Why are the best game magazines all British?

[Salsa Party Animal]

How do you know if Egyptian or German gaming magazine are not better than english/american gaming magazine. Don't forget that

[Kaladron]

How do you know if Egyptian or German gaming magazine are not better than english/american gaming magazine. Don't forget that

A lot of the European games magazines licence their content from UK publishers, so it's all the same.

[Strider]

Actually, I'd argue that UK games mags suck in comparison to American mag... Notice how I use the singular.

have you not read PLAY magazine by Dave Halverson? GameFan was the bible for games when I was younger, and it defined how I view the whole medium of games (large screens, awesome obscure coverage, it's awesomeness defies description in human language).

While PLAY isn't quite as visually amazing as GameFan was, it's certainly excellent. Nice prose, where the reviewer gives their opinion and accepts the fact you can't be impartial about coverage. Like that that heather Campbell review, where she spoke about that john Woo game, explaining how she loved it because she was a fan of the source material. Her coverage told me more about the game than EDGE's dry, pseudo-intellectual bull**** ever could.

They also cover cool obscure stuff like Yohsitaka Amano art books, and they cover manga, anime, and other stuff.

Plus, they dedicate their covers to games like Odin Sphere, and Dracula X.

EDGE magazine is crept so far up Sony's ass I'm sure the editor doesn't know what the sun looks like anymore. While GamesTM is run by a mixed bunch, and although there are some dedicated serious gamers on the staff, upper management skews the coverage. I've not been reading since before the redesign, but I didn't like their methods. And Retro Gamer, as much as I love it, is understaffed, underfunded, shat on by management, and is at the mercy of an argumentative, myopic readership with narrow tastes and a great dislike of anything they're not interested in. Too diverse and impossible to please. Darran has an amazing level of patience for... well, everything when it comes to running that mag.

The problem with UK games mags is those who run the show treat everyone else like crap, with low wages, poor conditions, and the kind of psychological abuse which should be illegal, but sadly isn't. Oh, did I mention the pay is ****ing terrible? Yet people still bitch when they recycle press releases. Sorry to say it, but none of those poor guys are paid anywhere near enough to bother putting any effort into their work. I'm surprised any of them are as passionate as they are, and frankly we should all be grateful they bother to put out any mags out at all. Either way, I still wouldn't pay money for the things.

PLAY magazine, on the other hand, at least gives me the illusion of sanity and decent coverage. Even if it is all lies like in the UK, it's less obvious to me.

http://www.playmagazine.com/

It's funny how people forget

[parkinho]

Wow, Die Hard Gamefan is a blast from the past. Alongside CVG circa '96 - '99 (with the yellow pages in the centre) easily the best videogame mag ever produced.

[Nick~]

Actually, I'd argue that UK games mags suck in comparison to American mag... Notice how I use the singular.

have you not read PLAY magazine by Dave Halverson? GameFan was the bible for games when I was younger, and it defined how I view the whole medium of games (large screens, awesome obscure coverage, it's awesomeness defies description in human language).

While PLAY isn't quite as visually amazing as GameFan was, it's certainly excellent. Nice prose, where the reviewer gives their opinion and accepts the fact you can't be impartial about coverage. Like that that heather Campbell review, where she spoke about that john Woo game, explaining how she loved it because she was a fan of the source material. Her coverage told me more about the game than EDGE's dry, pseudo-intellectual bull**** ever could.

They also cover cool obscure stuff like Yohsitaka Amano art books, and they cover manga, anime, and other stuff.

Plus, they dedicate their covers to games like Odin Sphere, and Dracula X.

EDGE magazine is crept so far up Sony's ass I'm sure the editor doesn't know what the sun looks like anymore. While GamesTM is run by a mixed bunch, and although there are some dedicated serious gamers on the staff, upper management skews the coverage. I've not been reading since before the redesign, but I didn't like their methods. And Retro Gamer, as much as I love it, is understaffed, underfunded, shat on by management, and is at the mercy of an argumentative, myopic readership with narrow tastes and a great dislike of anything they're not interested in. Too diverse and impossible to please. Darran has an amazing level of patience for... well, everything when it comes to running that mag.

