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39-536: The history of Electronic Games originates in the consumer electronics magazine, Video . Initially video games were covered sporadically 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,

78-414: A 1980 trademark infringement suit over use of the term "Video Buyer's Guide". In March 1995, Video was acquired from Reese by Hachette Filipacchi , and in 1999 it was merged with their bi-monthly Sound & Image magazine to become Sound & Vision . Today, the legacy of Video lies in the history of video game journalism as its regular column, "Arcade Alley", represents the earliest example of

117-403: A blend of record and equipment reviews, articles on music and musicians, and articles on technical issues and advice. The name changed to HiFi Review in 1959. It became HiFi/Stereo Review in 1961 to reflect the growing use of stereophonic technology in recordings and broadcasts. In 1968 it became, simply, Stereo Review , reflecting the broad shift to stereophonic reproduction and simplifying

156-451: A competing buyer's guide also titled "Video Buyer's Guide"—an act that provoked Reese to file an unsuccessful lawsuit against Hampton for damage to their trademark. In 1980, Bruce Apar became editor-in-chief and co-publisher alongside Rosenfield, and a number of structural and distribution changes took place for the magazine. Briefly anticipating a switch from quarterly to bi-monthly at the end of 1979, Video decided instead to publish on

195-550: A monthly publication and the new editor-in-chief, Bruce Apar, oversaw a number of format and layout changes with semi-regular features like "New Products" and "Reader Feedback" becoming departments, "VideoTest Report" becoming its own division, and with the creation of a half-dozen regular columns including "Channel One" written by Apar, "Video Programmer" written by Ken Winslow, "TV Den" by Bill Smolen, "VideoGram" by Susan March, "Fine Tuning" by Susan Prentiss and Roderick Woodcock, and "Arcade Alley" by Bill Kunkel and Arnie Katz. In 1982,

234-399: A monthly schedule. A number of semi-regular features were made into departments and Video added a new set of regular columns penned by contributors including Ken Winslow, Arnie Katz, Bill Smolen, Susan March, Susan Prentiss, Rod Woodcock, and Bill Kunkel among others. The publication of Katz and Kunkel's "Arcade Alley" as a regular Video column in 1980 has since become widely recognized as

273-544: A published opinion, Judge Wilfred Feinberg affirmed the lower court decision and dismissed the case. Launching in November 1977 and concluding in 1999, Video covered consumer electronics with a specific focus on the emerging home video market. The magazine showcased new audiovisual products (e.g. TVs, VHS, and Laserdisc players ), analyzed contemporary practices and trends in the field, and critically reviewed newly marketed products and equipment. From 1977 to 1979

312-611: A quarterly to a monthly column in parallel with the expansion of Video ' s publishing frequency. This year also marked the launch of the Arkie Awards —a yearly award naming a Game of the Year for both home console and PC platforms, and honoring video games from the previous year for excellence in categories such as Innovation, Gameplay (Competition, Solitaire-play, etc.), Audio-visual effects, and Genre (Science fiction, Sports, Adventure, etc.). Due to overwhelming reader support for

351-492: A ruling for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York , Judge George C. Pratt delivered a memorandum opinion holding "Video Buyer's Guide" to be a generic trademark , denying Reese's motion for injunctive relief, and dismissing the complaint against Hampton. Vindicated, Hampton released its buyer's guide shortly afterward under the title "Hampton's Official 1980 Video Buyer's Guide". Appealing

390-660: A time when competition between Video and rival publications Video Review , Video Buyer's Review , and Home Video over the emerging home video market had reached a flash point. It was precipitated directly by Hampton's hiring of Video ' s recently terminated advertising director, David Berns, and the subsequent announcement of its intention to publish a buyer's guide titled "1980 Official Video Buyer's Guide". In its filing, Reese alleged injury to its "Video Buyer's Guide" trademark and requested preliminary injunctive and monetary relief in anticipation of Hampton's publication of this similarly titled guide. On September 10, 1979, in

429-567: A video game column in a mainstream publication. Arcade Alley is credited with having popularized the nascent medium, leading its two main writers to create the first US video game magazine, Electronic Games . Video was founded in 1977 by Reese Communications publisher Jay Rosenfield with a small team including editors Rena Adler and Deeny Kaplan, marketing director Thomas Koger, circulation director Max H. Wolff, and contributors including Kenneth Lorber, Dee Shannon, Wayne Hyde, and Ivan Berger and Lancelot Braithwaite. The magazine's first issue

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468-583: Is headquartered in New York City. October/November 2024 is the last printed issued, with the brand continuing as a website. Stereo Review was an American magazine first published in 1958 by Ziff-Davis with the title HiFi and Music Review . During the initial phase the magazine was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois . It was one of a handful of magazines then available for the individual interested in high fidelity . Throughout its life it published

