This is an old revision of this page, as edited by TheVoice (talk | contribs) at 00:38, 8 February 2004. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 00:38, 8 February 2004 by TheVoice (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)GameFAQs is a popular gaming website that has given gamers the chance to find help (through "FAQs" and "walkthroughs") for their favorite games since November 1995. It was started and is maintained by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey. It has a large database of video games, perhaps one of the most complete in the world. The systems and games range from the 8-bit Atari days to the Next-Gen consoles of today. The huge amount of FAQs, cheat codes, and reviews are all submitted by dedicated gamers just trying to help others with their knowledge. Even the site owner contributes plenty. If you ever have a question on a game or need some extra help or even have something to share, come to GameFAQs and the community will listen to you.
Along with the large database of FAQs, codes, and reviews, it also contains one of the largest message board communities on the web. Every single game on the site has its own board to discuss the game or ask questions or answer them about the game. All FAQ, code, and review contributors automatically get a message board account to waste plenty of time posting at.
History of GameFAQs
GameFAQs was started on 5 November 1995 by Jeff Veasey. At that time it was called the "Video Game FAQ Archive". It was hosted by AOL and was a clone/spin-off of a popular FTP FAQ Archive.
By December 1996, the site was still young. You could see that in the appearance and the content. The site contained less than 1000 FAQs, combined over all systems. The site also focused on the 7 popular systems of the time - arcade games, the Sony Playstation (PSX), the Sega Saturn, the Nintendo 64 (N64), the 3DO, the Sega Genesis, and the Super Nintendo (SNES). Other systems were also listed. The site was very basic and was not updated on a regular basis.
By early 1997, GameFAQs had a new look. In fact, it had two different looks. One was customized for browsers that supported frames and the other was made specifically for browsers with no support for frames. The color scheme was rather bland, using white and black and blue. The content was beginning to grow, though. By April, the site had 1301 files and codes for over 800 games. New features were introduced that would shape GameFAQs - things like user requests for information, a site search engine, recognition for contributors, and other things.
By late 1997, GameFAQs was beginning to take shape. It moved out of AOL servers by this time and was parterned with Imagine Games Network (IGN). Jeff Veasey was hard at work on GameFAQs now. It is assumed that this is when GameFAQs became Veasey's full-time job. Until this time, he had been working in either the radio field (unconfirmed report) or with computer programming/web programming (radio interview). GameFAQs has made it through two years and a new aspect of the site was started - contests. There were only two winners of the GameFAQs Second Birthday Contest out of 1000 entries, but it was a start.
Throughout 1998, GameFAQs had the same idea. Veasey continued to work on the site and put new FAQs and codes up. In late 1998, the site got another overhaul. Still under IGN, GameFAQs added links to other IGN sites. This took up about half of the homepage. Content wasn't changed that much, but Veasey always kept the users informed of what was going on. There were frequent updates to the site, even if they weren't contribution updates.
In late 1999, GameFAQs had another overhaul. The sidebar and tables on the homepage that show top games were added. The color scheme was also changed to the familiar blue and white, but it wasn't exactly the same. GameFAQs was still under the flag of IGN.
In November 1999, things happened quickly. On the 5th, the a quick search box was added to all pages. The site also celebrated its fourth birthday. On the seventh, the message boards opened as a Beta and a Poll of the Day would be put up at the end of that week. Now, the site begins to change from a FAQ archive to one of the best gaming help sites on the internet.
Things on GameFAQs slowed down over the next few months and years. For a little while. The GameFAQs chat went Beta, but didn't last long due to administrative issues - it was simply too hard to control. Other than that, it was the same old GameFAQs.
2001 was the next year of changes for GameFAQs. The site left IGN. To make money, a banner was placed on the site that was sold to non-profit organizations. This was changed by May of 2001, when CNet Networks began affiliating themselves with GameFAQs.
In September of 2001, another change was made to GameFAQs, because of advertising changes at CNet. The ad was moved from the top of the page (horizontally) to a vertical position in the sidebar. This also led the way to navigation of systems at the top of the screen. Changes were also made to links on the side, minimizing them and placing more links in "index" pages in subsections.
Today, GameFAQs is fully owned by CNet Networks. Jeff "CJayC" Veasey is responsible for working on the main site - e-mails, codes, FAQs, reviews, saves, game data, coding, and updating the homepage. CNet has hired Bethany Massimilla to administrate the GameFAQs message boards and lead the moderators. CNet also supplied new (and faster) servers for the entire site. Although the changeover between the site being run by one man to the site being owned by a company and split into two sections was rough (technical errors, downtime, lost e-mails, and other problems), things have gone for the best.
Today, GameFAQs is the number one site for free help with video games on any system. You can find (without having to sign up for anything), FAQs, images, codes, game saves, reviews, and game data from GameFAQs. You can also find links to the partners of GameFAQs (mainly GameSpot). By registering for the site, you open up message boards (both gaming and social) and the ability to contribute something yourself. All for free.
GameFAQs Culture
- Life, the Universe, and Everything (LUE) is a GameFAQs Social Board created to give the registered message board users a break from gaming and let them talk about whatever they want. LUE has been very controversial in GameFAQs History, and is often viewed as one of the worst boards on the site. Discussion today is usually about offensive topics, such as sex. LUE is also home to many fads, including "y helo thar", which was said on a recent live television show.
- Current Events (CE) is the oldest social board on GameFAQs.