GameFAQs
Encyclopedia
GameFAQs is a website
that hosts FAQ
s and walkthroughs
for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, review
s, game saves
, and screenshot
s, almost all of which is submitted by volunteer contributors. The systems
covered include the 8-bit Atari
platform through modern consoles
, as well as computer games
. Submissions made to the site are reviewed by the site's current editor, Allen "SBAllen" Tyner.
GameFAQs hosts an active message board
community, which has a separate discussion board for each game in the site's database, along with a variety of other boards. Since 2004, most of the game-specific boards have been shared between GameFAQs and GameSpot
, another CNET/CBS website. The site also runs a daily opinion poll
and tournament contests, as well as an annual Character Battle.
GameFAQs has been positively reviewed by The Guardian
and Entertainment Weekly
. As of 2009, GameFAQs.com is one of the 300 highest-trafficked
English-language websites according to Alexa
.
, it originally served as a mirror
of Andy Eddy
's FTP
FAQ archive. The initial version of the site had approximately 10 pages and 100 FAQs. In 1996, the site moved to its current domain at gamefaqs.com and changed its name to GameFAQs. At this time, GameFAQs listed fewer than 1000 FAQs and guides and was updated on an irregular basis.
During the following months, the site grew in content and in design; two different styles were introduced in early 1997 to accommodate the support of tables in web browser
s (or the lack thereof). Two key features of the site—the game search engine and the contributor recognition pages—were planned at this time.
(IGN), leading to the placement of affiliate links on the home page. User contests were introduced during this period; the first monthly contest, which was held in 1998, received 253 entries. GameFAQs went through several design changes, including a pink color scheme, before arriving at the blue-colored layout that was used until 2004.
In November 1999, several changes occurred in rapid succession. On November 5, a search box was added to every page, at which time the site was celebrating its fourth anniversary
. On November 7, the message boards opened in a beta testing mode. The "Poll of the Day" was introduced at the end of the month. These changes marked Veasey's increased concentration on the site, and it was around this time that GameFAQs became his full-time job. Until this time, he had been working as a programmer
. On August 9, 2000, the site received one million hits in a single day for the first time. By 2001, the "GameFAQs Chat" (an IRC chat server) had been launched; however, it was removed in May 2001 due to administrative issues.
were shown on the home page. In September 2002, the ad was moved from the horizontal header
to the vertical sidebar
. This led to changes to the links on the side, as well as the creation of navigational links at the top of the screen. Contributions to GameFAQs continued to increase, and Veasey, as sole operator and administrator of the site, dedicated significant portions of his time to ensure that GameFAQs remained updated and successful.
On April 1, 2002, Veasey changed GameFAQs to "GameFAX" as an April Fools'
joke. The site's colors were changed to green and black to imitate those of the Xbox
, with the intention of making users believe that GameFAQs was now dedicated solely to the Xbox, "the only system that matters." After clicking on any link on the main page, users were directed to the real GameFAQs home page. Nevertheless, Veasey reported receiving hate mail from users.
On May 6, 2003, CNET Networks (the site's long-standing affiliate and sponsor) acquired
GameFAQs. The amount paid for GameFAQs and two other unrelated websites was US$
2.2 million. On June 3, 2003, Veasey announced the merger to the users of the site. He clarified that the user-submitted content (i.e. FAQs, reviews) remained under the ownership of the authors and was not (nor could be) sold to CNET; however, CNET acquired GameFAQs' rights to host them on the site. He assured users that GameFAQs would undergo no major administrative change and said, "The GameFAQs you see today is the one you'll see tomorrow." This was true to a certain extent, as the only visible change over the next few months was the addition of a CNET footer to the bottom of every page. Additional changes included moving the site to servers
in California
.
From 2004 to 2006, GameFAQs witnessed further changes. On April 28, GameFAQs implemented a large visual redesign, and the boards merged with the GameSpot boards to allow both communities to share the same game-specific boards (to the dismay of many GameFAQs users). To facilitate this, GameFAQs converted its board code from ASP
to PHP
, and GameSpot dropped its Lithium
code. On April 11, 2006, a new design was implemented and the GameSpot logo
was added to the GameFAQs logo on the header of every page. This change was initially greeted with general disapproval by users on the message boards. To satisfy those who prefer the earlier layout, the old board pages have been preserved for certain users. Shortly after the redesign, the site began using the Smarty
template engine.
