Game Informer

Game Informer

The July 2011 issue cover
Editor-in-Chief	Andy McNamara
Categories	Video game
Frequency	Monthly (12 per year)
Publisher	GameStop
Total circulation (2016)	6,353,075[1]
First issue	August 1991 (1991-08)
Country	United States
Based in	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Language	English
Website	www.gameinformer.com
ISSN	1067-6392

Game Informer (GI) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. As of December 2014, over 6.9 million copies are sold each month, making it the fourth-largest magazine in the United States by circulation.^[1] Game Informer debuted in August 1991^[2] when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine.^[3] It is owned, and published by GameStop Corp., the parent company of the video game retailer of the same name, who bought FuncoLand in 2000. Due to this, a large amount of promotion is done in-store.^[4] Purchasing a subscription to the magazine also gets the subscriber access to special content on the official website.

History

Magazine

Game Informer covers circa 2005

Game Informer debuted in August 1991 as a six-page magazine. It was published every two months until November 1994, when the magazine began to be released monthly.^[5]

In April each year, Game Informer includes Game Infarcer, an annual spin-off of the normal magazine, as an April Fool's joke.

Game Informer has included three "Sacred Cow Barbecues". Similar in style to a celebrity roast, the occasion is meant to "knock some of gaming's most revered icons off their high and mighty pedestals."^[6]

Website

Game Informer Online was originally launched in August 1996, and featured daily news updates as well as articles. 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.^[7] 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, creator of PlanetGameCube.com (now known as NintendoWorldReport.com).^[8] Berghammer is currently the editor in chief of the EGM Media group ^[9]

On March 2009, the online staff began creating the code for what would be the latest redesign to date. The redesign was to release hand-in-hand with the magazine's own redesign. On October 1, 2009, the newly redesigned website was live, with a welcome message from Editor-In-Chief Andy McNamara. Many new features were introduced, including a rebuilt media player, a feed highlighting the site activity of the website's users, and the ability to create user reviews.^[10]

In February (sometimes January), Game Informer's editors round up to count and judge the "Top 50 Games of last year". The games are sorted in order of release date. They do not have rankings, but they do commemorate special games with awards like Game of the Year and other examples. They also have mini top 10 charts of differing categories, both in the Top 50 games section of the website and in the regular magazine.

In August each year, Game Informer includes a "E3 Hot 50", a special section that reviews the year's E3 and most to all of its games, which also temporarily replaces the "previews" section.

Australian edition

In November 2009, Game Informer was launched in Australia by former Australian GamePro, Gameplayer and Official PlayStation Magazine editor Chris Stead.^[11] By June 2010, Game Informer Australia had become the first local games publication to pass 10,000 subscribers. By August 18, 2010, it had become Australia's biggest selling video games publication.^[12]

Game Informer Australia has picked up three Australian Magazine Awards for best in category, multiple nominations in the Lizzie awards and the 2013 MCV award for Print Publication of the Year. Chris Stead also received the 2013 Journalist of the Year gong at the MCV awards.^[13]

Reviews

Game Informer currently reviews games on the Wii, Wii U, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita consoles. Older games, three per issue, were given brief reviews in the magazine's Classic GI section (compared with the game's original review score, if one exists). This was discontinued in 2009, months before the redesign of the magazine. 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.

Awards

1992^[14]

1996

• Game of the Year - Super Mario 64

1997

• Game of the Year - Final Fantasy VII

1998^[15]

1999

• Game of the Year - Super Smash Bros.

2001^[16]

• Game of the Year - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

2005

• Game of the Year - Resident Evil 4

2006

• Game of the Year - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

2007

• Game of the Year - BioShock

Staff

Current

• Andy McNamara – Editor-in-Chief: 1991^[17]
• Andrew Reiner – Executive Editor: 1994^[18]

References

External links

• GameInformer.com