• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

GAME INFORMER Back in Print

Comixbooks

Comixbooks

Fully [H]
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
26,306
519600476_1064094485376190_7901457656953073154_n.jpg

The is the first printed issue since it went out of print in 2024. Cover features Borderlands 4.
 
Last edited:
That subscription service is going to be a hard sell I think, especially for the print+digital one at $60 a year, oof. The one print magazine I still support is also 10 issues a month plus the online articles, print-only articles and events, and free listings for their vehicle classifieds for $30/year.
 
What is the market for this nowadays? It has to be super niche.
 
Games journalism crashed into irrelevance a long time ago. Like so many other consumer facing products, particularly entertainment related, they fell into elite capture and lost sight of their purpose and audience. Probably the best two examples I can think of in recent memory were the person who reviewed Monster Hunter and complained that having to hunt monsters was upsetting to her, because apparently this is not something one would expect from a game called "Monster Hunter" and the audience needs to know this, and the person who reviewed the PS5 and said it was good but that this isn't what we need to be talking about right now because Donald Trump is President, as if that were somehow relevant to whether or not I should purchase a PS5. I have no idea who these publications are for at this point. You can get all of the preview and review content you want for upcoming titles from a combination of Steam, Reddit, YouTube, and other things for free, targeted specifically for you by much more effective algorithms from content creators who actually talk about and, more importantly, UNDERSTAND the video games in question.
 
Slayer2003 said:
LOL can you imagine the DRM/game launcher nightmare of sending out demo discs now? Never mind the bloatware they'd try to sneak in there. Gross.
Click to expand...
Not to mention file sizes. Never mind a demo disc, they'd have to send out a 512GB thumb drive just to hold more than one or two demos!
 
HockeyJon said:
Games journalism crashed into irrelevance a long time ago. Like so many other consumer facing products, particularly entertainment related, they fell into elite capture and lost sight of their purpose and audience. Probably the best two examples I can think of in recent memory were the person who reviewed Monster Hunter and complained that having to hunt monsters was upsetting to her, because apparently this is not something one would expect from a game called "Monster Hunter" and the audience needs to know this, and the person who reviewed the PS5 and said it was good but that this isn't what we need to be talking about right now because Donald Trump is President, as if that were somehow relevant to whether or not I should purchase a PS5. I have no idea who these publications are for at this point. You can get all of the preview and review content you want for upcoming titles from a combination of Steam, Reddit, YouTube, and other things for free, targeted specifically for you by much more effective algorithms from content creators who actually talk about and, more importantly, UNDERSTAND the video games in question.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't call that "elite capture" (but won't go into it) so much as just losing focus.

There are times and places to bring politics and other thematic discussions into games journalism. Games that have ideological messages (intentional and otherwise), for sure. Industry issues like toxic game cultures, hostile workplaces, and crunch time. It's just that we need a balance between the "stick to gameplay because I don't want to think" camp and the "I use this as my soapbox" camp.

Store reviews, YouTube, and social media have their uses, but arguing that they're "much more effective" is debatable. Store reviews tend to be polarized and poorly thought out (it's either the best or worst game ever). Too many YouTubers are interested in provoking outrage than realistic reviews drawing on years of experience — for every one nuanced take there's a legion of "get angry!" sensationalists. And of course, social media tends to thrive on echo chambers where people only want to see reviews that agree with their preconceptions.

I don't know if the reborn Game Informer is worth the investment, but I'd like to think there's a happy medium where we can have both thoughtful stories and clear buying recommendations.
 
Aurelius said:
I wouldn't call that "elite capture" (but won't go into it) so much as just losing focus.

There are times and places to bring politics and other thematic discussions into games journalism. Games that have ideological messages (intentional and otherwise), for sure. Industry issues like toxic game cultures, hostile workplaces, and crunch time. It's just that we need a balance between the "stick to gameplay because I don't want to think" camp and the "I use this as my soapbox" camp.

Store reviews, YouTube, and social media have their uses, but arguing that they're "much more effective" is debatable. Store reviews tend to be polarized and poorly thought out (it's either the best or worst game ever). Too many YouTubers are interested in provoking outrage than realistic reviews drawing on years of experience — for every one nuanced take there's a legion of "get angry!" sensationalists. And of course, social media tends to thrive on echo chambers where people only want to see reviews that agree with their preconceptions.

