GameFan magazine
Encyclopedia
GameFan Magazine was a publication started by Tim Lindquist
and Dave Halverson
in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and import video games. It was notable for its extensive use of game screenshots in page design because of the lack of good screen shots in other US publications at the time. It ceased publishing in December 2000. Halverson relaunched GameFan as a hybrid video game/film magazine in May 2010. The first 2/3s of the magazine are devoted to Gamefan, then readers need to turn the magazine upside down and have the Moviefan magazine. As of Issue 3, the Moviefan portion of the magazine was removed to provide more games coverage. However, there were two pages dedicated to anime reviews similar to Play magazine.
GameFan Magazine was well-known for its extensive import game coverage and its expansive coverage of the emerging interest in anime. Another major feature that separated Gamefan from other gaming magazines was the high quality paper it was printed on. Gamefan’s game screen shots were the most colorful and faithfully resembled the game graphics.
GameFan Magazine was also a champion of RPGs (role playing games). Mostly ignored by American audiences, this genre was a favorite of many GameFan staffers. The magazine's extensive coverage of the genre helped create and foster acceptance for the style of gameplay. This support came to its climax with the release of Final Fantasy VII
, of which GameFan was chosen as the on-box quote proclaiming the title “Quite Possibly The Greatest Game Ever Made”.
The death of GameFan Magazine is usually attributed to several factors. The primary cause was due to the effects of a series of lawsuits which had haunted the magazine for nearly its entire run (mainly stemming from a cadre of investors that felt they were fleeced during the earliest years of the publication's run), following it through numerous corporate iterations and change of hands. It is this lawsuit that, in fact, had prevented the sale of the print magazine and its continuation as a going concern (as it turns out, the deal was virtually all but final and was derailed at the 11th hour due to the aforementioned suit).
Even after its demise, several staff members attempted to have the brand resurrected by the publisher of Computer Strategy Plus, based in Burlington, Vermont. Unfortunately, a deal could not be reached and the magazine was shuttered shortly thereafter (around the end of the 1st quarter of 2001.)
In the September 1995 issue of GameFan, an article was printed that contained several derogatory comments about Japanese people
(naming them "little Jap
bastards", a racially derogatory term that was used to insult Japanese descendants and Japanese-Americans during the years of World War II
). The scurrilous text took the place of one of the paragraphs of one of the sports games reviews. The article discussed a Namco
flight-simulator, Ace Combat
, rather than College Football '96 (which was the topic of the article) and was extremely poorly written. This incident led to the firing
of the two editors. GameFan editor Dave Halverson published a letter in the next issue of the magazine explaining the origin and intentions of the offensive article. Halverson claimed that the article was an attempt to sabotage the magazine aimed at alienating its Japanese audience and fanbase. In the following issue, Halverson published the following apology:
A longer version of this apology (dated August 24, 1995) was repeated in later prints of DieHard GameFan's October 1995 issue in both English and Japanese, and a further apology appeared in the November 1995 issue.
video-gaming magazine, not to be confused with the English
publication of the same name.) Not long after it began, Gamer's Republic soon followed GameFan's demise and has ceased publication.
After GameFan ceased publication, Eric Mylonas went on to edit GameGO!
magazine. Only one issue of the magazine ever reached publication while a second was completed and distributed in digital format, only. More recently, Mylonas has had success writing strategy guides for Prima Games.
Tim Lindquist
, along with several other members from the original GameFan team, began a new magazine, Hardcore Gamer Magazine
.
DieHard GameFan has been resurrected by Alex Lucard as a website, Diehard GameFAN, with Dave Halverson's blessings. While covering the major releases, the site also prides itself on reviewing more "indie" games, as was the spirit of the original magazine.
The magazine returned to newsstands in 2010, headed by Halverson and key staffers from Play and Gamefan Online with Rob Duenas serving as the new art director. It is available in both print and digital format directly from Gamefan website's own shop. Print copies are also sold in major retail outlets across the United States. As of Issue 5 no subscription information is available, though comments on the magazine's Facebook page indicate subscriptions will be offered in the near future.
