2008-05-08
The Death of PC Gaming... Magazines.
I meant to discuss this earlier, but here goes:
After a wonderful April issue, containing some of the best writing I've read in years (including a history of tchotchkes by my old buddy Scott Sharkey) Games For Windows magazine, AKA Computer Gaming World, is dead. Dead!
This is pathetic.
And I don't mean that in any insulting way -- it's an absolute disgrace that there's only one American PC gaming magazine left: PC Gamer -- go fig. (I guess the "Games For Windows" name was a little too obscure for the average person browsing the magazine rack.)
One PC gaming magazine left. One. (I don't count Beckett' MMO, which is just too specialized to do me very good).
What the hell is going on?
There's generally one answer given:
DURR! NOBODEE NEEDS MAGUSHEENS WE GOTS THE INTERNET!
Well, I need them, damnit. Because I don't spend every second online. Because it's nice to take one with you on car trips, or just turn on a reading lamp, pry your eyes away from the blinding radiation machine, and read yourself to sleep. Because, on occasion, I have been known to take a crap.
Besides, the "internet killed magazines" argument doesn't hold water.
Yesterday, at the grocery store, I was faced with a plethora of general interest computer magazines:
I ask again: What the hell is going on? Obviously, the people who buy these magazines have access to a computer, and you aren't about to convince me that people lacking internet access outnumber gamers by a factor of six.
Look, I know Computer Games Magazine and Games For Windows Magazine died due to mismanagement (more or less). But why isn't anyone stepping in there to take their place?
Magazines, like comic books, are a form of art; a sublime mix of text and images that rivals any other. Webcomics haven't killed off print comics. Porno magazines aren't on the verge of extinction (and I'm fairly sure that the second, if not first picture uploaded to the internet was a big closeup of boobs.) And despite TMZ.com's best efforts, tabloids continue to clutter the checkout stand.
It's inevitable that someday digital will replace print, but right here -- right now -- why have computer gaming magazines been obliterated while general interest computer magazines continue to thrive?
What the hell is going on?
After a wonderful April issue, containing some of the best writing I've read in years (including a history of tchotchkes by my old buddy Scott Sharkey) Games For Windows magazine, AKA Computer Gaming World, is dead. Dead!
This is pathetic.
And I don't mean that in any insulting way -- it's an absolute disgrace that there's only one American PC gaming magazine left: PC Gamer -- go fig. (I guess the "Games For Windows" name was a little too obscure for the average person browsing the magazine rack.)
One PC gaming magazine left. One. (I don't count Beckett' MMO, which is just too specialized to do me very good).
What the hell is going on?
There's generally one answer given:
DURR! NOBODEE NEEDS MAGUSHEENS WE GOTS THE INTERNET!
Well, I need them, damnit. Because I don't spend every second online. Because it's nice to take one with you on car trips, or just turn on a reading lamp, pry your eyes away from the blinding radiation machine, and read yourself to sleep. Because, on occasion, I have been known to take a crap.
Besides, the "internet killed magazines" argument doesn't hold water.
Yesterday, at the grocery store, I was faced with a plethora of general interest computer magazines:
- Maximum PC Presents 401 PC Answers
- PC World
- CPU Computer Power User
- Smart Computing
- Maximum PC
I ask again: What the hell is going on? Obviously, the people who buy these magazines have access to a computer, and you aren't about to convince me that people lacking internet access outnumber gamers by a factor of six.
Look, I know Computer Games Magazine and Games For Windows Magazine died due to mismanagement (more or less). But why isn't anyone stepping in there to take their place?
Magazines, like comic books, are a form of art; a sublime mix of text and images that rivals any other. Webcomics haven't killed off print comics. Porno magazines aren't on the verge of extinction (and I'm fairly sure that the second, if not first picture uploaded to the internet was a big closeup of boobs.) And despite TMZ.com's best efforts, tabloids continue to clutter the checkout stand.
It's inevitable that someday digital will replace print, but right here -- right now -- why have computer gaming magazines been obliterated while general interest computer magazines continue to thrive?
What the hell is going on?
Labels: videogames
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