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Electronic Games
Issue #1 (Winter 1981)
Frequency
Monthly
Publisher
1st run: Reese Publishing Company, Inc. Katz Kunkel Worley Inc.
Electronic Games was the first dedicated video game magazine published in the United States[1] and ran from October 15, 1981, to 1997 under different titles. It was co-founded by Bill Kunkel, Joyce Worley, and Arnie Katz.[2]
History
The history of Electronic Games originates in the consumer electronics magazine, Video. Initially video games were covered sporadically in Deeny Kaplan's regular "VideoTest Reports" column. In the summer of 1979, Video decided to launch a new column to focus on video games. Arcade Alley became a regular column and would represent a journalistic first. Written by Bill Kunkel, Arnie Katz (initially pseudonymously writing as Frank T. Laney II), and Joyce Worley, the three writers became close friends and in 1981 they founded Electronic Games magazine.[3] The magazine was active from Winter 1981, during the golden age of arcade video games and the second generation of consoles, up until 1985, following the video game crash of 1983. The magazine was briefly revived during the 16-bit era in the early 1990s, but ended in 1995 and was renamed to Fusion.[4]
Initially, the release of the first issue was scheduled for October 15, 1981.[5] However, the release was postponed to October 29, 1981[6] and featured a slightly different cover than initially advertised.
1st Run
Title
Start Cover Date
End Cover Date
Electronic Games
October 29, 1981
April 1985
Computer Entertainment
May 1985
August 1985
2nd Run
Title
Start Cover Date
End Cover Date
Electronic Games
October 1992
July 1995
Fusion
August 1995
February 1996
Intelligent Gamer's Fusion
March 1996
May 1996
Intelligent Gamer
June 1996
January 1997
Arcade Awards
Electronic Games is notable for hosting the Arcade Awards, or Arkie Awards, the first "Game of the Year" award ceremony[7] simultaneously running in Video's "Arcade Alley" column. The following games are the winners of the magazine's annual Arcade Awards. The awards for each year took place in the January of the following year. No single game was allowed to win more than one award in the same year.
1980 Arcade Awards (1979)
According to the Winter 1981 issue of Electronic Games, the 1980 Arcade Awards (i.e., the first set of "Arkies") were announced in February 1980 and covered all hardware and software produced prior to January 1, 1980.[8][9]
The third annual Arcade Awards were sponsored jointly by Video and Electronic Games and honored outstanding achievements in the field of
video games of the year 1981. The 1982 Arcade Awards were published in the March 1982 issue of Electronic Games.[11]
The 4th "Arkies" cover games published between October 1, 1981, and October 1, 1982, and were published in the January 1983 issue of Electronic Games.[12]
Following the magazine's revival in 1992, it published the Electronic Gaming Awards in March 1993, where editors nominated several games for each category and the readers would vote which games win. The following were the winners and nominees for 1992.[15][16]
From May 1982 onwards, the magazine carried out a reader poll in each issue to see which are the most popular games of the month among its readers, up until the January 1985 issue. The top-ranking games in these polls are listed below.
