Sixteen years ago, Yahoo had an idea: Give people a site to answer questions. It doesn't matter how silly the question was, they figured that somebody would have an answer. But proving once again that all good things must come to an end, Yahoo has decided to kill their answer site on May 4, 2021, leaving billions of people with nowhere to go. Well, except for Reddit, Ask.com, Quora, WikiAnswers and Askville. In an effort to honor this long-running answer site, I thought it might be fun to go through sixteen years of questions and answer every single question related to Electronic Gaming Monthly. Yes, I know that these answers are going to be a little late, but I figure that it's about time I do some good for a change. Here is an answer to every EGM question I could find on Yahoo Answers. I hope you're sitting down, because this is going to be a long one.


Sitting down? Good, because I've pulled every question I could find about Electronic Gaming Monthly. To keep the pace high and the redundancy down, I have tossed away duplicate questions that are already answered below. With that out of the way, let's jump into our first question ...

Answer: This is exactly the kind of question I hoped to find when I searched Yahoo Answers for EGM-related questions. Great start. It's short, simple and right in my wheelhouse. And, best of all, it comes with a response by Anonymous that is the wrong answer. With a score of 8.5 out of 10, Four Swords Adventure on GameCube is actually EGM's second-worst reviewed Legend of Zelda game. What scored worse than that? Believe it or not, the right answer is Link's Awakening on the original Game Boy, which scored an average of 8.25. Now, it's worth noting that EGM's review crew liked Link's Awakening DX substantially more, giving it an average of 9.25. In case you're wondering, Electronic Gaming Monthly failed to review either of the terrible CD-i spin-offs. They also didn't review notoriously divisive Skyward Sword, as that came out after the magazine folded. The old black and white Link's Awakening is the right answer.


Answer: Here's another great question with a dubious response. MagicianTrent seems to think that EGM's rumor mill only got about 10% of the predictions right. I don't have an exact percentage for you, but that's definitely not right. Yes, there were a ton of outlandish rumors that didn't come true, so many so that I ended up running a month-long series about EGM's most questionable predictions. But only 10%? That's nonsense. The early issues were dense with rumors, and I would say that more than half of them proved to be true. Now, it could be that this percentage changes as the section got scaled back to just a few rumors in later years, but even then, I would say the split is very 50/50. Take it as somebody who made a whole show out of debunking Quartermann, the 10% number is not even close. If that were true, I could have just thrown a dart at the rumor mill section and write episodes. I would have to crunch the numbers, but if we're taking all the years into consideration, Quartermann definitely got more right than he got wrong.


Answer: No. This was an April Fools joke. I get why this is convincing, especially since there's not really a "joke" here. Looking back on it now, I really wish SquareEnix would have listened to EGM and made this game, because teaming Final Fantasy characters up with Mario, Metroid, Zelda and the rest of Nintendo's crew sounds amazing. That's way better than the spin-offs, side-quests and even Kingdom Hearts sequel we eventually got. It's not too late to make this happen.


Answer: Speaking of Kingdom Hearts and April Fools, no, Final Mix was not a joke. Although it only came out in Japan, the March release date ended up being true. Also, it's called APRIL Fools, not MARCH Fools. I get that Mario 29th is close to April, but that's not how this holiday works. Also, why are there so many questions about Kingdom Hearts and April Fools? I had to throw a bunch away in order to not be too redundant. Maybe I should ask Yahoo Answers. There's still time!


Answer: This took some research, because the cover Yahoo user 44 described was definitely not EGM or GamePro. As it turns out, the female brunette vampire they are describing was from the April 1999 issue of Computer Gaming World, one of the few '90s magazines I didn't collect. Luckily, this cover was fairly easy to find, and I think you can see why. This is definitely a memorable cover.


