Electronic Games

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, and is not to be confused with Electronic Gaming Monthly.[2]

This article is about the magazine. For the game form, see electronic game.
Electronic Games
Cover of the first issue (Winter 1981)
FrequencyMonthly
Publisher1st run: Reese Publishing Company, Inc.
Katz Kunkel Worley Inc.
FounderBill Kunkel, Arnie Katz, Joyce Worley
First issue1st run: October 29, 1981 (October 29, 1981)
2nd run: October 1992 (1992)
Final issue1st run: August 1985 (1985)
2nd run: January 1997 (1997)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
ISSN0730-6687

History

The history of Electronic Games originates in the consumer electronics magazine, Video. Initially video games were covered sporadic 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 North American video game industry crash. 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 GamesOctober 29, 1981April 1985
Computer EntertainmentMay 1985August 1985

2nd Run
Title Start Cover Date End Cover Date
Electronic GamesOctober 1992July 1995
FusionAugust 1995February 1996
Intelligent Gamer's FusionMarch 1996May 1996
Intelligent GamerJune 1996January 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]

Award Winner Platform
Game of the YearSpace InvadersArcade
Best Pong VariantVideo OlympicsAtari VCS
Best Sports GameFootballBally Professional Arcade
Best Target GameAir-Sea BattleAtari VCS
Best S.F. GameCosmic ConflictOdyssey²
Best Solitaire GameGolfOdyssey²
Most Innovative GameBasketballAtari VCS
Best Audio and Visual EffectsBally[9]Arcade/Bally

1981 Arcade Awards (1980)

The 1981 edition of the awards reflects accomplishments during the 12 months of the preceding year.[10]

Award Winner Platform
Arcade
Best Coin-Op Electronic GameAsteroidsArcade
Console
Game of the YearSupermanAtari VCS
Best Targest/WarGameArmored BattleIntellivision
Best Pong VariantVolleyballOdyssey²
Best S.F. GameSpace BattleIntellivision
Best Audio-Visual EffectsFishing DerbyAtari VCS
Best Solitaire GameSkiingAtari VCS
Best Sports GameNASL SoccerIntellivision
Most Innovative GameAdventureAtari VCS

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.[11]

Award Winner Platform(s) Honorable Mention
Coin-Op Division (Arcade)
Best Commercial Arcade GamePac-ManNamco Pac-Man Defender, Battlezone
Console
Videogame of the YearAsteroidsAtari VCS Quest for the Rings (Odyssey²), Missile Command (Atari VCS)
Most Innovative GameQuest for the RingsOdyssey²Freeway (Atari VCS), Asteroids (Atari VCS)
Best Competitive GameTennisAtari VCS
Best Sports GameAuto RacingIntellivisionTennis (Atari VCS)
Best Pong VariantWarlordsAtari VCS
Best Audio-Visual EffectsKaboom!Atari VCS
Best Solitaire GameMissile CommandAtari VCS
Computer
Computer Game of the YearStar RaidersAtari 400/800
Best Computer Action GameJawbreakerAtari 800, Apple II, Commodore 64
Best Computer Sports GameComputer BaseballApple II

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.[12]

Award Winner Certificate of Merit
Coin-Op Game Awards (Arcade)
Coin-Op Game of the YearTron
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Coin-Op GameBosconian
Best Coin-Op Game Audio/Visual EffectsTurbo
Most Innovative Coin-Op GameTempest
Videogame Awards (Console)
Videogame of the YearDemon Attack (Atari VCS)
Best Solitaire VideogameDonkey Kong (ColecoVision)
Best Arcade-to-Home Videogame TranslationFrogger (Atari VCS) Galactic Invasion (Bally Astrocade)
Best Action VideogameChopper Command (Atari VCS)
Best Adventure VideogamePitfall! (Atari VCS)
Computer Game Division
Computer Game of the YearDavid's Midnight Magic (Apple II) Bandits (Apple II)
Best Computer AdventureDeadline (Apple II) Kabul Spy (Apple II)
Best Arcade/Action Computer GameK-razy Shoot-Out (Atari 400/800) Star Blazer (Apple II)
Best Solitaire Computer GameSnack Attack (Apple II) Neptune (Apple II)
Stand-Alone Game Awards (Dedicated)
Stand-Alone Game of the YearGalaxian (Coleco Mini-Arcade)
Best Mini-Arcade Game CartridgeScramble (Vectrex)

1984 Arcade Awards (1983)

The 5th "Arkies" were published in the January 1984 issue of Electronic Games.[13]

