NGC Magazine (originally known as
N64 Magazine until Issue 60, 2001) was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
magazineMagazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
specialising in
Nintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel...
created consoles; which was first printed in 1997 and ran until 2006.
N64 Magazine was the successor to
Super PlaySuper Play was a UK based Super Nintendo Entertainment System magazine which ran from November 1992 to September 1996.Super Play was notable for a number of reasons. Firstly, it covered in great detail the console role-playing game genre...
magazine after it ended in 1996 as it retained many of the staff and the style of that publication. In 2006 the magazine finally closed and has been succeeded once again- this time by
NGamerNGamer is a British magazine which covers mainly the Nintendo DS and Wii video game consoles released by Nintendo, and also, but to a much lesser extent, Sony and Microsoft consoles. The first issue was released on 13 July 2006...
Magazine.
It was, at the time of its closure, one of the longest-running gaming magazines in the UK.
NGC Magazine (originally known as
N64 Magazine until Issue 60, 2001) was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
magazineMagazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
specialising in
Nintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel...
created consoles; which was first printed in 1997 and ran until 2006.
N64 Magazine was the successor to
Super PlaySuper Play was a UK based Super Nintendo Entertainment System magazine which ran from November 1992 to September 1996.Super Play was notable for a number of reasons. Firstly, it covered in great detail the console role-playing game genre...
magazine after it ended in 1996 as it retained many of the staff and the style of that publication. In 2006 the magazine finally closed and has been succeeded once again- this time by
NGamerNGamer is a British magazine which covers mainly the Nintendo DS and Wii video game consoles released by Nintendo, and also, but to a much lesser extent, Sony and Microsoft consoles. The first issue was released on 13 July 2006...
Magazine.
It was, at the time of its closure, one of the longest-running gaming magazines in the UK. It was on many occasions first for news (including the 'denied by official source' rumors such as the existence of
Resident Evil Deadly Silence and the implication of the Wii controller and the delay to
Zelda: Twilight Princessis an action-adventure game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, and published by Nintendo for the Wii and GameCube video game consoles. It is the thirteenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series. Originally planned for release in November 2005, Twilight Princess was...
- both later being proved true in parts), due in part to having no official connection to
Nintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel...
and therefore no restrictions on what it could report (save legal ones) . The magazine gained a reputation for honest and mainly accurate reviews (again often due to having no games company links) and a reputation for good humour. It had a very large fan base in the UK and Europe.
The Staff
The staff of NGC Magazine over the years varied. Memorable staff members included Jonathan Davies, James Ashton, Jes 'Slutsy Bicksy' Bickham, Dan 'Camp Hitler' Geary, Tim Weaver, Wil Overton, Mark 'Greener' Green, Martin 'Kittsy' Kitts, Andrea Ball, Dr Mark Cousens, Zy Nicholson, Geraint 'Gimroo' Evans, Justin 'Ducky-boo' Webb, Miriam 'Mim' McDonald, Steve 'Extreme' Jalim and Paul 'Shedwards' Edwards.
The magazine took usual light-hearted digs at each of its own staff; Jes was regularly lampooned due to his bald head; Mark Green had an evil alter-ego named Dark Mark; Andrea Ball was apparently permanently covered in grease and fake tan, and also had a reputation for carrying a constantly-trademarked "Big Stick™"; Dr Mark Cousens was mocked for his apparent lack of a Nintendo NES console; Tim Weaver was famed for his patented Emotionless Stare; and James Ashton was ridiculed mercilessly in the magazine's pages for continually failing to pass his driving test. To this very day, he drives his Ferraris on a provisional license. Geraint was often also the subject of jokes, due to his Welsh origins, with regular pokes at him and his culture and lifestyle.
Thematic humour
The many popular, satirical, running gags revolved around:
- Nintendo executive and design staff - Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer who has been called the "father of modern video games" and "the Walt Disney of electronic gaming" for helping create the Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Pikmin and F-Zero franchises and games such as Nintendogs and Wii Music.-Early...
(most commonly referred by NGC as 'Shigsy'), Hiroshi Yamauchiis a Japanese businessman. He was the third president of Nintendo, beginning in 1949 until stepping down on May 31, 2002. Yamauchi is credited with transforming Nintendo from a small hanafuda card-making company in Japan to a multi-billion dollar video game company, as it currently is. Yamauchi was...
(NCLNCL may refer to:* Norwegian Cruise Line* National Conference League, a rugby league competition played in the UK* National Consumers League, formed in the 1890s for women's suffrage, protection of female and child laborers, eliminations of health hazards...