Answer: I'm not going to lie, this question stumped me. I went up and down my EGM collection a thousand times while making those Best & Worst episodes, and I definitely don't remember seeing a female wrestler wearing a catsuit. The closest thing I could think of was issue 120, which has "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on the cover. And that's when it hit me: The July 1999 issue had multiple covers, including one with the popular wrestler Sable, who became the second WWF Women's Champion back in 1998 and then sued the company for $110 million. I have to imagine that was after she wore this catsuit on the cover of EGM.


Answer: Okay, this is a heavy question. In fact, I would argue that when it comes to making these kinds of life-changing decisions, you probably shouldn't turn to Yahoo Answers. Anonymous probably should have discussed this with their family, friends, significant other and pretty much everybody else before turning to random strangers. Especially since we really don't have enough information to answer such a heavy question. How old is this person? How likely are they to get a full-time job at EGM? How much money do they have saved up? Do they have other prospects in New York City? Obviously, San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities to live in the country, so it's hard to tell somebody to pack up and move 3,000 miles away for an internship. My gut says the obvious answer is no, but that's mostly because I know the fate of not just EGM, but also print media in general. Without more information, I can't in good conscience answer this question. That said, I really wish there was a follow-up to this thread. I would love to know what Anonymous ended up deciding.


Answer: I'm not going to lie, I kind of love the update to this question. There were so many people recommending Spike2000 try the Konami code that they had to clarify that it wouldn't work. That's peak Yahoo Answers right there. Although Spike's question may have been long, rambling and full of console war nonsense, they were on the right track. Electronic Gaming Monthly did indeed post a code for the original Street Fighter II that let you control the four boss characters ... kind of. This code was printed in EGM issue 43, from February 1993. They even promoted it above the logo on the front cover. But don't be fooled, because this was not some Sega-killing code, like Spike suggests. In fact, the code was so questionable that instead of putting it in their cheat section, they snuck it into the letter portion of the magazine. It was a Game Genie code that sort of let you play as the bosses. I say sort of, because it didn't really work very well. The bosses controlled like Ryu and Ken, not Vega and Balrog. And even if you were okay with that, the game would glitch out after only a round or two. The whole thing was so unstable that it wasn't even worth doing. Sure, you may try it once as a novelty or maybe twice to show your friends, but it definitely wouldn't be a code you used every time you turned on Street Fighter II. It sucks, but Super NES players just had to wait until Street Fighter II Turbo came out to really play as the bosses.


Answer: Fey Wind nearly swayed me on this one, but I have to say Electronic Gaming Monthly was definitely better than GamePro. Look, this is unfair, because Fey is clearly talking about a very specific time of EGM's history. The late-era only had three critics and snarky editors, which I was never a big fan of. I agree that this is probably my least favorite part of EGM's history. However, what was GamePro doing at the same time? Well, they were calling Super Mario: Double Dash the worst Mario game of all time and completely forgetting that Metal Gear existed on the MSX. I think it's safe to say that neither of these magazines were at the top of their game back when this question was asked.

Now, if we look at the complete run of both Electronic Gaming Monthly and GamePro, I think it's fair to say that EGM has the edge. GamePro was always aimed too young for my taste, at least until they grew up in the back half of their run. EGM had the review crew, better April Fools jokes, more varied coverage, a better news layout, Quartermann and editors who actually used their real name. Well, except for Sushi-X, but he was always the worst part of the review crew. And if you want to know the real reason why EGM takes the top prize, just ask me why we'll never do a GamePro Best & Worst series. Actually, don't ask me, because I'm just going to tell you -- it's because there was a year when GamePro gave perfect scores to more than 300 games. If that's not a sign you're reviews are too gentle, I don't know what is. Yeah, I think it's clear that EGM was better than GamePro. That said, Next Generation was better than both of them. Prove me wrong.


