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Game Informer
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Game Informer (GI) is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. Formed in August 1991, the magazine has nearly 3 million subscribers according to Andrew Reiner, making it the highest circulated video game magazine, and as of the first quarter of 2007, it is listed as the 23rd largest overall magazine.
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Encyclopedia
Game Informer (GI) is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. Formed in August 1991, the magazine has nearly 3 million subscribers according to Andrew Reiner, making it the highest circulated video game magazine, and as of the first quarter of 2007, it is listed as the 23rd largest overall magazine. Game Informer is now ranked among the top four magazines for reaching males 18 to 34.
It is owned and published by GameStop Corp., the parent company of the video game retailer of the same name. Due to this, a large amount of promotion is done in-store, which has contributed heavily to its large subscription base, especially as a subscription is included with the store's Gamer's Edge discount card.
GI Staff
There have been many different members on the GI team through the years. Handles are in parenthesis, current GI staff members are listed at the top, and members no longer active are below.
- Andy McNamara (The Game Hombre): 1991–present
- Andrew Reiner (The Raging Gamer): 1994–present
- Matt Helgeson (The Original Gamer): 1999–present
- Matthew Kato (The Gaming Katana): 2001–present
- Adam Biessener (The Alpha Gamer): 2003–present
- Joe Juba (The Real American Gamer): 2003–present
- Matt Miller (The Once And Future Gamer): 2004–present
- Matt Bertz (Lord Gamington III): 2006–present
- Bryan Vore (The Gamer's Advocate): 2007–present
- Ben Reeves (Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamer): 2006–present
- Nick Ahrens (Online – The 6 Million Dollar Gamer): 2005–present
- Jeff Cork (Online – Have Game, Will Travel): 2007–present
- Meagan VanBurkleo (Online – The Game Raider): 2008–present
- Paul Anderson (The Pro Player, Game Professor): 1992–2001 (Passed away 2007; 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 Martinez (The Video Wizard): 1991
- Erik Reppen (The PC Jedi): 1996–1997, 1999–2001
- Ross VanDerSchaegen (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
- 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
- Kristian Brogger (The Game Dawg, The Video Viking): ???–2004
Recurring events
Game Infarcer is an annual spin-off of the normal magazine. Similar to GamePro's LamePro, it's released only in the April issue, as an April Fool's Joke. In of 2008 Gameinfarcer received a new Chief Editor, DarthClark, who replaced Garnadan, and the cover game for the same Game Infarcer issue was a mix of both Assassins Creed and Dawson's Creek (Assassin's Creek.)
In the July 2008 issue, Game Informer had its Second Annual Sacred Cow Barbecue. Similar in style to a celebrity roast (a comedic, tongue-in-cheek event hosted specifically to make fun of a certain celebrity with the celebrity present), the occasion is meant to "knock some of gaming's most revered icons off their high and mighty pedestals". Some readers have taken offense to these "barbecues" for slamming popular games, a sign of people not quite understanding the jestful nature of a roast and its purpose.
Reviews
Game Informer reviews games on the Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable consoles. The reviews of games for the Game Boy Advance and Gamecube consoles were discontinued during 2007, primarily because the number of games for both systems were dwindling. Older games, three per issue, are given brief reviews in the magazine's Classic GI section (compared with the game's original review score, if one exists). 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. Some games that have received a perfect "10" include Halo 2, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto IV, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Fusion, Bioshock, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Resident Evil 4, God of War, Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.
Some games received even lower scores, scores below 1: Batman: Dark Tomorrow received a 0.75, Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown for Game Boy Color got a 0.5, and the Xbox launch title Kabuki Warriors scored a 0.5. In the latter review, editor-in-chief Andy McNamara said, "I literally won a match just by bashing the controller against my ass." This was confirmed by his fellow editors. One game reviewed for Classic GI—Marky Mark: Make My Video for Sega CD—was given a 0. A recurring gag in every issue is in the review "table" (the magazine defines what each score means), the 1 score is always changed to a different joke.
Criticism
Game Informer rated Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the GameCube a 6.75/10 in its November 2004 issue stating that despite being entertaining "the art and combat are killed in their tracks by the game's downright shameful dialogue." This sparked a controversy concerning the grading system. Jeremy Zoss, a member of the Game Informer staff, defended the score on the magazine's forum by stating that while they found it well-made, they had to take into account how well a game will appeal to the masses in their score. This message generated even more controversy, causing Jeremy to post a rebuttal to complaints. When GI rated Pokemon Battle Revolution, they criticized the game because it "gave a tutorial on how to point the freakin' Wii Remote."
Website
GI Online was originally launched in August 1996, and featured daily news updates as well as humorous articles. The magazine editors updated it as a labor of love, with what little spare time they had. 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. 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, former creator of PlanetGameCube.com (now known as NintendoWorldReport.com).
External links
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