's former President, who the magazine regularly called absolutely terrifying), Satoru Iwatais the fourth president and CEO of Nintendo, succeeding the long-standing previous president of the company, Hiroshi Yamauchi in 2002. He was responsible in great part for defining Nintendo's strategy both before and during the release of its GameCube video game console in 2001, a vision which...
, David Gosen (former CEO of Nintendo of Europe - the magazine claimed he was a homicidal robot named "Go-Sen" who would always say "This year is a good year to buy a [insert Nintendo product or calendar]"), and Reggie Fils-Aime (referred to as a frightening man ogre who could crush you with his bare hands - in one issue a cut-out cat mask adorned with Reggie's face was included in the magazine to frighten other cats).
- Having the readers send in weird things to win stuff: Luigi papier-mache statues, photos of people dressed up as game characters, and pieces of alternative wisdom known as 'Sense Talks'. One famous competition asked readers to send in "tat
Wiktionary is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages...
" of their own in exchange for over £1000's worth of tat from the N64 offices. Among the N64 tat was a life-sized cardboard cut-out of TurokTurok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishing published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 , then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone...
, star of several N64 games, along with two wigs that apparently belonged to Jes Bickham: the caption read "Make no mistake: when you see Jes striding down the street in his size threes wearing these hairpieces, you know he means business". This competition was repeated when NGC later reached its final issue.
- Random nonsense on popular love/hate-relationship characters: Toad, Luigi
is a video game character created by Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the younger brother of Nintendo's official mascot, Mario. Luigi first appeared in the arcade game Mario Bros., where he was featured as a main character alongside Mario...
, Sonic, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the protagonist of the eponymous video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books. The first game in the franchise was released on June 23, 1991, in order to provide Sega with a mascot to...
, Tingleis a fictional video game character of The Legend of Zelda series, first appearing in Majora's Mask in 2000. Since then, he has appeared in each installment of the series up through The Minish Cap, except for Oracle of Seasons and Four Swords...
, Diddy Kong, Krystal, Lex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Superman and first appeared in Action Comics #23 , and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Luthor is described as "a power-mad, evil scientist" of incredible...
, Yoshiis a fictional dinosaur. His debut was in Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario's accomplice, and he later established his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island...
, Kirbyis the main character of Nintendo's Kirby video game series created by Masahiro Sakurai and developed by HAL Laboratory. The Kirby series is one of Nintendo's many well-known game franchises, spanning nearly twenty games since 1992...
, Jango FettJango Fett is a fictional character and supporting villain in the Star Wars universe. He first appeared in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter the video game, in which he was played by Temuera Morrison. Before Attack of the Clones, Jango was mentioned in Star...
, and Jar Jar BinksJar Jar Binks is a fictional character from the Star Wars films The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. His primary role was to provide comic relief. Jar Jar was voiced by Ahmed Best. He is almost completely computer generated...
.
- 'Bonus Letters' (nonsensical sentences picked out of letters which are not entirely printed). This could also include the titles at the top of fully-printed letters, which took certain amusing words from the body of the letter and printed them in large, bold text to draw the reader's attention. This tradition, and the one above, have been continued in NGC's successor NGamer
NGamer is a British magazine which covers mainly the Nintendo DS and Wii video game consoles released by Nintendo, and also, but to a much lesser extent, Sony and Microsoft consoles. The first issue was released on 13 July 2006...
.
- Made-up and ridiculous words such as "blork", "grackler", "interweb", and "wah!". "Grackler" is particularly infamous; in response to a competition in issue 16 ("send us something you think will scare us witless"), a ghost story was received, part of which read "one nit when i was sleppin a grackler cam" (sic). The entire sentence (and later, the word "grackler" alone) became part of N64 tradition, and it was eventually decided that the term should be used as a noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition....
when referring to an exceptionally ugly person. For example, when the football game FIFA '99 was reviewed, a picture reference was made to the extremely horrible texture-mapping on the players' faces, with the caption "Grackle Vision, Gr-Grackle Vision, Grackle-Grackle Vision," in reference to the popular UK children's TV show "ChuckleVisionChuckleVision is a popular British television series, shown on CBBC, first shown in 1987. It follows the adventures of the two Chuckle Brothers, who find themselves in all sorts of situations that they must cope with. The twentieth series started on the 28 January 2008 on the CBBC...
". "Wah!" is based on Wariois a fictional Nintendo video game character originally designed by Hiroji Kiyotake. Wario was designed as another antagonist to Mario , and first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy title Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the main antagonist and final boss...
's exclamation upon being hit by a shell in Mario Kart 64is a racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in 1996 in Japan and in 1997 in North America and Europe. On January 26, 2007, Mario Kart 64 was released on Nintendo's European Virtual Console service for the Wii...
