Saying Goodbye To Game Informer's Office

MinnMax's Ben Hanson and Leo Vader are joined by Giant Bomb's creative director Dan Ryckert on a tour from Game Informer's former lead video producer Alex Van Aken of the final resting place for the Game Informer office and game vault. This video was recorded in March of 2024, five months before GameStop shutdown Game Informer after 33 years of the iconic magazine going strong. This is our final visit to a Game Informer office, we're glad to capture it on video for you.
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[@minnmax]

Unlock the two-hour version of this video by supporting MinnMax on Patreon at the $5 tier and directly supporting independent games media. www.patreon.com/minnmax

[@theboondockangel]

Every time someone asked "What's gonna happen to all this stuff?", it really felt like a twist of the knife, ya know?

[@PizzaFriend]

No better videographer to capture this story than Ben. Grateful for MinnMax and grateful for Game Informer.

[@EasyAllies]

Dude, I love this. Had so many of these same things at GameTrailers - statues, 3DS capture devices, DV tapes, etc. Even similar "vault cabinets" like the ones with the stickers. We had those Fallout 3, Skyrim, and Lara Croft statues. And I remember that MGS 3 statue in Super Potato Dan was talking about too. I've got a photo of Rich Brown in front of it. Great job documenting this, and good to see the old office shots in there as well. -Bloodworth

[@minnmax]

Awesome, thanks for the comment Bloodworth!

[@decake8880]

im gonna miss game informer, they were so formative for me, I know it sounds dramatic but I legitimately wouldn't be the same person without them

[@carlosalfageme4285]

completely agree

[@dannycarmack2044]

Leo’s first kiss story was extremely sweet

[@instagritsinbound]

Fortunately it looks like every Replay and Super Replay is still up in GI's youtube channel. I remember back before they were posting them on KZbin and you could only watch them through that crappy video player on the website. Seems like a few OG archivist like ejmerry still have several early episodes up. So much nostalgia and just plain good fun to still be had and remembered. Thank you, Ben, for keeping the spirit of those years alive through Minnmax.

[@Soniti1324]

Just resubscribed to Game Informer 2 months ago; this is pretty heartbreaking. What was more heartbreaking was seeing what the actual magazine looks like, now 15 years on from GameInformer's peak; gone were the glossy covers, the satin sheen to the pages, the full page spreads (or 3 part fold-outs). In its place, we get a "magazine" both the size and thickness of a single issue comic book, and printed on the exact same paper. It looks like a visual metaphor for the enshitification of our world.

[@LegendStormcrow]

You're lucky you missed the "I worked at Vice" era. A number of writers were not game reviewers and wanted to talk politics.

[@Sano72592]

Very horrible what happened to these people. Good on Minnmax highlighting the excellent creatives involved.

[@CozyWizardVibes]

I'm so grateful you guys are doing this. I'm looking forward to all the Game Informer content coming. After Gamestop deleting its existence from the internet, it will be good to have as much documentation around it as possible.

[@sweetgregt]

We need a Game Informer museum for sure. All of this stuff needs to be protected. One of the greatest publications of all time and a key part of gaming history.

[@tusseydaniel1]

I’m really gonna miss Game Informer. I’ve spent countless hours reading the magazine and watching the videos. I’m glad MinnMax is here to carry the torch.

[@JustinLeeper]

I started when the magazine still operated out of Funcoland’s HQ in Eden Prairie, so I remember the original “vault.” When GameStop bought out Funcoland, we were the last ones standing and would ride scooters or office chairs around the empty warehouse space. When we moved to Minneapolis, the main area wasn’t finished yet; so me, Kato, Matt, Reiner, Jay, Kristian were all packed into one back-room office for several issues.

[@Atreides217]

Game Informer will be missed. I look back about 8-10 years ago and I was so excited for the new GI Show each week and couldn't wait for my next issue of the magazine. Sad to see it gone. Thank you MinnMax for doing what you can to document it all!

[@mrshmuga9]

Sad, but good of you to have the foresight to record it.

[@Vub.]

Man I'm so glad you guys are doing this. I have almost every single issue and loved getting them in the mail. Gameinformer for life!

[@ARIXANDRE]

The pristine nature of some of those games and consoles is amazing!

[@Arthaslk67]

This is an end of an era. I have a ton of game informers. I was born a gamer. I will miss this.

[@cyberrb25]

One thing Game Stop has showed us is that workers and users should back up the content of a games site. The moment they cancel a publication, they've shown the pettiness to block access (in some cases, to the point where they will not honor the subscriptions users hold too), so they don't deserve to be the only ones to maintain the holdership of the items they make.

[@dark-cn9yq]

This is literally heaven for gamers. I wonder what the combined value is of everything there.

