So Why Buy [Game] Mags?

Here's a pretty interesting editorial on video game journalism....

http://www.statelovesyou.com/wiki/?ViewStateItem&item=a95

It's a bit long, but I encourage everyone to read it. Here's an excerpt:

There's also all sorts of games writers who don't give a toss about the craft of what they're doing, either having completely forgotten why they were doing it in the first place after being stomped by their superiors or never really had a clue in the first place. In many ways, it's these people rather than the money-men who are the enemies. The money-men – as their name suggests – are only interested in money. That's fine. It's like objecting that a Tyrannosaurus Rex doesn't chomp down on tofu. The mediocre hacks filling positions that could be taken by people wanting to write brilliantly are what will kill the British games magazine. Not that they're bad people, you understand – many are utterly lovely. It's just that they're wasting the potential of the form with their total lack of commitment and/or talent.
 
Man, that's about 5000 words to say that bad game magazines are bad and there needs to be a new type of game writing. I only needed about 1000 words to say that in my own manifesto.
 
fennec fox said:
Man, that's about 5000 words to say that bad game magazines are bad and there needs to be a new type of game writing. I only needed about 1000 words to say that in my own manifesto.

One could probably write all that really needed to be said in the snow.

DFS.
 
Anyone can sum it up in less than 10 words. Basically, good videogames' journalism is dead and buried (if it ever existed). I buy Edge Mag., for the simple reason that whoever writes for them can craft beatiful, worth-reading texts and I can afford it. I have not found any other magazine worth reading, let alone paying for, in Europe. And you english-speaking people have no idea how fortunate your position is. The tragedy here is that the net seems to follow the same ill-fated tendency. We'll end up scouring forums, blogs and a bunch of truly independent sites in search of the truth, whatever that means.

(I have not read the article, it's late, but I wanted to... contribute? Not quite... Tomorrow, hopefully.)

It's so sad anytime is good for a rant. Easier to sleep afterwards.
 
The quality articles in Gametsm and Edge is what i buy them for each month, i read the reviews, previews and news if i feel like it but articles are all games mags have got going for them right now
 
Except for Edge, I stopped buying them. I used to love gaming mags, but these days they are not worth my money unless they contain serious articles. I miss Next Gen sorely.
 
Why buy game mags?

One very simple reason:

wim_toilet_reading.jpg
 
The thing with game journalism is that most of what may be newsworthy to put in a magazine boils down to a race to see who can post a paraphrased press release the fastest. On top of this, game journalism is so homogenized that most publications are indistinguishable if you were to print out their articles without the name of the publication or the writer on the pages.

It's at a point where very, very few magazines or game sites have anything special about them. Most interviews on most sites cover the same topics, previews boil down to paraphrasing fact sheets, hands-ons are largely controlled by the PR people so that we wind up seeing places like Gamespot, IGN, and Gamespy posting impressions of the same game within 24 hours of one another, ultimately saying more or less the same thing, reviews come down to being a race to be posted first so that the article can attract as many people seeking their daily affirmation that the game they hated or loved all through its developement does indeed suck or rock, and there is a huge emphasis on screenshots, while less so on articles right across the board (but this can also be blamed on Western cultures recent lack of interest in reading as well).

I don't know if it is necessarily that game journalism is bad, but that it is all the same. If Gamespot or EGM were to collapse tomorrow, people may be a bit bummed out about it in the short term, but that would just mean that PR firms would allocate information and exclusives that used to go GS or EGM to one of the other publications, resulting in game fans not missing out on anything in the first place. This just shows how crippled most game news outlets are, in that they are so strongly at the mercy of game publishers. It's a catch 22. They may suffer from uninspired same-ness, but if they try and break out of the mould in a meaningful manner, then they may ruffle too many feathers with the PR firms handling the games, forcing mags to stay in their current format.

