A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
 Volume 7, Issue 12 (December 1999) | |
| Editor |
|
|---|---|
| Categories | Gaming, Anime |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| First issue | October 1992 |
| Final issue Number | December 2000 Volume 8, Issue 12 |
| Company |
|
| Country | United States, Canada |
| Language | English |
| Website | http://gamefan.com (defunct) |
| ISSN | 1092-7212 |
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.[1] 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.[2] 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", a racially derogatory term that was used to insult Japanese descendants and Japanese Americans during the years of World War II). 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.[3]
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.[4] An apology (dated August 24, 1995) was published in DieHard GameFan's October 1995 issue in both English and Japanese,[5] and a further apology appeared in the November 1995 issue.[6]
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.
| Award | Skid | Brody | Tom Slick | The Enquirer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Game | Wonderdog (Sega CD) |
Cybernator (SNES) |
Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis) |
Street Fighter II (SNES) |
| Best Import Game | Landstalker (Mega Drive) |
Parodius (Super Famicom) |
Landstalker (Mega Drive) |
Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom) |
| Best Arcade Translation | Street Fighter II | |||
| Best Handheld Game | Shinobi 2 | Dracula | Mario Land 2 | |
| Best Action Platform Game | Wonderdog | Sonic 2 | World of Illusion | |
| Best One-on-One Fighting Game | Art of Fighting | Street Fighter II | ||
| Best Action Fighting Game | TMNT: Hyperstone Heist | Streets of Rage 2 | ||
| Best Movie Game | Alien 3 | Star Wars | ||
| Best Shooter | Air Zonk | Thunder Force IV | Space Megaforce | |
| Best Cartoon Game | Taz-Mania | World of Illusion | Taz-Mania | World of Illusion |
| Best RPG | Soul Blazer | Zelda: A Link to the Past | ||
| Best Puzzle Game | Q*bert 3 | Lemmings | Krusty's Fun House | Q*bert 3 |
| Best Simulation | Steel Talons | Battletank | Steel Talons | |
| Best Sports Game | Baseball Stars 2 | Madden '93 | Baseball Stars 2 | |
| Best Driving Game | Mario Kart | Top Racer | Mario Kart | |
| Best Strategy Game | Warsong | Rampart | Warsong | Rampart |
| Best Action Adventure | Legend of the Mystical Ninja | Cybernator | Prince of Persia | Legend of the Mystical Ninja |
| Best Sound Effects | Global Gladiators | Super Star Wars | ||
| Best Intro | Wonderdog | Out of This World | ||
| Best Game Music | Wonderdog | Streets of Rage 2 | Super Adventure Island | Legend of the Mystical Ninja |
| Best Music (Import Game) | Lunar Fhey Area |
Nobunaga's Ninja Force | Final Fantasy V | |
| Best Character | Wonderdog (Wonderdog) |
Cybernator (Cybernator) |
Dhalsim (Street Fighter II) |
Guile (Street Fighter II) |
| Best Boss | Smoke Ring Boss (Wonderdog) |
Level 5 (Thunder Force IV) |
Scaling Face (Mystical Ninja) | |
| Best New Peripheral | Sega CD | |||
| Worst Game | All THQ Games | |||
| Award | Winner | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| Game of the Year | Gunstar Heroes (Genesis) | Star Fox (SNES) Landstalker (Genesis) |
| Best Action Platform Game | Gunstar Heroes (Genesis) | Tiny Toons (SNES) |
| Best Action/Adventure | Alien 3 (SNES) | Flashback (Genesis) |
| Best Fighting Game | Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (Genesis) | Street Fighter II Turbo (SNES) |
| Best Shooter | Silpheed (Sega CD) | Star Fox (SNES) |
| Best Action/Arcade Game | Batman Returns (SNES) | Final Fight CD (Sega CD) |
| Best Movie Game | Aladdin (Genesis) | Alien 3 (SNES) |
| Best Cartoon Game | Stimpy's Invention (Genesis) | Taz-Mania (SNES) |
| Best Puzzle Game | Mean Bean Machine (Genesis) | Lost Vikings (SNES) |