[@LanternArson]

9:46 Dan, as always, with excellent comedic timing

[@kohlmannj]

Lmao, that signoff though 😂

[@TheM00ndawg]

selling all those sealed games will probably be the most money gamestop will make in years.

[@B-Diddy-6]

I hope someone gives GameStop what they would give any customer who walked in with those. $71 in trade, or $34 cash.

[@Kmaitland89]

I wasn't a huge game informer fan, especially after most of the crew left around covid however, I never wanted to see them shutdown. I think they added something really interesting to the mix and they had so much history. They will be missed for sure.

[@alifeofarcticsounds1375]

I literally am sobbing watching this 😭 😭 😭

[@Ghosthound_X]

We have to know the fate of the vault its too much precious history for it to be broken up.

[@sabra401]

This is just soooo depressing. Not just that Game Informer is closed down but looking at all the vintage games and knowing the state of the game industry today, it'll just never be the same again. End of an Era

[@churibman]

Hugo was huge in Brazil! It had a tv show you could call and control the character using your phone's keypad. The games were essentially QTE's, but every kid dreamed of having his call picked up on air. Cannot begin to imagine how terrible the input lag was!

[@chriscuevas5383]

This so nostalgic but so upsetting. All that history and gaming culture, especially the Vault, that will now be sold off for some execs new boat, lost in a landfill somewhere, or sit neglected in a storage facility in Grapevine. What memories.

[@chutcentral]

Game Informer was my childhood. RIP, may you play like a king in Valhalla

[@simplydoz]

The red cabinet needs to be put into the video game museum.

[@crfstaley]

Wow what a collection of games. I hope it goes somewhere good or it gets distributed to some people who deserve it. I would hate to see all of that be sold off or thrown away 😢

[@PhoenixWrightfan101]

I'm so glad you documented this. GI's videos meant so much to me for so long, it's weird to say goodbye this way

[@dannycarmack2044]

This is so awesome, my first game informer issue I got was a halo3 magazine. Miss you guys

[@quiet451]

It hurts my soul that most (if not all) of this stuff is just in some warehouse in Grapevine, TX.

[@fernandogaray8215]

I smell a heist..

[@michaelstrange2285]

Back of the Box Trivia will always be my favorite GI segment.

[@Hamerparsa]

I used to watch and listen to replays so much . I loved them so much that i used to go to sleep listening to them . Im trying to archive them as much as possible

[@redMpton]

Getting a weird sense of Nostalgia for a place ive never been from the clips of the old office. Really looking forward to the rest of the GI tribute videos.

[@t-droreviews7905]

GI forever. I grew up with the magazine, watched the GI show into adulthood. So glad we have Minnmax. Thank you for all the great documentation Ben! Best Podcaster in the game.

[@JarellP]

Sorry to hear everything end so abruptly guys! Really appreciate that we're getting the sendoff celebration that GI deserves.

[@kneel1]

Super sad. Wishing I had gotten the opportunity to work there

[@beezlebubisfly3211]

I wonder if this stuff is just going to get tossed in the dump by GameStop?

[@fernandogaray8215]

If it is, I'm buying a ticket to that city and dumpster diving!

[@beezlebubisfly3211]

​@@fernandogaray8215now that would make a great new show plus

[@mathewm6294]

Damn, this is gonna be so painful. Been a GI subscriber intermittently since 01, seeing that magazine rolled up in my mailbox has always made me smile. I remember the infamous Fable cover story with Peter Molyneux making those "a tree from a seed" claims. I remember getting to finally play it November of 04 and loving every bit of it while also completely forgetting about planting any damn trees. The anticipation of finally playing GTA San Andreas when that cover story came out, and who can forget Starcraft: Ghost, the killer exclusive on a game that never came to be? All great memories❤

[@SeanLowery05]

I loved that office so very very much. Great memories and I'm super thankful to even be in this video for a half second... haha! Love you guys and hope this is just the beginning of a better future for all of GI.

[@Kangascasts]

Thank you for making this video. Can't believe how much Gameinformer meant to me growing up, and now I'm reminded. Thank you to everyone who cared enough about games to share their passion with kid me ❤

[@neliusxander]

This video is like a dream to me. I legit have reoccurring dreams where I come across stashes of retro video game stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next time I have one of those a mint condition Super Nintendo box shows up.

[@manifestationnation]

So cool of y'all to do this.

[@Hugop_arts]

Do we know what happened to the Vault?

[@minnmax]

We do not.

[@Megaphro]

I can't watch this yet. It still hurts.

[@Jones25ful]

Now Ben does this mean you can finally release the Road To Hell Retribution livestream? I haven’t seen it in years.

[@minnmax]

Hopefully not...

