NewType Gaming

NewType Gaming is a magazine devoted to console and arcade video games, with a bit of PC coverage added in later on. It is a very obscure magazine in print; if anything, it is probably better known for its online edition, which outlasted the print version and was run by Greg Kasavin, now head of GameSpot.

The magazine was likely named after the Japanese animation magazine Newtype, although no official ties existed between the two titles.

NTG was launched in late 1993 by Bryan Datu, a Filipino-American graphic designer who had spent some time in the early '90s as a game tester for Tengen. The premiere issue is really just a glorified fanzine printed on strange black-and-white stock, but future issues grew quickly, and soon the magazine boasted a complete staff, including a large cadre of game reviewers that mostly went under GamePro-style pseudonyms. (Two exceptions: Kraig Kujawa, who also wrote for 3 and is now a producer at Midway, and Ara Shirinian, who moved on to Tips & Tricks and now works as a game designer.)

In terms of style, later issues of NewType Gaming are a curious mix of the magazines of the day. Coverage definitely leans toward the hardcore, with each issue having looks at new Japanese titles and extensive strategy guides for arcade fighting games, but the design is laid-back, packed with white space, and somewhat reminiscent of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment.

NTG never had very good newsstand distribution (indeed, the magazine was practically unheard of in the eastern US), and the print version appears to have been scuttled sometime in 1995 in favor of the online site. It's hard to get a bead on NTG's publication schedule, but I believe Volume 2 Number 3 was the last -- if you know otherwise, please let me know.