What is up with PC Gamer...?

[dfuze]

so who wants to bet their editor went to play console?

i kid!!

I think they did say on one the one they announced Logan as the new editor that Gary left for their sister console mag.

 

[mb]

Is it really that big of a deal if somebody likes to read a magazine? How old are you, 12? Magazines have a certain appeal that, to my surprise, some people don't understand.

Did I make a big deal out of it? You're the one making a fuss about it. I said I guess some people still enjoy untimely news, reviews without videos, low quality and a limited number of pictures, etc etc. You clearly do. I do not. I like up to the minute news. Not news from 31 days ago. I like HD game play videos and limitless screenshots. I like reading immediate customer reviews and multiple websites, not just one reviewers opinion from one magazine. If you like your magazines, that's fine. They're not for me.

 

[WT]

Did I make a big deal out of it?

Quit posting about what others do that you don't and it won't be a 'big deal'. I still have mag subs that I enjoy ... I read them while the kids are playing Wii or some other gadget. I fail to see why everything anyone reads has to be relevant or timely. Guess what, I read a lot of WWII books and everyone knows who wins in the end of those !

 

[Skott]

I mean, I guess it's evolutionary... PCGamer is a magazine dedicated to tech savvy people, and with the advent of the internet and forums such as these, are direct competition for a magazine like that. Lol, I remember when the GTX 2xx series came out, they didn't announce it for a smooth 2 months after it happened. It's too bad though, I do enjoy the magazine, even if it is at it's low point.

I agree they were great at one time. By the time we readers got the info it was about 6 weeks old. With today's Net we can get that same day now. Mag's can't compete with that unless they too go online. Problem is they can't really charge a online subscription price when the info is free everywhere else on the Net. They have to get their money from ads or some other way. Like you said the evolution of the Net killed the game mags and how they traditionally work.

 

[mb]

Quit posting about what others do that you don't and it won't be a 'big deal'. I still have mag subs that I enjoy ... I read them while the kids are playing Wii or some other gadget. I fail to see why everything anyone reads has to be relevant or timely. Guess what, I read a lot of WWII books and everyone knows who wins in the end of those !

lol, you're seriously comparing WW2 books to gaming magazines?

Also, did I say everything has to be timely? No. I just stated my preferences.

As long as I'm not making personal attacks or breaking any rules I can post whatever I want. I don't like gaming magazines, some people do.

How about this, if you don't like the fact that I don't like game magazines, quit posting! :hmm:

 

[Vonkhan]

it's a ritual for me

get my PCG in the mail - pick up some sushi for lunch and read it from cover to cover while sitting in the park. My moment of Zen.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

On top of it all, they included a top 100 PC Games of all time, and although I haven't read the whole of it, StarCraft was like #28 and Dues Ex was #1?! Dues Ex was a great game, but #1....?

It'd be wrong if they had it the other way around. Starcraft is Blizzard's best, but they're still a pop gaming company that emphasizes easy accessibility, high levels of polish, and mini-game-like user added content over all else. Deus Ex is definitely my favorite game ever, and in the magazine placing it over the vast expanse of drivelous Quakes and Diablos they show that they still haven't betrayed the times that Alpha Centauri could get a top score.

 

[shortylickens]

I have to agree that I would put Deus Ex above Starcraft. As a whole game Deus Ex is better. The only replay ability in StarCraft comes from the fact its an RTS. And I got tired of it a LONG freaking time ago. As good as it is, I just cant bring myself to play it for a thousand hours a year for 10 years. Its just not that great.

 

[CP5670]

I'm surprised they have put Deus Ex at the top. I certainly agree with that rating, but I wouldn't have expected it given the sorry state of most gaming magazines and websites in general these days.

 

[KMFJD]

Stopped getting magazines when they became 85% advertisments, that was back in 97-98?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Stopped getting magazines when they became 85% advertisments, that was back in 97-98?

But they were like 400 pages. When I stopped even their december issue was getting smaller and smaller with the same % of ads.

 

[Craig234]

It's not only PC gamer, every review website does this also. It's just the growing trend of reviewers getting paid indirectly by giving hyped games high scores.

In general, the more marketing money you put in a game, the higher it's going to get reviewed. That's the sorry state of game websites today.

I mean seriously. GTA IV got a 10 on gamespot. Dragon Age gets a 9.5. Modern Warfare 2 gets a 9.5. What a joke. I remember back when getting a 9.0 was considered to be rare.

Speaking of story, DA had one of the most cliched stories I've ever seen. It's dialogue was good, but Bioware's innovation is absolutely zero. I've only played this generic fantasy storyline of saving the world from an ancient threat a hundred times.

Ya, that RPG cliche of save the world from an ancient threat.

And the romance movie where the couple gets together in the end.

And the Gilligan's Island Episode where they almost get off but Gillgan makes a mistake.

And the Highlander Episode where McCloud cuts off the enemy's head.

And the Kung Fu movie where the guy avenges his master/family.

And the RTS where your forces kill the whole other side and rule the world.

And the FPS where you kill all the bad guys and finally the big boss.

Ma, I'm sure glad Dragon Age is such an exception with a 'cliche'.

Some people don't understand 'formula'.

Hey, I've got this great new RPG - it's called "Farming Age: Wheat for dinner again?" No combat, no ancuent evil, but you can use a variety of farm tools to feed the family. Level up to 10. No cliche!

 

[exar333]

PCG used to be "the" place to see game reviews in the 90's. If the game got a 85% or higher, you knew it was good. If it got 90%+, it meant you HAD to play that game. They were spot-on with their reviews, and had great articles and demo discs. It is currently just a shell of it's former self, sadly.