[@sebastianwhpx298]

​@@minnmaxWe Will pay Ben...let's make it happen 😂😂😂

[@Dukefazon]

Talked to Zack Pliggie on Discord, he has it all but he said some crazy things happened on the stream and it would not be good for a couple of people's career if they'd release it.

[@fleamcbaggins3087]

End of an era... Im so sad 😢😢😢 ive been a long time physical copy subscriber. I have issues going back to 2014. I really hope we get a final issue ❤ i wish all of y'all well. Looking forward to c yalls work in the future. Stay Gold!

[@cattysplat]

Love all the old gaming memorabilia, physical game library and consoles. Will not be able to say the same in the always online digital future we are heading. Gaming will not be the same.

[@Boyzby]

Game Informer really was the last bastion of historical gaming artifacts, so all this stuff really feels like it belongs in some sort of museum. I really wish I could've visited the office when I was very into the community during the Overblood era, because it really feels like a major part of my life. I still have the Halo: Reach legendary edition I won from betting on Cork to win a game of Smash during the Guinness record. I really miss those days…

[@redomagnus4762]

OMG WTF CRAZY - so glad you all did this

[@sublime90]

the vault needs to be protected at all costs

[@anthonyandthemachine]

I really really want to know what was going on behind the scenes with GI and Gamestop. Why were they moving offices? Did everything just stay like this or was it unpacked? What happened to all of it? What was going on during that final push for magazine subscriptions? I know I resubscribed for like 2 years, but then they pull the plug right after. I think this GI vault should be an exhibit in the National Video Game Museum. I would love to be able to go visit it and look at all the games and consoles. Its probably worth way too much for that though. ugh, hopefully gamestop isnt around for much longer.

[@alexok37]

Post COVID they never went back in-office because they were running well remote

[@Lvaneede]

I dont remember the exact timeline, but from bits that were said on the GI podcast over the years, the new office was getting done around 2019/2020, and then the pandemic happened and everyone went remote. Then there was probably more layoffs, then there was no point in having an office anymore.

[@gregnelson1893]

Wow! What an amazing collection of games and gaming memorabilia!

[@custard500011]

wow. this was heartbreaking to watch. thanks for doing this ben and for whatever other game informer postmortem you do.

[@joemomma91]

It kills to see how much character the old space had. It kills to know that a place even a fraction of that will never be. GI was truly a staple and it blows my mind that it's gone!

[@Ravenlock]

RIP, Game Informer. You deserve so much better.

[@Merlin_Price]

Man I miss seeing Vader's content. He was by far one of the most original voices in this community and could never understand why he wasn't given more autonomy

[@TemplleeGaming]

These mags were the world to me growing up , going to miss it… ResT in Peace GI

[@ModestPavement]

Can't believe they removed all of the reviews off the website. Lay off all your employee's with zero notice and delete all of their work. Real classy gamestop.

[@foretrosake5216]

Man, what amazing history and fun in one little area. Things most of us will only see never touch. Cool video on sad circumstances.

[@Some_Random_Guy]

I loved the vibe of the old office space

[@rebelritter5241]

Wish you guys could start your own game informer magazine just rebranded

[@rocketpunchgo1]

To the amazing memories brought to us by the GI crew❤ Edit: I need that Primal Rage machine and Big Boss statue.

[@TheSubZero187]

GameInformer will always be with me. No internet and I got all my news from them. I saw one small screenshot of Okami and saw that the release date was actually out at the time I read it and I asked my mom to buy it for me and she brought it home. It has been one of my favorite games of all time. Also miss watching Replay with the original crew. I hope the videos are archived properly.

[@FBuilding]

I think you did a Hugo replay ? It was a game airing on TV that you could play on your land-line phone's buttons by calling the channel, if I remember right ? At least here in France. Recently I visited a pastry shop and they had a pastry named "Mango Delire". I inquired and the lady confirmed to me it was named after "Hugo Delire", which made me very happy.

[@alex2217]

Yeah, Skærmtrolden Hugo was a Danish interactive TV show, where you called in and controlled the game. I'm really surprised to learn from these comments that it had quite a significant international life as well - apparently it ended up airing in some 40 different countries!

[@backspacer92]

@@alex2217 It was also on TV in Germany and you could win an N64 when you managed to beat a level.

[@DanishingAct]

The old gi days were really special.

[@stonebridgefilms2537]

I never got into Game Informer but I can tell it was a special place by how much Ben reveres it and brings it up on the podcast. What a ride it must have been.

[@BRIXBRI]

Man so nostalgic. TY for sharing yall

[@withbravado1548]

Dang this got me feeling some kind of way. Love y’all.

[@wardoise]

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE VAULT

[@daredevilnb]

Thanks for memories. I remember watching the first Replay episodes on the website. That video player really sucked. Think I’ll have to get on the patreon to see the extended cut. Best wishes, former Informers.

