GameFan

''GameFan'' (originally known as ''Diehard GameFan'') was a publication started by Tim Lindquist, Greg Off, George Weising, and Dave Halverson in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and imported video games. It was notable for its extensive use of game screenshots in its page design, contrasting other U.S. publications at the time. The original magazine ceased publishing in December 2000.

In April 2010, Halverson relaunched ''GameFan'' as a video games and film magazine. However, this relaunch was short-lived and suffered from internal conflicts and low advertising revenue.

History

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, primarily from Japan, the small text reviews and descriptions drew attention for a lack of refinement and a sense of passion. Editor profiles featured caricatures drawn by Terry Wolfinger. The anonymized approach allowed certain editors like Dave Halverson to write multiple reviews of the same game under different pseudonyms.

''GameFan'' was well known for its extensive coverage of important games and its expansive coverage of emerging interest in anime. Another major feature that separated it from other gaming magazines was the high-quality paper used to print it. ''GameFan'''s game screenshots were more colorful and accurate to in-game graphics.

Controversy

In the September 1995 issue of ''GameFan'', an article was printed that contained several derogatory comments about Japanese people (calling them "little Jap bastards"). The text took the place of one of the paragraphs of one of the sports games reviews. The article discussed a Namco combat flight simulator, '' Ace Combat'', rather than ''College Football '96'' (which was the topic of the article) and was poorly written.

''GameFan'''s official explanation was that a rogue employee had sabotaged the magazine in order to alienate its Japanese audience and fan base. However, later reports indicated that it was actually filler text that someone had neglected to remove, and the entire incident was an internal joke that accidentally got printed. An apology (dated August 24, 1995) was published in ''DieHard GameFan'''s October 1995 issue in both English and Japanese.

''The Adventures of Monitaur''

The magazine included a comic strip, ''The Adventures of Monitaur'', an anime-derived series. Although the title character Monitaur was only drawn for the strip, the rest of the magazine's staff personae appeared as characters. Monitaur's main storylines were his struggles against ''The Blowmeister'', who represented the leadership of rival magazines such as ''Electronic Gaming Monthly''. In 1994, ''GameFan'' and two new startups, known as Dark Moon Productions and Dark Moon Comics, entered into an agreement to launch a Monitor comic book series, and at that time discussions were underway to make a full-length animated movie to be produced by Dark Moon Productions Inc and DMP Multi-media, a sister company founded by Andrew Spencer and Gary Tucker.

Golden Megawards

The winners of ''GameFan''s annual Golden Megawards were chosen by editors.

Related publications

''GameFan's'' original editor-in-chief, Dave Halverson, went on to publish '' Gamers' Republic'', and then '' Play Magazine'' (an American video-gaming magazine, not to be confused with the English publication of the same name), consisting mostly of former ''GameFan'' and ''Gamers' Republic'' staff members. ''Gamers' Republic'' had a run of 35 issues and ceased publication in July 2001 when the dot-com bubble burst. The ''Play'' had a more successful run of 97 issues until the publishing company filed for bankruptcy.

Tim Lindquist, along with several other members of the original ''GameFan'' team, launched a new magazine, ''Hardcore Gamer''. They also began developing strategy guides as a part of their publishing company, DoubleJump Books (later renamed OnionBat Books). The magazine had a run of 36 issues before it began focusing exclusively on its website.

The ''DieHard GameFan'' name was resurrected by Alex Lucard as a website,
Diehard GameFAN
', with Halverson's blessing. While the site covers major game releases, the site also reviews indie games, much like the original magazine.

2010 relaunch

After the bankruptcy of Fusion Publishing and the closure of ''Play'', Dave Halverson began work on a relaunch of ''GameFan''. The magazine returned to newsstands in April 2010, headed by Halverson and a few key staffers from ''Play'' with Rob Duenas serving as the new art director. It was available in both print and digital formats, the latter of which was sold directly through ''GameFan's'' online shop.

The first two issues of the relaunched ''GameFan'' featured a section titled ''MovieFan,'' which covered movies, anime, and comics. The first two-thirds of the magazine was devoted to ''GameFan'', and then readers would have to turn the magazine upside down in order to read the ''MovieFan'' magazine. As of issue 3, the ''MovieFan'' portion of the magazine was discontinued, but later issues still featured anime and comic reviews similar to ''Play''. In its second and final issue, ''MovieFan'' conducted one of the last known interviews with the late filmmaker Satoshi Kon.

The first five issues of the magazine were released on a consistent bi-monthly schedule. However, problems occurred with the magazine's development due to issues with advertising revenue, causing the sixth issue to be released in August 2011, eight months after issue 5, and with an entirely new editing team, headed by newcomer James Bacon. Issue 7 was assembled by only three people - editor-in-chief Dave Halverson, art director and graphic designer Rob Duenas, and managing editor James Bacon - and was released in December 2011. Soon thereafter Duenas resigned. The reason for his departure was due to an overwhelming workload; Duenas stated that he worked "20 hours a day for two weeks straight and e wasstill short cover art". Despite the stressful working conditions, Duenas harbored no ill will towards Halverson or the magazine, stating that he would have still been willing to contribute with cover illustrations or provide assistance with layouts. Soon after Duenas' departure, Bacon left for reasons unstated.

A press release was issued on April 18, 2012, highlighting the supposed future of ''Paper Planet'' brands: ''GameFan'' and ''Girls of Gaming''. The company planned on increasing its online presence through app development for mobile devices as well as a new ''GameFan TV'' online channel. None of these plans would come to fruition except the creation of a YouTube channel. Former ''Destructoid'' editor Wesley Ruscher was named the magazine's new editor-in-chief but resigned shortly after the release of issue 8, stating that it "lacked the necessities to keep food in isbelly and a roof over ishead."

As of June 2013, ''GameFan's'' web presence had been in a mostly inactive state for about a year. Issue 9 was finally made available in February 2013 after missing the holiday 2012 release. This issue was only worked on by two people, Dave Halverson and Greg Orlando. Issues 8 and 9 were only available in a digital format. ''GameFan'' would later go on a two-year hiatus, returning in 2015 with a redesigned magazine and website. In February 2015, ''GameFan'' simultaneously released issue 10 digitally and on newsstands. The digital version was freely released on ''Magzter'' with the use of a promotional code. The magazine went through a complete overhaul, simplifying its layouts and design, most likely in order to have the magazines completed on schedule. The size of the print magazine is significantly smaller compared to previous issues. In addition, the ''GameFan'' mascot, ''Monitaur,'' and logo were redesigned.

On May 6, 2015, ''GameFan'' announced a partnership with ''Destructoid'' to help promote the ''GameFan'' brand with collaborations and free subscription offers. The initial plan was to bring back the dual-cover format from the first two issues, but instead of a ''MovieFan'' portion, it would be exclusive content created by ''Destructoid'' for the magazine. According to ''GameFan's'' official Facebook page, the deal with ''Destructoid'' would have allowed for the magazine to be released on a monthly schedule. However, the deal with ''Destructoid'' resulted in only one issue of the ''GameFan/Destructoid'' magazine ever being released. As of January 2019, there have been no new updates regarding ''GameFan's'' overall status.

References

External links

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Hardcore Gaming 101's Archived GameFan History Thread

VideoGameObsession's 100% Complete GameFan Issue Index

The Original GameFan Website (In Archived Format)

Archived GameFan Magazines
on the Wayback Machine

Digitized GameFan magazine on Retro CDN

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamefan
Monthly magazines published in the United States
Defunct video game magazines published in the United States
Irregularly published magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1992
Magazines disestablished in 2000
Magazines established in 2010
Magazines disestablished in 2015