Found Some Old GamePro Magazines - WITH SCANS!

[SaurusX]

Was at my mom's house for an early T-giving dinner and was going through my old comic books. I found a box that had stacks of old video gaming magazines from the early to mid '90s.

One of the 1990 issues of GamePro has reviews for both Bart Vs. The Space Mutants as well as the NES version of Dragon's Lair. As many know, these are two of the most hated games of the era, because of their mind blowing difficulty and just plain poor quality.

Bart received solid 5's across the board with only one 4 when it came to graphics. What a joke! That game is utter dog waste. They're a little more reasonable when it comes to Dragon's Lair, but it still gets all 4's and 5's. They said that while the control and timing is frustrating, it's also "half the fun!"

Were these magazines paid by the game companies to peddle their crap games or what? That's the only explanation in my mind.

 

[Tweak155]

TTIWWP
/caps

 

[SaurusX]

I'll put up some scans tonight. I brought the mags home with me, but I was dealing with a screaming baby last night and then forgot about it this morning.

 

[SandEagle]

gamepro and egm were great when they first came out. lucky man, enjoy getting kicked in the face by nostalgia. i just came across old copies on Nintendo Power mags...the ones with Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania II, and Zelda II on the covers......enjoyed going through them again after 20+ years

 

[Soundmanred]

You guys should check out "Retro Gamer" magazine. The collections are awesome. Probably the best, most in depth magazine I've read, not just ones about video games.

 

[SaurusX]

Here are the choice scans. Actually, the Dragon's Lair was from October 1990 and the Bart was from April 1991. I love looking back at old stuff like this and just guffawing. I lived and breathed this stuff as a kid.

 

[KeithTalent]

Man, I was so in love with Dragon's Lair when I was a kid, until I actually played it.

Oh and I totally loved the facial characters for the ratings. Classic!

KT

 

[robvp]

wish new games were 44.95 today

 

[Fulle]

Wow! They gave that horrible 'Bart Vs. The Space Mutants' game a glowing review?! I guess the big game review publications were just as worthless back then, as they are now!

Sometimes you look at current trends with things, and assume it's a new problem. Really gives perspective to see that one of the worst NES games in existence was reviewed from a big magazine with a perfect score for "gameplay".

At least these days we have Metacritic user reviews, to at least give you some warning that the media has been bought out. A good example is Diablo 3's Metacritic, which shows that while the review sites gave it high scores, the users hated it. So we can at least have some kind of warning before buying a total lemon. As a kid back in the NES days, there was no such warning, and you'd have to either rent something, or trust that a review was somewhat accurate.

 

[gothamhunter]

wish new games were 44.95 today

Given inflation, video games are seriously cheap these days compared to back then.

 

[Soundmanred]

Given inflation, video games are seriously cheap these days compared to back then.

So true.
Paid $59.99 to $69.99 for some of my SNES games (FFIII, Mana, etc).

 

[Soundmanred]

As a kid back in the NES days, there was no such warning, and you'd have to either rent something, or trust that a review was somewhat accurate.

I can play Transformers at home on my NES?! One of my favorite TV shows in video game form?! It's going to be awesome!

It wasn't. One of the worst games ever, in fact.

 

[cmdrdredd]

When I was a kid I would rent a new game every week or so. Sometimes two at a time. I'd be psyched to play stuff like Beavis and Butthead or some other game with a cool box and a good write up about it on the back. Then get home and realize I got a crappy game. Sometimes I'd go back to the video store and tell them it didn't work and ask if I could get a different game. I did manage to find some gems by renting like Rock & Roll Racing on SNES, Strider on Genesis, and later Metal Gear Solid on PS1.

 

[Sohaltang]

wish new games were 44.95 today

50-60 now

2014-1991 = 23 years and games have went up 11-33%.

Gas in 1991 1.14
Median household income 31000

 

[Sohaltang]

When I was a kid I would rent a new game every week or so. Sometimes two at a time. I'd be psyched to play stuff like Beavis and Butthead or some other game with a cool box and a good write up about it on the back. Then get home and realize I got a crappy game. Sometimes I'd go back to the video store and tell them it didn't work and ask if I could get a different game. I did manage to find some gems by renting like Rock & Roll Racing on SNES, Strider on Genesis, and later Metal Gear Solid on PS1.

