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GameFan Magazine and Controversy!
This episode all about GameFan magazine, a cool glossy videogame publication that unfortunately was the source of some controversy back in the day. Find out the details in the video and as always please comment, rate, subscribe and send friend requests!
Magazine info and history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameFan
The GameFan controversy: http://www.goodcowfilms.com/farm/basement/ga-archive/gamefan-incident-01... and http://wapedia.mobi/en/Gamefan
Comments
I still have some issues of GameFan. I actually worked in Electronics Boutique at the time and would get all the magazines for free. There were three major issues with GameFan. One, it had one of the worst magazine layouts ever. They tried hard, but each page was often so visually packed and the print was often in poor contrast to the background that at times it would be hard to read. Two, it was poorly written, or more specifically, poorly edited. Typos everywhere.
Finally, three, they would often bizarrely praise - literally game of the year type stuff - for at best, marginal games, which made you wonder. I got burned more than a few times because of GameFan's praise of a game. One in particular I remember is Skeleton Warriors, though there were certainly others. Anyway, I'm sure the controversial/racist insert was related to their almost non-existant editing. I *did* like the magazine, but it certainly had its issues.
Books!
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
[About Me]
I'm not sure if I've ever bought "Gamefan" before, but there were many cool gaming mags of the era. I've seen several publishing "mistakes" like this one in other magazines (and newspapers), some of them clearly examples of "sabotage."
Regular typographical and grammatical errors pop up just about everywhere in printed publications. I guess proofreaders don't catch them all. Even big-league books like "Game Change," which is not about videogames, but a book about the American 2008 Presidential election, has a few of these, yet I see that the Armchair Arcade-affiliated books caught some flak for this.
Back in the early 1980's, I used to collect "Starlog" magazine, and in the back of every issue, they had an advertiser/classified section. I remember reading an ad that stated "We are the WORST source of ... (whatever it is they were selling)." The very next issue, Starlog printed a retraction that said something like, "Due to an unavoidable typographical error, we printed 'Worst source.' It should have said 'BEST source."
Yeah, "typographical error." Obviously, it was sabotage.
Therefore, I think that Gamefan's "sabotage" explanation is entirely plausible. A disgruntled employee probably has easy access to the publisher's system and schedule, and probably knows how to time their sabotage against the deadline for maximum damage.
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That is certainly possible, Rob, but like I said, quality control was an issue with the magazine, period. Typos crop up everywhere - they're unavoidable - but every issue of GameFan was a mess in that regard. Really, as far as I'm concerned, it had no editing. So my opinion is that sabotage or not, if it were properly edited in the first place (as part of their workflow), they would have likely caught it. I think it was able to be sabotaged because of the way they worked, not in spite of it.
Books!
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
[About Me]
From what I have learned from discussing this with various sources, that worked on Gamefan while it was in print, there really was no editing going on. The various writers were pretty much required to cover their own columns. As anyone that has written anyone can attest, this is not the best way to proofread anything.
As far as getting burned on some game purchases, I usually followed E-Storm and Haoahomora (spelling is off by a mile on that one) and was usually happy with my purchases (though E-Storm/Halverson lost a lot of my trust with his over board review of Cybermorph on Jaguar (little people waving at him as he flew by? Um, yeah, time to see what Nick Rox has been playing).
I have a ton of these mags (about 66 or so) and plan on scanning and releasing them on OoPA when I get a chance (we are currently working double time to get certain mags up that we have received permission from the publisher to do so- those take precedence any day of the week).
As far as the layout and such of Gamefan, I loved it, corner to corner on the ink and great paper quality (most of my issues look brand new though there are signs of wear and tear from reading, the colors haven't faded or anything, though the covers on some are in rough shape). The typos did get annoying but for me, it was forgivable when these guys were working 100+ hours a week on a regular basis, at least i think it was.
I've always enjoyed GameFan and was excited to hear about its recent re-launch! I probably own about 19-30 issues thanks to bi-weekly allowance at age 11, old gamestores that carry strategy guides(Many of which WERE Gamefan Books) and ebay. It made the gamer I am today-with a love of anime, import games, and the important subject matter of "Graphics and 3D arent everything....Its all about the gameplay!"
I think Gamefan was what prompted me into buying my beloved Import SS with Xmen vs Streetfighter, Silhoutte Mirage and the monster known only as Samurai Sprits collection (which contained Samurai Showdown 3&4 with an 'engrish' translation! whooo-hooo!)
While many complained on how hard it was to read with all the colorful pages and amazing amounts of screenshots( why the helll would anyone complain?) -It gives you a full look at what you want to get out the game....unlike GamePro or other mags that made you suffer with only 1 lousy screenshot (those were dark times for us in the 90's).
I am so pumped about Gamefans return, I am going to attempt sending off some fan art, in honor of Ujen(I believe thats their name) who alwys drew those awesomely colorful and delightful Guile, Streetfighter and Darkstalker art. Be on the lookout for them.
P.s. With Gramatical errors aside, remember it was Square Enix that kept GameFans review on the back of the game of "Quite possibly the best game ever made..."(or something to that effect).
I've always enjoyed GameFan and was excited to hear about its recent re-launch! I probably own about 19-30 issues thanks to bi-weekly allowance at age 11, old gamestores that carry strategy guides(Many of which WERE Gamefan Books) and ebay. It made the gamer I am today-with a love of anime, import games, and the important subject matter of "Graphics and 3D arent everything....Its all about the gameplay!"
I think Gamefan was what prompted me into buying my beloved Import SS with Xmen vs Streetfighter, Silhoutte Mirage and the monster known only as Samurai Sprits collection (which contained Samurai Showdown 3&4 with an 'engrish' translation! whooo-hooo!)
While many complained on how hard it was to read with all the colorful pages and amazing amounts of screenshots( why the helll would anyone complain?) -It gives you a full look at what you want to get out the game....unlike GamePro or other mags that made you suffer with only 1 lousy screenshot (those were dark times for us in the 90's).
Youthful nostalgia is always a factor, certainly. If it was your first "love", you'll certainly think of it more fondly. I know I feel that way with the first ever videogame magazine, Electronic Games (the first run, pre-crash). I don't recall anyone complaining of too many screenshots, they complained about all the color and messy layouts made it hard on the eyes, as in difficult to read. In other words, little mind was paid to being able to read the text since the layout took obvious precedence. That probably ties in with their poor editorial skills, meaning since they weren't particularly gifted writers and the publication lacked proper editing, it's not surprising that the visuals would take a priority over readability.
P.s. With Gramatical errors aside, remember it was Square Enix that kept GameFans review on the back of the game of "Quite possibly the best game ever made..."(or something to that effect).
Yes, they were often too effusive with the praise, especially when it wasn't necessarily warranted.