Ziff Davis Files for Chapter 11

[kedawa]

Next Generation (before they changed the name to NextGen, gutted the staff, and went down the shitter) used to have lots of great articles about the game industry and the underlying technology.
Many of those articles are still worth reading.
If someone was producing that kind of content for print today, I'd gladly buy a subscription.

[Tones]

Yeah, I think Next Generation was the last magazine subscription that I had. Their layouts were pretty clean, and stories spanned at least a few pages.

[Melf]

I recently bought about 18 issues of NG from kevincal, and you'd be amazed at just how well the magazine holds up. It's better than most of what's out there now, and it's more than a decade old. Back in '95, it was incredible.

[MarsKitten]

The only mags I still buy are ones that go in-depth into politics/current events where the articles don't tell me what happens so much as they go in-depth on an issue. Videogames don't need that kind of coverage.

If NeoZ ever published a video game mag i'd be all over that with a 3 year sub. They don't need that kinda coverage but it can be done exceptionally well.

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

The only mag I get that I pay for is Retro Gamer. EGM and Game Informer are free and are good for toilet material. I actually take time out of my day for RG.

[Melf]

Word, RG is awesome, and it's because it concentrates more on features and interviews than reviews and previews. Magazines that devote most of their space to just reviewing and previewing will go down the tubes quite quick, as both of those can be had on the Internet much faster.

Personally, I want comprehensive features in a magazine. Sure, you can get those on the web too, but few sites actually dedicate the bulk of their content to them, since they concentrate on reviews and previews. This is the one area where magazines can truly compete.

[Frogacuda]

Of course you're in a position of growth. You HAVE to grow. Fuck I'd like piss in a bucket and throw it in this guys face.

Is it a surprise that video game magazine's have shitty ass subscription rates when the entire racket is only run to jerk off the latest big news game a publisher has in the pipe? Get some integrity and balls and people might actually have a reason to buy your magazine. Lord knows quality writing isn't the draw.

I swear to god, if game magazines hired better writers than the websites did, I'd read. Hell, I read Edge and GamesTM sometimes. The days of magazines catering to the lowest common denominator should be over. The lowest common denominator has moved on.

[Kidnemo]

The lowest common denominator has moved on... to the internets.

[Frogacuda]

Yes, that's exactly what I was saying, glad you put it together

[YellerDog]

I'm a big fan of "Wired" to this day, regardless of how much they pander to the "sharper image" buying crowd or hang on to every damn bit of pop-science ever. They tend to have pretty neat layouts, and when they do bother to cover games, they have interesting articles.