Our April Fool's Day tradition around here is Game Infarcer – a parody magazine featuring fake games, pretend news, and even a non-existent editor-in-chief. This year's edition went online today, including a wonderful illustration of Resident Evil IX by artist Zander Cannon. But if you've been reading Game Informer for a while, you know that this isn't the first time Zander has created the cover for Game Infarcer. In fact, this is the 16th consecutive year we've collaborated with him on this project.
To celebrate such a long history, I got together with Zander, my colleague Ben Reeves, and former GI editor Jeff Cork to take a stroll down memory lane. The four of us worked together on the majority of these covers, so we traded stories about all 16 of them. In this retrospective, we share our recollections on all things Game Infarcer, from the origin of the core cover concepts to the technical details of creating the illustrations.
Halo 3
ZANDER: So, the first thing is: I got hooked up with you guys through [former Game Informer editor] Jeremy Zoss … I was really unhappy with all the stuff I was doing in my career, so when I heard: “We’re going to do an illustration, and it’s going to be about Halo 3,” I was like, “Oh my god. This is going to be hilarious and awesome.” And I knew that I had to triple-over-deliver. You guys had this absurd, overstuffed concept – basically everything written at the bottom of this cover – so I was like, “Yeah, I can do that, and plus some.”
JOE: As I remember, our idea for this cover was to overpromise on everything anyone could ever want for a video game with Halo 3, because expectations were so high. But I like how your angle expanded that to more of a “Let’s include all of that, plus every video game ever.” And then some things weren’t even video games. Like, just regular old games.
ZANDER: With the playing cards? Clearly, I had hit the edge of my ideas there. But I also remember Jason Jones [from Bungie] saying something like, “If Halo 1 is like this, then Halo 2 is Halo 1 being chased by helicopters and ninjas through a hospital zone, and the ninjas are on fire.” So I added that ninja on fire on the right-hand side. That’s a deep cut for people who pay attention to the gaming press.
JOE: Zander, I wanted to ask: Since this is the first cover you did for us, what about the art stands out to you? If I were to read something I wrote in 2006, I would just cringe the whole way through it. What makes you cringe here?
ZANDER: I’ll stand by this one. It’s got the main thing right in the center, and it’s reasonably well-constructed. I’ll be cringing way more at the other ones. I was pretty happy with this as a debut, though it’s a bit sloppy. I’ve certainly cleaned things up in the intervening years, but this one’s okay.
Metroid Prime Xtreme
JOE: You might think you know what gave rise to this joke. “Oh, it's Team Ninja’s sexy take on Samus, because the studio was actually working on Metroid: Other M.” Except this was early 2007, and Nintendo had made no announcements about Other M. We had no idea it was happening. It's pure coincidence that Team Ninja actually made a Metroid game later.
ZANDER: So the joke was just, “Remember Samus is a lady?”
JOE: Yeah, basically. In these 16 years of Game Infarcer covers, I think this one is just the absolute weakest in terms of general concept.
BEN: This was the first year I worked on Infarcer, and I remember thinking the idea was not that strong.
ZANDER: I’ve never been known for my ability to draw sexy pin-up girls … I remember doing this and thinking, “I can do it, but I don’t know that this is something I’m super-stoked about.” Although I thought it turned out great – just maybe a little too sexy.
JEFF: I like the Metroid in the background in a bikini. That’s cute.
ZANDER: Yeah, Metroids in bikinis is much more my style.
JEFF: Did you get to re-use the star field in the background from the first cover and save a little time there?
ZANDER: Oh, I wish. These two were both done on paper. And not even very good paper. So I had to draw the stars, and do the inking all around them. It’s so laborious, and not fun at all. And there’s no real payoff!
JOE: I think it’s funny comparing this one to the previous year … that one was just packed, and this one is just barren space, a barren beach. That’s no fault of yours, Zander. We just didn’t formulate the jokes to hide in there.
ZANDER: If I were doing it now, I’d want a bunch of characters, a bunch of gags. I’d do a lot more research; I hadn’t really played Metroid games or Dead or Alive games – the fighting ones or the volleyball ones.
JOE: I think you gave this the appropriate amount of effort.
Assassin's Creek
ZANDER: For one thing, I’m not a good caricaturist, as you can see. Those could, very broadly, be those characters. But they’re not obviously James Van Der Beek and Katie Holmes. I’m not always known for knowing my limitations, but I did in this case.
JEFF: You nailed Pacey.