Sadly (well, frustratingly...for me anyway), it feels like a lot of game journalism outlets have to deal with one of their arms being tied at any one time, just due to politcal BS in dealing with the various publishers. There is the potential for a lot better writing out there, but the subject matter that could hike up the quality of game writing in on sketchy turf that could result in mags dealing with unwanted headaches (ads pulled, no review copies of games, etc).
 
bjork got it: something nice to read on the shitter. And maybe demo discs. The last mag I enjoyed for the writing was Computer Games. They usually had at least one interesting article per month, although I stopped reading awhile back because they need to get some more writers. Seemed like the same 2 or 3 people were writing the entire mag every month, and I would have liked to see some other viewpoints.
 
With network news, you should watch several of them regularly to make sure you get the message with the least amount of bias, (or the biases neutralizing themselves). The thing is, those come with the cable/satellite bill. With game mags, I find myself buying them to fill in each others' weaknesses. Problem: it costs around $20 a year each to get this...
 
I still enjoy reading certain game magazines (Edge, Play and GMR specifically) because I want to read either a preview or review written by specific writers to get an idea about a game.

Say what you want about Dave Halverson's writing, but at least I know what viewpoint he is coming from (as far as his preferences with games) when reading either a preview or review. Considering that I've been reading Halverson's opinions for over a decade from Game Fan, Gamers Republic and Play, I should know where the man is coming from. Specific writers transcend the usual mediocre "lets blast 15 pages of the hyped game of the month" IMHO
 
Fongul said:
I still enjoy reading certain game magazines (Edge, Play and GMR specifically) because I want to read either a preview or review written by specific writers to get an idea about a game.

Say what you want about Dave Halverson's writing, but at least I know what viewpoint he is coming from (as far as his preferences with games) when reading either a preview or review. Considering that I've been reading Halverson's opinions for over a decade from Game Fan, Gamers Republic and Play, I should know where the man is coming from. Specific writers transcend the usual mediocre "lets blast 15 pages of the hyped game of the month" IMHO

Nice layout and variety, boucoup interviews with people that have a reason for being in a gaming mag, and actual previews!

I just wish they'd tighten up on their Review method to better explain their "interesting" scores and less Halverson spoogage over female leads in games.
 
SatelliteOfLove said:
Nice layout and variety, boucoup interviews with people that have a reason for being in a gaming mag, and actual previews!

I just wish they'd tighten up on their Review method to better explain their "interesting" scores and less Halverson spoogage over female leads in games.

You're right about the reviews in Play at times. I love that either Dave or Brady wax poetic about a game in a preview and then come to find the review in a later issue that has a maximum of three paragraphs. I'd kill if they would put out other special issues with the graphic style of the two "Girls Of Gaming" issue. If any US magazine had a potential to bring out the Gamest-style mooks here, it would be Play.
 
When I was younger I needed to be told what was good, but now I have pretty good idea what will appeal to me and what won't. Not that I don't like to try new things, I just won't drop $50 on game because X magazine gives it a 9/10. Still, I do enjoy picking up an EGM every now and then.
 
Last time I went back to the States I bought these old unofficial gaming books. You remember the kind- "On the next screen you'll face the Final Boss! But don't worry. Keep pressing the A Button and you'll pull through with flying colors!" Twelve books for eight bucks. I gave them to JackFrost2012 as a kind of gag gift. Guess where they ended up... :lol
 
PC Gaijin said:
bjork got it: something nice to read on the shitter.
Man, some of you dictate your purchases based on bathroom practices? Just about anything distracting qualifies as "something nice" for five minutes while I'm pushing turd. But maybe you guys invest more considerate time. I don't know and frankly don't want to!
 
Hardknock said:
Yo I miss 'Next Generation' , anybody else remember this mag??? What happened to it?

I'm still trying to forget 'Next Generation'...Great articles and interviews to start, but the reviews could go suck a pipe IMHO. I still remember reading their 'review' of King Of Fighters '95, which they gave 2 stars and went on some anti-2D diatribe. After plunking down lots o cash for the Neo Cart and then reading a total sham of review (KOF '95 was the greatest ever at the time!) made my blood boil (as much as a review could...)

If you miss the magazine, you might want to try to subscribe to Edge, which was the inspiration for the magazine and shared content as well. (Thanks to the weak dollar, the subscription price is around $115 after currency conversion)
 
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