Games for Windows: The Official Magazine February 2007 (Podcast)

Cover: The Crossing

This is GFW's "101 Free Games" issue, which was a yearly occasion in the CGW days, arguably reaching its peak back in '03 when they included a DVD with Deus Ex and a couple other "real" games. The mag's long been discless, however, and so this feature is instead your typical roundup of screenshots, quick paragraph descriptions, and URLs.

Otherwise: The main feature is devoted to The Crossing, which is a hot exclusive on a game which sounds positively fruity -- France, crazy templar superheroes, "cross-play" -- and I can't wait to see it execute half of what it promises. There's also a four-page roundtable (featuring everyone from Frank O'Connor to Orson Scott Card) discussing the issue of why videogame stories suck. (Frank O doesn't get into what happened with Halo 2, but it's still a fun read.)

Over in reviews: It's a downright bad month for the big-name titles, as Gothic 3, Heroes of Might & Magic V, the LOTR strategy sequel, and Splinter Cell all get average evaluations. Phantasy Star Universe ties for the top score, which a lot of other mags would probably disagree with.

Massive Magazine #2

Cover: Some taur

EIC Steve Bauman brings up an interesting topic in his editorial this issue that I wouldn't mind discussing in-depth myself sometime: "Our surveys show that you want previews, reviews, and news. WIth zillions of websites out there featuring that material, we feel this magazine can focus on some of the other entertaining parts of gaming." As he points out, MMOs inherently lend themselves better to more off-beat features and examination than the standard magazine-review format would allow.

And indeed, the only very standard game-mag-type feature in this issue is six pages up front that tour the WoW: The Burning Crusade beta. Right after that, though, comes a story on a guy who took a troll to level 60 in WoW without ever wearing any armor, and even though it's a tiny piece, I still found it more fun to read than that big WOW:TBC feature. I'd say Bauman has the right idea here.

Proving this point: There are all manner of interesting features in Massive #2, including: a look at the "big five" last-gen MMOs (Everquest, Uo, Asheron's Call, DAoC and Anarchy Online) and how they're doing now; a collection of silly anecdotes related to player-killing in all its many forms; the story of a man who ran an incredible Ponzi scheme on EVE Online and made about $45,000 in real money off it; and (incredible coincidence here) a piece that attempts to look into the mind of griefers.

It's really nothing but interesting features (even to non-MMO people) from start to finish, and I'd highly recommend any gamer to pick this one up if they want something to really sink their teeth into this month. It's enough to make me wonder what a magazine like this, but not just limited to the MMO genre, would be like.

Computer Games February 2007

Cover: The Most Anticipated Games of 2007

I feel kind of bad for saying this, but these days I'm much more psyched for every new issue of Massive over Computer Games, even though they're from the same publisher and basically the same writers. Why is this? I think it's because, even as Bauman and crew are creating quite literally a new form of game magazine over on Massive, with CGM they're still stuck working within the strictly defined boundaries of what readers expect from a PC game mag.

This issue of CGM has a bit of self-parody along these lines, including a page-sized "Mad Lib Preview" that pokes mercilessly at the typical game-mag filler -- "Powered by the (EXCLAMATION) Engine, its (PLURAL NOUN) are (ADJECTIVE), and feature excellent shader (PLURAL NOUN) to create (ADJECTIVE) water and some very (ADJECTIVE) (PLURAL ANIMAL)."

Still: The main story in this mag is one of the oldest tricks in the game-mag bag: the old "Top hits of the upcoming year" preview roundup. 22 games (and a certain operating system) get quick previews in this section, and everything from Spore to Bus Driver gets coverage. Not badly done...but it also strikes me that this is just the sort of thing the same editors are trying to avoid filling the pages with in Massive.

Maximum PC Presents The Ultimate Guide to PC Gaming Hardware

Look out, soldier! Another Future special! This one features a lot of original content and comes with a CD demo of Sid Meier's Railroads!, which makes it somewhat more worth the $9.99 price -- but, then again, maybe I'm just a sucker for two-page spreads of bare PC hardware with lots of arrows pointing at bits of it.

PSM February 2007 (Podcast)

A decided lack of PS3 stuff happening currently means that PSM does another hardware cover after just doing one a coupla months ago. This time they do an exhaustive comparison between the PS3 and Xbox 360, one that claims to be unbiased on the cover. Is that true? Well, yes, actually. The face-off feature itself features equal amounts of Chris Slate and OXM editor Francesca Reyes, and every section of it tries to give both systems equal coverage in the Fox News "fair and balanced" fashion. The result is not so great for the PS3 -- even Slate must admit up to it in the end: "I'm a big believer in what Sony has planned for the PS3 -- I just wish that more of it had been ready at launch."

Even better: There's a news piece labeled "PS3: How Not to Launch A Console," which goes over all the problems Sony's facing with their new system right now and gives the overall launch a C+ grade. And you thought Future mags were all about blind fandom.

Also: PSM gave Okami their Game of the Year award. Rock on. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is the front-runner of a review section packed with the also-rans of the Christmas season.

Tips & Tricks February 2007

The second issue of T&T after Bill Kunkel became editor-in-chief also features the first editorial written by the guy himself. "We're in the midst of some major changes here," he writes, "but we believe that it's all about added value with no loss of the content that has made us the leading strategy magazine in the business for more than a dozen years."

Part of those major changes include making their website a serious place for cheats and strategies -- but, for now, Kunkel's invited all of us to the mag's MySpace page.

The upfront section: This month the mag kicks off with "IMHO," three pages of T&T's editors giving their answers to some classic debate topics (What's the most underrated game ever? What's the best power-up?) and invites readers to contribute their answers. If this manages to keep its momentum, it could be a neat regular column -- and a very Kunkel-y one, too, I should add.

[Kevin Gifford breeds ferrets and runs Magweasel, a site for collectors and fans of old video-game and computer magazines. He's also an editor at Newtype USA magazine.]