507-613: The Arkie Awards between the two Reese publications. By 1982 Video was considered the "number one magazine in the industry", and Katz dropped his pseudonym to write under his real name. Sound %26 Vision (magazine) Sound & Vision was an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater , audio , video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as Stereo Review . The magazine

546-562: The January 1983 issue of Electronic Games . The 5th "Arkies" were published in the January 1984 issue of Electronic Games . The 6th "Arkies" were printed in the January 1985 issue of Electronic Games . Following the magazine's revival in 1992, it published the Electronic Gaming Awards in March 1993, where editors nominated several games for each category and the readers would vote which games win. The following were

585-450: The awards reflects accomplishments during the 12 months of the preceding year. 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 . The 4th "Arkies" cover games published between October 1, 1981, and October 1, 1982, and were published in

624-567: The column, Kunkel, Katz, and Worley pitched the publication of the United States' first dedicated video game magazine to Jay Rosenfield and in October 1981 Electronic Games was launched. Electronic Games was tested as a one-off issue, but proved popular enough that it became a regular bi-monthly and then a monthly magazine. Despite this outlet, however, the three founders of Arcade Alley continued working for Video , jointly hosting

663-483: The consumer video magazine market with publications like Richard Ekstract's Video Review , Hampton International Communications's Video Buyer's Review , and United Business Publications's Home Video . Richard Ekstract was widely regarded as an imitator by Video staffers including Arnie Katz who claimed that Ekstract's later-published Electronic Fun was attempting to imitate Katz's Electronic Games . By early 1979, however, marketing successes at Video prompted

702-490: The decision before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in early 1980, Reese asserted that the lower court had abused its discretion in finding the trademark to be generic, that it had failed to provide Reese an adequate opportunity to present all evidence, that state claims were not adjudicated, and that other bases for enjoining Hampton's use of the mark had been ignored. The three-judge panel considered

741-544: The first regular occurrence of consumer-oriented video game journalism . In 1982, additional changes were made to content structure with the addition of a Program Guide, and the magazine's format and layout were set with minimal changes for the next decade. In March 1995, Video was acquired from Reese by Hachette Filipacchi , and in 1999 it was merged with their Stereo Review magazine to become Sound & Vision . The August 1979 legal filing by Reese Publishing Company against Hampton International Communications came at

780-415: The hiring of several new staffers including public relations director Bruce Apar and national advertising director David Berns (assuming responsibility for this area from Rosenfield who had served as Video ' s first advertising director). Berns's termination from this position only six months after he had been hired and his subsequent employment by competitor Hampton soon led to Hampton's publication of

819-417: The key features of the magazine was the permanence of its staff. Some staffers stayed for decades. One of them, Louise Boundas, rose from the ranks to become the magazine's editor from the late 1980s into the 1990s. Another, Julian Hirsch , was known for his technical reviews of equipment; he was involved with the magazine from 1961 until his retirement in 1998, nearly 40 years. The October/November 2024 issue

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858-431: The late 1970s and pitched to him the idea of a regular video game review column for Video which, under the oversight of editor Deeny Kaplan, had been publishing a series of articles called "VideoTest Reports" that sporadically covered video game topics and reviewed collections of games. Apar was enthusiastic about the idea and approached Reese's publisher, Jay Rosenfield. He initially expressed concerns over whether there

897-419: The magazine layout was again altered, creating a new "Program Guide" division from former departments "Video Programming Guide/Program Directory", "Programming News & Views", "Top 50 Bestselling Titles, Sales & Rentals" (later renamed "Top 15" and then "Top 10"), and the new "Program Reviews". For the next decade, features and columns would come and go, but the overall format and layout would remain largely

936-585: The magazine was published quarterly with an annual buyer's guide for the coming year published at the end of each year. Features were run irregularly to semi-regularly with "New Products", "Reader Feedback", and the "VideoTest Report" series (with tests conducted by technical editors Ivan Berger and Lancelot Braithwaite) proving to be the most regular. Other repeated features during Video ' s early years include "The Video Environment" written by Dee Shannon, "Video Workshop" written by Ken Lorber, and "Technical Q&A" written by Wayne Hyde. In 1980, Video became

975-478: The mark's position relative to the spectrum of distinctiveness recently expounded in the 1976 decision of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. v. Hunting World, Inc. , and noted particularly the similarities between Reese's claims and those of CES (who in 1975 had sought unsuccessfully to protect their trademark for the term "Consumer Electronics") in CES Publishing Corp. v. St. Regis Publications, Inc. In