.
Wil "FuSoYa™" Overton
Wil OvertonWil Overton is a British artist, specialising in manga styles. He has worked for a number of notable British video games magazines, including Super Play and N64 Magazine. He currently works at Rare and is an illustrator for NGamer magazine...
was the magazine's chief artist (until issue 42) and was held in a somewhat reverential light by the magazine's readers; this could possibly have been brought about because some of the magazine's readers had followed Wil from
Super PlaySuper Play was a UK based Super Nintendo Entertainment System magazine which ran from November 1992 to September 1996.Super Play was notable for a number of reasons. Firstly, it covered in great detail the console role-playing game genre...
Magazine and felt a sense of loyalty to him, but the N64 staff themselves would more than likely say it was because Wil ensnared them all in the tangled mass of electrical wiring masquerading as hair that he keeps atop his head. Wil came in for much more than his fair share of insults and jokes, but he was a vital part of the reason that N64 Magazine stood out so much on the shelves: his
MangaManga consist of comics and print cartoons , in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century...
-styled cover art was different from anything on other magazines, and his years of experience, love for RPGs and generally somewhat eccentric nature were comforting for many hardcore gamers.
As a measure of this eccentricity, he was also known by the pseudonym "FuSoYa™". FuSoYa was a wizard character from the game
Final Fantasy IVis a console role-playing game developed and published by Square in 1991 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan, but has been ported with minor changes to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as well as by TOSE to the Sony...
, and Wil, devotee of
Final Fantasyis a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of science-fantasy console role-playing games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
that he is, added a ™ symbol to the character's name, and a legend was born: FuSoYa™, Wil's "beardy, RPG-loving alter-ego", as N64 Magazine described him. FuSoYa™ appeared sporadically, sometimes to promote a competition, other times in response to queries in the magazine's letters section; his monstrous visage (actually Wil in a cheap wizard outfit and very unconvincing fake beard) was a comforting sight to many.
Wil Overton eventually moved to Rare, where he works as an artist. He later returned to do artwork for
NGamerNGamer is a British magazine which covers mainly the Nintendo DS and Wii video game consoles released by Nintendo, and also, but to a much lesser extent, Sony and Microsoft consoles. The first issue was released on 13 July 2006...
.
Regular features
Listed below is a set of NGC's recurring features:
- End64/GC: A random page signifying the end of the magazine. Typically featured abstract Nintendo-related subjects. Examples included a fake magazine article of Lara Croft
Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of Eidos Interactive's Tomb Raider video game series. Created by Toby Gard, the character has also appeared in comic books, novels and a series of animated short films, and has been played by Angelina Jolie in two feature films...
Vs Joanna Dark, a Nintendo Internet forumAn ', or message board, is an online discussion site. It originated as the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system. From a technological standpoint, forums or boards are web applications managing user-generated content...
comprised of fanboyish morons, and a newspaper obituaryAn obituary is primarily an attempt by a publication to give an account of the life of someone considered significant who has recently died...
for the Nintendo 64The , often abbreviated as N64, is Nintendo's third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released on June 23, 1996 in Japan, September 29, 1996 in North America, March 1, 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1, 1997 in France and December 10,...
.
- I'm The Best: A league for readers competing against each other in N64 challenges.
- Grintendo: A small joke section whereupon a reader's (Usually abysmal) joke
A joke is a short story or ironic depiction of a situation communicated with the intent of being humorous. These jokes will normally have a punchline that will end the sentence to make it humorous. A joke can also be a single phrase or statement that employs sarcasm...
is put to test against the Team, photoshopped movie stars and Pikminis a real-time strategy video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube video game console in 2001. Pikmin is the first game in the Pikmin series of video games, designed by Shigeru Miyamoto. Pikmin was released on October 26, 2001 in Japan, December 2, 2001 in North...
.
Top scored games
These are the top games that the magazine rated where the 100-point system was used. Ratings reflected are the last printed in N64/NGC Magazine before it finished (GameCube and DS games were re-rated for the first issue of
NGamerNGamer is a British magazine which covers mainly the Nintendo DS and Wii video game consoles released by Nintendo, and also, but to a much lesser extent, Sony and Microsoft consoles. The first issue was released on 13 July 2006...
, NGC's successor).
| Score: |
Games: |
| 98% |
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timeis an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998...
(N64) - Issue 24 |
| 97% |
Resident Evil 4Resident Evil 4, known in Japan as , is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed by Production Studio 4 and published by multiple publishers, including Capcom, Ubisoft and Nintendo of Australia...