; instead, they cover aspects of gameplay in the same way as strategy guide
s, with walkthroughs, item lists, maps, and puzzle solutions. Nearly all of the FAQs hosted on the site are in plain text
, though GameFAQs does also accept stand-alone images, such as maps, diagrams and puzzle solutions. From December 2009, formatted guides which allow authors to use mark-up loosely based on Wiki markup in the document were being accepted. In addition to FAQs, contributors can also submit reader reviews, cheat codes, developer credits, game release data, game saves, screenshot
s, and images of game boxes
. As of February 2009, over 49,000 guides are hosted on the site and over 113,194 reviews.
When an author submits something to GameFAQs, it is screened by an administrator before being posted on the site. The author retains the copyright
on the submitted material, and his name is added to the site's "Contributor Recognition" section. GameFAQs agrees to host the guide only on their servers but does allow other affiliates to link directly to the guides (including GameSpot
, Yahoo! Games
, AOL
, and GameFly
).
GameFAQs features several ongoing contributor contests, including FAQ of the Month, Review of the Month, and numerous "FAQ Bounties
", which reward contributors who submit FAQs for uncovered, high-demand games. The FOTM and ROTM contests are generally picked from comprehensive, complete guides or reviews for new games. Winners are sent a gift certificate for an online retailer
, or can opt for a mailed gift card upon contest entry.
In 2004, Future Network USA
published two commercial strategy guides with material from GameFAQs: The Ultimate Xbox
Strategy Guide and The Ultimate PS2
Strategy Guide. These guides were composed of FAQs written by contributors on GameFAQs.
have been shared with the GameSpot community. Certain popular games may have additional boards for social discussion. Game-specific boards for certain older consoles do not have topicality rules and are often claimed for social discussion—these are referred to as "secret" or "dead" boards. Every system also has a general board for discussing hardware
and upcoming games.
GameFAQs has boards made purely for the purpose of socializing, some that cater to special interests (such as Anime
, TV, Music
, and Wrestling
), and some purely for users from a particular region (e.g. United Kingdom
, Australia
/New Zealand
). GameFAQs also has boards for official announcements, contributor discussion, contest discussion, suggestions, and site help.
The custom-made GameFAQs Message Boards, coded by Veasey, began operation on November 7, 1999. Although the original purpose of the board system was to facilitate game discussion, other board categories have been added since the boards opened. Every day, approximately 20,000 topics and 200,000 messages are posted on GameFAQs' 60,000+ individual boards, and as of November 7, 2006, there were more than 100,000 accounts actively in use. During October 2009, there was an average of 84,853 unique logins a day.
. Some HTML mark-up
is used on the boards, including bold and italics tags. Unlike many message boards, GameFAQs does not allow tags for images, hyperlink
s, or underlining. Avatars
are not used, signatures
are limited to two lines of text (160 characters total). Additionally, the forums use a wordfilter
to prevent the use of certain vulgar words. On some boards, topics are removed permanently after a having no new posts for a period of time. On other boards, they are locked and archived (a feature which was added in 2008). The length of time that a topic can remain inactive without being removed or archived depends on the number of posts on its board.
GameFAQs users gain one "karma" for every day they visit the boards while logged in. As karma increases, new features become available, such as the ability to post more messages per day, visit high-level social boards, edit posts, and view a post history page. Registered users can choose between various stylesheets, search topics, and message display options. Users can add favorite boards to a personalized list on the main boards page and can track specific topics (a feature added in 2006).
On June 20, 2007, advertisements on message list pages were moved from the top of the page to the middle of the message lists. Shortly thereafter, the ads were moved to the bottom of the message lists. On October 8, 2007, an "ignore user" system was launched for users level 31 or above.
GameFAQs' moderators are volunteer users selected by the administrator and are responsible for keeping order within the message board community. Because of the size of the boards, the moderators do not patrol every board and topic. Instead, messages that break the site's Terms of Service
can be "marked
" by regular users, which brings the message to the attention of the moderators.
