R.I.P. Andy Baran of EGM

[Trickman Terry]

Former editor and co-worker, Andy Baran of Electronic Gaming Monthly passed away from pancreatic cancer Sunday July 26, 2009.

Andy started his career in the gaming industry in 1991 at Sendai Publications as a consultant on one of the videogame help lines run by Steve Harris where people would call in for help on Nintendo games published by Toho and FCI, Inc. Many future EGM editors got their start on the helplines, including VGEvo's own Ken Williams. After showing promise and helping out some EGM editors with various tasks here and there, Andy soon found himself landing a position on EGM's editorial team. On EGM and EGM2, he worked on Fact Files, did sections such as International Outlook, was ghost-writing for some of the reviewers, and eventually got on the Review Crew himself. From there he went on to write for more Sendai/Ziff Davis publications including strategies for Expert Gamer.

To say Andy was a passionate gamer would be an understatement. His nickname around the office was "Cyberboy" due to his encyclopedic knowledge of everything to do with games - though he preferred the handle, "Anubis." In 2001, Walter Day of Twin Galaxies visited the Ziff Davis offices to give a custom-made award certificate to Andy for holding the Double Dragon arcade edition world title from 1987-1998.

Besides being a competitive gamer and a major collector of games and systems, he was also passionate about Laser Quest laser tag and story writing.

To his wife Tracy and both their families, we offer our condolences. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Ken]

One of my fondest Andy memories was the day he applied to be my assistant, coming right off the FCI help line while I was working as the Contract Publishing Manager. He was so excited at the prospect of working on the magazine in any form that he was exceptionally hyper... so hyper, in fact, that I went straight to Ed and told him I can't work with him directly -- he was driving me crazy and bouncing off the walls -- but that he'd probably be better off starting work on the magazine like we all did, using previews and fact files to get him acclimated to the culture. I don't think I've ever met anyone who was so open about his EGM enthusiasm as Andy. His days on EGM were surely some of his proudest moments. It saddens me that we fell out of touch a while ago, and that we never got very close. Andy could get annoying sometimes, but that was part of who he was, and it made him unique amongst a sea of personalities. He was a great gamer in the truest sense of the word, and he will be missed. My deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.

[Ken]

I found a non-video game gem by Andy over on castleofspirits.com:

http://www.castleofspirits.com/stories04/whatare.html

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?.....

My life is somewhat strange, and it seems like I've had more than my fair share of paranormal experiences. My friends have all heard my stories, and all are skeptical until they hang around me long enough. Then they see... I've been a magnate for all sorts of strange events- leading back to my earliest memories.

My mother's aunt had died before I was born, but she had always wanted to see me. I must have been two or three at the time and I remember a nice lady picking me up- and then placing me on some pillows on the top shelf of my closet. I remember my mom talking to her, and then asking where I was. Years later, I spoke with my mom on that event, and she stated that her aunt had come by. She provided no reason why I was placed in such an awkward location, but to this day I have an inherent fear of closets.

My family had a pet bird named Baby Bird, a cockatiel that had died. With a week or so after its passing, I began to see it. Now my house (which was a new house, by the way) had the second level overlooking a cathedral ceiling, with my bedroom door facing that great expanse. Down the hall to the left was the bathroom. It was a spectral white bird, and it made loud fluttering noises. What was worse was that it looked like a projection, with a few frames of animation missing- almost strobe-like. This scared me and I developed a bed wetting problem, because I was afraid to head to the bathroom. Eventually my mom asked my why I wouldn't go to the bathroom, and I told what I had seen. She told me she had to appease it, and laid some bird seed down in a bowl on the stairs headed down.

That final night found me wrapped in my yellow blanket, huddled atop the stairs. Always the skeptical little rugrat, I never had believed in Santa- and was suspicious that my mom would simply pick up the bowl once I fell asleep. To prevent this, I dumped the seeds onto the thick orange shag carpet- only vacuuming would get it out. I stayed awake in the darkness, watching and waiting. I never saw anything. However, in the morning the seeds were gone- and so was all sign of the ghost.

The most significant ghost story in my life revolves around what my step-brother and I called the Red Ghost. This was the same house as the two prior events. Keep in mind that the basement was partially above ground, with windows that let in light. This place was NOT scary in the slightest. Once my parents got divorced, my step-mother and her son appeared. After a difficult adjustment period, Nathan (step-brother) and I finally began to tolerate each other.

