he Sunsoft Game Time News (SGTN) was Sunsoft's newsletter during the late 1980's and early 1990's. I don't know which people they sent it to, but it was probably those of us who were in the Nintendo Fun Club, or subscribed to Nintendo Power, or registered a Sunsoft game. Either way, the most issues one would get is three or four—per year! Duong Tran, 11, Super Sunsofter, Spring 1990 SGTN was like Nintendo Power in that it had previews and reviews, player's polls, and tips, but in a smaller scale. It even had a super-cheasy "Super Sunsofter" section about kids and their accomplishments (all exaggerated, of course) in Sunsoft games along with a portrait, very much like Nintendo Power's "Power Player." The "Super Sunsofters" were all typical 1980's kids with long hair falling from the sides of their ears and covering most of their foreheads. As one would expect, this section is really good for some laughs. Duong Tran, the "Super Sunsofter" of the Spring 1990 issue, mentions that his favorite TV shows are "Who's The

Boss," "Growing Pains," and "Alf." Ah yes, those unforgettable 1980's sitcoms... Another similarity SGTN had with Nintendo Power (starting to see a trend here?) was its comics section. The comics usually revolved around a popular Sunsoft game, like Blaster Master, Fester's Quest, and even Xenophobe. The Sunsoft comics were corny at best, with Jason from Blaster Master saying lines like "One word of warning--stay out of my way! If you don't, I'll be cleaning your ugly brains off of my boots." Besides the stupid dialogue, the comics also looked like they were done by an amateur. The Sunsoft Game Time News are a good example of how companies used to profile themselves. These days, instead of wasting money on paper and ink, companies prefer that people visit their website instead of mailing them newsletters. My, how times have changed... JAG July 12, 1999