New (Old) Magazines!

Okay, I've found something to collect. Old game magazines.

Hit a series of thrift stores, indie game stores, and used bookstores with my bro over the last few days. Not much in the way of games, but I spent about 20 bucks on magazines and strategy guides and ended up with a two-foot pile. I might go into specifics later, but I think the best find was a few issues of EGM from the late 90s, with big cover features on "Tony Hawk 2," "Donkey Kong 64," and "Ocarina of Time."

I love these things. I love their brash, ostentatious 90s advertising. I love their colorful, stylized column formats. I love the graphic design work on the features. Most of all, I love all of the tidbits and factoids that comes from their enthusiasm of then-new classics.

For instance: Nintendo higher-up Howard Lincoln called Zelda the "Gone with the Wind" of gaming. And, amazingly, history may have proven his drunken boast right.

With a pile of these things, an excel spreadsheet, and a shitton of free time, I could write an amazing book on the industry filled to the brim with anecdotes.

I need more. Earlier ones. EVER EARLIER.