I remember Next Gen VERY well. I used to love reading that magazine. Not sure when they kicked the bucket though. GameFan was my jewel. I was sick when they started operating shoddily, and NOT mailing me my magazines every month, after 7 years of loyalty. In the end i complained that i wanted my money back, as i was tired of calling every month to get my magazine when the freaking newsstand had the issue before me. Very sad end for a great magazine with raging full color, and lots of NEC coverage. They agreed to mail me back my years subscription fee, but i never saw it, and they closed their doors shortly after that call.
Anyone remember their import game store before they became a magazine? Superb business ! I look back in great fondness for that store, as they were TRUE gaming enthusiasts, and knew their work to a T. They would even take a loss by telling you to steer away from a game they were selling, just because they didn't want an unhappy customer. I used to talk to Greg Off alot, and he was so nice. Julie Segal ( who i THINK married Dave Halverson, as there is a Julie Halverson at PLAY magazine, which Dave owns/runs/writes for. ) was also very friendly and helpful, and a few, but not many, times i got to talk to Kei Kabuki. Talking to Kei was nice as he is Japanese i believe, and could tell you about certain Japanese games that you didn't know what was about due to the language barrier. He was also very friendly.
Taking time out of their busy schedule to BS with loyal, dedicated gamers was another asset to this company. To this day i still feel some guilt for hogging up their time on the phone ( running up my long distance as well!!! ), and even though i apologized they sincerely appreciated the loyalty/fanbase, and would keep talking until they got too busy, and always said " Don't worry about it" or " it's ok, we love talking to you. It's a pleasure. "
I always wondered what happened to Greg Off. I really wish gameFan never died. Too bad we couldn't get a reunion interview for the site.
PC-FX pissed me off personally. It came out too late, and got crushed by the competition. I wanted this baby SO bad and high hopes for it taking off where the PC Engine couldn't go, and possibly making a comeback here in the states. If it had come out a year earlier, we woulda had our Iron Man in the US of A. Even after it did come out, i still wanted one, but was way too much for me at the time, so i got a Playstation. Not sure how much difference in price it was from the PS1, but i didn't want the hassle of ordering it from some schmucks who might rip me off. After Die Hard Games was sold, i just didn't feel i could trust any ol' importer.
I guess i will always have the Sharp X68000 as my next supplement from NEC. What a kick ass system. Feels just like a 16 bit PC Engine(real 16 bit).
Only one shooter for the PC-FX makes me sad as well, as that is my favorite genre.
I still would love to get me a PC-FX though, since it was an NEC console.