Award Winner Certificate of Merit
Coin-Op Games Division (Arcade)
Coin-Op Game of the YearPole Position
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Coin-Op GameXevious
Most Innovative Coin-Op GameQ*bert Baby Pac-Man
Best Coin-Op Game Audio/Visual EffectsDragon's Lair
Videogame Division (Console)
Videogame of the Year (Less than 16K ROM memory)Ms. Pac-Man (Atari 2600) BurgerTime (Intellivision)
Videogame of the Year (16K or more ROM memory)Lady Bug (ColecoVision) Zaxxon (ColecoVision)
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy VideogameVanguard (Atari 5200) Moon Patrol (Atari 2600)
Best Videogame Audio/Visual EffectsDonkey Kong Jr. (ColecoVision) Qix (Atari 5200)
Best Action VideogameRiver Raid (Atari 2600)
Best Adventure GameAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons (Intellivision)
Best Arcade-to-Home Videogame TranslationKangaroo (Atari 5200) Turtles (Odyssey²)
Computer Game Division
Computer Game of the YearLode Runner (Apple II) Repton (Apple II, Atari 8-bit)
Electronic Game of the Year (Players Pick)Miner 2049er (Apple II, Atari 8-bit)
Best Computer AdventureWitness (Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, DOS)
Best Computer Action GameCentipede (Atari 8-bit) Jumpman (Atari 400/800)
Most Humorous Computer GameFree Fall (Apple II) Preppie! II (Atari 8-bit)
Best Arcade-to-Home Computer Game TranslationFrogger (Atari 8-bit)
Best Multi-Player Computer GameM.U.L.E. (Atari 8-bit) Oil Barons (Apple II)
Best Educational Computer GameLearning With the Leeper (Apple II)
Most Innovative Computer GameArchon: The Light and the Dark (Atari 8-bit) Moondust (Commodore 64)
Stand-Alone Games Division
Stand-Alone Game of the YearQ*bert (Parker Brothers)
Mini-Arcade Game of the Year3-D Sky Attack (Tomytronic 3D)

1985 Arkie Awards (1984)

The 6th "Arkies" were printed in the January 1985 issue of Electronic Games.[14]

Award Winner
Coin-Op Game Division (Arcade)
Coin-Op of the YearStar Wars
Most Innovative Coin-Op GamePunch-Out
Best Coin-Op Audio-Visual EffectsTX-1
Certificates of Merit
Videogame Division (Console)
Videogame of the YearSpace Shuttle (Atari 2600)
Best Action VideogameBuck Rogers (Atari 2600/5200, ColecoVision, Intellivision, SG-1000)
Best Adventure VideogamePitfall II (Atari 2600)
Best Videogame Audio-Visual EffectsCongo Bongo (ColecoVision, Atari 5200, Intellivision)
Certificates of Merit
Computer Game Division
Computer Game of the YearUltima III: Exodus (Apple II, Atari 800, Commodore 64)
Electronic Game of the Year (Players Pick)One on One (Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64)
Best Computer Adventure GameGateway to Apshai (Atari 400/800, Commodore 64)
Most Humorous Video Computer GameQuest for Tires (Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX)
Best Arcade-to-Home TranslationJoust (Commodore 64)
Electronic Educational Game of the YearAgent USA (Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64)
Certificates of Merit
Stand-Alone Games Division
Stand-Alone Game of the YearZaxxon (Coleco Mini-Arcade)
Mini-Arcade Game of the YearMiner 2049er (Tiger)
Certificates of Merit

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.[15]

Award Nominees Platform
Video Game of the Year
Computer Games of the Year
Multimedia Games of the Year

1993 (8th)

The following games were nominated by editors for the EG Awards of 1993.[16]

Award Nominees Platforms
Video Game of the Year
  • Genesis
  • SNES
  • Genesis / SNES
  • SNES
  • Genesis
  • SNES
Portable Game of the Year
Computer Game of the Year
Console Multimedia Game of the Year
Computer Multimedia Game of the Year
  • PC

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
May
August
September
October & November

The games that were top-ranked the most in these 1982 polls were:

1983
January
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

The games that were top-ranked the most in these 1983 polls were:

1984
January
November
December

The games that were top-ranked the most in these 1984 polls were:

1985
January

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.[17]

gollark: Yes, but you said "you could just lose a job", which is unlikely to cause that.
gollark: You could also just... save... money?
gollark: Not car-scale hardware.
gollark: IIRC that's mostly just bad for longer wires, such as those in electricity grids.
gollark: I mean, practically, the somewhat worse fuel efficiency of a non-computer-controlled car is going to be worse for you than "but what if there's a nuclear war and my car doesn't work".

References
  1. Plunkett, Luke. "A Little Background On The World's First Ever Video Game Magazine". Kotaku. 29 December 2009.
  2. Cifaldi, Frank (2005-12-12). "Playing Catch-Up: Bill 'The Game Doctor' Kunkel Lets Loose". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  3. Kohler, Chris (September 6, 2011). "Bill Kunkel, Original Gaming Journalist, Dies at 61". Wired. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  4. Katz, Arnie. "Power On: The End of an Era—Hooray!" Electronic Games. Pg. 6. July 1995. ISSN 0730-6687.
  5. Video. Volume 5, No. 6. Pg. 88. ISSN 0147-8907. September 1981.
  6. Video. Volume 5, No. 9. Pg. 65. ISSN 0147-8907. December 1981.
  7. Weston, D.B. "Greatest Moments in Video Game History" Page 47. Published 2011
  8. The Arcade Awards – 1980 – Electronic Games Winter 1981, page 38.
  9. "Bally Awards" (PDF). Arcadian. 2 (3): 20. 1980-01-15. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  10. The Arcade Awards – 1981 – Electronic Games Winter 1981, page 39.
  11. 1981 Arcade Awards – Electronic Games March 1982, pages 46–49.
  12. 1983 Arcade Awards – Electronic Games January 1983, pages 22–37 and page 120.
  13. 1984 Arcade Awards – Electronic Games January 1984, pages 68–81.
  14. 1985 Arcade Awards – Electronic Games January 1985, pages 22–28.
  15. "Electronic Gaming Awards". Electronic Games (38): 26–7. January 1993. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  16. "Electronic Gaming Awards". Electronic Games. 2 (17): 32–51. February 1994.
  17. "Hall of Fame Winners". Electronic Games. 3 (35): 58–59 [58]. January 1985. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
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