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PODCAST

FunFactor

Ty Schalter & Aidan Moher

Ty Schalter (VICE, FiveThirtyEight) and Aidan Moher (WIRED, Vulture) review what rocked and what sucked about the classic video game magazines that inspired them to become professional journalists, authors, and critics—and what they can tell us about today"s digital media and games.New episodes drop every other Tuesday!

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All Episodes

95:16

Game Informer 53 - GoldenEye 007 [S1E23]

FunFactor ·

2026/02/10

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/game-informer-issue-53-september-1997/mode/2upEGM DOCUMENTARY BY MY LIFE IN GAMING & GAME SACK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E010OPY1TzwEverybody’s favorite* N64 game ever is here: GoldenEye 007! But did Game Informer’s weird four-voice feature review system capture all the excitement at release?*if you didn’t have a PC capable of playing first-person shooters online, that is. Did Game Informer’s review capture the skepticism Aidan and Ty had of it at

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95:50

NEXT Generation 36 - The Sega Saturn S1E22]

FunFactor ·

2026/01/27

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_36It’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

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82:54

PC Gamer 37 - Magic: The Gathering [S1E21]

FunFactor ·

2026/01/13

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

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95:03

GameFan Volume 5, Issue 12 - Quake (Saturn) [S1E20]

FunFactor ·

2025/12/30

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/GameFan9700/GameFan%20Vol.%205%20-%2012%20%28Dec%201997%29%20Quest%2064/page/n112/mode/1upMOLLIE 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.txtDon'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

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99:29

EGM 100 - The 100 Best Games of All Time [S1E19]

FunFactor ·

2025/12/16

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/9e656342-878a-4098-9f49-0ca4dc313cb2It'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

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97:47

The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine 2 - The Lost...

FunFactor ·

2025/12/02

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/official-u.-s.-play-station-magazine-volume-1-issue-02-november-1997For 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

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88:43

GamePro 108 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night [S1E17]

FunFactor ·

2025/11/19

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/gamepro-issue-108-september-1997/GamePro%20-%20Issue%20108%20%28September%201997%29/mode/2upGrab 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--and ride. We had a ton of fun talking through the different biases that we (and different magazines,

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94:37

NEXT Generation 31 - Blasto [S1E16]

FunFactor ·

2025/11/06

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_31/mode/1upGreat 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 action platformer from Sony's top U.S. studio, led by legendary programmer Dylan Cuthbert. Except, well, it

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79:14

ULTRA Review Crew Bonus UNLOCKED - Computer...

FunFactor ·

2025/10/21

ISSUE LINK: Computer Entertainer, Volume 5, Number 3 | Video Game History Foundation Library – Digital ArchiveVHGF HOME: Home | Video Game History FoundationBONUS 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 Cifaldi and Phil Salvador of the Video Game History Foundation They're two of the highest authorities on the

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8:35

ULTRA Review Crew TEASER - Matt Leone's Design Room...

FunFactor ·

2025/10/19

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 Matt did at some of the mainstream games media outlets we've covered--and it inspired and guided Aidan's

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84:39

Game Players 83 - Resident Evil [S1E15]

FunFactor ·

2025/10/07

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 review is actually for the seminal Resident Evil, with the GP crew doing its level best to review a

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110:33

Game Informer 47 - Carnage Heart [S1E14]

FunFactor ·

2025/09/23

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/game-informer-issue-47-march-1997ANDY MCNAMARA ON MY PERFECT CONSOLE: https://shows.acast.com/my-perfect-console/episodes/andy-macnamara-former-editor-in-chief-game-informerMATT MILLER ANNOUNCING GI'S RETURN: https://gameinformer.com/letter-from-the-editor/2025/03/25/game-informer-is-backWe've been grinding XP and saving up MP for this one: Our first issue of Game Informer--though in 1997, the mag is years from its dominant Aughties peak, and decades from its

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102:58

PC Gamer Vol. 4, Issue 3 - Diablo [S1E13]

FunFactor ·

2025/09/09

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. FoleyWe 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-mongering about games being a "dirty, dangerous" gateway to Hell--and a very thorough and excellent review of

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80:24

Tips & Tricks Vol. IV, Issue 1 - Tomb Raider [S1E12]

FunFactor ·

2025/08/28

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 LosersWe'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 hosts explain the appeal this magazine had (or didn't) to them at the time, flip out about the masthead

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22:43

ULTRA Review Crew TEASER: Video Game History...

FunFactor ·

2025/08/22

ISSUE LINK: Computer Entertainer, Volume 5, Number 3 | Video Game History Foundation Library – Digital ArchiveVHGF HOME: Home | Video Game History FoundationA 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 culture around it all.The VGHF recently acquired the copyright to the 1980s game mag Computer Entertainer,

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125:58

Edge 16 - Final Fantasy VI [S1E11]

FunFactor ·

2025/08/13

ISSUE LINK: https://archive.org/details/Edge_Gaming/Edge%20Gaming%20Magazine%20016/mode/2upWe'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 revolution wasn't televised, so to speak, in North America, and Aidan and Ty were barely aware of its impact until they were well into adulthood.But as much as Aidan and Ty love this magazine's quality, ethos, and

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73:59

Game Players 92 - NBA Live '97 [S1E10]

FunFactor ·

2025/07/29

ISSUE LINK: Ultra Game Players No. 92 - Christmas 1996Mike 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, their 1996 year-end reviews, and Mike Salmon's refusal to give a major publisher's release a score it

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100:30

Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy, with set designer...

FunFactor ·

2025/07/15

ISSUE LINK: The Duelist No. 21, January 1997ALLISON MCKENZIE'S TERRA PRINT: FFVI - Terra and Mog PrintIt'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: The Gathering design lead Gavin Verhey, who was the design lead for the FF set as well? Then Aidan dropped

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75:53

Nintendo Power 88 - Super Mario 64 [S1E8]

FunFactor ·

2025/07/01

ISSUE LINK: Nintendo Power 88, September 1996Gamemaster Classified book KS page"Fun" & Games Podcast homeThe 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 of incredible original art and exclusive assets, it's also got a very...interesting...review of the game

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91:02

ULTRA Review Crew Bonus UNLOCKED - Mollie Patterson...

FunFactor ·

2025/06/24

Mollie Patterson's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mollipen.bsky.socialMollie Patterson's homepage: https://mollielpatterson.com/The EGM Compendium Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/egmbook/egmcompendiumUNLOCKED 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 years as a 'zine writer, joining the rough-and-tumble world of GameFan, and graduating to layouts and editing

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