Until the Internet rendered them obsolete, magazines were the main way of delivering news, reviews, opinion and information about the video game industry. More or less forgotten today, they're a great subset to add to any video game collection and if you can find them out in the wild they're usually pretty inexpensive. Let's take a look at some of these old, forgotten titles.

My connection to gaming magazines

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I grew up on a small family farm in Nebraska, so I had limited access to video game stores and didn't have cable TV, since getting more than 4 channels if you lived outside of town required expensive and massive satellite dishes (not the diminutive Dish/DirectTV models that sprung up in the late 90's). The day that the new issue of Nintendo Power, Electronic Gaming Monthly, or GamePro hit was my favorite day of the month. I would rush to the mailbox hopeful that it wasn't delayed and when it was there, I'd huddle up in the my room and pour over the magazines from cover to cover.

I've kept every issue of every gaming magazine I ever received and they have a dedicated spot in my gaming room today. Some are in great condition, while others are ripped, ragged and rough. Here's a selection of some of my favorite titles and some information about them.

Nintendo Power

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The big dog of the game magazine industry, Nintendo Power ran from 1988 through 2007. When it ended, it more or less signaled that the video game magazine industry was dead, outside of some extremely niche titles.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

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Launching in tandem with the new 16-bit gaming consoles, EGM was a long-running title that died a couple of times in recent years, only to be resurrected. I can't seem to find any concrete information about when it ended, but it suffered some rough years starting in the mid 2000's. That being said, it was my favorite gaming magazine of the 90's and I have dozens of issues spanning from 1989 to the mid 90's.

Video Games & Computer Entertainment

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I've not been much of a PC gamer, but I did enjoy reading about the types of games that were coming out on the computers of the era. VG&CE ran from 1988 through 1993 before it rebranded itself into Videogames-The Ultimate Gaming Magazine and lasted a few more years.

I loved the magazine simply because it covered both console games and computer titles and I enjoyed reading about PC games I'd likely never play simply because I loved all aspects of gaming.

Console-specific titles

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There were many titles dedicated to specific game consoles, from Sega Visions to a slew of evolving magazines that covered the TurboGrafx-16. These were often much thinner than the bulky issues of EGM and GamePro that landed in my mailbox every month. However, these are as interesting to flip through today as they were in 1992. Peeking into the world of specific, even niche game consoles of the era is an amazing blast of nostalgia.

And this is just scratching the surface

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From mass-market titles like GamePro, the GameStop exclusive Game Informer and niche titles like Diehard Game Fan, there is a lot out there to collect and discover.

Did you have any favorite gaming magazines from the 80's, 90's, or 2000's? Let's discuss!

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