Bill Kunkel was born in July of 1950; He was a huge geek who loved sci-fi and comic books and attended comic-cons regularly, He eventually met a man by the name of Danny O'Neil, they became great friends and eventually Kunkel secured a job of writing comics for DC and Marvel, creating many series and characters that are now collectables and can be found in comic stores across the US.
Alongside his job at marvel, Bill Kunkel also delved into Journalism in the industry of Professional Wrestling, working with the WWWF alongside his colleagues Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley (now known as WWE) and sold most of his works through the concession stands at the events, He eventually became one of the most important journalists in wrestling at the time and attended many east coast events including ones at Madison Square Garden and The Philly Spectrum.
After the pioneering of Video Game Journalism by Bill Kunkel, in today's society he is one of the most recognized and respected pioneers of the game industry, Without Kunkel it is extremely likely that majority of America would have not been able to experience the thrill of reading an article about a new game that's coming out and wait outside the game store to buy it, Similar to how in my childhood I would see the trailer for a new game and then read about its premiere at E3. With the era of home gaming
systems and video games becoming more and more tightly packaged and expandable, it was inevitable that with the pioneering of the Internet and WWW in the 90s that the magazine would end, But Kunkel's legacy is not just the magazine, Wrestling journalism, Or his comics.
systems and video games becoming more and more tightly packaged and expandable, it was inevitable that with the pioneering of the Internet and WWW in the 90s that the magazine would end, But Kunkel's legacy is not just the magazine, Wrestling journalism, Or his comics.
When Kunkel left his work, He knew he was given the proud title of "journalistic pioneer" and held that title with immense pride, Everywhere he walked he may have not been recognized by people, But to the greater good of the industry with adults and children alike across the globe, He was deemed the "Grandfather of game journalism", He eventually pioneered the industry with his idea of the "Kunkel Award", He figured out that if he was able to pioneer the niche of game journalism, He could expand it by awarding those that followed his idea. This expanded rapidly as well, eventually the Game Awards event was developed for games alone as its own million-dollar franchise, rising with the home video games industry and journalism industry.
The next time you read an article online or watch a trailer for a game, it's quite amazing to think back to when magazines was the key way most people found out about games, With the rapid rise of tech and video games it's quite amazing to think that when Kunkel started his article it was considered a niche and new idea, Nowadays there are millions and billions of dollars poured into the game industry yearly and some games even generate more money than the box office does, This week the Mario Movie announced it grossed nearly 300 million in revenue in its second week, While Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (2022), Amassed nearly 1 billion in revenue. And the rise of video games has grown in the span of around 40 years, While television has been around for much longer, If video games grew so quickly it's amazing to imagine what the next development and pioneer will be.
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