 

[ibex333]

I just got my Feb 2010 issue yesterday, and noticed that they have yet again replaced the editor in chief with Logan Decker, the newest tech editor... I have been a subscriber for almost 10 years, and it seems like in the last 2 they have gone through have a dozen editors... mostly for the worst. I think the mag has gone progressively downhill, in both the design and the content, but I still enjoy it. On top of it all, they included a top 100 PC Games of all time, and although I haven't read the whole of it, StarCraft was like #28 and Dues Ex was #1?! Dues Ex was a great game, but #1....?

Anyone else with me on this?

Oh, absolutely, I agree 100%. I stopped subscribing in the late nineties when the magazine started blowing really hard. I believe it happened around the time "PC Games" (another awesome magazine) went the way of the dodo bird. There was a time when PC Gamer was a really THICK magazine. It took me many trips to the bathroom to get to the end... Bu this hasn't been the case for a very long time now, and probably will never be the case again. I now only deal with sites like Gamespot and such... Magazines are a waste of money now, because the owners are cheap and they don't give us enough for our money. They simply don't make em like they used to. (and yes I know this phrase must sound like a broken record by now)

 

[Via]

Despite PC Gamer staff's vehement denials, PC Gamer has probably been bought and paid for for longer that we care to believe.

Sometime in the 90's PC Gamer gave a 93% score to a piece of shit game called Outpost. If I remember correctly some reviews by other sources were as low as 20%, and the game was regarded as a colossal failure.

PC Gamer has repeatedly tried to explain it's score away by saying they played and reviewed a "beta" version of the game.

lol

But you know what?

I didn't care at all as long as the magazine was still an entertaining read. It ain't anymore.

And now that they've apparently stooped to the level of purposely downgrading a game to steer buyers towards a different game of the same genre I done with it.

 

[EvilComputer92]

Blah Blah

There's this little thing called innovation, although maybe all the media you consume doesn't have it. Obviously every storyline is going to have some overlap. However, You'd be dense if you think all RPGs have as much of a cliched storyline as Dragon Age. Ever play Planescape Torment? Mask of the Betrayer? Deus Ex? The Witcher? Are you going to tell me that those are as cliched as Dragon Age? Even Mass Effect and Baldur's Gate wasn't as bad.

 

[Pepsei]

oh wow, outpost, what a pos!!! i remember now.

they should make a top 100 games that was hyped and turn out to be a bomb.

 

[sandorski]

lol, you're seriously comparing WW2 books to gaming magazines?

Also, did I say everything has to be timely? No. I just stated my preferences.

As long as I'm not making personal attacks or breaking any rules I can post whatever I want. I don't like gaming magazines, some people do.

How about this, if you don't like the fact that I don't like game magazines, quit posting! :hmm:

Ya, that's why I quit reading Maximum PC. By the time they reviewed new Hardware, especially CPU's and Vidcards were reviewed and problems noted in MaxPC articles, the problems were already(usually) fixed and I already was far more informed about it than they were. Just became pointless to read it anymore. Well, perhaps not pointless, their reviews of various Drives, Monitors, and other peripherals were informative, but those are the items that are low on the tree, as it were, and only truly of interest on the rare occasions that such items were needed.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

I still get PC Gamer and enjoy reading it. I've been subscribed for more than 10 years. I remember the first issue I picked up was the first time I heard about Homeworld. What was that, '97?

Indeed, they are going through EICs like dirty underwear. The last two were pretty terrible in my opinion, which hopefully is why they only spent like a year in the job. Logan Decker has been around a while though, so maybe he'll help clean it up some.

As for being shills for hyped games, in the last two issues they've given a glowing review of Torchlight and a mediocre (relative to the level of hype) review of MW2. And over the years I can count on 1 hand the amount of times I was disappointed in a game they gave a positive review of, so I'm still pretty happy with them.

 

[brencat]

Agree with some of the first posters in this thread. I was a subscriber for 7 years but canceled at the end of 2007. They went through 3 or 4 editors in what seemed like only 2 years and the size and content of the magazine shrunk, while there were waaaay more ads than I had remembered plus the guys in charge of art were making the magazine too "consolely". That is -- all flash and no substance.

Glad to see I made the right choice as they appear to be on the same downward spiral with yet another new EIC. Vede was the last good one IMO but he left for Hewlett Packard after like 8 mos on the job to be a senior marketing guy for the Blackbird gaming PC.

 

[Raduque]

I use toilet paper.

You read toilet paper? Can I borrow some of your drugs?

I only read it b/c I got in on some free offer for it. However, I do listen to their podcast...which is pretty bland, but a gaming podcast nonetheless.

Two words my friend: Talk. Radar.

NetBooks FTW, the perfect public restroom PC.

Netbook? You girly-man. Real men use a 17" gaming notebook on the shitter.

 

[mb]

What do you take a shit with?.

I use toilet paper.

You read toilet paper?

I wipe my ass with TP, not magazines. While gaming magazines are shit, I don't think the paper would be comfortable to use.

 

[Raduque]

I wipe my ass with TP, not magazines. While gaming magazines are shit, I don't think the paper would be comfortable to use.

I now see what you did there.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I wipe my ass with TP, not magazines. While gaming magazines are shit, I don't think the paper would be comfortable to use.

They use that kind of paper with that in mind you know (keeping you from using it as TP).

 

[mb]

They use that kind of paper with that in mind you know (keeping you from using it as TP).

:biggrin_OD::biggrin: