Hippon Super!(JP)

(Local Name - 月刊ファミ通ブロス) Hippon Super! was a game magazine published by the JICC Publishing Bureau (now Takarajimasha). It was first published in 1984 as a stragtey guide for Famicon. In 1986, it was one of the "four major Famicom magazines" alongside " Famicom Tsūshin " ( ASCII ), " Family Computer Magazine " ( Tokuma Shoten Intermedia ), and " Marukatsu Famicom " ( Kadokawa Shoten ). It was characterized by its all-color pages and low price of 250 yen (260 yen after the consumption tax was introduced in 1989 ).

The abbreviation, " Hippon , " was decided upon through a public contest among readers, and when the magazine was renewed in 1991 , its official name became "HiPPON SUPER!" (later "Hippon Super!").

History

Mukku era (1984-1986)

Its predecessor was the Bessatsu Takarajima series' Family Computer Hisshohon 1-3, which listed strategies for Famicom games by title. One of its features was that it was designed for a higher age group than similar strategy guides published by other companies at the same time, and it was in this magazine that Mori, who would later be elevated to the status of " Takahashi 's rival," attempted to get 10 million points on Xevious .

Famicom Hisshohon (1986 - 1990)

It was officially launched on March 8 , 1986 as a monthly magazine called "Famicom Hisshohon." It attracted attention immediately after its launch with a scoop about the Super Mario Bros. World 9 scandal , and in September, just six months after its launch, it switched to a bi-monthly publication. It is one of the "four major Famicom magazines," along with the preceding " Family Computer Magazine " and the bi-weekly and twice-monthly " Famitsu " and " Marukatsu Famicom ," which were launched around the same time.

In 1987, when " Dragon Quest II: The Evil Gods " became popular, a gift corner parodying the game, " Goinkyo Quest," was serialized. The monsters that appeared were submitted by readers, and many of them were parodies of the game.

He strongly promoted the Wizardry series , which was not given much attention in other magazines . The submission page "Wizardry Friends Club", which began serialization in 1987 , has published three books. He has also published novels with the same title. " Novel Wizardry: Ashes and Youth Side by Side " ( Benny Matsuyama ) and others have been published. In the Wizardry novel anthology, Hase Seishu writes under the name "Sayama Akira". A comic work by Ishigaki Tamaki was also serialized.

Also on hand were members who would later appear in other companies' game magazines and strategy guides, such as Tajiri Satoshi , who serialized the essay "Catch Me in Pac-Land," which was later published in book form, Narusawa Daisuke (CB's PROJECT) , Tezuka Ichiro ( Studio Bent Staff ), Suzuki Miso , and Kaneko Osamu (now Kaneko Osamu ).

A distinctive feature of the magazine was that it was very enthusiastic about recommending games that gamers (a collective term for the magazine's editorial staff and outside writers) deemed good, regardless of the manufacturer or model. Instead of a boxed article, game introductions and reviews by gamers were published using a full page or half a page. In addition to the aforementioned Wizardry, other games recommended by the magazine included Battletoads and Cocoron .

Compared to other magazines, it had many aggressive editors and writers, such as Narusawa, Otsuka Gichi , Shiota Nobuyuki, Noyasu Yukio, and Ishino Michiho, and it is also known for criticizing and harshly attacking other Famicom magazines.

Subsequently, with the release of the Super Famicom looming in 1990 , circulation began to decline, and shortly after publishing its 100th issue, the magazine was rebranded as the monthly general magazine "HiPPON SUPER!".

HiPPON SUPER!, HiPPON SUPER! (1991 - 1995)

After the renewal to " HiPPON SUPER! ", the magazine took a policy of strengthening its fan pages for the so - called "four major RPGs" of " Dragon Quest ," " Final Fantasy ," "Wizardry," and " Megami Tensei " (this definition was proposed in the magazine "Famicom Hisshohon" when the series titles for these four games were released one after the other between February and April 1990), and it came to occupy a unique position among game magazines.

The magazine changed its name to " Hishon Super! " in the July 1994 issue, and strongly promoted the Sega Saturn during the rush for next-generation game consoles at the end of that year . Despite this, in the latter half of the following year, the magazine suddenly announced that it would change its name to "64 (Rokuyon)" and be renewed as a specialized magazine for the Nintendo 64 , which was scheduled to be released the following year.

64, The King of Conquest, and Suspension (1995-1998)

In November 1995 , the magazine's name was changed to " 64," but a leaked article published just before the name change, stating that " Final Fantasy VII would be released for the PlayStation ," was protested by Square , who claimed it was "unfounded," leading to the publication of an apology (two months after the publication of the apology, an official announcement was made in line with the leaked article).

Due to sluggish sales of the Nintendo 64, the relaunch was a complete failure. In March 1997 , the magazine was fully renewed again as a biweekly " Kyakute no Teiou ," aiming to be a general game magazine specializing in strategy articles, but it ceased publication with the combined issue of May 1 and 15, 1998. As a result, Takarajimasha withdrew from the game magazine business after 12 years.

Later

On November 19, 2011 , a talk event called "Hippon Ages - Looking back at the 80's video games from the pages of that magazine" was held at Asagaya Loft A. Daisuke Narusawa and Hisakazu Hirabayashi were the main attendees, along with editors, writers, and other people involved with the magazine, who shared stories from that time. The event was held three times, and a spin-off event, "Strategy Guide Exposition," was held once.

Magazines

Name	Publisher	Date	Region	Notes
Hippon Super! Nov 1994(JP)	JICC Publishing Bureau	Nov 1994