I don't know if the reborn Game Informer is worth the investment, but I'd like to think there's a happy medium where we can have both thoughtful stories and clear buying recommendations.
Click to expand...

I think there's a really big difference between discussing political themes within the context of a video game, as some have overtly political undertones or are written as a sort of satire of some kind of political theme and incorporate that into their story elements (Fallout, Bioshock, etc), where the reviewer points that out to the potential players and discusses the meaning behind it, and injecting your own personal political opinions in a review for a video game or video game console. I honestly don't care that you're upset about Donald Trump being elected and this is making it hard for you to enjoy the PS5 because you're now addicted to doomscrolling Twitter (or I guess Bluesky or whatever else). It isn't your job as a person reviewing the PS5 to tell me this, and it's not what I'm looking for when I read a review for the PS5. I'm not even American, I don't care, I'm coming here to find out of the system is worth it for me to buy. This is a classic example of not knowing what your audience wants, and is a big reason why these publications continue to slide into irrelevance. This can come from a combination of editorial direction, and individual journalists using their job as an opportunity to proselytize their political opinions to a subscribed audience. It's completely disconnected from what the customer is coming there for.

Fair point on store reviews. I agree with you here, but my point was that you'll have plenty of places to get opinions from other players that are far more relevant to you, as a player, than you will from some "professional" reviewer working for a gaming publication that barely understands how to play the game and is less interested in telling you about it than their views on the current political thing.
 
Last edited:
1_rick said:
Got a link? Sometimes you need to see the stupidity.
Click to expand...

https://www.pcgamer.com/monster-hunter-world-iceborne-review/

Take note how she opens up the review by letting you know how upsetting it is that you play as an evil colonizer hunting ostensibly innocent native animals and disrupting the ecosystem of this fictional world. I'm a bit surprised she didn't also discuss the contribution to climate change you're making while playing the game, as this uses energy that might have been generated and delivered to your PC via a coal plant.
 
Aurelius said:
Not to mention file sizes. Never mind a demo disc, they'd have to send out a 512GB thumb drive just to hold more than one or two demos!
Click to expand...

Even if they could fit it on a disc, almost no one has optical drives anymore.
 
HockeyJon said:
https://www.pcgamer.com/monster-hunter-world-iceborne-review/

Take note how she opens up the review by letting you know how upsetting it is that you play as an evil colonizer hunting ostensibly innocent native animals and disrupting the ecosystem of this fictional world. I'm a bit surprised she didn't also discuss the contribution to climate change you're making while playing the game, as this uses energy that might have been generated and delivered to your PC via a coal plant.
Click to expand...
I'd say The Gamer's approach is much better. You can absolutely discuss how some games treat nature as an enemy to be conquered and exploited, and how that's problematic — but I'd only touch on it lightly in the review and reserve the analysis for a separate piece. Thematic issues only really need deeper in-review discussions if they're clearly central to the game or are particularly disturbing. For example, you can't really talk about Far Cry 5 without discussing issues like cults and Christianity in America, or Rez without mentioning Kandinsky and synaesthesia. And you occasionally see shock-value games like Postal or Hatred that deserve some roasting.
 
Aurelius said:
You can absolutely discuss how some games treat nature as an enemy to be conquered and exploited, and how that's problematic — but I'd only touch on it lightly in the review and reserve the analysis for a separate piece.
Click to expand...

Exactly zero people looking for reviews on a game called "Monster Hunter" care about this. The reviewer is using this as an opportunity to inject her personal politics into an area where it does not belong and has no relevance to the gamer looking to see if the game is worth playing. I mean the game is literally called "Monster Hunter". Gamers don't need a warning about this anymore than UFC needs an audience disclaimer that there will be scenes of violence on their program. It's called "The Ultimate Fighting Championship". My expectation is that I'm going to see people fighting, not people resolving conflicts using their words and then hugging it out (and if that's the case, then go ahead and let me know ahead of time).

In any case, gamers use their hobby for escapism precisely to get away from the real world for a bit. We don't want or need to be lectured on anyone's opinions about the real world, just tell us whether or not we can expect to have fun on said game or gaming machine.
 
