GamePro
In late 1988, Patrick Ferrell sat in a San Francisco Bay Area house with his sister-in-law Leeanne McDermott. They worked alongside Michael and Lynne Kavish, a husband-and-wife design team who handled the magazine's visual identity. The group operated out of private homes before securing their first office lease in Redwood City, California at the end of 1989. Lacking sufficient cash flow to sustain growth after publishing that initial issue, the founding management team sought a major publisher. In 1989, they found one with IDG Peterborough, a New Hampshire-based division of the global giant IDG. Roger Murphy led the merger and acquisition team along with Jim McBrian and Roger Strukhoff. The magazine was acquired and then spun off as an independent business unit under Ferrell's leadership as president and CEO. John Rousseau joined later as publisher while Wes Nihei took on the role of editor-in-chief. Renowned artist Francis Mao served as art director for the nascent GamePro. He contracted game illustrator Marc Ericksen to create the premiere cover for the first edition of the magazine. Ericksen went on to produce five of the first ten covers for GamePro, eventually creating eight in total. He also continued a secondary role creating double-page spreads for the popular monthly Pro Tips section. The magazine achieved a monthly circulation of 300,000 copies.
The magazine became known for editors using comic book-like avatars and monikers when reviewing games. These avatars appeared alongside review scores from October 1990 until about 2002. Each score received a cartoon face depicting different expressions for different ratings. The first game to receive such a specific rating format was Battle Arena Toshinden URA for the Sega Saturn. In January 2004, GamePro ceased to use the avatars due to a change in overall design and layout. Editorial voices carried over to the community on its online sister publication, www.gamepro.com. A TV show called GamePro TV ran nationally syndicated for one year before moving to cable channels USA and Sci-Fi for a second year. Hosted by J.D. Roth and Brennan Howard, the program brought the magazine's personality into living rooms across America. Over the years, offices moved from Redwood City to San Mateo, then to San Francisco, and finally to Oakland. In February 2010, the magazine introduced a redesigned layout with new editorial direction focused on people and culture of gaming. This redesign included sections like Inside, From the Editor, Inbox, Art Attack, and Editorials. The Reviews section evolved from ProViews to ProReviews, changing formats multiple times while maintaining core principles. By late 2005, GamePro changed its review format to have only one review per multi-platform game, describing differences between versions.
GamePro is credited with creating the concept of Protip, a short piece of advice attached to images within articles. Former writer Dan Amrich explained that editors were encouraged to caption three-to-seven images used in an article with such advice. One purported image from a GamePro review of Doom (1993) showed a boss with the caption PROTIP: To defeat the Cyberdemon, shoot at it until it dies. This apparent advice became widely mocked and created a meme of similarly obvious ProTips added as captions to pictures. However, the image was revealed to be fake, created as an April Fools' joke for fansite doomworld.com. Every April until 2007, GamePro printed a 2-5 page satirical spoof called Lamepro. This parody contained humorous game titles and fake news similar to The Onion. Some content included real ways to get useless game glitches like games getting stuck or resetting. The Adventures of Gamepro ran comic strips in early issues detailing adventures of a superhero named after the magazine. He was a gamer drawn into video game realms to fight evil creatures called Evil Darklings. In 2003, Joyride Studios produced limited-edition action figures of some editorial characters.
GamePro.com officially launched in 1998 with daily updates covering feature articles, news, previews, reviews, screenshots, and videos. The website included user content such as forums, reviews, and blogs. From 1998 to 2002, the website operated from San Francisco before moving to Oakland, California where it remained until 2011. In January 2010, the website received a redesign reflecting new editorial changes made in the print magazine. Early in 2006, IDG Entertainment began shifting operational focus from Print to Online publishing mentality. George Jones joined as industry veteran to lead this transformation. February 2006 saw Games.net launch a series of video-game related shows geared toward older and more mature audiences. August 2006 marked when the online team spun off GamerHelp.com, a new cheats site. This was shortly followed by Games.net, an information aggregation site, and GameDownloads.com, a dedicated gaming downloads platform. Plans included partnering with sister company IDG TechNetwork to build a boutique online network of sites. The result introduced the Gamepro Media Network. September 2010 announced a new alliance with online magazine The Escapist offering joint advertising programs for reaching unduplicated male audiences. This partnership became known as the Gamepro Escapist Media Group.
