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EGM's Sushi-X - Unmasked At Last?

Posted by simoniker on from the not-that-taco dept.

Thanks to CJ Johnston's weblog for its discussion on the true identity of U.S. videogame magazine EGM's secretive early/mid-'90s writer, Sushi-X. Johnston, a former EGM staffer, muses on the origins of the character: "The way I figure it (and I'm guessing here, since he appeared in EGM before my [1994-era] time), the Sushi-X persona was inspired by [Japanese videogame magazine] Famitsu's Taco-X, a reviewer often dressed as a ninja", and goes on to claim that the Lloyd Mangram-esque Sushi-X, "often the 'swing reviewer' who would pan something the other guys 'liked'", was originally writer Ken Williams. However, "soon everyone else on staff was taking turns playing Sushi-X", and, even post-EGM removal, the often composite character was resurrected for the now defunct GameNow magazine in 2003.

5 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. As a Long Time EGM Reader... by FlipmodePlaya · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sushi's stuff was always fun to read, but it was fairly obvious it wasn't a 'real person'. I can't reference any specific clues, but you certainly got that feeling from reading the magazine. CJ's blog displays a guess no better than any of ours, so I'm not too sure this deserves a ./a article.

    What bothered me from the blog is that he thinks EGM created this character of SushiX, and then had him hate on certain games just to develop it. Does that mean games were given bad reviews just for that purpose? That makes me question the integrity of my favorite gaming rag...

    1. Re:As a Long Time EGM Reader... by forkazoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, it makes sense to have a 'balancing' viewpoint on some games -- with a composite character like Sushi-X, you can still tell the publisher you wrote a good review, so they have to take you to dinner. It's that pesky 'other guy' who mentions all the flaws. Rather a reasonable solution, compared to the current, "This was the best game ever made" reviews for almost everything.

  2. Holy flashback by MachDelta · · Score: 3, Funny

    Damn, I remember being like 7 years old and drooling over the latest EGM with my buddies, and we ALL wanted to know who Sushi-X was. Hell, we all wanted to be Sushi-X too:
    "I call Spiderman!"
    "I call Wolverine!"
    "I call Sushi-X!"
    "Hey! I wanted to be the ninja! Sushi was mine!"
    "No he wasn't!"
    "Yes he was!"
    "I want Sushi! You can be Wonder Woman!"
    *Laughter*

    Ah, to be 7 years old again!
    ...excuse me while I go dig around in the basement for my NES.

  3. I wonder how good their translation was by foidulus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Taco(or Tako) in Japanese means octopus(which lots of people eat regularly)
    The mexican treat is Takosu
    I wonder if Taco-X was actually a play on words on Tako instead of Takosu.

  4. I always added a point or two to any Sushi score.. by CronoCloud · · Score: 2, Insightful

    of a game that wasn't a fighting game.

    I couldn't stand the guy and his Street Fighter obseesion/I'm more hardcore than you because I can play imports/I use the japanese words for fighting game attacks because I am more hardcore than you.

    Give me a break. He'd have fit right in at GameFan with their 2D/SNK worship/Fighting game worship/we liked anime before anyone else did attitude.

    And worse, all of EGM was a bit like that. They gave Samurai Showdown game of the year honors. A game for a system that no one other than editors and writers of video game magazines actually owned. I think they did it just to prove how "hardcore" they were.

    I'm glad that era is over and I'm glad Sushi is gone. Good riddance to him and all that blasted Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat letter art.