From “VGFA”
to “Ask A Question”

GameFAQs in December 1996 is a black page with white VGFA initials and console names arranged underneath. Arcade Games, Sony Playstation, Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64 occupy the first row, with 3DO, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo and Other Systems in the next, so a visitor can scan eight choices beneath the logo before opening a list of games. Pick your machine.

The archive began on November 5, 1995. Jeff “CJayC” Veasey recalled that AOL had started offering 2 MB of web space, so he spent a weekend building a web version of Andy Eddy's FAQ archive. That was his hosting allowance, not a measured size for the collection.^[1]

By this capture, the update list is also a diary. Veasey says he is away through the 25th, asks for patience with email and promises a search page. One line announces Going to a white background again. The page is already planning its next appearance.

GameFAQs in 1998 has the promised light background, red table headings and a pink panel of partner links. Platform names now sit in a compact grid across the top. Below it, the updates discuss missing FAQs, requests and the next batch of work.

The contributor links explain how this library grows: Monthly Contest, Contributor Recognition and Contribute to GameFAQs. By 1999, a search box and game rankings share the page with the news. Help is becoming something visitors can find, write and request.

The masthead images are missing in these two archived pages. Their red-and-gray tables survive, so the screenshots show the layout without supplying a replacement logo.

GameFAQs in June 2000 has a stacked blue logo, a long blue sidebar and a daily poll beside the news. The central column records updates down to the minute, from an evening note apologizing to Netscape users who briefly saw a blank screen on June 7 to the late entry that calls itself the seventh and final update of the day. Seven.

Running the site had become an 80–100 hour working week by 2003, Veasey later said. He handled the content, message boards, servers and problems that required him to stay near an internet connection.^[1] The timestamps on the homepage give that account a daily rhythm. Another update. Then another.

The right-hand panel calls GameFAQs an independent IGN affiliate; the footer asks visitors to link to the page instead of directly to the FAQs. In the 2001–2003 captures, the logo stretches into a wide silver-and-blue wordmark. The crowded sidebar and right-hand poll remain.

GameFAQs in June 2004 fits inside a centered column. The old vertical sidebar has given way to horizontal navigation, with Home, What’s New, Systems, Features, Boards, Help and Search across the top, while the news sits above two game charts and a poll and GameSpot promotions bring pictures farther down. Text still comes first.

CNET acquired GameFAQs assets on May 6, 2003.^[3] Veasey later said the GameSpot design team created the new look with his approval. The capture shows that design in use by June 2004; it does not establish the launch day.^[1]

The same two cats were still around. In his 2005 retrospective, Veasey described a 40-hour week, no pager and more time for his wife and the cats he had when the archive began.^[1] The work now had a team behind it.

The June 2004 update is about getting contribution forms and FAQ bounties back online. In 2005, a gold advertising skin surrounds the white column. The small blocks of guides and requests remain inside.

GameFAQs in 2006 puts a yellow GameSpot badge above its white wordmark. The centered page has a search bar, an update column, ranked games and a poll on the right, pieces that stay in place through the narrow 2007 and 2008 captures and spread into a wider arrangement in the 2009 page. The lists stay.

Tetris's L-Block won GameFAQs' 2007 Character Battle.^[4] A falling block had won a character contest. The June 2007 homepage below predates that result, but it shows the everyday voting habit beside the guides: What difficulty level do you usually play games on? Visitors could read a walkthrough and leave an opinion.

The poll and rankings keep their places through the E3 promotions in 2009 and 2010. By the 2012 capture, the GameSpot badge has disappeared from the masthead, leaving the white GameFAQs name on blue. Below it, board topics give conversations their own list beneath the game charts.

GameFAQs in September 2013 spreads into a wider, airier layout. A blue navigation bar runs across the page. Today on GameFAQs leads into two game charts, with a poll at right and board topics below. Grand Theft Auto V occupies the first two chart positions, split by platform.

The small print in the downloaded page includes a theme selector with choices such as Sepia and Cotton Candy. Those are options in the code, not an open menu in the screenshot. The white-and-blue view is one way to read the site.

Illustrated featured content sits above the game charts in the 2016 and 2017 captures. In 2018, the address changes to gamefaqs.gamespot.com. The administrator's announcement scheduled the move for February 6 and explicitly said GameFAQs and GameSpot would keep separate logins.^[5] In our June capture, the new address surrounds a familiar arrangement of featured content, games and the poll.

GameFAQs in June 2019 moves a question above the featured content: Looking for help with a game? A search field and a short introduction lead into a First Time Here? block. The homepage now explains where a newcomer should start before showing the day's lists.

The four routes send visitors to questions and answers about the games they play, boards for games and other interests, bounties for writing guides and a database covering five decades of games, all before the featured list farther down the page. One line below FAQ Bounties makes the exchange plain: Write a guide for us, earn money, buy more games. The invitation to contribute has moved into a welcome panel.

In the 2020 and 2021 captures, the help tools remain at the top while the announcements and featured lists change below. The June 2022 page puts Popular Board Topics next to Today's Featured Top 10. The guide library and the conversation now have neighboring columns, with the poll still beside the welcome.

GameFAQs in the 2023–2026 captures keeps the help panel above the lists. The masthead is smaller, the platform links continue across the top, and the columns below pair board topics with new submissions and a featured Top 10. Switch 2 appears in the 2025 navigation.

The January 1, 2026 capture has an Ask A Question button and a New Year's Eve poll. Its welcome panel still sends visitors to guides, discussions and bounties. Down in the downloaded footer, the copyright now names Fandom; the company announced its acquisition of GameFAQs among a package of entertainment and gaming brands in October 2022.^[6]

In 1996, you chose a console under the VGFA initials. In our January 2026 capture, the page asks what you need help with before showing the lists. The initials have become a compact GameFAQs wordmark. The next step is still a link to someone who has played the game.