HockeyJon said:
I think there's a really big difference between discussing political themes within the context of a video game, as some have overtly political undertones or are written as a sort of satire of some kind of political theme and incorporate that into their story elements (Fallout, Bioshock, etc), where the reviewer points that out to the potential players and discusses the meaning behind it, and injecting your own personal political opinions in a review for a video game or video game console. I honestly don't care that you're upset about Donald Trump being elected and this is making it hard for you to enjoy the PS5 because you're now addicted to doomscrolling Twitter (or I guess Bluesky or whatever else). It isn't your job as a person reviewing the PS5 to tell me this, and it's not what I'm looking for when I read a review for the PS5. I'm not even American, I don't care, I'm coming here to find out of the system is worth it for me to buy. This is a classic example of not knowing what your audience wants, and is a big reason why these publications continue to slide into irrelevance. This can come from a combination of editorial direction, and individual journalists using their job as an opportunity to proselytize their political opinions to a subscribed audience. It's completely disconnected from what the customer is coming there for.

Fair point on store reviews. I agree with you here, but my point was that you'll have plenty of places to get opinions from other players that are far more relevant to you, as a player, than you will from some "professional" reviewer working for a gaming publication that barely understands how to play the game and is less interested in telling you about it than their views on the current political thing.
Click to expand...
I largely agree. A console review is not the place for a political stand. You could have a separate piece on how we shouldn't retreat into gaming to avoid dealing with real-world problems (but could use it to help relax/recenter).

There are times where a theme is present in a game but not something you'd necessarily need to call out in the review. For instance, it's worth asking if Call of Duty games glamorize the military — but in a separate feature, not in a significant form while you're reviewing Black Ops 7. It's something you'd touch on directly for Helldivers 2 as that game is clearly commenting on Starship Troopers and rah-rah-'Murica militarism.

My dream for game reviewing is a writer that pulls from years of experience with both the game genre and the cultural context to explain why you might like a title based on how well it plays and what its story says. When a game is more than just entertainment, point it out. There are games with basic mechanics that are practically art installations; there are games with no real message but mechanics a mile deep.
 
HockeyJon said:
https://www.pcgamer.com/monster-hunter-world-iceborne-review/

Take note how she opens up the review by letting you know how upsetting it is that you play as an evil colonizer hunting ostensibly innocent native animals and disrupting the ecosystem of this fictional world. I'm a bit surprised she didn't also discuss the contribution to climate change you're making while playing the game, as this uses energy that might have been generated and delivered to your PC via a coal plant.
Click to expand...
Says a lot about the state of "games journos" that so many of them have the same weird self-inflicted guilt, "killing innocent monsters BAD."
 
Aurelius said:
I largely agree. A console review is not the place for a political stand. You could have a separate piece on how we shouldn't retreat into gaming to avoid dealing with real-world problems (but could use it to help relax/recenter).

There are times where a theme is present in a game but not something you'd necessarily need to call out in the review. For instance, it's worth asking if Call of Duty games glamorize the military — but in a separate feature, not in a significant form while you're reviewing Black Ops 7. It's something you'd touch on directly for Helldivers 2 as that game is clearly commenting on Starship Troopers and rah-rah-'Murica militarism.

My dream for game reviewing is a writer that pulls from years of experience with both the game genre and the cultural context to explain why you might like a title based on how well it plays and what its story says. When a game is more than just entertainment, point it out. There are games with basic mechanics that are practically art installations; there are games with no real message but mechanics a mile deep.
Click to expand...

I think that's a rational proposal. I find in general the lines are getting blurred and people and organizations have stopped "staying in their lane" so to speak. I recall when I started my career, discussions of politics were more or less forbidden because management didn't want to deal with unhealthy team dynamics that can potentially come from the discussion of contentious issues, and you most definitely were not allowed to wear your company logo while making a political statement, lest it be misconstrued as a political statement on the company's behalf. Nowadays, far too many people are using their jobs as a political platform, and every business person knows that this can have a detrimental impact on business viability and profitability and they should steer clear.

Likewise, if your intention, as a writer or journalist, is to make political statements, then there is a forum for that. Apply to work at Fox/CNN/MSNBC or all manner of media organizations catering to a political audience. If your job is to review video games, then this is not the place to be interjecting with PERSONAL political opinions. Your job is to review the game. That involves describing the story and the gameplay mechanics and an assessment as to whether or not fans of the genre are likely to find that entertaining enough to put up some cash for it. The personal opinions of the reviewer are completely irrelevant in that task. I would content most editors wouldn't stand for it because they would know it risks alienating their audience and customer base to the point of them walking away from their product, but as I said, we have an "elite capture" problem, where the editorial staff live in the same echo chamber and have also lost the plot. It's really no wonder why so many of these publications are failing given that backdrop. They're simply not producing what their customer is asking for.
 