(GameCube) - Issue 104
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, is an action-adventure game and the tenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was released for the Nintendo GameCube in Japan on December 13, 2002, in North America on March 24, 2003, in Europe on May 3, 2003, and in Australia on May 7, 2003...
(GameCube) - Issue 81
Metroid PrimeMetroid Prime is a video game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube, released in North America on November 17, 2002. It is the first 3D game in the Metroid series, and is classified by Nintendo as a first-person adventure rather than a first-person shooter,...
(GameCube) - Issue 79 |
| 96% |
Super Mario 64is a platform game, developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia....
(N64) - Issue 1
Perfect DarkPerfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. The game was developed and published by Rare, creators of the multimillion-selling GoldenEye 007, an earlier first-person shooter with which Perfect Dark shares many gameplay features. This game is...
(N64) - Issue 42
Super Mario Sunshineis a platform game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube. It was released in Japan on July 19, 2002, in North America on August 26, 2002, and in Europe and Australia on October 4, 2002. It is the first 3D Mario platformer...
(GameCube) - Issue 71
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Maskis an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan on April 27, 2000, North America on October 26, 2000, and Europe on November 17, 2000. The game sold approximately 314,000 copies during its first...
(N64) - Issue 49 (previous score: 95% in Issue 48) |
| 95% |
Turok 2: Seeds of EvilTurok 2: Seeds of Evil is a first-person shooter video game for the Nintendo 64, Windows and the Game Boy Color. It was released in 1998 and is the sequel to Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. It was one of the first Nintendo 64 games to allow use with the RAM Expansion Pak...
(N64) - Issue 21
Advance WarsAdvance Wars is a turn-based tactics video game developed for the Game Boy Advance by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo in 2001. It was released in the USA on September 10, 2001, but put on hold in Japan and Europe due to the following day's terrorist attacks in the USA...
(GBA) - Issue 61 (previous scores: 5/5, 96%)
Advance Wars: Dual StrikeAdvance Wars: Dual Strike, known in Japan as , is a turn-based tactics video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console...
(DS) - Issue 110 |
| 94% |
GoldenEye 007GoldenEye 007 is a 1997 first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console, based on the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye.The game received overwhelmingly positive reviews and sold over eight million copies...
(N64) - Issue 9
Metroid Prime 2: EchoesMetroid Prime 2: Echoes is a first-person, action-adventure video game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the GameCube video game console. It is the seventh game in the Metroid series, a direct sequel to Metroid Prime, and the first game in the series with a multiplayer feature...
(GameCube) - Issue 101
Golden SunGolden Sun, released in Japan as , is the first installment of a series of fantasy role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo. It was released in November 2001 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, with a Game Boy Advance sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age,...
(GBA) (previous score: 4/5 in Issue 64)
Mario Kart DSis a racing game developed and published by Nintendo. It was released for the Nintendo DS handheld game console in North America, Australia, and Europe in November 2005, and in Japan in December 2005. The game is the fifth installment in the Mario Kart series of video games, and the first to be...
(DS) - Issue 114 (previous score: 5/5)
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (GBA) - Issue 64 (previous scores: 5/5, 95%) |
| 93% |
Mario Kart Double Dash!! (GameCube) - Issue 88
Donkey Kong 64Donkey Kong 64 is a platformer video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in North America on November 22, 1999 and in Europe on December 6, 1999. The game is a follow up to the Donkey Kong Country trilogy on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...
(N64) - Issue 36
F-1 World Grand PrixF-1 World Grand Prix is a Formula One racing game/sim released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64 game console. It is based on the 1997 Formula One season, featuring each of the 17 circuits from the season and all 22 drivers , with the exceptions of Jacques Villeneuve and the MasterCard Lola team...
(N64) - Issue 20
Jet Force GeminiJet Force Gemini is a science fiction third-person shooter game for the Nintendo 64 developed and published by RareWare that was released on October 11, 1999. The single-player adventure spans many varied planets as the player assumes the role of the Jet Force Gemini as they try to stop the evil...
(N64) - Issue 34
Shadow Man (N64) - Issue 32
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA) - Issue 59 (previous scores: 5/5, 95%) |
For two stints, first from 1999 to 2002 and then all issues dated 2005, the Magazine ran a 5 out of 5 scoring system for portable games. This list is all games which scored the perfect five, and thus do not fit in well with the above list.
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Score:
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Games:
|----
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5/5
|
Sonic RushSonic Rush is a video game developed by Sonic Team and Dimps exclusively for the Nintendo DS as part of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series and released on November 15, 2005. It is a 2D platform game, similar to earlier games in the series as well as later ones like Sonic Advance. Levels in the game...
(DS) - Issue 114