RIP Bill Kunkel

nutballchamp

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Bill Kunkel passed away today who was the editor of Electronic Games magazine in the early 80's. I had a subscription to that magazine when I was a kid and use to droll over the new games. Still have every issue except issue #1. Sad news.
 
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RIP Game Doctor. You will be missed by a generation of gamers, but your words live on!

Bill_Mike.jpg
 
RIP Game Doctor. You will be missed by a generation of gamers, but your words live on!

Bill_Mike.jpg


He did the question section under the name The Game Doctor? I too was a subscriber and on the first BBS I joined in '84 or so (Blottoland, if that means anything to anyone) I used that name because that is what I wanted to be, the guy who could answer any question or fix anything game related. :salute:
 
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Bill, Rest in peace. I just finished reading your book (confessions of the game doctor) and really enjoyed it. In the 80's, Electronic Games magazine was my a great read.
 
Very sad! I just listened to an old episode of Retrogaming Radio where he was interviewed about a week ago...:(
 
I still have all of my EG mags....and for some reason feel I may have met him at one of the earlier CGE conventions in 2000-2003.

RIP Game Doc.
 
His magazine was definitely the best one out during the "golden era" of the arcades. Me and my friends used to use each new issue as a source of information for our constant debate over whether the 5200 or the Colecovision was the "next big thing" during 8th grade. I was sold on the Coleco, and my friends were rooting for the 5200. You can find scanned issues of the original magazines on the 'net, in case you never got a chance to read them, back in the day. Since he just did an interview LAST WEEK, I am curious. Was he ill? Or was this a sudden thing?

Lee
 
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I still have all of my EG mags....and for some reason feel I may have met him at one of the earlier CGE conventions in 2000-2003.

RIP Game Doc.

i have most of them, just need the first and 3 or 4 from '82 to complete the set. however, i still need to get his book 'confessions from the game doctor', which i should start looking around for now.
 
I'm in shock.

I'm so sorry to hear of Bill's passing. For years, I'd only known "the Game Doc" through his involvement with Electronic Games magazine. I'd look forward to each issue, not just because the magazine covered this new videogame industry, but HOW it covered the industry. Bill's writing, along with that of Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley-Katz, was infectious in its enthusiasm for the industry. Bill was passionate about his work and it showed. It's commonly stated that Bill, Arnie, and Joyce are the pioneers in videogaming journalism. Pick up any old issue of EG, read one of Bill's reviews, and you'll understand.

Years later, my wife and I met Bill and Laurie in person - and by total accident, at an early CGExpo when we both lived in Las Vegas. We've been playing an annual game of "catch-up" at gaming conventions ever since. Even after Bill moved to Michigan and stopped traveling out west, we've managed to swap the every-so-often e-mail. Bill and I have traded some crazy stories on everything from old CES convention antics, pro-wrestling, Vegas oxygen bars, videogame-related underwear (yeah, don't ask), and damn near everything in between that had anything to do with videogames.

It's been an honor to have known Bill and a man that I consider as one of my heroes. I'll miss him dearly.

Pete Cahill
 
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