’s review of Magic: The Gathering (known as “Shandalar”) for the PC.

We streamed this live to FunFactor ULTRA members–so if you’d like to get in on the fun, just sign up at https://funfactorpod.com/! See you on the Discord, and you’ll see us when we next go live!

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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/GameFan9700/GameFan%20Vol.%205%20-%2012%20%28Dec%201997%29%20Quest%2064/page/n112/mode/1up

MOLLIE L. PATTERSON'S OLD LETTER TO DAVE HALVERSON (she's since said she's cooled down quite a bit, and they're on better terms): http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gamefan/fatbabies.txt

Don't let the extremely long intro discussion on journalism, writing, and editorial mentorship--something both Aidan and Ty are clearly passionate about--dissuade you from checking out our look at the December 1997 issue of GameFan!

It's a huge one for the magazine, as it's the one where founding/longtime/iconic/controversial editor Dave Halverson steps down to make way for David S. J. Hodgson. There's some clear leveling up of GameFan's fannish production from the first issue we did, but there are still plenty of wild decisions being made in pursuit of cramming the most magazine the staff at the time could. 

It's also a huge time for our show, as we're wrapping up the first season and getting your feedback on what we're doing and where we're going next! Get on the Discord and let your thoughts be heard: https://discord.com/invite/5VBpWGSuz6

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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.gamehistory.org/item/9e656342-878a-4098-9f49-0ca4dc313cb2

It'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/

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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-1997

For 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

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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!