The problem with UK games mags is those who run the show treat everyone else like crap, with low wages, poor conditions, and the kind of psychological abuse which should be illegal, but sadly isn't. Oh, did I mention the pay is ****ing terrible? Yet people still bitch when they recycle press releases. Sorry to say it, but none of those poor guys are paid anywhere near enough to bother putting any effort into their work. I'm surprised any of them are as passionate as they are, and frankly we should all be grateful they bother to put out any mags out at all. Either way, I still wouldn't pay money for the things.

PLAY magazine, on the other hand, at least gives me the illusion of sanity and decent coverage. Even if it is all lies like in the UK, it's less obvious to me.

http://www.playmagazine.com/

Aw, c'mon, Play? I loathe them for the same reasons you praise them -- yeah, they accept that impartiality is impossible to achieve, so the mag ends up a wankfest. They hand out 9s or 10s like candy -- are they critics or fanboy journos? Will we have to suffer through yet another Halverson editorial on why the Wii is killing gaming? I'm indifferent to the system itself, but Jesus this **** belongs in GameSpot's System Wars.

And with its hentai ads (do they still run those?), it is a magazine I'd be embarrassed to leave lying about, coffee table or not.

[Sketcz]

I've not seen any hentai ads (only been subscribing for just over a year now), but I have to admit, I kinda like some of their fanboyism. The Suda 51 No More Heroes interview was just one long handjob from Halverson, but hey, that's cool, because I'd rather someone openly say cool stuff to Suda 51 in an interview and show that they're fans, than get some of the positive coverage which some utter tripe receives in other mags like EDGE, who have praised some of the worst stuff ever released, like Sudeki (I passionately dislike the mag btw).

I also kinda agreed when he spoke about the Wii, since I feel that the casual games available on the system are killing gaming. The guy seems to in-tune with what's going on in my mind. Which I like. I don't want to be challenged, I want someone to tell me what I'm thinking already and therefor legitimise my feelings.

I can't defend all of the criticism PLAY receives, but it does enough stuff right to make me ignore it. I enjoy a lot of what is written, because I want to believe the fantasy it portrays. Odin Sphere and Gurumin were not that great, and Purgatory Kabuki is one of the worst manga I've ever read, but I want to believe them when they say that dedicating a cover to a 2D game will bring back the genre and re-ignite people's passion, and I want to believe them when they say that Falcom's latest RPG is decent, and I want to believe them when they say that PK, by Ikaruga artist Suzuki, is one of gaming/managa's greatest cross-overs.

They also have A LOT of import coverage.

For a couple of bucks PLAY allows for cheaper make-believe than LSD or whiskey.
Edge is just depressing, and GamesTM doesn't cover the kind of stuff I like.

[tom-nook]

I like Play too.

The fact that they are passionate about gaming really comes through in the writing. Yeah, objectivity does sometimes go out the window but I find it quite endearing really.....they regularly score things too highly but I get the feeling they simply get a bit carried away rather than them being in anybody's pocket.

American mags are generally dire though and horribly insular. Play at least acknowledges that the rest of the World exists and has some decent import coverage.

The only British mag that I personally think is a decent read is Retrogamer. The rest are pretty pish on the whole.

[Sketcz]

I remember when all mags used to give import coverage - it was a staple.

I'd like a print magazine that was a modern cross between www.insertcredit.com and http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/

For me, PLAY is the closest thing to that.

[zipper]

I remember when all mags used to give import coverage - it was a staple.

I'd like a print magazine that was a modern cross between www.insertcredit.com and http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/

For me, PLAY is the closest thing to that.

