The other day, I received a call from a coworker. While sorting through paper recyclables, he had come across some old EGM magazines. He asked if I was interested, and of course, I said yes. Although he saved what he could, it makes me a bit sad to think there might have been a complete first-year subscription among the discarded items. The next day, he handed me a box that weighed at least 75 pounds, if not more. It was packed with EGM, some GameFan issues, and a few other delightful surprises.

It was pretty cool to go through the magazines and revisit the past. Seeing the cutting-edge technology of the time and the birth of iconic mascots was like stepping back into a different era. I still have my collection of gaming magazines, but this particular era had been missing from it. It's incredible to think about how this was once considered the pinnacle of technology--it never ceases to amaze me.

These appear to be what I believe are handouts from CES (since E3 didn't exist yet). I could be wrong, but it's pretty nifty to come across this kind of documentation nonetheless. If anyone knows exactly what these are, feel free to email me.

Just a few random items came in the box. It's pretty neat, especially since it was rare to find a kid who owned one of these back in the day. I still remember flipping through the Sears Wish Book, dreaming of having one.

This is what makes me sad, as this is all I have of the early issues. There's a 1989 buyer's guide(the actual first issue) missing its cover, which makes me think there may have been more from the first year. Still, having a few of these in my possession is amazing, so I can't complain too much.

Here we have the dawn of the 16-bit era. Everything started to get a bit more exciting, the war was on, and blast processing was born. Even with amazing graphics I don't believe any era in gaming was this fun to be a part of. At this moment in time I still had a NES, and wouldn't get a Genesis until later when I bought a used one.

Another staple of the times was the Ninja Turtles. These games still hold up today. The graphics were good enough to where it was like playing the tv show.

The 90's violent fighters. This was my deal. Not that I ever got good at any of them, but if I saw an MK machine I had to put money in it. Killer Instinct was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Going to theme parks and just staying in the arcade all day. Primal rage was another that never got much love, but is still there in the past wanting a sequel.

News of new hardware was always the big deal, at least for me. I needed to know even though I knew I wasn't going to get it, but I could dream, and dream I did. There were even things that never came to fruition.

Game Fan a magazine I didn't see stocked on the shelves much, but the cover art is just amazing. I had some copies of the magazine from the late 90's, but do not recall the mascot being on the cover.

Well hopefully I can revisit these in the near future more in depth. Too bad I don't have the time to put up a whole Christmas issue, but maybe next year.