GameFan (originally called Diehard GameFan) was a magazine started in September 1992 by Tim Lindquist, Greg Off, George Weising, and Dave Halverson. It shared news about video games from the United States and other countries. The magazine was known for using many game pictures in its design, which was different from other magazines in the U.S. at that time. The original magazine stopped publishing in December 2000.

In April 2010, Dave Halverson started GameFan again as a magazine about video games and movies. However, this new version did not last long because of disagreements among the team and low money from advertisers.

History

The name GameFan was inspired by a Japanese Sega magazine named Megafan. It started as an advertising supplement to promote imported video games, mostly from Japan. However, the short reviews and descriptions in the magazine were noticed for their lack of polish and lack of enthusiasm. Editor profiles included drawings by Terry Wolfinger. Some editors, like Dave Halverson, wrote multiple reviews about the same game using different secret names.

GameFan was famous for thoroughly covering important games and for covering new interests in anime. It also differed from other gaming magazines because it used high-quality paper for printing. The magazine’s game screenshots were more colorful and matched the game’s actual graphics.

By 2000, the magazine reached more than 100,000 readers each month.

Controversy

In the September 1995 issue of GameFan, an article included offensive language about Japanese people, such as calling them "little Jap bastards," and a hurtful comment about the writer's own background, saying "Us poor white trash from So CA." This text replaced a paragraph in a sports game review. The article was meant to discuss a Namco combat flight simulator called Ace Combat, but it mistakenly covered College Football '96 instead. The writing was unclear and poorly done.

GameFan explained that an employee who acted without permission had damaged the magazine to upset its Japanese readers and fans. However, later reports said the offensive text was actually filler material that someone had forgotten to delete. The situation was meant to be a joke among the staff but was accidentally printed. An apology, dated August 24, 1995, was published in the October 1995 issue of DieHard GameFan in both English and Japanese.

The Adventures of Monitaur

The magazine featured a comic strip titled The Adventures of Monitaur, which was inspired by anime. Although Monitaur was the only character specifically drawn for the strip, other members of the magazine’s staff also appeared as characters. Monitaur’s main stories focused on his conflicts with The Blowmeister, a character representing the leadership of competing magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly. In 1994, GameFan and two new companies, Dark Moon Productions and Dark Moon Comics, made an agreement to create a Monitor comic book series. At that time, plans were being discussed to produce a full-length animated film by Dark Moon Productions Inc and DMP Multi-media, a company started by Andrew Spencer and Gary Tucker.

Related publications

GameFan's original head editor, Dave Halverson, later started a new magazine called Gamers' Republic. He then launched another publication, Play Magazine, which was an American video-gaming magazine and should not be confused with a similar magazine published in England. Play Magazine was mostly made up of people who had previously worked at GameFan and Gamers' Republic. Gamers' Republic was published for 35 issues and stopped in July 2001 after the dot-com bubble burst. Play Magazine had a longer run, with 97 issues, until the company that published it went bankrupt.

Tim Lindquist, along with other original members of the GameFan team, started a new magazine called Hardcore Gamer. They also began creating strategy guides through their publishing company, DoubleJump Books, which later changed its name to OnionBat Books. Hardcore Gamer was published for 36 issues before it shifted its focus entirely to its website.

The name DieHard GameFan was revived by Alex Lucard as a website called Diehard GameFAN, with Dave Halverson's approval. The website covers major new games, as well as reviews of independent games, similar to how the original magazine operated.

2010 relaunch

After Fusion Publishing faced financial trouble and Play closed, Dave Halverson began working on restarting GameFan. The magazine returned to newsstands in April 2010, led by Halverson and some key staff members from Play, with Rob Duenas as the new art director. It was available in both print and digital formats, with the digital version sold directly through GameFan's online store.

The first two issues of the relaunched GameFan included a section called MovieFan, which covered movies, anime, and comics. The first two-thirds of the magazine focused on GameFan, and readers had to flip the magazine upside down to read the MovieFan section. Starting with issue 3, the MovieFan portion was removed, but later issues still included anime and comic reviews similar to those in Play. In its second and final issue, MovieFan conducted one of the last known interviews with filmmaker Satoshi Kon.

The first five issues of the magazine were released every two months. However, problems arose due to advertising revenue issues, causing the sixth issue to be released in August 2011, eight months after issue 5, with a completely new editing team led by James Bacon. Issue 7 was created by only three people: editor-in-chief Dave Halverson, art director and graphic designer Rob Duenas, and managing editor James Bacon. It was released in December 2011. Shortly after, Duenas resigned because of an overwhelming workload. He explained that he worked "20 hours a day for two weeks straight and [he was] still short cover art." Despite the stress, Duenas said he had no negative feelings toward Halverson or the magazine and would have still helped with illustrations or layouts. After Duenas left, Bacon also resigned, though the reason was not stated.

On April 18, 2012, a press release announced plans for Paper Planet brands, including GameFan and Girls of Gaming. The company intended to increase its online presence through mobile app development and a new GameFan TV channel. Only a YouTube channel was created. Wesley Ruscher, a former Destructoid editor, became the magazine's new editor-in-chief but resigned after issue 8, stating it "lacked the necessities to keep food in [his] belly and a roof over [his] head."

By June 2013, GameFan's website had been mostly inactive for about a year. Issue 9 was finally released in February 2013, after missing the 2012 holiday release. This issue was created by only two people: Dave Halverson and Greg Orlando. Issues 8 and 9 were only available digitally. GameFan then took a two-year break before returning in 2015 with a redesigned magazine and website. In February 2015, issue 10 was released both digitally and on newsstands. The digital version was freely available on Magzter using a promotional code. The magazine underwent a complete redesign, simplifying layouts and reducing the print size. The GameFan mascot, Monitaur, and logo were also redesigned.

On May 6, 2015, GameFan announced a partnership with Destructoid to promote the magazine through collaborations and free subscriptions. The plan was to bring back the dual-cover format from the first two issues, but instead of a MovieFan section, it would include exclusive content from Destructoid. According to GameFan's Facebook page, the deal with Destructoid would allow the magazine to be released monthly. However, only one issue of the GameFan/Destructoid magazine was ever published. As of January 2019, there have been no updates about GameFan's current status.