One night we had turned the entire expanse of basement into a fort. Every cushion, broom, blanket and chair that we could grab was used to make our labyrinth. We spent the night telling stories about the Masters of the Universe (our favorite toy line). I was in the middle of a story involving Mer-Man when a whole section in the back of the room collapsed for no apparent reason. We scurried out, noticing that it happened in the "dark corner".

The Dark Corner was a corner that for years, even before my parent's divorce seemed an unsettling place. Always gloomy even with sunlight fixed on it- even when my folks put the Christmas tree there... Years before, a kid at one of my birthday parties said they saw something come out of the wall.

Anyways, we climb up and out of our dungeon of pillows and look. Floating, and quite rapidly is what looks like a glowing red shirt doing a figure-8 pattern. Instinctively I reach out to grab it. As soon as I do, my step-brother starts yelling how cold it is. Me? My arm goes numb with a prickingly asleep sensation- although later on the arm felt cold when touched with my other arm. We scream and launch ourselves up two flights of stairs and into the parent's room where we're chastized for being too loud.

Curiosity got the better of us, and over time more and more people would see it. It didn't seem particularly good or evil. We began to experiment, trying to see if we could get it to appear. Over the years, we would place various objects in the corner. Also for fun, we'd buy masks from discount stores after Halloween and build props and make a haunted house in the basement for our friends on the hopes that the real ghost would appear. Through trial and error we found that anything that mimicked light would either disappear- or if it was mechanical... stop working. Televisions did not last long there, and neither did the flashlights. One flashlight, a Mag-Lite was left there overnight. The next morning, it was flattened,but curled around the edges. Take a straw, cup one end with your finger and suck on it to get the proper image. Glow-in-the- dark items simply disappeared.

The movie Ghostbusters came out and gave us the idea to make a trap. So we took a Kleenex box, dumped the tissues out, and filled it with those glowing ping-pong balls that shot out of those crappy 99 cent guns you can find down the toy aisles of most grocery stores. I carefully taped the box with double-sided tape and left it on the ledge in the corner. A week goes by, two weeks and then three. Nothing happens. Eventually my step-mother complains and says she wants it out of her house. I tear the box off of the ledge, and noticed that there was no rolling noise coming from inside it. I cut through the tape and found the balls were missing.

Years later I moved into an apartment complex in Glendale Heights, Illinois with a long-time friend and co-worker named Jason. After a few weeks there, I went into the kitchen early one morning and found every cabinet and drawer open. Even the refrigerator/freezer doors and that of the microwave were that way. I confronted Jason, accusing him of sleep-walking. However a year later he had moved out, actually taking an apartment across the way with his fiancee. Two mornings later after he had moved, I found the kitchen in the exact same state. I was freaked.

These are the events that best fit into your collection of incidents. I have had many telekinetic and telepathic things happen. I've scared my wife many times with the unerring accuracy of my predictions- but only when I'm in a certain mood. There was a time in high school when I was sensitive to everyone's greatest fears- and revealed to people what they had kept to themselves. And there was one unexplained event in my new house in Naperville where it felt like something grabbed me by the ankles and yanked me off the bed and painfully onto the floor.

I ask people all the time about the things they've seen and heard. It's not as rare as you think.

Contact me here: anubisgoj@hotmail.com

Submitted From: Andrew, IL, USA

I've heard parts of this story myself. That's a little taste of Andy, wide-eyed and serious. God bless him.

[TamarindLAZ]

It's a sad day. My condolences to his family, I am sorry for their loss.

May he rest in peace eternally and God bless him.

[Fivespot]

May he rest in peace. I'm touched by the story he wrote and glad I had the opportunity to share some of my time this evening thinking about Andy and the many people he touched.

My condolences to his family and friends.

[dewars]

Thats a shame. One of my dad's friends is going through the same ordeal with pancreatic cancer. May he rest in peace and I wish to give my condolences to his family.

[Azrael]

wow....my condolences to his family


PS3 Trophies

[DHG Hunter]

Considering he wrote as Ed so long, he is probably one of the finest writers I didn't know I was reading at EGM. He will be missed.

Later.

[mvallas]

If Andy was sitting next to me right now Terry, not only would he be grateful for what you wrote - but he would instantly point out he was on the Toho hotline... and that he played Laser Quest, not Q-Zar.

...you know Andy would point that out. :P

[Trickman Terry]

Originally Posted by mvallas

If Andy was sitting next to me right now Terry, not only would he be grateful for what you wrote - but he would instantly point out he was on the Toho hotline... and that he played Laser Quest, not Q-Zar.

...you know Andy would point that out. :P

That sir, is why you are the king of accuracy when it comes to Sendai/Ziff memories. I'll adjust the article.

EDIT: Fixed!