Hardcore Gamer

[ChaoofNee]

That's a negative. I still read my gamefan's to this day. I barely glance at HG. I look at a game like Shadow of the Collosus - GameFan would have been all over that game. Coverage and praise out the wazoo. Gamefan would have told you that if you didnt buy it, your gaming licenese should be revoked or some other insane crap. Like it or not that stuff was damn funny and damn entertaining. What does HG do? A 3 senetence mini review crammed in the back of the mag. POOP.

BUT MATRIX PATH OF NEO IS AWESOME IT GOT A THREE PAGE REVIEW

[mollipen]

Latter-Day (ECM-era) Gamefan had more personality than any mag today. It was an insane personality, but it was interesting. Hardcore Gamer has NONE of that. I have stated this before and I see NO improvement. I'll keep downloading the mag, in hopes of it getting better but I can't see supporting a magazine that seems like such a throw-away.

ECM-era GameFan had a few things really going for it. The staff was pretty small, so you knew exactly who everyboy was, which is a very important factor. There's no way in the hell I can begin to keep track of all of the staff for HGM, let alone start to get an idea of who they all are. With GameFan, you knew what kind of person ECM was, Dango was, Kodomo was, or even I was, so you knew how your opinions on games or whatnot stood according to them. I know nothing about pretty much all of the HGM staff, and from what I've read, their personality hardly shows through.

The other big factor was, at that point, the atmosphere of GameFan seemed to be one of "say your true feelings, and not worry about the backlash." Look at the trashing of Final Fantasy VIII, or Shenmue. I didn't work in the actual office, so I could be wrong, but it felt like the writers themselves were more in control, which meant that they could say what thay wanted, and had more of a push for what got covered. When the people writing the coverage gets more say in what gets covered, you get more reviews and whatnot that are heartfelt and meaningful. For example, with AnimeFan, I had NOBODY telling me what I could or couldn't do - I decided what to cover and exactly what to say about it. Because of that, I think my section was far stronger than it would have been otherwise.

[Compass]

That's a negative. I still read my gamefan's to this day. I barely glance at HG. I look at a game like Shadow of the Collosus - GameFan would have been all over that game. Coverage and praise out the wazoo. Gamefan would have told you that if you didnt buy it, your gaming licenese should be revoked or some other insane crap. Like it or not that stuff was damn funny and damn entertaining. What does HG do? A 3 senetence mini review crammed in the back of the mag. POOP.

I concur. And I really liked that about GameFan back in the day. I wonder though if I'd stand for it today. I mean, back then I didn't know nearly as much about games and I looked up to the staff at GameFan. I didn't always agree with them but I respected their convictions. Though I still think I'd like to see more of this type of extremist writing in HG, they'd have to exhibit a *lot* of knowledge for me to take it even remotely seriously today.

This is evident in how I read play. I'm still entertained by his enthusiasm but I never actually take Halvy's opinion into consideration when deciding whether or not to buy a game. The man loves everything, it's ridiculous.

[haohmaru]

ECM-era GameFan had a few things really going for it. The staff was pretty small, so you knew exactly who everyboy was, which is a very important factor. There's no way in the hell I can begin to keep track of all of the staff for HGM, let alone start to get an idea of who they all are. With GameFan, you knew what kind of person ECM was, Dango was, Kodomo was, or even I was, so you knew how your opinions on games or whatnot stood according to them. I know nothing about pretty much all of the HGM staff, and from what I've read, their personality hardly shows through.

Yeah. This is pretty much why I lost interest in HGM as a project from the get-go when we were discussing getting it off the ground etc...

You and I shared many of the same opinions and the above sentiments are spot-on. I thought some of the staff were questionable at best (before this even got going) and the early issues have, IMHO, made this clear. I don't care about editing issues and that nonsense (that plagued the unpaid GameGO! staff, too, if you remember) but the writing and the lack of the reader getting a feel for who/what each writer is because of the sheer quantity of writers is going to hurt the loyalty of the readership.

That being said, I find it admirable that they've come this far and give high marks to anyone that's starting a magazine in this environment. I wish them nothing but the best.

[Drewbacca]

Is there any gaming magazines that does all out, balls to the wall, swearing? It's always seemed odd to me about how these magazines always try to step on eggshells while their demographic almost demands a magazine with a more realistic approach. Gamers swear, most of them a lot. Penny Arcade and CTRL ALT DEL are the #1 and #2 web comics around, each making a killing off of their comic sites and they both contain heavy language. Not just bitch, ass, cunt, fuck, etc. but motherfucker, cocksucker, and other huge no-no's.

I guess one of the reasons is that they're afraid potential advertisers will pull out, correct? Vice magazine swears like no tomorrow, and has entire editions dedicated to drugs, sex and all sorts of illicit materials and I've seen video game ads running in that magazine.

[Revoltor]

It was called "Foul Magazine" and it lasted all of 6 issues I believe.

Trying to put Vice into this equation is retarded though so don't even try it.

[kevincal]

I say give the guys at HCG a break. They are giving me 6 free issues. Gamefan stole many of our $$$ through subscriptions which many of us never received. GF was at its greatest in the mid-90's imo. I still love GF though. And for you idiots trying to dis Wolf's work, lets see some of your artwork here right now. Post it. Personally, the first thing I thought when I saw the Matrix cover was, "damn, that's some nice attention to detail. I mean, look at Neo's face closely as well as Smith's. That's some fucking nice artwork, but some of you clowns talk about it like it was drawn by some rookie. What a bunch of TNL teenagers....

[AaronChance]

I say give the guys at HCG a break. They are giving me 6 free issues. Gamefan stole many of our $$$ through subscriptions which many of us never received. GF was at its greatest in the mid-90's imo. I still love GF though. And for you idiots trying to dis Wolf's work, lets see some of your artwork here right now. Post it. Personally, the first thing I thought when I saw the Matrix cover was, "damn, that's some nice attention to detail. I mean, look at Neo's face closely as well as Smith's. That's some fucking nice artwork, but some of you clowns talk about it like it was drawn by some rookie. What a bunch of TNL teenagers....

If you take away a person's right to critize, message boards wouldn't exist, and gaming mags would be even worse than they are now. Yet ironically, I have nothing to say about HGM myself in one way or another.

[kevincal]

Naw, at TNL I've noticed it's cool to be a follower and it's REALLY cool to talk shit about anything or anyone. Why is it so cool to be so ULTRA-critisizing?

[Revoltor]

Please STFU.

There is shitty art that just happens to be in this shitty magazine. Get over it.