Game Players was a monthly video game magazine founded by Robert C. Lock and published by Signal Research, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The original publication was titled Game Players Strategy to Nintendo Games (the cover featured a tagline that claimed no affiliation with Nintendo [1]). The magazine evolved over the years, even spinning off a separate publication called Game Players Sega Genesis Guide when Sega entered the console market. These two magazines were later folded together into one magazine.
Games Players was a groundbreaking publication for its time - it was the very first independent monthly video game magazine of the 8-bit generation (it was not affiliated with a first party publisher, such as Nintendo or Sega), in addition, it was the very first video game magazine to feature a CG cover [2].
Signal Research was purchased by Future Publishing UK (mainly for Game Players) as an entry into the US media publishing field. Future Publishing then operated under the name of Imagine Media in the United States.
As Game Players magazine evolved the staff began to develop a zany humor that pervaded almost every videogame review and image caption. Readers' letters came at the beginning of the magazine and were often one of the highlights of the magazine. The magazine often included a "newsletter" with irreverent jokes about magazine staffers, as well as cartoons.
In 1996, the magazine changed its name to Ultra Game Players and introduced a radically different format. The introduction of Ultra Game Players was intended to coincide with the release of the Nintendo 64 and Super Mario 64 (originally, the Nintendo 64 went by the name Nintendo Ultra 64).
Ultra Game Players featured a more modern design with a redesigned layout that placed readers' letters at the end of the magazine. One of the interesting features of Ultra Game Players was a "prize store" in which readers answered trivia questions for chances to win prizes. However, many readers complained that the humor that had made Game Players such an enjoyable magazine was missing from the Ultra version, which prompted a return to form soon after the switch. Ultra Game Players continued until June 1998, at which point it was replaced by Game Buyer. Game Buyer ran for four more months before being cancelled by Imagine Publishing (now Future Publishing).
Former magazine Editor in Chief Chris Slate is now Editor in Chief at Nintendo Power. Bill Donohue, formerly of Game Players, is at PSM. Francesca Reyes, formerly of Game Players, is now Editor in Chief at Official Xbox Magazine, another Future publication. Frank O'Connor, who helmed the later issues of UGP and Game Buyer is now at Microsoft, as director of the Halo franchise. Roger Burchill, formerly of Game Players, is managing editor at PSM. Rick Sanchez, formerly the disc editor for Game Players, is at GameTap.