| Best Simulation | AH-3 Thunderhawk (Sega CD) | MechWarrior (SNES) |
| Best Strategy Game | Shining Force (Genesis) | King Arthur's World (SNES) |
| Best Action/RPG | Landstalker (Genesis) | Secret of Mana (SNES) |
| Best RPG | Lunar (Sega CD) | Paladin's Quest (SNES) |
| Best Driving Game | Crash & Burn (3DO) | Formula One (Genesis) Rock & Roll Racing (SNES) |
| Best 2 Player Game | Dashin' Desperadoes (Genesis) | Battletoads (SNES) |
| Most Innovative New Game | Landstalker (Genesis) Tax-Mania (SNES) |
|
| Best Music | Lunar (Sega CD) | Star Fox (SNES) Gunstar Heroes (Genesis) Sonic CD (Mega CD) |
| Best New Character | Bubsy (Bubsy) | Aero (Aero) Sparkster (Rocket Knight Adventures) |
| Best System of '93 | Sega Genesis | SNES |
| Best Handheld | Game Gear | |
| Best New System | Atari Jaguar | 3DO |
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Game of the Year | Earthworm Jim (Genesis) |
| Import Game of the Year | Clockwork Knight (Saturn) |
| Action/Platform Game of the Year | Earthworm Jim (Genesis) |
| Action/Adventure Game of the Year | Metroid (SNES) |
| Action/Arcade Game of the Year | Contra (Genesis) |
| Fighting Game of the Year | Super Street Fighter II Turbo (3DO) |
| Shooting Game of the Year | Novastorm (3DO) |
| Movie Game of the Year | Demolition Man (3DO) |
| Cartoon Game of the Year | Mickey Mania (Sega CD) |
| Simulation Game of the Year | Iron Soldier (Jaguar) |
| Strategy Game of the Year | Shining Force 2 (Genesis) |
| Role Playing Game of the Year | Final Fantasy III (SNES) |
| Action/RPG Game of the Year | Illusion of Gaia (SNES) |
| Driving/Racing Game of the Year | Road Rash (3DO) |
| Puzzle Game of the Year | Bubba 'n' Stix (Genesis) |
| Best Adventure/RPG | Snatcher (Sega CD) |
| Best 2 Player Game | Contra (Genesis) Eternal Champions (Sega CD) Super Street Fighter II (SNES) |
| Best Soundtrack | Earthworm Jim (Genesis) |
| Best Music | Final Fantasy III (SNES) Burning Soldier (3DO) |
| Best Special Effects | Castlevania: Bloodlines (Genesis) Donkey Kong Country (SNES) Guardian War (3DO) |
| Best FMV | Loadstar (Sega CD) Burning Soldier (3DO) |
| Best New Character | Earthworm Jim (Earthworm Jim) |
| Best New System | Sega 32X |
| Best System '94 | Panasonic 3DO |
| Award | Winner | Import Megawards |
|---|---|---|
| Game of the Year | Yoshi's Island (SNES) | |
| 16-Bit Game of the Year | Yoshi's Island (SNES) | |
| 32-Bit Game of the Year | Jumping Flash (PlayStation) | |
| SNES Game of the Year | Yoshi's Island | |
| Genesis Game of the Year | Vectorman | |
| PlayStation Game of the Year | Jumping Flash | |
| Saturn Game of the Year | Virtua Fighter 2 | |
| 3DO Game of the Year | D | |
| Portable Game of the Year | Red Alarm (Virtual Boy) | |
| Action Platform Game of the Year | Yoshi's Island (SNES) | Hermie Hopperhead (PlayStation) |
| Action Adventure Game of the Year | Skeleton Warriors | |
| Fighting Game of the Year | Virtua Fighter 2 (Saturn) Killer Instinct (SNES) |
|
| Shooter of the Year | Panzer Dragoon (Saturn) | Darius Gaiden (Saturn) |
| Movie/Cartoon Port Game of the Year | Skeleton Warriors | |
| RPG of the Year | EarthBound (SNES) | Mystic Ark (Super Famicom) |
| Action RPG of the Year | Beyond Oasis (Genesis) | Tenchi Sozo (Super Famicom) |
| Racing Game of the Year | Sega Rally Championship (Saturn) | Motor Toon GP (PlayStation) |
| Puzzle Game of the Year | Zoop (PlayStation) | Puyo Puyo 2 (Saturn) |
| Simulation/Shooting Game of the Year | Warhawk (PlayStation) | |
| Strategy Game of the Year | Ogre Battle (SNES) | Tactics Ogre (Super Famicom) |
| Racing/Combat Games of the Year | Wipeout (PlayStation) Off-World Interceptor (Saturn) |
|
| Graphic Adventure/FMV Games of the Year | Mansion of Hidden Souls (Saturn) Discworld (PlayStation) D (3DO) |
|
| Special Effects Game of the Year | Warhawk (PlayStation) | |
| Soundtrack of the Year | Skeleton Warriors | |
| New Character of the Year | Astal (Astal) |