Tim Lindquist
Tim Lindquist is the founder of multiple video game publications including Hardcore Gamer Magazine and DoubleJump Books. DoubleJump Books is a strategy guide publisher responsible for the guides of games such as Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Genji: Dawn of the Samurai. He founded Hardcore Gamer...
and Dave Halverson
Dave Halverson
Dave Halverson is the founder of video game magazines GameFan, Gamer's Republic, Play and currently the new version of "Gamefan," which comes in digital PDF versions as well as print....
in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and import video games. It was notable for its extensive use of game screenshots in page design because of the lack of good screen shots in other US publications at the time. It ceased publishing in December 2000. Halverson relaunched GameFan as a hybrid video game/film magazine in May 2010. The first 2/3s of the magazine are devoted to Gamefan, then readers need to turn the magazine upside down and have the Moviefan magazine. As of Issue 3, the Moviefan portion of the magazine was removed to provide more games coverage. However, there were two pages dedicated to anime reviews similar to Play magazine.
History
GameFan's legacy extends far beyond that of its intended "hardcore" gaming legacy. The idea for the name Gamefan came from the Japanese Sega magazine called Megafan. Although it began as an advertising supplement to sell imported video games mostly from Japan, the small text reviews and descriptions soon took on a life all their own, primarily due to the lack of refinement and sense of passion. Caricatures were given in place of actual editor profile, with profiles drawn exclusively by Terry Wolfinger. This particular method of reviewing and commenting seemingly freed its editors from the creative restraints commonly associated with competing publications. It also allowed certain editors like Dave Halverson to write multiple reviews of the same game under different pseudonyms.GameFan Magazine was well-known for its extensive import game coverage and its expansive coverage of the emerging interest in anime. Another major feature that separated Gamefan from other gaming magazines was the high quality paper it was printed on. Gamefan’s game screen shots were the most colorful and faithfully resembled the game graphics.
GameFan Magazine was also a champion of RPGs (role playing games). Mostly ignored by American audiences, this genre was a favorite of many GameFan staffers. The magazine's extensive coverage of the genre helped create and foster acceptance for the style of gameplay. This support came to its climax with the release of Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
, of which GameFan was chosen as the on-box quote proclaiming the title “Quite Possibly The Greatest Game Ever Made”.
The death of GameFan Magazine is usually attributed to several factors. The primary cause was due to the effects of a series of lawsuits which had haunted the magazine for nearly its entire run (mainly stemming from a cadre of investors that felt they were fleeced during the earliest years of the publication's run), following it through numerous corporate iterations and change of hands. It is this lawsuit that, in fact, had prevented the sale of the print magazine and its continuation as a going concern (as it turns out, the deal was virtually all but final and was derailed at the 11th hour due to the aforementioned suit).
Even after its demise, several staff members attempted to have the brand resurrected by the publisher of Computer Strategy Plus, based in Burlington, Vermont. Unfortunately, a deal could not be reached and the magazine was shuttered shortly thereafter (around the end of the 1st quarter of 2001.)
Controversy
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
(naming them "little Jap
Jap
Jap is an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese." Today it is generally regarded as an ethnic slur, although English-speaking countries differ in the degree to which they consider the term offensive. In the United States, Japanese Americans have come to find the term controversial or...
bastards", a racially derogatory term that was used to insult Japanese descendants and Japanese-Americans during the years of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
). The scurrilous text took the place of one of the paragraphs of one of the sports games reviews. The article discussed a Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
flight-simulator, Ace Combat
Ace Combat
Ace Combat is a hybrid arcade-simulation flight action video game series featuring 12 games, published by the Japanese company Namco Bandai Games...
, rather than College Football '96 (which was the topic of the article) and was extremely poorly written. This incident led to the firing
Firing
Dismissal is the termination of employment by an employer against the will of the employee. Though such a decision can be made by an employer for a variety of reasons, ranging from an economic downturn to performance-related problems on the part of the employee, being fired has a strong stigma in...
of the two editors. GameFan editor Dave Halverson published a letter in the next issue of the magazine explaining the origin and intentions of the offensive article. Halverson claimed that the article was an attempt to sabotage the magazine aimed at alienating its Japanese audience and fanbase. In the following issue, Halverson published the following apology:
A longer version of this apology (dated August 24, 1995) was repeated in later prints of DieHard GameFan's October 1995 issue in both English and Japanese, and a further apology appeared in the November 1995 issue.
