The magazine cover that is burned into my retinas from when I walked into a Blockbuster and saw it staring my in the face was the February 2001 NextGen cover where Duke Nukem is fondling Lara Croft from behind (censored on the cover). Very telling that this the representation of "games growing up". Gamers™ really are stuck in the early 2000s.
I only have the vaguest memories of the IGN Babes section; seems like it started up around 2008, and the only time I was actually actively reading gaming magazines and stuff was from the early 2000s to around 2006 or 2007.
Part of me is nostalgic for that era (I honestly wasn't reading those sorts of publications--stuck to Nintendo Power, EGM, and GameSpot, none of which were particularly horny), but I think it's less about the magazines themselves and more that I'm nostalgic for being so excited about video games that I would get a new issue in the mail and read it cover to cover. I'd kill to be that excited about literally anything at this point.
Alternative link (also damn, that magazine didn't even make it a year)
The magazine cover that is burned into my retinas from when I walked into a Blockbuster and saw it staring my in the face was the February 2001 NextGen cover where Duke Nukem is fondling Lara Croft from behind (censored on the cover). Very telling that this the representation of "games growing up". Gamers™ really are stuck in the early 2000s.
I only have the vaguest memories of the IGN Babes section; seems like it started up around 2008, and the only time I was actually actively reading gaming magazines and stuff was from the early 2000s to around 2006 or 2007.
Part of me is nostalgic for that era (I honestly wasn't reading those sorts of publications--stuck to Nintendo Power, EGM, and GameSpot, none of which were particularly horny), but I think it's less about the magazines themselves and more that I'm nostalgic for being so excited about video games that I would get a new issue in the mail and read it cover to cover. I'd kill to be that excited about literally anything at this point.
bruh
IGN Babes had already been around since the early 2000s at least, I remember seeing it for the first time around 2000.