Game Informer
 The July 2011 issue cover. |
|
| Editor-in-Chief | Andy McNamara |
|---|---|
| Categories | Video game |
| Frequency | Monthly (12 per year) |
| Publisher | GameStop Corporation |
| Total circulation (2011) |
5,954,884[1] |
| First issue | August 1991 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Minneapolis |
| Language | English |
| Website | www.gameinformer.com |
| ISSN | 1067-6392 |
Game Informer (GI) is an American-based monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when Funcoland started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations.[2] Today, the magazine has nearly 3 million subscribers, making it the highest circulated video game magazine;[3] and as of the first quarter of 2009, it has been listed as the 12th largest overall magazine.[4] Game Informer is now ranked among the top four magazines for reaching males 18 to 34.[5]
It is owned and published by GameStop Corp., the parent company of the video game retailer of the same name, who bought Funcoland in 2000. Due to this, a large amount of promotion is done in-store; this has contributed heavily to its subscription base,[6] which is now larger, as a subscription is included with the store's Power Up Rewards discount card.
Game Informer completely redesign both its magazine and website in November 2009,[7] just prior to their 200th issue, in December of that year. In celebration of their 200th issue, The Legend of Zelda was awarded the best game of all time.
Contents |
[edit] Staff
[edit] Current
- Andy McNamara Editor-In-Chief: 1991[8]
- Andrew Reiner Executive Editor: 1994[9]
- Matt Helgeson Senior Associate Editor: 1999[10]
- Matthew Kato Senior Associate Editor: 2001[11]
- Adam Biessener Associate Editor: 2003[12]
- Joe Juba Associate Editor: 2003[13]
- Matt Miller Associate Editor: 2004[14]
- Matt Bertz Content Manager: 2006[15]
- Bryan Vore Associate Editor: 2007[16]
- Ben Reeves Associate Editor: 2006[17]
- Jeff Cork Editor: 2007[18]
- Tim Turi Associate Editor: 2009[19]
- Jeff Marchiafava Associate Editor: 2009[19]
- Dan Ryckert Associate Editor: 2009[19]
- Phil Kollar Associate Editor: 2009[19]
- Ben Hanson Video Producer: 2010[19]
- Kyle Hilliard Associate Editor: 2011[19]
- Jason Oestreicher Video Editor: 2011[19]
[edit] Former
- Paul Anderson (The Pro Player, Game Professor): 1992–2001 (died 2007;[20] a message that reads "In Memory of Paul Anderson" appears in the Staff section of all current issues)
- Elizabeth Olson: 1991–1994
- Rick Petzoldt (The Video Ranger): 1991–1995
- Marianne Morgan (The Game Master): 1991
- Ed Martínez (The Video Wizard): 1991
- Erik Reppen (The PC Jedi): 1996–1997, 1999–2001
- Ross van der Schaegen (The Rebel Gamer): 1991–1995
- David "Vinnie" Vinyon (The Video Vigilante): 1994–1996
- Ryan McDonald (The Arcade Alchemist): 1995–1997
- Jon Storm (The Greedy Gamer): 1996–1999
- Robert Stoute (The Game Cassanova): 1997–1999
- Paul Bergren (The Game Burrito): 1997–1999
- Lisa Mason (La Game Nikita): 2002–2006[21]
- Beaux Hawkins (The Arcade Assassin): 1998–1999
- The Vidiot (Minister of Destruction): 2000–2001
- Jay Fitzloff (The Gonzo Gamer): 1999–2002
- Justin Leeper (The Digital Deviant): 2001–2004
- Chet Barber (The Joystick Jockey, The Chronic Gamer): 2002–2003
- Jeremy Zoss (Gamezilla): 2003–2006[22]
- Kristian Brogger (The Game Dawg, The Video Viking): 2000–2003
- Nick Ahrens Media Editor: 2005-2010
- Meagan Marie (formerly VanBurkleo) Associate Editor: 2008–2011[23]
- Annette González Associate Editor: 2009–2011
[edit] Recurring events
Game Infarcer is an annual spin-off of the normal magazine. Similar to GamePro's LamePro, it is released only in the April issue, as an April Fool's joke. In 2008, Game Infarcer received a new Chief Editor, DarthClark, who replaced Garnadan, and the cover game for the same Game Infarcer issue was a mix of both Assassin's Creed and Dawson's Creek, which resulted in Assassin's Creek. Another joke is the reviews in Game Infarcer almost never receive numeric scores, such as WiiNap (also a fake game) which got a score of "one penny".
In the July 2008 issue, Game Informer had its second annual Sacred Cow Barbecue (annual, in their case, means whenever they feel like doing it). Similar in style to a celebrity roast, the occasion is meant to "knock some of gaming's most revered icons off their high and mighty pedestals."[24]
[edit] Reviews
Game Informer currently reviews games on the Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo DS, PSP, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita consoles. Older games, three per issue, were given brief reviews in the magazine's Classic GI section (compared with the game's original review score, if one exists). This was discontinued in 2009, months before the redesign of the magazine. The magazine's staff rate games on a scale of 1 to 10 with quarter point intervals. A score of 1 is considered worse than terrible; 10 is a rare, "outstanding", nearly perfect game; and 7 is "average", a decently playable (but flawed) game. To this date, 21 games (22 if one counts the PlayStation 2 version of Resident Evil 4) have received a perfect "10", in order, they include:
- Super Mario World in October 2000 (Classic GI review).
