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Publisher 1st run: Reese Publishing Company, Inc.Katz Kunkel Worley Inc. Founder Bill Kunkel, Arnie Katz, Joyce Worley First issue 1st run: Winter 1981 (1981)2nd run: October 1992 (1992) Final issue 1st run: August 1985 (1985)2nd run: January 1997 (1997) | ||
Electronic Games was the first dedicated video game magazine published in the United States and ran from October 1981 to 1997 under different titles. It was co-founded by Bill Kunkel, Joyce Worley, and Arnie Katz, and is unrelated to the subsequent Electronic Gaming Monthly.
Contents
History
The magazine has its origins in “Arcade Alley”, a regular column in Video magazine that began in 1978 and was the first dedicated to video games. The column was written by Bill Kunkel along with Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley, before they went on to found Electronic Games magazine. The magazine was active from 1981, during the golden age of arcade video games and the second generation of consoles, up until 1985, following the North American video game industry crash. The magazine was briefly revived during the 16-bit era in the early 1990s, but eventually ended in 1995, at which point it was renamed to Fusion.
Arcade Awards
The magazine is notable for holding the first Game of the Year Award ceremony, called the Arcade Awards, or Arkie Awards. 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.
1981 Arcade Awards (1980)
The 1981 edition of the awards reflects accomplishments during the 12 months of the preceding year.
1982 Arcade Awards (1981)
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.
1983 Arcade Awards (1982)
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.
1984 Arcade Awards (1983)
The 5th "Arkies" were published in the January 1984 issue of Electronic Games.
1985 Arkie Awards (1984)
The 6th "Arkies" were printed in the January 1985 issue of Electronic Games.
1992 (7th)
Following the magazine's revival in 1992, it published the Electronic Gaming Awards in January 1993, where editors nominated several games for each category and the readers would vote which games win. The following games were nominated for 1992.
1993 (8th)
The following games were nominated by editors for the EG Awards of 1993.
Reader polls
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.
1982
The games that were top-ranked the most in these 1982 polls were:
1983
The games that were top-ranked the most in these 1983 polls were:
1984
The games that were top-ranked the most in these 1984 polls were:
1985
There was no reader poll held for the March 1985 issue.
Hall of Fame
The twelve games voted by readers as part of the magazine's Hall of Fame up until January 1985.