Since 2002, GameFAQs has hosted annual (or semiannual) tournament
contests consisting of daily polls
in which visitors to the site choose between competing characters
, games, or series, with the character contests being known as "Character Battles". Registered users can submit prediction brackets
, and prize
s are awarded to those who score the highest. The contest polls are shown in place of or in addition to the regular Poll of the Day and have always been accompanied by an image depicting the entrants in the match. The entrants of the Character Battles change from year to year, with some characters being added and some being removed. In some years, previous winners were removed from the main bracket and competed in a separate contest (i.e., "Tournament of Champions", "Battle Royale").
The annual Character Battle has been the subject of two webcomic
s—Penny Arcade
featured the Character Battle in their comic on August 23, 2002, and Creative Uncut's Inside the Gamers Studio strip mentioned the Character Battle in their ninth comic.
was selected as the best game ever, followed by The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
, Chrono Trigger
, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
, Super Mario Bros. 3
, Super Smash Bros. Melee
, GoldenEye 007, Metal Gear Solid
, Halo: Combat Evolved
, and Final Fantasy III/VI
.
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
that hosts FAQ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be commonly asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. "FAQ" is usually pronounced as an initialism rather than an acronym, but an acronym form does exist. Since the acronym FAQ originated in textual...
s and walkthroughs
Strategy guide
Strategy guides are instruction books that contain hints or complete solutions to specific video games. The line between strategy guides and walkthroughs is somewhat blurred, with the former often containing or being written around the latter. Strategy guides are often published in print, both in...
for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, review
Review
A review is an evaluation of a publication, a product or a service, such as a movie , video game, musical composition , book ; a piece of hardware like a car, home appliance, or computer; or an event or performance, such as a live music concert, a play, musical theater show or dance show...
s, game saves
Saved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
, and screenshot
Screenshot
A screenshot , screen capture , screen dump, screengrab , or print screen is an image taken by a computer to record the visible items displayed on the monitor, television, or another visual output device...
s, almost all of which is submitted by volunteer contributors. The systems
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
covered include the 8-bit Atari
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
platform through modern consoles
History of video game consoles (seventh generation)
In the history of video games, the seventh generation of consoles is the current generation , and includes consoles released since late by Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony...
, as well as computer games
Personal computer game
A PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
. Submissions made to the site are reviewed by the site's current editor, Allen "SBAllen" Tyner.
GameFAQs hosts an active message board
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
community, which has a separate discussion board for each game in the site's database, along with a variety of other boards. Since 2004, most of the game-specific boards have been shared between GameFAQs and GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, another CNET/CBS website. The site also runs a daily opinion poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
and tournament contests, as well as an annual Character Battle.
GameFAQs has been positively reviewed by The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
. As of 2009, GameFAQs.com is one of the 300 highest-trafficked
Web traffic
Web traffic is the amount of data sent and received by visitors to a web site. It is a large portion of Internet traffic. This is determined by the number of visitors and the number of pages they visit...
English-language websites according to Alexa
Alexa Internet
Alexa Internet, Inc. is a California-based subsidiary company of Amazon.com that is known for its toolbar and Web site. Once installed, the toolbar collects data on browsing behavior which is transmitted to the Web site where it is stored and analyzed and is the basis for the company's Web traffic...
.
History
GameFAQs was started as the Video Game FAQ Archive on November 5, 1995, by gamer and programmer Jeff Veasey, who says he wanted to collect the numerous online guides and FAQs into one centralized location. Hosted on America OnlineAOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, it originally served as a mirror
Mirror (computing)
In computing, a mirror is an exact copy of a data set. On the Internet, a mirror site is an exact copy of another Internet site.Mirror sites are most commonly used to provide multiple sources of the same information, and are of particular value as a way of providing reliable access to large downloads...
of Andy Eddy
Andy Eddy
Andy Eddy is an American video game journalist and critic. He currently resides in Redwood City, California.- Biography :Eddy was the executive editor of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment in the late 80s and early 90s, followed by tenure as a senior editor at GamePro magazine...
's FTP
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
FAQ archive. The initial version of the site had approximately 10 pages and 100 FAQs. In 1996, the site moved to its current domain at gamefaqs.com and changed its name to GameFAQs. At this time, GameFAQs listed fewer than 1000 FAQs and guides and was updated on an irregular basis.
