About Billy Berghammer
Managing Editor, Game Informer Online
billy@gameinformer.com

As managing editor of Game Informer Online, Billy Berghammer trains a keen eye on the day-to-day breakthroughs of the gaming industry. Whether he’s interviewing revolutionary developers, scoring exclusive stories, screenshots and movies, or crafting the monthly release of Game Informer Unlimited to coincide with the release of Game Informer Magazine, Billy reports with the skill of a seasoned veteran.

His gaming journalism career began back in 1996 while he was looking for more information about the upcoming Nintendo 64 on the web. One site in particular piqued his interest, The Unofficial N64 Headquarters. Ran by then-18-year-old kid, Scott McCall, the N64HQ was a respected fansite – and Billy wanted in.

“So I emailed him one day,” Billy remembers. “I’m like, ‘Hey, can I write for you? I’ve got a degree in English and journalism.’” He ended up working on the site on evenings and weekends for the next two years while juggling a day job as a radio deejay.

Then in the late nineties everything fell apart. N64HQ shut down, and after moving to Minneapolis for another radio job, the station laid off all of its employees due to a format change. Fortunately, Billy had started his own fansite, PlanetN2000, (or as it was later named, Planet GameCube) while still at the radio station.  “All of my free time went into building this site. After work I’d come home and work until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, and then wake up the next day and go to work. Then on the weekends that’s what I mainly did,” Billy said.

After being laid off, he gave himself six months to make Planet GameCube profitable while his savings and unemployment checks drained into upkeep costs. As the popularity of the site rose, so did the bills. During a time of particularly high traffic due to Planet GameCube’s first coverage of E3, the site and Billy himself were on the verge of going broke. As a last ditch attempt at salvaging everything, he put out a humble plea for donations on the site. Support poured in from all sides as readers and developers alike showed how much they cherished Billy’s unique voice in the gaming industry.

Back on his feet, Billy was able to afford a trip to Japan to cover the unveiling of the GameCube at Spaceworld 2000. When the lights came up after Nintendo’s exciting presentation Billy turned around to go and found himself face to face with his future employer and colleague, Andy McNamara.

They hit it off, and managed to bump into each other at every major gaming conference for the next several years. In 2003, when Game Informer decided to revamp its online presence, Andy knew just the person for the job.

While Billy was excited about the prospect, he had some reservations. “It was a very hard decision for me to make to leave Planet GameCube because that was my baby. It was rocking, and we had just come off of a tremendous year,” he said. “I just made the decision that, you know, this is my chance to take my career to the next level.”

Passing up offers to buy Planet GameCube, Billy simply handed the site over to his employees.

At Game Informer Online Billy now enjoys broadened access to the world’s top developers, the ability to cover multiple platforms, and the camaraderie of the Game Informer staff. Looking back on his career as a gaming journalist, Billy recalls why it all began – for the love of the industry. “I never thought it would really come to anything. I just started it. It was a hobby that got way out of control.”