Answer: Seeing as Anonymous is looking for subscription advice, I think the obvious right answer has to be Game Informer, since they outlasted Electronic Gaming Monthly. However, if you're just asking which magazine is better, then I am always going to say EGM. I will admit to being a little biased when it comes to this decision, and not because I just spent 40 episodes covering EGM's best and worst reviewed games. The truth is, all of the EGM editors have always been super nice to me and super supportive of both the Defunct Games website and channel. Game Informer, on the other hand, does not like me. I've had a couple weird dust-ups with the editors and they got after me for quoting their 25-year-old reviews. That's one of the reasons you rarely see me bring up Game Informer in my magazine coverage. Easy choice.


Answer: I hate to be Captain Obvious, but clearly the right answer is eBay. However, let's say you just want to read those old issues and you don't need to hold them in your hands, then I would recommend checking out both RetroMags.com and Archive.org, both of which have scans of most of the classic issues. There are a few other sites out there that have done an excellent job of preserving these old school magazines, so there are plenty of avenues to explore. You can also subscribe to Defunct Games and watch us talk about the classic reviews and more, but now I think we're straying too far from the original question. Let's move on.


Answer: It sounds like Anonymous should meet up with the last guy. I hate to repeat myself, but the right answer is obviously eBay. I suppose you could try getting people interested in one of the classic magazine forums or maybe Reddit, but eBay is always going to be the easiest option. Plenty of people sell individual issues there, and so can you. Of course, as a collection, I would recommend you just donate them to me. But if you really must sell them, then go to eBay. Next.


Answer: This is the question the last person should have asked. Is it worth selling all of them? Maybe? Assuming you're going to take my advice to post them individually on eBay, then chances are you're going to get around $10 per issue. Maybe $15, if you're really greedy and find a buyer. The problem is that a lot of the auctions go without buyers, so you may have to go with a cheaper "buy it now" price. Realistically, I could see you earning anywhere from $125 - $250 if all of them get sold, maybe a little more or a little less. But that's also a lot of listings and time. The amount of work you put in may not be worth $125. On the other hand, getting any amount of money is better than just throwing them away. You could also donate them to a collector, which is, once again, a really good option.


Answer: As you can imagine, there were a lot of questions like this on Yahoo Answers. Everybody wants free stuff, so it makes sense that a lot of yahoos out there are also looking for free magazine subscriptions. But here's a thought, how about you pay for it, Bryan? Maybe if you and all of those people looking for a free handout actually paid for a subscription, EGM would have lasted a little longer. Well, okay, it was probably doomed no matter what, but you get my point. If you want a free subscription, just wait a few years and go read the scanned versions found on RetroMags. Dammit, Bryan, quit being such a freeloader. I think we need to move on.


Answer: Have you considered just waiting a couple months, because EGM was not long for this world? Look, I know that it's way too late to do anything about it now, but there was a phone number you could have called at the front of every issue. Obviously, the easiest way was to let the subscription run out and then not re-up, but the phone number would have worked, too. Why did you turn to 1up.com and Yahoo for the answers instead of the magazine you were clearly still getting? Don't make this harder than it actually is.


Answer: I feel terrible. I was gutted when I first heard, and a dozen years later, I still hate how EGM ended. Yes, it's true, print media is certainly on life support and the end was inevitable, but it would have been nice to give this long-running magazine proper closure. That said, my feelings have changed a bit over the years, especially now that EGM has been brought back a couple times, both as a quarterly print publication and as a website. And the truth is, had EGM not closed shop when they did, I likely would never have published my long-running Best & Worst series, which is one of Defunct Games' most popular shows. So, I guess it's fair to say that my feelings are complicated. I hated to see it go out like that, but because it did, I managed to talk with many of the editors, post a great series and even answer this specific question. It took EGM dying for me to post this Yahoo Answers feature. That's a depressing thought.


Answer: Oh, Flying_Dog2012, I have some really bad news for you. Actually, you know what, I just hope you enjoyed that replacement subscription to Maxim. Which predictably leads us to this final question ...


Answer: Call the damn phone number. Seriously. It's not that hard. I swear, maybe it's a good thing Yahoo is killing this section. I'm done.