During the following months, the site grew in content and in design; two different styles were introduced in early 1997 to accommodate the support of tables in web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
s (or the lack thereof). Two key features of the site—the game search engine and the contributor recognition pages—were planned at this time.
IGN affiliation
In 1997, GameFAQs became an independent affiliate of the Imagine Games NetworkIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
(IGN), leading to the placement of affiliate links on the home page. User contests were introduced during this period; the first monthly contest, which was held in 1998, received 253 entries. GameFAQs went through several design changes, including a pink color scheme, before arriving at the blue-colored layout that was used until 2004.
In November 1999, several changes occurred in rapid succession. On November 5, a search box was added to every page, at which time the site was celebrating its fourth anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
. On November 7, the message boards opened in a beta testing mode. The "Poll of the Day" was introduced at the end of the month. These changes marked Veasey's increased concentration on the site, and it was around this time that GameFAQs became his full-time job. Until this time, he had been working as a programmer
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
. On August 9, 2000, the site received one million hits in a single day for the first time. By 2001, the "GameFAQs Chat" (an IRC chat server) had been launched; however, it was removed in May 2001 due to administrative issues.
2001–2003
On January 9, 2001, GameFAQs ended its association with IGN. To continue generating revenue, an advertising banner sold to non-profit organizations was placed on the top of each page. This lasted until CNET Networks became an official affiliate of GameFAQs; CNET ads ran on the top of the page and links to news articles from GameSpotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
were shown on the home page. In September 2002, the ad was moved from the horizontal header
Page header
A page header or simply header in typography is text which is separated from the main body of text and appears at the top of a printed page...
to the vertical sidebar
Sidebar (publishing)
In publishing, sidebar is a term for information placed adjacent to an article in a printed or Web publication, graphically separate but with contextual connection.The term has long been used in newspaper and magazine layout...
. This led to changes to the links on the side, as well as the creation of navigational links at the top of the screen. Contributions to GameFAQs continued to increase, and Veasey, as sole operator and administrator of the site, dedicated significant portions of his time to ensure that GameFAQs remained updated and successful.
On April 1, 2002, Veasey changed GameFAQs to "GameFAX" as an April Fools'
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness...
joke. The site's colors were changed to green and black to imitate those of the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, with the intention of making users believe that GameFAQs was now dedicated solely to the Xbox, "the only system that matters." After clicking on any link on the main page, users were directed to the real GameFAQs home page. Nevertheless, Veasey reported receiving hate mail from users.
CNET acquisition
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
GameFAQs. The amount paid for GameFAQs and two other unrelated websites was US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2.2 million. On June 3, 2003, Veasey announced the merger to the users of the site. He clarified that the user-submitted content (i.e. FAQs, reviews) remained under the ownership of the authors and was not (nor could be) sold to CNET; however, CNET acquired GameFAQs' rights to host them on the site. He assured users that GameFAQs would undergo no major administrative change and said, "The GameFAQs you see today is the one you'll see tomorrow." This was true to a certain extent, as the only visible change over the next few months was the addition of a CNET footer to the bottom of every page. Additional changes included moving the site to servers
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
From 2004 to 2006, GameFAQs witnessed further changes. On April 28, GameFAQs implemented a large visual redesign, and the boards merged with the GameSpot boards to allow both communities to share the same game-specific boards (to the dismay of many GameFAQs users). To facilitate this, GameFAQs converted its board code from ASP
Active Server Pages
Active Server Pages , also known as Classic ASP or ASP Classic, was Microsoft's first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated Web pages. Initially released as an add-on to Internet Information Services via the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack Active Server Pages (ASP), also known as Classic...
to PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
, and GameSpot dropped its Lithium
Lithium Technologies
Lithium Technologies provides Social CRM solutions for the enterprise. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, Lithium has additional offices in San Francisco, London, and Zürich....
code. On April 11, 2006, a new design was implemented and the GameSpot logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
was added to the GameFAQs logo on the header of every page. This change was initially greeted with general disapproval by users on the message boards. To satisfy those who prefer the earlier layout, the old board pages have been preserved for certain users. Shortly after the redesign, the site began using the Smarty
Smarty
Smarty is a web template system written in PHP. Smarty is primarily promoted as a tool for separation of concerns.Smarty is intended to simplify compartmentalization, allowing the presentation of a web page to change separately from the back-end...
template engine.
