Hardcore Gamer

[mollipen]

Monitaur lives... And he's flat-panel widescreen now!

I'm not sure if they're doing him like that to try to avoid legal problems or something, but fix him to look right or just dump the character. His new head looks uber-dumb.

In fact, just dump him. There's no reason to have him in the mag, there's no real connection to GameFan with the mag, and using him just feels a bit sad, like they're trying to rope in people who used to love GameFan. I was iffy about the idea of using him back when HGM was getting going, and now after some time I'm really sure it was a bad idea.

I don't like the cover either and thought so as soon as I got it in the mail, but I'd cut Wolfie some slack here - he's probably got other PAYING projects and donates this artwork as taking one for the team to get the mag off the ground. I give them credit for being around this long and that's not a knock against HGM - it's fucking tough out there.

Here's the thing, though - they could just put some official art on the cover, and be done with it. If it is a case of him not having the time to do it, or not wanting to put out an effort due to not being paid (totally understandable), then scrap the "custom covers" idea and do what everybody else does. An unoriginal cover is better than a cover that makes your mag look bushleague.

Edit: Wow... you have to register an account to do ANYTHING at their website now. You can't even look at the forums without an account. That's really, really idiotic. People tend to just ignore websites when they can't even get a preview of what is going on without signing up.

[haohmaru]

Yeah, I agree. Lose the ties (what little there are) to GF and develop your own identity. I'd start with axing 70% of the staff so the readers can follow personalities (should they develop).

Edited -> Yeah, but does Wolfie think it's a crap cover? Probably not.

[Jeremy]

shidoshi, he was just changed to update the character, not for any legal reasons.

[sethsez]

I still want to know why a magazine full of people insisting that it has its own identity and is in no way trying to ride on the coattails of Gamefan has Gamefan's mascot in it. It's about as convincing as fake glasses and a moustache.

[bumskumsnnutz]

what's you're most harcore gaming moment, anyways?

Mine was like this:

I was playing SOnic CD and I reached the "TIME TRAVEL SPEED WARP" and was trailing stars (if you never played it, that means you are going to travel through time IF you can keep up the speed for long enough) and it suddenly occurred to me that YES, this is exactly what Sonic games should be all about, not about getting enough emeralds, or even beating Robotnik. It should be about your ability to SUSTAIN the maximum speed possible for as long as possible. I don't know why more Sonic games haven't "Riffed" on this concept, but I am telling you that this is the gold mine that Sega forgot to mine. Just think of how this could work for the new games. The 3-Dimensional ones. They could be entirely based on the gameplay of "Maintain a maximum speed over a sustained period of time ass possible and keep it up, the longer you stay there the greater your success and the points you get toward completing the game".

MAN, that is hardcore. So what I did was, I said "Well, since SEGA isn't going to Program the games the way I want them, I'm going to have to be creative." So I now play all the sonic games that way, always checking my speed, keeping my eye on the scenery to make ssure I'm keeping it up. If I fail to achieve the speed, I will IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN THE SYSTEM OR HANDHELD SYSTEM and restart the game. So if you don't think that's hardcore, Id like to see what IS. And it's not something that Sony would do, because sony is for PUSSYS.

[Jeremy]

seth, I'd say it's because he's a recognizable character, and we can legally use him. It would be pretty wasteful to not use a resource available to us (like a character), especially when the staff is essentially unpaid.

[Josh]

what's you're most harcore gaming moment, anyways?

Mine was like this: BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH

I'd say it's because he's a recognizable character, and we can legally use him. It would be pretty wasteful to not use a resource available to us (like a character), especially when the staff is essentially unpaid.

[sethsez]

seth, I'd say it's because he's a recognizable character, and we can legally use him. It would be pretty wasteful to not use a resource available to us (like a character), especially when the staff is essentially unpaid.

You can't use the mascot of Publication A in Publication B (which is staffed by a bunch of people from Pub A), and then act all surprised when comparisons are drawn. Actions speak louder than words, and "we're not trying to be Gamefan" is drowned out by having Monitaur on the fucking cover.

[bumskumsnnutz]

I'm not a newbie I've been using this Forum for a LOOONNNNNNNG time, since 2004, actually.

[Josh]

I'm not a newbie I've been using this Forum for a LOOONNNNNNNG time, since 2004, actually.