GamePro appeared in several international editions including France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, and Greece. Some publications shared North American content while others shared only name and logo but featured different content entirely. Australian GamePro ran as a bi-monthly video games magazine published by IDG from the 10th of November 2003 to February 2007. Stuart Clarke served as founding editor before Chris Stead took over in January 2006. According to Stead, the magazine doubled its sales from 2006 to 2007 before internal restructuring led to discontinuation. Special issues included Ultimate PSP Buyer's Guide, Ultimate Nintendo Buyer's Guide, and Ultimate Xbox 360 Buyer's Guide. Other special editions covered World of Warcraft and complete guides to online gaming. In Germany, the website continued operation under partner GameStar with message banners stating Partner of GameStar displayed at screen tops. Gamepro TV operated in Spain alongside other regional variations. These international efforts demonstrated how the brand extended beyond American borders despite eventual domestic shutdowns.
In 1993, Patrick Ferrell sent Debra Vernon, VP of marketing, to a meeting between games industry representatives and Consumer Electronics Show organizers. Realizing an opportunity, the team at Infotainment World launched Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3. The industry backed this new trade show while Ferrell partnered with IDSA to produce the event. It became one of the biggest trade show launches in history. This initiative transformed how video game companies presented their products to consumers and media professionals worldwide. The creation of E3 represented a pivotal moment where GamePro moved from being just a publication to becoming an architect of industry infrastructure. Their involvement helped establish annual conventions that would define how gamers experienced new releases for decades to come.
GamePro ended monthly publication after over 22 years with its October 2011 issue. Shortly after that issue, the magazine changed to Gamepro Quarterly using higher quality paper stock and larger dimensions than previous standard issues. This quarterly endeavor lasted only one issue before being scrapped entirely. On November 30, it was announced that GamePro as both magazine and website would shut down on the 5th of December 2011. The brand then became part of PC World website as a small section covering latest video games run by PC World staff. Despite domestic closure, international operations continued in France, Germany, and Spain. The company had been subsidiary of privately held International Data Group since acquisition in 1989. Over two decades of publishing concluded when all U.S. operations ceased functioning. The final issue carried editorial letters explaining the transition while acknowledging reader loyalty throughout the magazine's lifespan.
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Common questions
When was GamePro magazine founded and by whom?
GamePro magazine was founded in late 1988 by Patrick Ferrell, Leeanne McDermott, Michael Kavish, and Lynne Kavish. The team operated out of private homes before securing their first office lease in Redwood City, California at the end of 1989.
What is the history of the ProTips feature in GamePro?
GamePro created the concept of Protip as a short piece of advice attached to images within articles. Editors were encouraged to caption three-to-seven images used in an article with such advice, though one famous image showing how to defeat the Cyberdemon in Doom (1993) was revealed to be fake.
How many issues did GamePro publish before it shut down?
GamePro ended monthly publication after over 22 years with its October 2011 issue. It briefly changed to Gamepro Quarterly using higher quality paper stock but scrapped that format entirely when operations ceased on the 5th of December 2011.
Which countries had international editions of GamePro?
GamePro appeared in several international editions including France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, and Greece. Australian GamePro ran from the 10th of November 2003 to February 2007 while other regions shared North American content or featured different content entirely.
Who founded Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 and what year?
Patrick Ferrell sent Debra Vernon to a meeting between games industry representatives and Consumer Electronics Show organizers in 1993. The team at Infotainment World launched Electronic Entertainment Expo commonly known as E3 later that same year.