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Game Informer

The November 2009 issue cover
Editor-in-Chief	Andy McNamara
Categories	Video game
Frequency	Monthly (12 per year)
Circulation	3,500,000
Publisher	GameStop Corporation
First issue	August 1991
Country	United States
Language	English
Website	www.gameinformer.com
ISSN	1067-6392

Game Informer (GI) is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. Formed in August 1991,^[1] the magazine has nearly 3 million subscribers according to Andrew Reiner, making it the highest circulated video game magazine,^[2] and as of the first quarter of 2009, it is listed as the 12th largest overall magazine.^[3] Game Informer is now ranked among the top four magazines for reaching males 18 to 34.^[4]

It is owned and published by GameStop Corp., the parent company of the video game retailer of the same name. Due to this, a large amount of promotion is done in-store, which has contributed heavily to its large subscription base,^[5] especially as a subscription is included with the store's Gamer's Edge discount card.

In their November 2009 issue, Game Informer saw a complete redesign of both its magazine and website.^[6]

[edit] Staff

[edit] Current

• Andy McNamara Editor-In-Chief (The Game Hombre): 1991^[7]
• Mike Pohl Chief Game Tester (The Assasin): 2000^[8]
• Andrew Reiner Executive Editor (The Raging Gamer): 1994^[9]
• Matt Helgeson Senior Associate Editor (The Original Gamer): 1999^[10]
• Matthew Kato Senior Associate Editor (The Gaming Katana): 2001^[11]
• Adam Biessener Associate Editor (The Alpha Gamer): 2003^[12]
• Joe Juba Associate Editor (The Real American Gamer): 2003^[13]
• Matt Miller Associate Editor (The Once And Future Gamer): 2004^[14]
• Matt Bertz Content Manager, (Lord Gamington III): 2006^[15]
• Bryan Vore Associate Editor (The Gamer's Advocate): 2007^[16]
• Ben Reeves Associate Editor (Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamer): 2006^[17]
• Nick Ahrens Media Editor (Online – The 6 Million Dollar Gamer): 2005^[18]
• Jeff Cork Online   Editor (Online – Have Game, Will Travel): 2007^[19]
• Meagan VanBurkleo Associate Editor (Online – The Game Raider): 2008^[20]
• Tim Turi Associate Editor: 2009^[21]
• Jeff Marchiafava Associate Editor: 2009^[22]
• Dan Ryckert Associate Editor: 2009^[23]
• Annette Gonzalez Associate Editor: 2009^[24]
• Phil Kollar Associate Editor: 2009^[25]

[edit] Former

• Paul Anderson (The Pro Player, Game Professor): 1992–2001 (died 2007;^[26] a message that reads "In Memory of Paul Anderson" appears in the Staff section of all current issues)
• Elizabeth Olson: 1991–1994
• Rick Petzoldt (The Video Ranger): 1991–1995
• Marianne Morgan (The Game Master): 1991
• Ed Martinez (The Video Wizard): 1991
• Erik Reppen (The PC Jedi): 1996–1997, 1999–2001
• Ross VanDerSchaegen (The Rebel Gamer): 1991–1995
• David "Vinnie" Vinyon (The Video Vigilante): 1994–1996
• Ryan McDonald (The Arcade Alchemist): 1995–1997
• Jon Storm (The Greedy Gamer): 1996–1999
• Robert Stoute (The Game Cassanova): 1997–1999
• Paul Bergren (The Game Burrito): 1997–1999
• Lisa Mason (La Game Nikita): 2002–2006^[27]
• Beaux Hawkins (The Arcade Assassin): 1998–1999
• The Vidiot (Minister of Destruction): 2000–2001
• Jay Fitzloff (The Gonzo Gamer): 1999–2002
• Justin Leeper (The Digital Deviant): 2001–2004
• Chet Barber (The Joystick Jockey, The Chronic Gamer): 2002–2003
• Jeremy Zoss (Gamezilla): 2003–2006^[28]
• Kristian Brogger (The Game Dawg, The Video Viking): 2000–2003

[edit] Recurring events

Game Infarcer is an annual spin-off of the normal magazine. Similar to GamePro's LamePro, it's released only in the April issue, as an April Fool's Joke. In 2008 Game Infarcer received a new Chief Editor, DarthClark, who replaced Garnadan, and the cover game for the same Game Infarcer issue was a mix of both Assassin's Creed and Dawson's Creek (Assassin's Creek.)

In the July 2008 issue, Game Informer had its Second Annual Sacred Cow Barbecue. Similar in style to a celebrity roast (a comedic, tongue-in-cheek event hosted specifically to make fun of a certain celebrity with the celebrity present), the occasion is meant to "knock some of gaming's most revered icons off their high and mighty pedestals".^[29]

[edit] Reviews

Game Informer currently reviews games on the Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PC, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable consoles. The reviews of games for the Game Boy Advance and GameCube consoles were discontinued during 2007, primarily because the number of games for both systems were dwindling. Older games, three per issue, are given brief reviews in the magazine's Classic GI section (compared with the game's original review score, if one exists). 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. Some games that have received a perfect "10" include Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, BioShock, Call of Duty 4, God of War, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto IV, Halo 2, Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Fusion, Resident Evil 4, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.

Some games received even lower scores, scores below 1: Batman: Dark Tomorrow received a 0.75,^[30] Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown for Game Boy Color got a 0.5,^[31] and the Xbox launch title Kabuki Warriors scored a 0.5.^[32] In the latter review, editor-in-chief Andy McNamara said, "I literally won a match just by bashing the controller against my ass." This was confirmed by his fellow editors. One game reviewed for Classic GI—Marky Mark: Make My Video for Sega CD—was given a 0. A recurring gag in every issue is in the review "table" (the magazine defines what each score means), the 1 score is always changed to a different joke.

[edit] Website

GI Online was originally launched in August 1996, and featured daily news updates as well as humorous articles. The magazine editors updated it as a labor of love, with what little spare time they had. 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.^[33] 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).^[34] Berghammer is currently the director of games editorial for G4tv.com.^[35]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• GameInformer.com