The History of Electronic Gaming Monthly and Steve Harris, Founder
Electronic Gaming Monthly was founded by Steve Harris
Steve Harris - US National Video Game Team 1986 Steve Harris - 1982
Steve Harris was one of Twin Galaxies' superstar players during the early 80s. He
was a founding member of Twin Galaxies' U.S. National Video Game Team and competed
in Twin Galaxies' North American Video Game Olympics, which was televised by ABC-TV's
That's Incredible on February 21, 1983. Link
As a video game bimonthly magazine from May 1989 to 1990 and then became A monthly
magazine and has been bought out by a Ziff Davis Media in 1996 and many more color
photos were added to keep up with the glossy look of magazines today.
Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) is the oldest (independent) American console game
magazine currently in operation, and is also considered to be the most prestigious.
Electronic Gaming Monthly
The Founder of EMG, Steve Harris was a high-school dropout and classic-era video game
enthusiast who was one of the best coin-op players in the world in the beginning of
the golden age of video games. He got his first job in the game business by managing
an Iowa-based arcade starting in 1984. Through these connections he was able to
purchase the U.S. National Video Game Team, a group of "professional" gamers who
started with Twin Galaxies arcade and toured the country and held game demonstrations
And exhibitions. Before EMG he founded Fanzine and Top Score Newsletter an irregular
Jaunt at the gaming business for his high scoring friends to keep track of the who's
who Of video games and the score to beat as well as tips and tricks of playing the
games of the day.
Steve Harris wanted a classy magazine so in 1987, Steve Harris partnered with his
friend Jeffrey Peters to hold the 1987 Video Game Masters Tournament, a Video Game
Team-sponsored national arcade game championship. He used the proceeds from that
tournament to start Electronic Game Player, a "precursor" to EGM that closed after
four issues. In 1988 after the last issue of EGP in mid-1988, Harris received a
call from Harvey Wasserman, a small magazine distributor in Chicago, which reinvigorated
The idea of a monthly gaming magazine. Harvey Wasserman gave Steve Harris $70,000 to
start a new magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly, in exchange for exclusive distribution
rights.
The new magazine debuted with a one-shot buyer's guide in early 1989. This issue was
successful, selling 107,000 copies (60,000 of which were sold in a deal with Kay-Bee
toy stores) and leading to the launch of a regular magazine. The periodical EGM (which
"officially" debuted with the May 1989 issue) became profitable by the end of the year,
and Wasserman used that to leverage a deal with Time Warner's magazine distributor,
bringing it to 50,000 supermarkets and drug stores nationwide.
EGM was the magazine of choice for many hardcore gamers in the early 1990s, thanks
to several innovations (most of which were borrowed from Japanese game magazines).
Although EGM was not the glossy look of today's magazine, it held the readers attention
with the detail and consistency of good writers who were good players, who could relate
the facts of the game in distinct detail.
With their "Review Crew" section, EMG was the first US magazine to offer multiple
reviews and scores for each game they covered.
Young gamers liked EGM's writing style, as well as characters like Quartermann (who
ran the rumor column) and Sushi-X (the mysterious game freak who was the "voice of the
hardcore" in the Review Crew).
By 1993, EGM had grown in audited circulation from 64,000 to 152,000. Sendai aggressively
expanded as EGM grew, launching new titles like Mega Play, Super NES Buyer's Guide,
Computer Game Review, and Super Gaming. Steve Harris sold most of Sendai's magazines
and websites to Ziff Davis Media in 1996, and after a large-scale redesign to make it
look more professional, EGM became the flagship publication of ZD's new game-magazine
section.
There was a lengthy circulation battle with rival GamePro, EGM broke 500,000 in circulation
starting in 2002 and briefly broke 600,000 after a massive redesign in 2002 that emphasized
short features and larger screenshots. Although Game Informer has it soundly beaten in
circulation, EGM is still among the most respected magazines in video games, and it
still attracts the most advertisers of any magazine.
EGM's ABC-audited circulation for 2005 was 608,133. Hopefully EGM will continue to gain
subscribers although competition is quite furious and fast paced in the ever changing fast
pace of video gaming.
Year 1989: EGM is the way Steve Harris Spells "Influence"
The Scoop: When Steve Harris founded Electronic Gaming Monthly, I'm not sure he ever
expecting some of the earthquakes that have shaken our industry. Who would have thought
that Nintendo would not be number one, or that movies would be playing in your favorite
system (unless you're a GameCube person), or that Sega would drop out? But here we are
almost 14 years later, and Electronic Gaming Monthly is around and bigger than ever.
Like many other magazines of the 1980s and early 90s, EGM offered mainly previews, codes,
and reviews of popular games. However, it was the review crew that set them apart. Using
four reviews, EGM was the first place many gamers turned to when trying to buy a new game.
Electronic Gaming Monthly was also the first to get the companies on their side with hard
hitting articles, and even a rumor section.
Electronic Gaming Monthly also managed to introduce the gaming world to award shows,
system reviews, and unbiased year-end wrap ups. While other magazines were claiming that
"one system may be better for you than another, depending on what kind of gamer you
are", EGM actually told you their opinions, and finalized it with a number rating.
Their buyers' guides are often referred to here at Defunct Games, and quoted all over
the internet. And it's a feature almost every other magazine has adopted since.
The Other Side: In 1989 the industry was a much different, and smaller, place. For
the most part, gamers were only buying the Nintendo Entertainment System and GameBoy,
so the coverage was geared mostly towards Big "N". This offered a problem since
Nintendo's own Nintendo Power was doing basically the same thing. Other magazines,
like GamePro and Video Games & Computer Entertainment, also offered almost carbon
copy previews, reviews, and articles. And none of them focused on the Genesis ...
until a little Hedgehog named Sonic came about.
The Impact: While Electronic Gaming Monthly was hardly the first game to offer
coverage of video games, it certainly set the standard for which all magazines would
be judged in the future. To the dismay of Game Player, GamePro, or Die Hard Game Fan,
no matter how good your magazine was, it was always trying to get from under the shadow
of EGM.
This competition, however, spawned bigger and better magazines, and vast improvements
to existing publications. These days there is no shortage of magazines to read, no
matter what interest you have. If you're a PlayStation 2 loyalist, or a sports gamer,
or just want to find the most insulting things about each video game, there's a magazine
for you.
It should also be noted that sites like Defunct Games would probably not be around if it
weren't for Electronic Gaming Monthly. This little publication actually showed the world
that a game magazine can make money and survive in a tough environment. If I thought
Defunct Games was going to die in a couple of years, I certainly wouldn't have put the
time in . and I'm sure others feel the same way.
Where Are They Now?: Electronic Gaming Monthly is still one of, if not the most popular
video game magazine going. It has lived through several system life cycles, a number of
failed competitors, and a market downturn. Let's face it, this thing has legs. Just like
Rolling Stone magazine, and even the Wall Street Journal.
EGM has grown from covering only games and the systems, to offering a much wider selection
of articles. They examine the industry of gaming, as well as delve deep with cutting
exposes and articles about much more than just video games. -Cyril Lachel
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Paul Dean, Spy Hunter Champion June 28, 1985
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