From VG&CE to Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming magazine
…how the 90s changed media and magazines.
Okay, so, here’s the thing. People refer to the 90s as if it was a single, unified block. But 10 years is a long stretch. And the difference between 1990 and 1999 is also the difference between the Sega Mega Drive and the Dreamcast.
This was a period of rapid technological acceleration. It was also a time of massive cultural shifts.
Video Games and Computer Entertainment (VG&CE) magazine is a physical manifestation of that chaos. For better or worse, its shifting fortunes and editorial tone reflect the decade’s evolution.
Chris Bieniek was there for the ride, starting out as a freelance contributor before eventually moving into the top job. Here’s his take on the era, and the ensuing drama
Palm trees and beaver hunts
The debut issue of VG&CE appeared on US newsstands in late 1988. An offshoot of Analog Computing magazine, it aimed to combine personal computer coverage with the emerging video game market. To that end, the debut issue covered everything from IBM Compatibles and the MacIntosh to the NES, Master System and Atari 7800.
Chris’ association with VG&CE goes back to those early days. As he explains, “I sent VG&CE editor Andy Eddy a package with some NES game reviews I had written, and he sent back a contract stating that they were going to publish one of them. It was as simple as that.”
That initial submission soon became a regular freelance gig. “They started sending me games to review, and I continued to look for ways to ingratiate myself with them.” His efforts paid off when he was hired for a full time gig with the magazines and left Chicago to join the team at their California HQ in Beverly Hills.
That Beverly Hills address wasn’t a coincidence. VG&CE was published by Larry Flynt Publications (L.F.P.). Yeah, that Larry Flynt. Which meant Chris was sharing office space with folks working on titles like Hustler, Asian Fever and Beaver Hunt.
“Working for the publisher of Hustler magazine in Beverly Hills did help us a lot,” says Chris. “There was a pretty famous restaurant directly across the street, Kate Mantilini, and we liked to go there for lunch with people who came to visit the offices. The game publishers, the PR reps, they loved that place, because there would often be a celebrity at the next table. And we would send them home with copies of Hustler products, if they were interested in that sort of thing.”
Into the 90s
Video game magazines were pretty clean cut in those days. And VG&CE was amongst the cleanest. Andy Eddy was editor, but the magazine's editorial tone and focus was heavily influenced by industry luminaries (and senior contributors) Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel. The pair had launched the very first US gaming magazine back in 1981 - Electronic Games* - had been kicking around ever since, and took a decidedly ‘adult contemporary’ view of the industry.
Initially, this more serious approach to gaming helped distinguish VG&CE from competitors like EGM and GamePro, which both launched in 1989 and pitched themselves to a schoolyard crowd. But as the new decade began to take hold and computers were pushed aside to make way for Sonic and a more ‘extreme’ ethos, VG&CE found itself losing momentum and readers. A fact that wasn’t lost on Chris when he joined the team in California.
“When I joined the in-house staff, I tried to implement changes as soon as I found my footing,” says Chris. “Not necessarily because of what the competition was doing, but because I knew what I wanted as a reader and a fan of video games. VG&CE didn't even have a previews section, which is kind of hard to believe. I managed to convince Andy that we needed one, and I put it together by myself, every month.”
That wasn’t the only issue. Looking back at VG&CE you’ll notice a lot of questionable illustrations used for both the front covers and the various feature articles.
“I did recognise that there was a problem with the way the magazine looked,” continues Chris, “but I was not experienced or knowledgeable enough to be able to articulate what the problem was. We had a cover that was supposed to be Ryu from Street Fighter throwing a fireball. And the artist was talented, but nobody ever showed him what the Hadoken looked like. So he came in with this painting of Ryu throwing a fireball overhand, like a baseball pitcher. I begged for it to be changed, but there was no time. All he could do was to draw the palm of Ryu's other hand underneath the fireball. And it went out like that.”
Fired by focus group
Andy Eddy left the magazine in late 1993. His final editorial (issue #55, August), talked about reader feedback and the various changes they were making to the magazine. By that point that magazine’s look had started to evolve and take a more contemporary, ToeJam and Earl inspired vibe, but if Andy knew his days were numbered he didn’t say anything.
In a previous interview for the AtariHQ website, Chris went into more detail about the back-stage drama at the magazine during this time. And how a focus group session sealed Andy’s fate.
“We started doing some market research,” says Chris. “We did these focus groups where they would sit kids in a room and they were complaining about how the magazine was too old. I mean, we were sitting there behind a two-way mirror, and these kids were going ‘This magazine sucks’!”