I was a rent a holic as well. Game rental was pretty cheap. I would walk to the video store in the snow to score a game or two.

 

[darthdab]

Even back then, I noticed GamePro would always try and put a positive spin on all its game reviews. They had the sort of reviews that always ended with something like, "So if you like the type of game where you do this and that, then this game is for you!"

Never liked GamePro.

 

[SandEagle]

When I was a kid I would rent a new game every week or so. Sometimes two at a time. I'd be psyched to play stuff like Beavis and Butthead or some other game with a cool box and a good write up about it on the back. Then get home and realize I got a crappy game. Sometimes I'd go back to the video store and tell them it didn't work and ask if I could get a different game. I did manage to find some gems by renting like Rock & Roll Racing on SNES, Strider on Genesis, and later Metal Gear Solid on PS1.

Strider for Genesis. mind blown when he ran down the mountain, did a somersault, and then fought that mech gorilla.

 

[Doppel]

Here are the choice scans. <snip>

Damn, look how expensive they were. $45. In 20+ years we've seen only a 33% increase in the price of games. I believe this must be mostly due to increased sales. A perfect example of software being essentially free to reproduce and thus selling 2 units at $30 is the same as 1 at $60 for the developer. I know cartridges cost more than CDs but it can't have been a ton. I bet a game like GTA V would cost hundreds of dollars if it sold the number of cartridges these old games sold. I haven't researched the numbers, though.

EDIT: Here are total sales for Nintendo systems: http://www.statisticbrain.com/nintendo-company-statistics/ Hmm, with so many nintendos sold I guess there must be more to why the games were so damn expensive.

 

[Soundmanred]

Damn, look how expensive they were. $45. In 20+ years we've seen only a 33% increase in the price of games. I believe this must be mostly due to increased sales. A perfect example of software being essentially free to reproduce and thus selling 2 units at $30 is the same as 1 at $60 for the developer. I know cartridges cost more than CDs but it can't have been a ton. I bet a game like GTA V would cost hundreds of dollars if it sold the number of cartridges these old games sold. I haven't researched the numbers, though.

 

[LookBehindYou]

When I was a kid I would rent a new game every week or so. Sometimes two at a time. I'd be psyched to play stuff like Beavis and Butthead or some other game with a cool box and a good write up about it on the back. Then get home and realize I got a crappy game. Sometimes I'd go back to the video store and tell them it didn't work and ask if I could get a different game. I did manage to find some gems by renting like Rock & Roll Racing on SNES, Strider on Genesis, and later Metal Gear Solid on PS1.

Ha! I loved that game!

 

[cmdrdredd]

Ha! I loved that game!

It was the new age r/c pro am.

And games have gotten cheaper sometimes. Choice games like mortal combat and street fighter were $70. I remember getting MK1 early cause it came out on a Monday but the guy put it out on the shelf at KB Toys at the mall and I saw it. Begged and begged to get it lol. Cost was about $70 if I remember.

It is the hardware that got more expensive (not counting $600 neo Geo and $200 games) from what I remember. I do not remember controllers being $60.

 

[SaurusX]

In regards to the game prices, it seems like they were a bit of a moving target back in the '90s. In one of the other GamePro from the same time frame there's a review of Splatterhouse on the TG-16. The price listed there was $62. The number of units you expected to move must have played a significant part.

 

[ghost recon88]

I love how cheap controllers were back then, $15 :awe:

 

[exdeath]

So true.
Paid $59.99 to $69.99 for some of my SNES games (FFIII, Mana, etc).

Oh yeah. I remember forking over $69-79+ for some of the bigger RPGs. My big box Earthbound still has the $69 price tag on it.

I specifically remember getting the last copy of Secret of Mana for around that and my parents were almost angry I "wasted" that kind of money on ONE game.

 

[LookBehindYou]

I think one of the reasons game prices have stayed the same is that they cost a lot less to actually make. Pressing a dvd/blu ray is probably a helluva lot cheaper than manufacturing the cartridges. But, the cheaper cost of manufacturing is replaced by the way more expensive cost of development, which in the end makes the game the same price as it used to be. High manufacturing costs got replaced by high development costs.