GameFan Volume 7, Issue 12 - December 1999 |
|
| Editor | Dave Halverson David Hodgson Eric Mylonas |
|---|---|
| Categories | Computing, Gaming, Computer magazine |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| First issue | October 1992 |
| Final issue — Number |
December 2000 Volume 8, Issue 12 |
| Company | DieHard Gamers Club (1992-1996) Metropolis Media (1996-1998) Shinno Media (1999-2000) |
| Country | United States, Canada |
| Language | English |
| Website | http://.gamefanmag.com |
| ISSN | 1092-7212 |
GameFan Magazine (originally known as Diehard GameFan Magazine) was a publication started by Tim Lindquist and Dave Halverson in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and import video games.[1] 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.[2] 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.
Contents |
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, 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:
| “ | August 18, 1995
GameFan, more so than any other American title covering the gaming industry, has been the greatest proponent of the Japanese market and culture. This is a known fact in the industry and among gamers. We are also the fastest growing gaming magazine on the market, despite the fact that our cover price is 20% higher than that of our competitors. We are thought of by readers of all gaming titles as the magazine with the highest production quality and editorial integrity. For these reasons, we are the constant target of our competitors. Our September issue was the aim of sabotage. The intention was to include language in our issue offensive to the Japanese to damage relationships and set our friends against us. During the production process, text containing various profanities and language offensive to the Japanese culture was woven throughout the text of the issue. We were able to remove the majority of the language. Despite our efforts, one paragraph contained within an editorial made it through the production process. By the time we discovered this, some of the copies were already distributed to retail outlets. Unfortunately, because our production process largely involves digitized information on disk and it travels through the hands of several outside sources, it is subject to this type of manipulation. We were caught with our guard down, never having expected such an outrageous act. We have put safeguards in place to insure that this will never occur again. The action was undoubtedly directed to harm GameFan. We ask that you accept our deepest apologies for any offense that it may have caused. Please consider that the persons responsible for this action intended not only an offense against the Japanese, but against GameFan. This type of motive and behavior should not be condoned. Carefully consider the circumstances and our integrity and help us maintain it by not reacting against GameFan, but together with GameFan. Sincerely, Dave Halverson |
” |
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,[3] and a further apology appeared in the November 1995 issue.[4]
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) |
| 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 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) |
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 American 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.[5]
DieHard GameFan has been resurrected by Alex Lucard as a website, Diehard GameFAN, with Dave Halverson's blessings.[6] 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.