That would be one great mag. Looking up Play now. Thanks
Are you still writing yourself? At least 2 of the most memorable pieces I've read were yours I think. Fan translations and the gaming round the globe series. Genuinely interesting and different. Are you still at it?

[Sketcz]

Thanks for the kind words, they always help to heal the wounds.

No, thankfully I'm not still at it. I've now got a fantastic job that pays twice as much for doing half as much work. It's just a regular office job, and almost borders on clerical, but I love it because I don't take my work home with me like games journalism, and the pay means I can actually afford to buy and play decent games for a change.

[KMxRetro]

why does American games journalism pale in comparison to British games journalism?

Because it can be.

In other words, the Mountain Dew-fuelled Nintendo generation who were buying adverts for Mario dressed up as game magazines towards the end of the 1980s never really kicked up a fuss when they realised that they were still buying the same corporate brochures twenty years later. They just keep hitting the feeder bar like rats in a lab. Every month, they pay their money to the newsstand or via a subscription and every month they get the same old rubbish in return.

Normally, the sales would dwindle and the magazine would be forced to do something about it, but not in the US. As long as they get a four page "feature" on Super Smash Brothers Melee (which I'm sorry, but is just a beat 'em up with Pikachu and friends replacing "proper" fighters, isn't it?), they're literally bouncing off the walls with joy. These are people who will do this and not realise that there is ABSOLUTELY NO POINT. They'll overspend on buying cans instead of litre bottles so that they can make pop can idols in the shape of their favourite characters. They'll buy decals (SHUDDER) for their expensive consoles - and like it.

In other words, in a land of ridiculous overconsumerism, spending five bucks on a magazine just for one single article is nothing. Once that money is spent, the readership goes up by one, the advertising department makes some more sales...and the Editor thinks that they're going in the right direction. It doesn't matter that 80% of the readership read 5% of the magazine and then ditched it or bought a rival publication (and did the same with it.) The advertising is sold, the money is made. Long live the current format.

Here in the UK, we seem to be happier when our money is spent well and we get a well-rounded read. For now. But then you realise that the official mags - ALL of which are absolute tosh - are picking up in the sales race again. And don't tell me that ONM is "breaking the mould", since I just read a two page feature in a copy that was all about games that featured SNOW and/or ICE. Yes. Thrilling.

EDGE is the best games magazine you can buy in the UK by a long way, I'd say. And I STILL wouldn't waste my time reading it. There's only so many times you can say "I read a preview of this game online - the only difference is I've now had to pay to read yours." before you realise something's wrong.

[EvilBoris]

which I'm sorry, but is just a beat 'em up with Pikachu and friends replacing "proper" fighters, isn't it?

No it's not, and even if it were surely it would play the same, so what is your point?

[KMxRetro]

No it's not, and even if it were surely it would play the same, so what is your point?

No point, really. Just a nod towards the ridiculous amounts of actual mania that seem to be following that title is all. I'm guessing that's what causes that one sentence to be picked out of my long post about games magazines.

"Oh Em Gee. My religion. He's attacking my religion! Burn his flag!"

[EvilBoris]

You were the one who asked a question, which actually wasn't as rethorical as you might of liked to of thought. Iit seemed strange to be attacking a specific game and belittling anyone who likes that particular game without any justification for doing so.

[KMxRetro]

Iit seemed strange to be attacking a specific game and belittling anyone who likes that particular game without any justification for doing so.

I wasn't belittling anyone. I was stating an opinion about the state of the game's popularity. People can like whatever they want to like and I'm in no position to suggest that they can't.

If anyone has taken offence to me asking if Super Smash Bros Melee was "just" a fighting game with Nintendo characters because I genuinely can't see why that game is getting massive attention compared to - say - Sega Superstars Tennis (my logic there is that it is a tennis game with Sega characters as opposed to fighting game with Nintendo characters), then I apologise unreservedly.

Although I would suggest that that you remove your tin-foil hats, first.