Veasey's departure
On July 19, 2007, Veasey announced that he would eventually be leaving the site. According to his announcement, Allen Tyner, who has been employed with the site since 2004, would take over as editor and administrator of GameFAQs.Content
All of the guides and walkthroughs on GameFAQs are contributed by volunteers. Most of the FAQs are not actually lists of frequently asked questionsFAQ
Frequently asked questions are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be commonly asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. "FAQ" is usually pronounced as an initialism rather than an acronym, but an acronym form does exist. Since the acronym FAQ originated in textual...
; instead, they cover aspects of gameplay in the same way as strategy guide
Strategy guide
Strategy guides are instruction books that contain hints or complete solutions to specific video games. The line between strategy guides and walkthroughs is somewhat blurred, with the former often containing or being written around the latter. Strategy guides are often published in print, both in...
s, with walkthroughs, item lists, maps, and puzzle solutions. Nearly all of the FAQs hosted on the site are in plain text
Plain text
In computing, plain text is the contents of an ordinary sequential file readable as textual material without much processing, usually opposed to formatted text....
, though GameFAQs does also accept stand-alone images, such as maps, diagrams and puzzle solutions. From December 2009, formatted guides which allow authors to use mark-up loosely based on Wiki markup in the document were being accepted. In addition to FAQs, contributors can also submit reader reviews, cheat codes, developer credits, game release data, game saves, screenshot
Screenshot
A screenshot , screen capture , screen dump, screengrab , or print screen is an image taken by a computer to record the visible items displayed on the monitor, television, or another visual output device...
s, and images of game boxes
Video game packaging
Video game packaging refers to the physical storage of the contents of a computer or video game, both for safekeeping and shop display. In the past, a number of materials and packaging designs were used, mostly paperboard or plastic...
. As of February 2009, over 49,000 guides are hosted on the site and over 113,194 reviews.
When an author submits something to GameFAQs, it is screened by an administrator before being posted on the site. The author retains the copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
on the submitted material, and his name is added to the site's "Contributor Recognition" section. GameFAQs agrees to host the guide only on their servers but does allow other affiliates to link directly to the guides (including GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, Yahoo! Games
Yahoo! Games
Yahoo! Games is the section of the Yahoo! website in which Yahoo! users can play games either with other users or by themselves. The games on the website are typically Java applets or quick Flash games, but there are others which require a download. Many of the games that require a download...
, AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, and GameFly
GameFly
GameFly is an American online video game rental subscription service that specializes in providing games for game consoles and handheld game consoles....
).
GameFAQs features several ongoing contributor contests, including FAQ of the Month, Review of the Month, and numerous "FAQ Bounties
Bounty (reward)
A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...
", which reward contributors who submit FAQs for uncovered, high-demand games. The FOTM and ROTM contests are generally picked from comprehensive, complete guides or reviews for new games. Winners are sent a gift certificate for an online retailer
Online shop
Online shopping is the process whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time, without an intermediary service, over the Internet. It is a form of electronic commerce...
, or can opt for a mailed gift card upon contest entry.
In 2004, Future Network USA
Future US
Future US is a United States media corporation specializing in targeted magazines and websites in the video games, music, and technology markets. Future US is headquartered in the South San Francisco with offices in New York City and Los Angeles...
published two commercial strategy guides with material from GameFAQs: The Ultimate Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
Strategy Guide and The Ultimate PS2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
Strategy Guide. These guides were composed of FAQs written by contributors on GameFAQs.
Message boards
Every game listed on GameFAQs has its own message board where both novice and experienced gamers can discuss game strategies and other game-related topics. Since the redesign of May 2004, the game boards with enforced topicalityOn-topic
In the context of mailing lists, discussion groups, discussion forums, bulletin boards, newsgroups, and wikis a contribution is off-topic if it is not within the bounds of the current discussion, and on-topic if it is....
have been shared with the GameSpot community. Certain popular games may have additional boards for social discussion. Game-specific boards for certain older consoles do not have topicality rules and are often claimed for social discussion—these are referred to as "secret" or "dead" boards. Every system also has a general board for discussing hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
and upcoming games.
GameFAQs has boards made purely for the purpose of socializing, some that cater to special interests (such as Anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, TV, Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, and Wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
), and some purely for users from a particular region (e.g. United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
/New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
). GameFAQs also has boards for official announcements, contributor discussion, contest discussion, suggestions, and site help.
The custom-made GameFAQs Message Boards, coded by Veasey, began operation on November 7, 1999. Although the original purpose of the board system was to facilitate game discussion, other board categories have been added since the boards opened. Every day, approximately 20,000 topics and 200,000 messages are posted on GameFAQs' 60,000+ individual boards, and as of November 7, 2006, there were more than 100,000 accounts actively in use. During October 2009, there was an average of 84,853 unique logins a day.
Features
Posts made on the message boards are mostly plain textPlain text
In computing, plain text is the contents of an ordinary sequential file readable as textual material without much processing, usually opposed to formatted text....
. Some HTML mark-up
HTML element
An HTML element is an individual component of an HTML document. HTML documents are composed of a tree of HTML elements and other nodes, such as text nodes. Each element can have attributes specified. Elements can also have content, including other elements and text. HTML elements represent...
is used on the boards, including bold and italics tags. Unlike many message boards, GameFAQs does not allow tags for images, hyperlink
Hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
s, or underlining. Avatars
Avatar (computing)
In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...
are not used, signatures
Signature block
A signature block is a block of text automatically appended at the bottom of an e-mail message, Usenet article, or forum post. This has the effect of "signing off" the message and in a reply message of indicating that no more response follows...
are limited to two lines of text (160 characters total). Additionally, the forums use a wordfilter
Wordfilter
A wordfilter is a script typically used on Internet forums or chat rooms that automatically scans users' posts or comments as they are submitted and automatically changes or censors particular words or phrases.The most primitive wordfilters search only for a specific string and replaces it...
to prevent the use of certain vulgar words. On some boards, topics are removed permanently after a having no new posts for a period of time. On other boards, they are locked and archived (a feature which was added in 2008). The length of time that a topic can remain inactive without being removed or archived depends on the number of posts on its board.
GameFAQs users gain one "karma" for every day they visit the boards while logged in. As karma increases, new features become available, such as the ability to post more messages per day, visit high-level social boards, edit posts, and view a post history page. Registered users can choose between various stylesheets, search topics, and message display options. Users can add favorite boards to a personalized list on the main boards page and can track specific topics (a feature added in 2006).
On June 20, 2007, advertisements on message list pages were moved from the top of the page to the middle of the message lists. Shortly thereafter, the ads were moved to the bottom of the message lists. On October 8, 2007, an "ignore user" system was launched for users level 31 or above.
Moderators
The message boards are managed by the site's administrators and moderators. Initially, Veasey was the only administrator and therefore had full control over the boards; however, more administrators have since been appointed. Tyner, who uses the username "SBAllen" (formerly "Sailor Bacon"), is an administrator on the boards.GameFAQs' moderators are volunteer users selected by the administrator and are responsible for keeping order within the message board community. Because of the size of the boards, the moderators do not patrol every board and topic. Instead, messages that break the site's Terms of Service
Terms of Service
Terms of service are rules which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. Unless in violation of consumer protection laws, such terms are usually legally binding...
can be "marked
Moderation system
On Internet websites which invite users to post comments, a moderation system is the method the webmaster chooses to sort contributions which are irrelevant, obscene, illegal, or insulting with regards to useful or informative contributions....
" by regular users, which brings the message to the attention of the moderators.