“Andy Eddy was the Executive Editor at that time,” continues Chris. “He had his picture on the editorial page, and this kid pointed at it and said ‘I don't wanna hear what Grandpa has to say about this game!’ Andy was on the other side of the mirror going, ‘Oh my God’. It was a pretty traumatic day.”
…And that was that. Andy was out. VG&CE was dead. And Chris Gore was brought in to relaunch the publication as Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine.
To the extreme
Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine, made its debut in September 1993. Just one month after VG&CE folded. And if you compare those first couple of issues it’s basically the exact same magazine. Same layout, same sections, same, same. The only thing that’s changed is the magazine title and editorial staff.
It would take a few issues - November 1993, #58 to be exact - before the new magazine would take on its own, controversial tone. The new look editorial page captures this shift better than any description I can provide.
This change was met with decidedly mixed reviews. For long-time fans of the magazine and its more mature editorial policy, the new title was a dumbed down shell of its glory years. But if the aim was to lift sales then there’s some anecdotal evidence that that plan worked, initially at last.
“I seem to remember there was a spike in sales at first,” explains Chis. “But there was no brand loyalty anymore; sales went up and down depending on which game was on the cover.”
Behind the scenes, things were just as chaotic as the magazine’s new layout and tone. As Chris explains, “There was some confusion over the leadership and the direction the magazine would take. Mike Davila moved up to take Andy's position as Executive Editor. Chris Gore was installed above him as Editor in Chief, a title that had never been used on VG&CE before.”
Within the year Mike would move over to another publication and Chris Bieniek would become Executive Editor. Despite the promotion and the new job title, Chris says his control over day-to-day operations was limited. “Gore was still in charge of everything and made all the decisions.”
I’d buy that for a dollar
Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine would run for three years, becoming increasingly frenzied in its layout and editorial tone. It ceased publication in 1996 when rival publisher Ziff Davis bought it from Larry Flynt Publications only to close it down. That’s a whole separate story, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a business bought its competitor only to shut it down.
Regardless, if you look at copies of EGM, GamePro and Video Games (TUGM) in 1995 the page counts and advertising features tell you everything you need to know. Here’s a side by side comparison of page counts and ads in the August 1995 issue.
Video Games (TUGM) - 100 pages. 4 ads.
GamePro - 124 pages 39 ads
EGM 151 pages - 59 ads
(The final issue of VG&CE had 31 ads and was 112 pages).
Those numbers are pretty damning. Ad sales and subscriptions were the lifeblood of any video game magazines in the 90s, and based on the above there’s a clear pecking order for these three titles that all started within close proximity of each other in 1988 and 1989.
According to Chris, there was a whole thing going on behind the scenes that saw EGM pouch their ad sales guy, and seal the publications fate.
“Ad sales is a super-cutthroat business; these people would travel all over the country, wining and dining the game publishers and talking absolute shit about their competitors. And the number of pages in each issue of a magazine was mostly determined by the number of ads that were sold. So at the end of the day, if you go to the newsstand with five bucks in your hand, one magazine is 200 pages and another is 350 pages, of COURSE you're gonna buy the bigger book. At that point, nobody cared if you had better writers, or nicer layouts, or more timely information. Size mattered.”
“And that's something that's never brought up in discussions about old video-game magazines. Having a good ad salesperson directly impacted the appeal of your magazine at the newsstand [because of the page count], and it directly impacted your reputation within the games industry [because of the shit-talking].”
The day the music died
Magazines provide a snapshot in time. But they’re not static.
They change and mutate based on the industry they cover. And when it comes to video games, the 90s was an era of rapid cultural and technological shifts. Starting with only a handful of publications and gaming systems, the decade would see a kids’ hobby transform into a global industry.
VG&CE was slow to adapt to these changes, and then overcompensated in its scramble to stay relevant. But if its demise was inevitable, it was also the harbinger of broader market forces.
Because the 90s were also about the commodification and concentration of media. Whether that’s music, movies or video games, the independents all found themselves being absorbed by larger forces.
So when Video Games (TUGM) was bought and closed by a bigger corporate rival it was the most 90s conclusion possible. An early indication of where magazine publishing and video games were heading.
Ironically, after years lagging behind the competition, VG&CE, or Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine, or whatever you want to call it, suddenly found itself ahead of the curve. An early victim of the decade’s shifting undertones.
*Joyce Worley was the third co-founder of Electronic Games magazine
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