"Do Any Of You Buy Video Game Mags?" or ""Printed Media Dying Out?"

[Seil]

So a few days ago, I bought a copy of EGM - the November version, what with a cover pic giving space to Dead Space 2, but let's not hold the fact that they pay attention to Dead Space against them. Any video game magazine that recommends Dostoyevsky books is alright with me.

Now, at work, me boss has a rack set up near the till for magazines like "Us," or "Star" or whatever. I read them, and they're... well, they're pretty much what you think they are. Half the magazines contradict what the others say, they've got little bits where they rag on someone because of how they dress - in whatever setting, the person could be doing a weird TV show thing or promoting something and having to wear a costume, and they'll still rag on them. That wouldn't bother me so much, save for the fact that once you're rag on the appearance of Victoria Secret models, you're doing something wrong. They're all full of people you've never heard of doing things you don't care about, and siding with people in issues that are really none of their business.

Video game magazines, however, have none of this. Sure, EGM had a couple of bits dedicated to their new, shiny (Personal note: I hate you, Shiney. You've got me putting typos in everything because... You know what? Screw it. I'm spelling your name wrong forever now.) ...New, shiny iPad... e-mag... things.

But what is there is pretty cool - they've got a "Letters" section, they've got articles on indie developers - a few articles I like include "Medal Of Dishonour," where they talk about people protesting that Medal Of Honour games will let you play as the Taliban, while soldiers are supporting the game. They've got an article called "First Person Stupid," where they discuss the psychology of creating a playable character, a line being

"In a few seconds, Levine described one of the innate problems with video game story telling. In creating a character that would believably commit the crimes of aggression you'll act out in a game, there's little choice but to imagine a louse, an empty vessel, or a moral idiot. And it's these hollow-eyed murderers that we need to deflect blame from our own guilty consciousness and the secret delight we take in behaving badly."

They have articles about a reviewer allowed to work with developers, to show how "easy" it is to make a game, they've got one praising the Scott Pilgrim movie for the gamer-nerd moments that allows non-gamer nerds to smile, bridging the gap atwixt the two. They've got an interview with Ted Price and Ken Levine.

So in short, they've got pretty much all the stuff you could find on the internet any time you're online. Or, if you're so inclined, their virtual magazine. So why even buy the magazine? Well, aside from all the great stuff I mentioned being in one spot, it doesn't even need electricity to run! No batteries included!

...Yeah, I got nothing. Here I was slandering several magazines in my first few paragraphs, and praising another, so I guess it all boils down to personal choice. You can buy a magazine if you want to, choose to spend money on Nintendo Power, Playstation Monthly, EGM, PCGame, or you can chose to spend it on Hello! Today. ...Hell, there's even magazines aimed at knitters. There's a big demographic. But I want to know - do you guys go for magazines or welcome the digital era and grab an iPad? Either/or, what will you be reading? Would you pick up - or if you already do, do you appreciate the content in magazines? (Gaming mags in particular?)

[Azisien]

If I may try to be brief: fuck physical media.

[DFM]

I think the only physical media that isn't going to die out are books.

[Token]

For a second I misread that as "boobs," and entirely agreed. I have issues.

[McTahr]

Originally Posted by DFM

I think the only physical media that isn't going to die out are books.

Barnes and Noble wouldn't have you believe this.

Motherfuckers are pushing the Nook like it's nobody's business because once they get that first push to sell you the thing out of the way, it's all sweet, sweet profit. Paper costs, publishers, store rent, employee pay, all of it's done up and gone.

And you know what? As a Barnes and Noble employee? I'm okay with it. Because for reading, the Nook is pretty much awesome. I can pick up things for half the price of printed media, even assuming my employee discount, saving myself the drive time or forced public interaction. (Not that it's a bad thing, but some people are against other people in general. Kurt Vonnegut put it best, we're just here to fart around.) And I can do this at 4am in my underwear.

Last time I went to a store in my underwear at 4am I...well, that's another story.

That said, you guys shouldn't buy them so that I still have a job. Yeah. Go go printed media. Eat that shit up?

[Magus]

Well, I get my books used from Better World Books because as long as the book is about at least a year old you can usually find a hardcover copy of it in pretty nice condition (as long as you only get ones that are listed as "very good" condition and are non-library because libraries tend to stick nine-hundred stickers on them, but that's not too big of a problem if you're really looking for a rare book) for only 3.98 with free shipping.

So...I guess I am actually helping to ruin the print media industry every time I read a book.

Not that it hasn't had it coming for a long time. They hiked the price of paperbacks again this holiday season. Now they are ten fucking dollars. And hardcover prices have been astronomical for a long time.

As for gaming mags, I don't really see the need for them what with the existence of the internet. And as for those stupid tabloids you were talking about (what's up with you even bothering to flip through them, let alone read them, Seil, it takes some big balls to admit that, lemme tell you), the sooner those companies go out of businesses or strictly electronic the better.

I mean, printing publishers are doing everything they can to shoot themselves in the foot. They overprice paperbacks (I know they have to cost way less to make than they are charging because you can buy like, one dollar crime novels at the dollar store and the average one has like 300 pages, and somehow Hard Case Crime is making a profit so...), they put out crap that you aren't willing to buy, they push the paperback copy of books back a year in a pointless attempt to get you to pay 30 dollars for a hardcover book, etc.

Besides which instead of buying the latest fantasy or science fiction anthology you can get the same sort of thing every week on Strange Horizons, Apex and Abyss, or Beneath Ceaseless Skies for free on the internet, or buy the ebook at a massively reduced price. I'm sure there are sites for crime stories or romance stories or whatever kind of story you wanna read, many peer reviewed and so on (all the sites I listed are paying online ezines that peer review the stories and have a strong editing team). I'm not a big fan of ebooks, I like the physical copy, but if I just HAD to have a book day one instead of a year or two later, I'd get the ebook because it's easily 50% cheaper if not more.

[Donomni]

The only tabloids worth reading are the absolutely insane ones, like Weekly World News(I think that was the one with Batboy?).

Regarding gaming mags, the only subscription I have had recently was Game Informer, and even that was just because I got the Gamestop discount card, and that was based entirely if I thought I'd buy a lot of games used.

[Aerozord]

wait wait wait wait wait


A few days ago you bought an EGM? The stopped printing those years ago, you mean they started it back up?

[Magus]

Yeah, according to Wikipedia it's being relaunched. They also have an online version.

EGM used to be so popular they had a sister magazine called...EGM2. Talk about creative naming!

The only part of EGM I liked was the comic strip with Dan and Shoe. Plus wasn't Seanbaby doing "The Rest of the Crap" in the back? That was a great section. Actually I'd like to ask Seil: does it have Seanbaby or do they mention hiring him again? Surely he could handle doing his Cracked column and EGM.

[Marc v4.0]

Originally Posted by Seil

So a few days ago, I bought a copy of EGM - the November version, what with a cover pic giving space to Dead Space 2, but let's not hold the fact that they pay attention to Dead Space against them.

what

No, really, I didn't read the rest of this post yet. Explain This.

(Game magazines are still my prefered method of getting game information cause I like having a physical copy of things around)