User poll contests
| Contest | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Character Battle | Link | Mario Mario is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation... |
| Character Battle II | Cloud Strife Cloud Strife is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Square's role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and several of its sequels and spin-offs. His original design was created by Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura... |
Sephiroth |
| Best. Game. Ever. | Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy VII is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009... |
Chrono Trigger Chrono Trigger is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a... |
| Character Battle III | Link | Cloud Strife Cloud Strife is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Square's role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and several of its sequels and spin-offs. His original design was created by Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura... |
| Got Villains? | Sephiroth | Ganon Ganon , anglicized Gannon in early Japanese materials, and also known as , is a fictional character who is the main antagonist of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series of video games. He is the final boss of most games in the series. He was first given a back-story in A Link to the Past... dorf |
| Character Battle IV | Mario Mario is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation... |
Crono |
| Tournament of Champions | Link | Sephiroth |
| Best. Series. Ever. | The Legend of Zelda | Final Fantasy Final Fantasy is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise... |
| Character Battle V | Samus Aran Samus Aran is the protagonist of the Metroid video game series. Introduced in the 1986 video game Metroid, Samus is a female ex-army soldier bounty hunter usually fitted with a powered armor suit with weapons that include beams and missiles... |
Solid Snake Solid Snake Metal Gear, initially released in 1987, introduces Solid Snake, the rookie recruit of the elite special-forces unit FOXHOUND. Snake is sent by team leader Big Boss into the rogue nation Outer Heaven to rescue his missing teammate Gray Fox and discover who or what the "METAL GEAR" mentioned is, and... |
| Battle Royale | Link | Cloud Strife Cloud Strife is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Square's role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and several of its sequels and spin-offs. His original design was created by Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura... |
| Character Battle VI | L-Block Tetromino A tetromino is a geometric shape composed of four squares, connected orthogonally. This, like dominoes and pentominoes, is a particular type of polyomino... |
Link |
| Character Battle VII | Link | Solid Snake Solid Snake Metal Gear, initially released in 1987, introduces Solid Snake, the rookie recruit of the elite special-forces unit FOXHOUND. Snake is sent by team leader Big Boss into the rogue nation Outer Heaven to rescue his missing teammate Gray Fox and discover who or what the "METAL GEAR" mentioned is, and... |
| Best. Game. Ever. 2009 | The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998... |
Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy VII is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009... |
| Character Battle VIII | Link | Cloud Strife Cloud Strife is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Square's role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and several of its sequels and spin-offs. His original design was created by Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura... |
| Game of the Decade | The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan on April 27, 2000, North America on October 26, 2000, and Europe on November 17, 2000. The game sold approximately 314,000 copies during its first... |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Super Smash Bros. Brawl Super Smash Bros. Brawl, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBB or simply as Brawl, is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by an ad hoc development team consisting of Sora, Game Arts and staff from other developers, and published by... |
Since 2002, GameFAQs has hosted annual (or semiannual) tournament
Tournament
A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
contests consisting of daily polls
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
in which visitors to the site choose between competing characters
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, games, or series, with the character contests being known as "Character Battles". Registered users can submit prediction brackets
Bracket (tournament)
A bracket is a tree diagram that represents the series of games played during a tournament, named as such because it appears to be a large number of interconnected brackets....
, and prize
Prize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. Official prizes often involve monetary rewards as well as the fame that comes with them...
s are awarded to those who score the highest. The contest polls are shown in place of or in addition to the regular Poll of the Day and have always been accompanied by an image depicting the entrants in the match. The entrants of the Character Battles change from year to year, with some characters being added and some being removed. In some years, previous winners were removed from the main bracket and competed in a separate contest (i.e., "Tournament of Champions", "Battle Royale").
The annual Character Battle has been the subject of two webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
s—Penny Arcade
Penny Arcade (webcomic)
Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic...
featured the Character Battle in their comic on August 23, 2002, and Creative Uncut's Inside the Gamers Studio strip mentioned the Character Battle in their ninth comic.
10 Best Games Ever
During the 10-Year Anniversary Contest in 2005, GameFAQs users voted on the 10 best games of all time (and tried to predict what the top 10 would be). Final Fantasy VIIFinal Fantasy VII
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
was selected as the best game ever, followed by The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998...
, Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, known as in Japan, is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, and the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan in 1991, and was...
, Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario Bros. 3
, also referred to as Super Mario 3 and SMB3, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the third game in the Super Mario series. The game was released in Japan in 1988, in the United States in 1990, and in Europe in 1991...
, Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBM or simply as Melee, is a crossover fighting game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., and the predecessor to the Wii game Super Smash...
, GoldenEye 007, Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid
is a videogame by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Kojimas early MSX2 computer games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake...
, Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved, frequently referred to as Halo: CE, or Halo 1, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox gaming system, and is...
, and Final Fantasy III/VI
Final Fantasy VI
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square , released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as a part of the Final Fantasy series. Set in a fantasy world with a technology level equivalent to that of the Second Industrial Revolution, the game's story focuses on a...
.