[@No20six]

This is amazing... so sad to see it go. What will happen to all this history though?

[@zmullaney]

God - I hope they do some of these pieces justice and donate them somewhere. It are some truly one of a kind items at this office. Wild to see this now shuttered.

[@michaelberry122]

Thank you for this! This was amazing. Shame on Game stop.

[@crowwwservo2363]

Game informer Replay / super replay rewatch party. It must be done.

[@StruggaBugga]

Would be great to get one of those vault boxes. Host a contest for those Vault Boxes....

[@Tilted_Krow]

Guys I think I actually live near the storage unit WTF 😂

[@saibher.]

This video will go down in games media history

[@Fanmanhandle]

I’m dumbfounded that GameInformer resorted to pulling the plug before trying to sell some of these high value assets. Instead, it’s going to get liquidated at some exclusive auction for a fraction of its true worth. RIP GI, you will be dearly missed.

[@SkullfaceTalks]

Crazy video guys, so awesome but bittersweet in a way. Most of your videos were upstairs so I never got to see what the office looked like. Really glad you brought Dan with you, some of the best stuff you guys did was back when you all worked together.

[@MadeByJoey]

Sending love to all the GI team

[@DABR]

This was awesome! RIP GI

[@chuckb7242]

It felt like someone filming a funeral...

[@svenbtb]

I haven't been subbed for awhile (despite being a GameStop member still for whatever reason they stopped sending me the magazine?), but I was always a big fan and really enjoyed reading it for the several years that I got it. There's just something fun about reading a physical magazine about games that I'm really going to miss. I wish all the staff from GameInformer good luck with their future endeavors!

[@AdelaideBen1]

It's so sad to reflect on how the games industry went from "the best ever"... to "the death knell" in so few months. I know it's been coming (for many years), but it's sad to see it unfold, and it's never nice to realise those memories will never to be repeated (for both employees and fans). Being outside the US, I never really had a chance to support GI - but even in Australia it was a foundational part of gaming. I'm sure it had it's hard parts, and I'm sure that it couldn't be immune to what's happening to print media in general... but there's something so sad about watching a building block of our gaming lives disappear. It's particularly sour to see this come so close on the heels of Summer Games Fest... but I suppose there's never a good time. RIP Game Informer - and best of luck for all those employees now looking for the next edition of their professional careers. You have supported the industry so well, and I hope the industry supports you. Edit - it is also sad to reflect on where games journalism has turned to over the last few years - in contrast to the joy of "gaming". I've tried to distil this in my son whose now 17. I wonder what will come back in 5-10 years when people realise how important this is. But thanks MinnMax for at least providing a positive space from which to reflect; and I can only hope that something comes up from the ashes (when common sense prevails... or when such things as MinnMax do get the recognition they deserve). Edit^2 - re-watching this.... I just noticed the reference it being recorded in March 2024.... so that's even sadder.

[@rwdplz1]

The Vault: Gamestop: We feel $18.36 is a fair offer.

[@nintendad8168]

i miss the old game informer podcasts man why didn't they just keep all the great people and blow it up to the top . Everyone has branched off and had success to some extent it's bizarre to me

[@ronaldclayton4232]

I read game informer since it was just a small funcoland newsletter in late 1991 I think the first one I read had the Sega Genesis game toejam and earl on the cover.All through the mid 90s it was still just a very thin 30 page magazine that really didn't take off till around 1999 a couple of years before gamestop bought everything.After that it became a legitimate magazine like EGM,Gamepro,and Nintendo Power.I read game informer monthly up until about 2011 or 2012 and just recently sold off the last couple of hundred magazines i had left.Most were game informer since it was the primary gaming magazine i read since 2001.

[@marcgalvan9360]

i miss that old office

[@fernandogaray8215]

What are they doing with all that stuff? Is it gonna be sold?

[@Lunst_DK]

This is so God damn sad... End of an era..... 😢

[@mmurphy3608]

The news about the closure hit me in the gut for multiple reasons. It felt like losing part of my past. And every Thursday I looked forward to the GI Show podcast and of course, the magazine once a month. But I also felt very sad for all the people who were directly affected. Hoping everyone gets back on their feet as quickly as possible.

[@nickyb45896]

crazy they moved to a new office and then shortly afterward were shut down. wild stuff

[@brooks9184]

Tbh I don’t think anyone realized GI was still around the last 10yrs. Those employees were beyond blessed to still be there after 2012 because of it being so obsolete. Love the nostalgia, but yeah it was a miracle people still had jobs there this long haha

[@acaeleus]

It hurt my heart hearing the news. Game Informer was the best.

[@USMCbrantley]

Wow this brought back memories of me in the mid to late 2000s watching those funny and crazy videos that Game Informer posted on You tube That old office was truly amazing!