User:Gregcrowe/draft article on game industry news

Game Industry News (GiN) is a website and newsletter publication devoted to covering all aspects of the video game industry. Published by Noble Order Press Enterprises Inc, based in Germantown, Maryland, Game Industry News was founded in 1997 by John Breeden II and Nate Wooley. The site is devoted primarily to game reviews and industry news, but also has editorial columnists and interviews with influential people in the game industry. The GiNdex is a unique feature on Game Industry News, offering a weekly stock index comprised of publicly traded companies that make video games. The site also hosts weekly podcast, The GiN Lounge, and quarterly podcast, The Gamer Geeks. Anyone who registers at Gameindustry.com receives an email newsletter, which encapsulates articles that have been added to the website that week.

History
In the summer of 1997, founders John Breeden II and Nate Wooley came up with the idea for starting a website devoted to the news of the video game industry. They recruited writers and product reviewers while they assembled content for the website, which was launched in the autumn of 1997. The first review published was for Diddy Kong Racing and was written by Todd Hargosh. The first interview was with Doug Lowenstein, then president of the Interactive Digital Software Association

Since then, the staff has expanded to many editors and contributors, and as of September of 2011 the site has over 1265 reviews and over 3500 industry-related news items.

International
In 2001, Chella Ramanan joined the editorial team, as a reviewer based in the UK. She then stepped into the role of columnist, in 2002, alongside Todd Hargosh. Chella's column, the Eurofiles (formerly known as the GiN Playmate 2002-2011), provides a British and European perspective of the games industry, covering subjects as diverse as trade shows, women in games and the death of Solzhenitsyn.

Business
With a continued interest in encouraging small developers and independent game companies, Game Industry News has kept advertising rates low to appeal to budgets of all sizes. GiN prides itself on having honest, unsponsored reviews by reviewers that love gaming.

Current Staff
The current staff of Game Industry News as of September 2011 are as follows: Note that the regular staff also write reviews in addition to their other duties.

The current staff working on the podcasts as of September 2011 are as follows:

Game of the Year Awards
In 1998, Game Industry News launched its Game of the Year Awards. In a unique move for games websites, the GiN Game of the Year Awards are voted for by gamers who subscribe to the site's weely newsletter. The nominees are decided by the editorial team and announced on Game Industry News for subscribers to choose and register their favourites in each category. No nominee is suggested for Game of the Year leaving that accolade open to any game. Voters simply write the name of the game, making it possible for any title to win, regardless of whether it has been nominated in any of the other categories.

The various categories have changed over the years, but an overall winner has always been awarded every year. The categories and winners for each year are as follows: