FunFactor

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 YouT...

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/gamepro-issue-108-september-1997/GamePro%20-%20Issue%20108%20%28September%201997%29/mode/2up Grab 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...

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_31/mode/1up Great 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 a...

ISSUE LINK: Computer Entertainer, Volume 5, Number 3 | Video Game History Foundation Library – Digital Archive VHGF HOME: Home | Video Game History Foundation BONUS 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 Cifa...

DESIGN ROOM DOT SITE: https://www.designroom.site/ Matt Leone, formerly of Polygon, EGM, and elsewhere, has launched a new subscription-based site that gets right to the heart of everything Ty and Aidan love about games media: oral histories of classic, beloved and/or interesting old games. Not only do we get deep into how and why Matt launched the site, we also look back on some of the vital work...

ISSUE LINK: https://www.retromags.com/magazines/usa/game-players-1993/game-players-issue-83/ Here come the RPGs...sort of. Aidan and Ty revisit Game Players yet again, as the drumbeat for more RPGs gets louder across 1996 and 1997. The splashy cover art of  Beyond the Beyond 's Finn helped rook a young Ty into buying one of the most disappointing and frustrating games he's ever played. But the rev...

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/game-informer-issue-47-march-1997 ANDY MCNAMARA ON MY PERFECT CONSOLE: https://shows.acast.com/my-perfect-console/episodes/andy-macnamara-former-editor-in-chief-game-informer MATT MILLER ANNOUNCING GI'S RETURN: https://gameinformer.com/letter-from-the-editor/2025/03/25/game-informer-is-back We've been grinding XP and saving up MP for this one: Our first issu...

ISSUE LINK: Video Game History Foundation Library | Collection: PC GAMER (US) More info on " Free Speech and Magic Money ," Jillan E. Foley, PhD's forthcoming book from Harvard University Press: Book – Jillian E. Foley We enter the dangerously Adult world of PC gaming: Mail-order explicit games, game-deletion utilities to keep people from finding out you play explicit games, politicians fear-monge...

ISSUE LINK: Tips & Tricks - Volume IV Issue 1  GAME LOSERS T&T ARTICLE: A Comprehensive Oral History Of Tips & Tricks – The #1 Video-Game Tips Magazine | Game Losers We're the Tomb Raiders! Aidan and Ty teased Tomb Raider takes last episode, and here they finally are--and so is our look at a very popular game magazine that didn't (quite) have reviews at all, Tips & Tricks. Our host...

ISSUE LINK: Computer Entertainer, Volume 5, Number 3 | Video Game History Foundation Library – Digital Archive VHGF HOME: Home | Video Game History Foundation 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 are two of the highest authorities on the planet on retro games, games media, and the...

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/Edge_Gaming/Edge%20Gaming%20Magazine%20016/mode/2up KEITH STUART EULOGY FOR JASON BROOKES: https://www.eurogamer.net/always-on-edge-my-life-with-jason-brookes We're going back to the future of interactive entertainment! EDGE magazine, the UK-made precursor to/sister publication of NEXT Generation, revolutionized games media way back in 1993. But the revoluti...

ISSUE LINK: Ultra Game Players No. 92 - Christmas 1996 Mike Salmon's shot-calling review of NBA Live '97 stuck with Ty for almost 30 years—and it cuts to the heart of everything our podcast is about.  For the first time ever, we revisit a magazine: Game Players, right after the "ULTRA" makeover that inspired the name of the very premium tiers you subscribe to! We take a hard look at the makeover,...

ISSUE LINK:  The Duelist No. 21, January 1997 ALLISON MCKENZIE'S TERRA PRINT: FFVI - Terra and Mog Print It's a bonus BONUS! Ever since the Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy set dropped, our Discord's hottest channel has been #ttrpgs-and-card-games . Aidan and Ty decided that if it's all they could talk about, and all our most engaged listeners could talk about, then heck why not interview Magic:...

ISSUE LINK: Nintendo Power 88, September 1996 Gamemaster Classified book KS page "Fun" & Games Podcast home The episode so many of you have been waiting for: Our first look at Nintendo Power! And boy, is it ever a big one--the debut of Super Mario 64, the game that would define the Nintendo 64, and the company itself, for the entire console generation (and, arguably, beyond). Packed with tons...

Mollie Patterson's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mollipen.bsky.social Mollie Patterson's homepage: https://mollielpatterson.com/ The EGM Compendium Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/egmbook/egmcompendium UNLOCKED AND FREE FOR ALL LISTENERS: A FunFactor ULTRA Review Crew bonus episode!! We talk with the great Mollie L. Patterson of EGM and GameFan fame about her (very) early yea...

ISSUE LINK: Intelligent Gamer No. 2, July 1996 A true trailblazer of a magazine, which Ty mistook at the time for a craven NEXT Generation ripoff. Instead, Ziff-Davis bought what might have been the world's first fully digital online games magazine and soon put its precocious editor at the head of a real, monthly, big-boy print equivalent.  Besides giving Aidan and Ty an excuse to riff on the bene...

Please enjoy this sample of a FunFactor ULTRA Review Crew bonus episode bursting with international flavor! With EposVox and Sean Seanson  joining Aidan and Ty, we bridged three countries and seven time zones to go deep on our love of demo discs--the best (and sometimes only) way to taste the breadth of some old consoles' libraries and indie scenes.  It's our first two-guest episode, and an absolu...

TODAY'S ISSUE: GameFan Volume 4, Issue 5 - May 1996 This one's special -- we recorded it right before the Mollie Patterson bonus episode (which you should join the FunFactor ULTRA Review Crew to hear!), wherein she gave the amazing backstory behind some of the unique production and culture wrinkles that were evident in the final product of this unique mag. We talk about our connections to the seed...

TODAY'S ISSUE: NEXT Generation Issue No. 5, May 1995 Whew, this one's a doozy. Not just diving into one of Ty's favorite magazines for the very first time, but the very first issue he ever picked up: A massive roundup of all the news and rumors ever about Nintendo's Ultra 64 project. Ty and Aidan also dig into console launches successful and -un, then and now, plus go long on journalistic responsi...

Mollie Patterson's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mollipen.bsky.social Mollie Patterson's homepage: https://mollielpatterson.com/ The EGM Compendium Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/egmbook/egmcompendium FunFactor ULTRA subscribers are getting our full 91-minute interview with the great Mollie L. Patterson of EGM and GameFan fame, talking about her (very) early years as a 'zine...

TODAY'S ISSUE:  EGM No. 74 - September 1995 Ty and Aidan dive into the super-edgy EGM ads, before flipping through one of the most fearless, innovative outlets of a fearless, innovative era. Then they dig into the four-way capsule review of the Super Nintendo port of DOOM, highlighting the strengths and faults of both the EGM review system and the game itself. As always, our Letters section featur...

TODAY'S ISSUE:  GamePro No. 77, December 1995 (Internet Archive) Ty and Aidan are two short white guys who don't play basketball--but do love sports, and sports video games. We've had quite few pleas from listeners to break down a good review of a bad game , and GamePro 77 has the goods. Of course, there are plenty of other things to talk about in the issue, from the letters and ads to the Jim Dav...

Mike Drucker's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mikedrucker.bsky.social Here's a teaser of the very first FunFactor ULTRA bonus episode! It's our exclusive interview with Mike Drucker--the author of "Good Game, No Rematch: A Life Made of Video Games." We talk about the book, Mike's life as a gamer and writer for some of the most prestigious shows in TV (including Saturday Night Live, The Tonight...

TODAY'S ISSUE:  Game Players No. 75, September 1995 (Internet Archive) Ty and Aidan basically became friends over their shared love of Chrono Trigger, and everything it stood for as an artistic achievement in video games. Game Players was also their mutual favorite magazine--so Game Players No. 75, and its dual-writer review of Chrono Trigger, naturally looms large in the canon. Ty and Aidan flip...

TODAY'S ISSUE: PSM No. 1, September 1997 (Internet Archive) The very first issue of PlayStation Magazine went big on "independent" 'tude, and on Final Fantasy VII--including cover art, a massive walkthrough, and a five-star review of the game that would redefine a series, a genre, and arguably the top console of the 32-bit generation.  Ty and Aidan go deep on the conflicting tensions inherent in i...