Electronic Games


Electronic Games was the first dedicated video game magazine published in the United States 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.

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, and Joyce Worley, the three writers became close friends and in 1981 they founded Electronic Games magazine. 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.
Initially, the release of the first issue was scheduled for October 15, 1981. However, the release was postponed to October 29, 1981 and featured a slightly different cover than initially advertised.

1st Run

2nd Run

Arcade Awards

Electronic Games is notable for hosting the Arcade Awards, or Arkie Awards, the first "Game of the Year" award ceremony simultaneously running in Videos "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 were announced in February 1980 and covered all hardware and software produced prior to January 1, 1980.
AwardWinnerPlatform
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 EffectsBallyArcade/Bally

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.
AwardNomineesPlatform
Video Game of the Year
  • SNES
  • Genesis
  • Genesis
    • Computer Games of the Year
  • Aces of the Pacific
  • Civilization
  • Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
  • SimLife
  • Spear of Destiny
  • MS-DOS
    • Multimedia Games of the Year
  • Night Trap
  • Loom
  • TurboGrafx-CD
  • Sega CD
  • PC-CD

    • 1993 (8th)

    The following games were nominated by editors for the EG Awards of 1993.
    AwardNomineesPlatforms
    Video Game of the Year
    • Aladdin
    • Bubsy Bobcat
    • Mortal Kombat
    • Rock & Roll Racing
    • Sonic Spinball
    • Street Fighter II Turbo
  • Genesis
  • SNES
  • Genesis / SNES
  • SNES
  • Genesis
  • SNES
    • Portable Game of the Year
  • '
  • Mortal Kombat
  • '
  • Super Mario Land 2
  • Game Boy
  • Game Gear
  • Game Boy
  • Game Boy
    • Computer Game of the Year
  • Alone in the Dark
  • Flashback
  • SEAL Team
  • Strike Commander
  • Walker
  • '
  • PC
    • Console Multimedia Game of the Year
  • Exile: Wicked Phenomenon
  • Lethal Enforcers
  • Road Avenger
  • Robo Aleste
  • Sonic CD
  • Voyeur
  • TurboDuo
  • Sega CD
  • Sega CD
  • Sega CD
  • Sega CD
  • CD-i
    • Computer Multimedia Game of the Year'
  • Day of the Tentacle
  • Dracula Unleashed
  • Return of the Phantom
  • Return to Zork
  • Seventh Guest''
  • 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:
    ;January
    ;May
    ;June
    ;July
    ;August
    ;September
    ;October
    ;November
    ;December
    The games that were top-ranked the most in these 1983 polls were:
    ;January
    ;November
    ;December
    • Computer: Zork I
    • Arcade: Spy Hunter
    The games that were top-ranked the most in these 1984 polls were:
    ;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.