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 in November 2000.
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty in December 2001.
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in December 2002.
- Metroid Fusion in January 2003.
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in April 2003.
- Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal in November 2004.
- Halo 2 in December 2004.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas also in December 2004.
- Resident Evil 4 in March 2005 for the GameCube and November 2005 for the PlayStation 2.
- God of War in April 2005.
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in January 2007.
- BioShock in September 2007.
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in December 2007.
- Grand Theft Auto IV in June 2008.
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots in July 2008.
- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in November 2009.
- God of War III in April 2010.
- StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in October 2010.
- Batman: Arkham City in November 2011.
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in December 2011.
Some games have even received scores below 1: Batman: Dark Tomorrow received a 0.75,[25] Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown for Game Boy Color got a 0.5,[26] and the Xbox launch title Kabuki Warriors scored a 0.5.[27] In the latter review, editor-in-chief Andy McNamara stated, "I literally won a match just by bashing the controller against my ass. I wish I was joking, but the score is seriously Kabuki Warriors zero, my ass one." This was confirmed by his fellow editors. Another game reviewed for Classic GI – Marky Mark: Make My Video for Sega CD – was given a 0. A score of a 1 was handed out to the Kinect game Hulk Hogan's Main Event in the December 2011 issue. More recently, another score of 1 was handed to Postal III, which was cited for its glitches and bad gameplay.
[edit] Website
Game Informer Online was originally launched in August 1996, and featured daily news updates as well as articles. Justin Leeper and Matthew Kato were hired on in November 1999 as full-time web editors. As part of the GameStop purchase of the magazine, the site was closed around January 2001.[28] Both Leeper and Kato were eventually placed on the editorial staff of the magazine.
GI Online was revived in September 2003, with a full redesign and many additional features, such as a review database, frequent news updates, and exclusive "Unlimited" content for subscribers. It was managed by Billy Berghammer, creator of PlanetGameCube.com (now known as NintendoWorldReport.com).[29] Berghammer is currently the editor in chief of the EGM Media group [30]
On March 2009, the online staff began creating the code for what would be the latest redesign to date. The redesign was to release hand-in-hand with the magazine's own redesign. On October 1, 2009, the newly redesigned website was live, with a welcome message from Editor-In-Chief Andy McNamara. Many new features were introduced, including a rebuilt media player, a feed highlighting the site activity of the website's users, and the ability to create user reviews.[31]
[edit] Other media
In the 2006 horror film Stay Alive, there was a brief appearance of a Game Informer with the title game from the movie. This was not a real issue of the magazine and was made specifically for the movie.
The movie Grandma's Boys has multiple sightings of Game Informer posters on the walls.
In an open-ended action game from 2009 developed by Radical Entertainment, Prototype, the Game Informer logo can be seen in many places in the game.
[edit] References
- ^ "eCirc for Consumer Magazines". Audit Bureau of Circulations. June 30, 2011. http://abcas3.accessabc.com/ecirc/magtitlesearch.asp. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
- ^ "10 Years of Game Informer" (August 2001). Game Informer, p. 42. "In August 1991, Funcoland began publishing a six-page circular to be handed out free in all of its retail locations."
- ^ "Game Informer Announces Rate Base Increase". http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070409005526&newsLang=en.
- ^ "Game Informer is one of the top 15 magazines by subscriptions". http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/01/game-informer-larger-than-time-playboy-and-maxim-even-oprah/.
- ^ "Game Informer is one of the top 4 magazines for men". http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070409005526&newsLang=en.
- ^ Vargas, Jose Antonio (April 2005). "A Magazine Whose Lineup Is Always in Play". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61800-2005Apr17.html. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
- ^ Game Informer Issue 197 The Beatles Rockband
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Mike Pohl
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Andrew Reiner
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Matt Helgeson
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Matthew Kato
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Adam Biessener
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Joe Juba
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Matt Miller
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Matt Bertz
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Bryan Vore
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Ben Reeves
- ^ Game Informer.com – Staff – Jeff Cork
- ^ a b c d e f g Game Informer – Staff Bios
- ^ Paul Anderson, Long Time Game Informer Member, Passes Game Informer Online.com POSTED: 8/30/2007
- ^ Internet Archives – Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Lisa Mason
- ^ Internet Archives – Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Jeremy Zoss
- ^ Game Informer Online.com – Staff – Meagan VanBurkleo
- ^ Game Informer Issue 183 inFamous
- ^ "Batman: Rize of Sin Tzu review on GameInformer.com". http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200305/R03.0729.1746.32907.htm?CS_pid=220029.
- ^ "Shrek Fairy Tale Freakdown review on GameInformer.com". http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200106/R03.0804.1550.16555.htm.
- ^ "Kabuki Warriors review on GameInformer.com". http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200112/R03.0804.1832.31851.htm.
- ^ "On the Web" (August 2001). Game Informer, p. 49. "Sadly, this ill-fated site was to last little more that [sic] a year, as gameinformer.com would fall prey to the massive meltdown of the Internet economy in February [of 2001]."
- ^ About Billy Berghammer, Managing Editor, Game Informer Online Game Informer Online.com
- ^ EGM Now hires industry vet Billy Berghammer as group EIC Multichannel.com By Larry Barrett – Multichannel News, 1/14/2009
- ^ Welcome To The New GameInformer.com GameInformer.com By Andy McNamara – 10/1/2009