1014-432: The most in these 1982 polls were: The games that were top-ranked the most in these 1983 polls were: The games that were top-ranked the most in these 1984 polls were: There was no reader poll held for the March 1985 issue. The twelve games voted by readers as part of the magazine's Hall of Fame up until January 1985. Video (magazine) Video is a discontinued American consumer electronics magazine that

1053-484: The pastime of gaming in its earliest years. During their time writing "Arcade Alley", both Kunkel and Katz contributed other articles to Video as well. Kunkel wrote one-off features and pieces on the then-new ESPN cable channel and the interactive gaming programs of the QUBE cable channel, and Katz wrote "Televiews"—a television-specific column for Video . Katz additionally wrote for and served as associate editor for

1092-523: The publication to Bonnier Corporation , the U.S. division of the Swedish Bonnier Group , along with four other magazines: Popular Photography , Boating , Flying and American Photo . In 2013, Bonnier sold it to Source Interlink, who merged it with its previously owned consumer electronics magazine Home Theater . In March 2018, Sound & Vision was purchased, along with related magazines and websites, by AVTech Media Ltd. One of

1131-523: 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. Electronic Games is notable for hosting the Arcade Awards , or Arkie Awards , the first " Game of the Year " award ceremony simultaneously running in Video ' s " Arcade Alley " column. The following games are

1170-499: The reviewers to accept any and all games for review. In an interview with Gamasutra , Katz recalled that "we had to review every single game that Atari made because that was all there were". The depth of coverage given to the few titles available was notable for its time, and aspects interesting to the reader such as " easter eggs "—a term for hidden messages and inside jokes left by game programmers—were emphasized. Bruce Apar became editor-in-chief in 1980 and "Arcade Alley" grew from

1209-620: The same. " Arcade Alley – A Critical Look at Video Cartridge Games & Programs " was a regular column in Video magazine, appearing quarterly in 1979 and monthly beginning in 1980, and ran until issue August 1984 (Volume VIII, Number 5). It was created by Bill Kunkel , Arnie Katz, and Joyce Worley, three New York-based friends with a common background in comics, professional wrestling, freelance journalism, and fanzine culture. Through professional connections, they became acquainted with Video ' s director of public relations , Bruce Apar, in

Electronic Games - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-415: 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 video game crash of 1983 . The magazine was briefly revived during the 16-bit era in the early 1990s, but ended in 1995 and was renamed to Fusion . Initially,

1287-604: The title. In the late 1980s, the magazine was acquired by CBS Magazines (now Hachette Filipacchi ), and in 1989 it absorbed High Fidelity magazine. During the 1990s, consumer trends began to branch out into home theater matters and the magazine contents followed in kind. In 1999 Stereo Review merged with Video , a magazine Hachette Filipacchi had acquired from Reese Communications , to become Stereo Review's Sound & Vision before settling on its current name in 2000, reflecting how dominant home theater had become in consumer purchases. In June 2009 Hachette Filipacchi sold

1326-487: The trade journal, Chain Store Age , so for contractual reasons and to avoid tarnishing his name as a serious tech journalist, writing credits for Arcade Alley were given to Kunkel and Katz under the pseudonym Frank T. Laney II. Aiming to review three games per column, Kunkel and Katz often found that their biggest difficulty was the size of the market which often failed to produce enough new titles to review and forced

1365-503: The winners and nominees for 1992. The following games were the winners and nominees for the EG Awards of 1993, with nominees chosen by editors and winners voted by readers. 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. The games that were top-ranked

1404-550: 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. 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. The 1981 edition of

1443-470: Was enough interest in the new "sport" of "electronic gamesmanship" to justify a regular column on the topic. Despite these concerns, Rosenfield green-lighted the column which was inaugurated under the ambivalent philosophy of "we have nothing to lose", and the column proved to be a success among readers. Working in direct consultation with game designers, Kunkel, Katz, and Worley are credited with popularizing video games for commercial markets and normalizing

1482-416: Was published from 1977 to 1999 by Reese Communications with a focus on video and audio devices. The magazine showcases new audiovisual products, analyzes current practices and trends in the field, and provides critical reviews of newly marketed products and equipment. During its early years, it competed fiercely with contemporary journals like Video Review and Video Buyer's Review —ultimately culminating in

1521-595: Was published in November 1977 with subsequent issues appearing quarterly for the first three years until 1980 when it became a monthly publication. The last issue of each year was a special edition titled "Video Buyer's Guide" which was intended to serve as a guide to products that consumers would be using during the upcoming year, thus the special Buyer's Guide published at the end of 1977 was titled "1978 Video Buyer's Guide". The buyer's guide proved popular among readers, selling 18,440 copies in 1977 and 25,635 copies in 1978. Competition sprang up rapidly and Video soon shared

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