GameGO! was an ambitious, but short-lived, video game magazine. Conceived by Eric C. Mylonas and Thomas Keller (using the aliases "ECM" and "Haohmaru"), 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. The magazine's coverage tended to eschew more well-known, mainstream games in favour of giving better exposure to obscure, niche, and import games.
Only one issue was ever published. It was distributed in June 2001, available at EB Games and various specialty stores in the US, and was mailed to paid subscribers. A second issue was completed, but there was not enough funding available to go ahead with printing. The fate of the magazine was up in the air for an extended period, and during that period a strongly dedicated online community thrived, but operations were ultimately shut down in 2002 after failing to find a way to bring the print magazine back to life.
The second issue was distributed in PDF format to anyone who asked for it. It can still be found on the Internet.
Contents |
The name "GameGO!" was chosen specifically to mimic the naming conventions of Japanese magazines. The "GO!" portion of the name was originally chosen out of fun and had no real meaning behind it, but during creation of the magazine's logo the kanji for "language", pronounced "go", was adopted. Therefore, the name more or less came to mean "the language of gaming".
While GameFan itself was viewed as the print bastion of the hardcore gamer community, GameGO! sought to even further crystallize that niche. The side-effect of this was that it brought-along all the pomposity of its predecessor, and concentrated it even further. This was severely evident in the slogan of the magazine, "The Guide To What You SHOULD Be Playing". (This slogan was later changed to the less contentious "The Guide To What You COULD Be Playing".)
The first issue also generated criticism in using the obscure, and ultimately mediocre, PlayStation 2 game Stretch Panic as its cover feature. The writers had scored an exclusive preview of the game, and the developer, Treasure Co. Ltd, was held on a high throne by the hardcore gamer community for a string of highly-playable games, so the cover was chosen in order to differentiate the magazine from its competitors and attract the niche market segment. As no one in the general gaming community had any clue about the game, and there wasn't much interest in it, it attracted very few casual readers when displayed on store shelves. This is one of the problems that led to the magazine's failure.