SPARTAN VI said:
Says a lot about the state of "games journos" that so many of them have the same weird self-inflicted guilt, "killing innocent monsters BAD."
Click to expand...

They grow up in a bubble and are trained in what essentially are indoctrination centers (some people call them "liberal arts colleges", which used to teach critical thinking in times past), where victimhood is currency and virtue signaling confirms credibility and conformance to the approved worldview, as anyone who disagrees is intrinsically "problematic". They can't shut this off, even at work, hence why we have situations where they feel the need to inform you that they were personally impacted by Monster Hunter on an emotional level, as if you needed to understand that it might have this impact on you if you play the game. This naturally begs the question of why you are reading a review of a game literally called MONSTER HUNTER in the first place if this type of content would bother you, because the name apparently does not give away what one can expect to do in the game.
 
HockeyJon said:
They grow up in a bubble and are trained in what essentially are indoctrination centers (some people call them "liberal arts colleges", which used to teach critical thinking in times past), where victimhood is currency and virtue signaling confirms credibility and conformance to the approved worldview, as anyone who disagrees is intrinsically "problematic". They can't shut this off, even at work, hence why we have situations where they feel the need to inform you that they were personally impacted by Monster Hunter on an emotional level, as if you needed to understand that it might have this impact on you if you play the game. This naturally begs the question of why you are reading a review of a game literally called MONSTER HUNTER in the first place if this type of content would bother you, because the name apparently does not give away what one can expect to do in the game.
Click to expand...
I had to redo a post I was crafting, because I just was ranting about the word "problematic", hah. I see that as a sign I will be lectured, and there will be little review of the mechanics, performance, and story other than one perception.
 
HockeyJon said:
They grow up in a bubble and are trained in what essentially are indoctrination centers (some people call them "liberal arts colleges", which used to teach critical thinking in times past), where victimhood is currency and virtue signaling confirms credibility and conformance to the approved worldview, as anyone who disagrees is intrinsically "problematic". They can't shut this off, even at work, hence why we have situations where they feel the need to inform you that they were personally impacted by Monster Hunter on an emotional level, as if you needed to understand that it might have this impact on you if you play the game. This naturally begs the question of why you are reading a review of a game literally called MONSTER HUNTER in the first place if this type of content would bother you, because the name apparently does not give away what one can expect to do in the game.
Click to expand...
I'd dispute the "indocrtination" claim (that's a subject well outside of the topic), but really I'd suggest more that they're indulged — no one told them to think carefully about how and when they bring up criticism, and that the world won't fall apart if they reserve their critiques for certain channels and times.

A good journalist questions the official line and looks for broader issues and trends. But games aren't the same as movies, music, or paintings, where the messaging is often central (even a brain-off Jerry Bruckheimer action movie has something to say). Among Us and Fall Guys are not statements about the human condition; you generally know what you're getting into with Call of Duty or Monster Hunter. And that means you don't have to deconstruct games every time you write about them. I just want to be sure there's games journalism that goes beyond reviews and basic industry coverage, that doesn't assume that the way things are is the way they should be.
 
Slayer2003 said:
LOL can you imagine the DRM/game launcher nightmare of sending out demo discs now? Never mind the bloatware they'd try to sneak in there. Gross.
Click to expand...
Back when I still got Maximum PC, I opted for the no disk subscription. I wasn't keen on loading a bunch of crapplets onto my computer each month.
 
Aurelius said:
And that means you don't have to deconstruct games every time you write about them. I just want to be sure there's games journalism that goes beyond reviews and basic industry coverage, that doesn't assume that the way things are is the way they should be.
Click to expand...
Yes there is place for reviews, for critics and essay (the 15 minute or so youtube essay is nice for that) that touch about specific game trend, genre or a specific title. Even documentary when there is enough distance.

One big difference between the 3, is an audience that is looking to find a game to play or not (or buy it or not something they are interesting in) versus reading an analysis of an album, movie, game they already played.
 
Golden Tiger 🐅 try being a Mailman in 100 degree heat. In the past I used to get big sweaty thumb prints on my mags. I only sub to one magazine which is Imagine FX which is polybagged.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top