Shows
FunFactorGame Players 92 - NBA Live '97 [S1E10]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 didn't deserve.-----Sources include the...2025-07-291h 13FunFactorMagic: The Gathering Final Fantasy, with set designer Gavin Verhey [S1E9]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 a bomb on us: A contemporary review of Fin...2025-07-151h 40FunFactorNintendo Power 88 - Super Mario 64 [S1E8]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 itself.What's our review of their review? And, does...2025-07-011h 15
FunFactorULTRA Review Crew Bonus UNLOCKED - Mollie Patterson of EGM & GameFan [S1B2]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 at EGM.Of course, we also talk about the state of games media, the EGM Compendium project, and how some...2025-06-241h 31FunFactorIntelligent Gamer 2 - Jumping Flash! 2 [S1E7]ISSUE LINK: Intelligent Gamer No. 2, July 1996A true trailblazer of a magazine, which Ty mistook at the time for a craven NEXT Generation ripoff. Instead, Ziff-Davis bought what might have been the world's first fully digital online games magazine and soon put its precocious editor at the head of a real, monthly, big-boy print equivalent. Besides giving Aidan and Ty an excuse to riff on the benefits and drawbacks of physical magazines in the modern era, this issue's super deep previews and reviews give them plenty to chew on.-----Sources include the I...2025-06-171h 28FunFactorULTRA Review Crew bonus TEASER - Demo Discs with Sean Seanson & EposVox [S1B3]Please enjoy this sample of a FunFactor ULTRA Review Crew bonus episode bursting with international flavor! With EposVox and Sean Seanson joining Aidan and Ty, we bridged three countries and seven time zones to go deep on our love of demo discs--the best (and sometimes only) way to taste the breadth of some old consoles' libraries and indie scenes. It's our first two-guest episode, and an absolute banger. Sean's most recent deep-dive video is all about the set of 7 PlayStation EU/PAL-region demo discs, while EposVox has been creating genius-tier content on retro tech and gaming hardware for yea...2025-06-1010 minFunFactorGameFan Volume 4, Issue 5 - Lufia II [S1E6]TODAY'S ISSUE: GameFan Volume 4, Issue 5 - May 1996This one's special -- we recorded it right before the Mollie Patterson bonus episode (which you should join the FunFactor ULTRA Review Crew to hear!), wherein she gave the amazing backstory behind some of the unique production and culture wrinkles that were evident in the final product of this unique mag.We talk about our connections to the seedy underbelly of order-by-phone import stores--one of which GameFan actually started its life as a catalog for (!).For the review, we go back to our JRPG roots with an...2025-06-041h 31FunFactorNEXT Generation 5 - Kirby's Dream Course [S1E5]TODAY'S ISSUE: NEXT Generation Issue No. 5, May 1995Whew, this one's a doozy. Not just diving into one of Ty's favorite magazines for the very first time, but the very first issue he ever picked up: A massive roundup of all the news and rumors ever about Nintendo's Ultra 64 project. Ty and Aidan also dig into console launches successful and -un, then and now, plus go long on journalistic responsibility when reporting "rumors." Of course, they review NEXT Generation's review of Kirby's Super Nintendo debut: Kirby's Dream Course, a sparkling little gem of a golf/pool/puzzle/m...2025-05-201h 38FunFactorULTRA Review Crew bonus TEASER - Mollie Patterson of EGM & GameFan [S1B2]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/egmcompendiumFunFactor ULTRA subscribers are getting our full 91-minute interview with the great Mollie L. Patterson of EGM and GameFan fame, talking about her (very) early years as a 'zine writer, joining the rough-and-tumble world of GameFan, and graduating to layouts and editing at EGM--not to mention the state of games media, the EGM Compendium project, and how some of the retro stuff we loved has stayed relevant today. 2025-05-1323 minFunFactorEGM 74 - DOOM [S1E4]TODAY'S ISSUE: EGM No. 74 - September 1995Ty and Aidan dive into the super-edgy EGM ads, before flipping through one of the most fearless, innovative outlets of a fearless, innovative era. Then they dig into the four-way capsule review of the Super Nintendo port of DOOM, highlighting the strengths and faults of both the EGM review system and the game itself.As always, our Letters section features YOUR comments and reviews! So if you want to be read on the air, just rate or review FunFactor wherever you're getting your podcasts.And, hey: please consider s...2025-05-0658 minFunFactorGamePro 77 - White Men Can't Jump [S1E3]TODAY'S ISSUE: GamePro No. 77, December 1995 (Internet Archive)Ty and Aidan are two short white guys who don't play basketball--but do love sports, and sports video games. We've had quite few pleas from listeners to break down a good review of a bad game, and GamePro 77 has the goods.Of course, there are plenty of other things to talk about in the issue, from the letters and ads to the Jim Davis re-draw of the GamePro rating scale featuring Garfield's face??Here's that GDQ Virtual Hydlide segment: Virtual Hydlide by Mechalink in 27:11 - Awesome Games D...2025-04-2244 minFunFactorULTRA Review Crew bonus TEASER - Mike Drucker interview [S1B1]Mike Drucker's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mikedrucker.bsky.socialHere's a teaser of the very first FunFactor ULTRA bonus episode!It's our exclusive interview with Mike Drucker--the author of "Good Game, No Rematch: A Life Made of Video Games." We talk about the book, Mike's life as a gamer and writer for some of the most prestigious shows in TV (including Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, Full Frontal, and Bill Nye Saves the World), and what it even means to be a critic or commentator who writes out their words.If you l...2025-04-1513 minFunFactorGame Players 75 - Chrono Trigger [S1E2]TODAY'S ISSUE: Game Players No. 75, September 1995 (Internet Archive)Ty and Aidan basically became friends over their shared love of Chrono Trigger, and everything it stood for as an artistic achievement in video games. Game Players was also their mutual favorite magazine--so Game Players No. 75, and its dual-writer review of Chrono Trigger, naturally looms large in the canon.Ty and Aidan flip through the rest of issue, freak out about the pen-pal section, and talk about the console-launch dynamics of the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Then they go long on Chrono Trigger, the review, and what it m...2025-04-081h 28FunFactorPSM No. 1 - Final Fantasy VII [S1E1]TODAY'S ISSUE: PSM No. 1, September 1997 (Internet Archive)The very first issue of PlayStation Magazine went big on "independent" 'tude, and on Final Fantasy VII--including cover art, a massive walkthrough, and a five-star review of the game that would redefine a series, a genre, and arguably the top console of the 32-bit generation. Ty and Aidan go deep on the conflicting tensions inherent in independent and official publications, and what those terms even mean in 2025. They also, of course, flip through the issue, talk about the various sections, and review the review of Final Fantasy VII. They c...2025-03-251h 17FunFactorIntroducing: FunFactor! [episode zero]Professional authors, journalists, gamers, and critics Ty Schalter and Aidan Moher introduce FunFactor: an insightful and incisive look back at the retro video game magazines that inspired them to do what they do. In this trailer they play highlights from the first few episodes, discuss the passions that drove them to read about games as well as play them, and the impacts--positive and negative--they had on them as writers and people.-----Sources include the Internet Archive, Retromags.com, our original research, and our personal magazine collections.The FunFactor theme, and all other o...2025-03-1408 min