Staff
Staff members of GameFan magazine had amusing aliases. The following are some known members of GameFan:| Alias | Staff Member |
|---|---|
| E. Storm | Dave Halverson |
| Skid | Dave Halverson |
| The Wanderer | Rick Mears |
| Takahara | Dave Halverson |
| The Enquirer | Andrew Cockburn |
| Nick Rox | Nicholas Dean Des Barres (Son of Michael Des Barres Michael Des Barres Lord Michael Philip Des Barres is a British actor and rock singer. He is known for playing the recurring role of Murdoc on the television show MacGyver and for replacing the late Robert Palmer in the band Power Station, fronting the band at the 1985 Live Aid concert... ) |
| Takuhi | Casey Loe |
| Knightmare | Dan Jevons |
| Orion | Ryan Lockhart |
| Glitch | Mike Griffin |
| Substance D | Michael Hobbs |
| Tom Slick | Tom Stratton |
| Special K | Kei Kuboki |
| K. Lee | Kelly Rickards |
| Hikaru, Mr.Goo | Frank Martinez Jr. |
| Chief Hambleton | David Hodgson |
| Eggo | George Ngo |
| Dangohead | Anthony Chau |
| Big Bubba | Brandon Justice |
| Kodomo | Matt Van Stone |
| ECM | Eric Mylonas |
| Fury | Jason Weitzner |
| shidoshi | Eric L. Patterson |
| Cerberus | Tyrone Rodriguez |
| El Nino | Geoff Higgins |
| Waka | Mike Wakamatsu |
| L.A. Akira | Gerald Abraham |
| Sergeant H. Core | Jeremy Corby |
| Hi-Fi | Kevin Deselms |
| Slasher Quan | Matt Taylor (He worked for GamePro GamePro GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and... prior to working for GameFan) |
| The Postmeister | Mostly Dave Halverson |
| Reubus | Bruce Stockert (Art director for the last few years of GameFan's existence) |
| *unknown* | Terry Wolfinger (The original art director for GameFan) |
Related publications
GameFan's original Editor in Chief, Dave Halverson, went on to publish Gamer's Republic, and then Play magazine, consisting mostly of ex-GameFan staff members. (An AmericanNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
video-gaming magazine, not to be confused with the English
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
publication of the same name.) Not long after it began, Gamer's Republic soon followed GameFan's demise and has ceased publication.
After GameFan ceased publication, Eric Mylonas went on to edit GameGO!
GameGO!
GameGO! was an ambitious, but short-lived, video game magazine. Conceived by Eric C. Mylonas and Thomas Keller , and staffed by former Gamefan editors, it intended not to simply follow in the footsteps of the then-defunct GameFan magazine, but focus even deeper into the hardcore gamer market...
magazine. Only one issue of the magazine ever reached publication while a second was completed and distributed in digital format, only. More recently, Mylonas has had success writing strategy guides for Prima Games.
Tim Lindquist
Tim Lindquist
Tim Lindquist is the founder of multiple video game publications including Hardcore Gamer Magazine and DoubleJump Books. DoubleJump Books is a strategy guide publisher responsible for the guides of games such as Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Genji: Dawn of the Samurai. He founded Hardcore Gamer...
, along with several other members from the original GameFan team, began a new magazine, Hardcore Gamer Magazine
Hardcore Gamer Magazine
Hardcore Gamer magazine is an American video game magazine published by Robert Kotick. First published in 2005, Hardcore Gamer has had over 30 issues published and has since spawned a website, ....
.
DieHard GameFan has been resurrected by Alex Lucard as a website, Diehard GameFAN, with Dave Halverson's blessings. While covering the major releases, the site also prides itself on reviewing more "indie" games, as was the spirit of the original magazine.
The magazine returned to newsstands in 2010, headed by Halverson and key staffers from Play and Gamefan Online with Rob Duenas serving as the new art director. It is available in both print and digital format directly from Gamefan website's own shop. Print copies are also sold in major retail outlets across the United States. As of Issue 5 no subscription information is available, though comments on the magazine's Facebook page indicate subscriptions will be offered in the near future.