Electronic Gaming Monthly May 2007 (Podcast)

Cover: The Future of Videogames

As Dan Hsu puts it in his editorial (that part of the editorial where he isn't discussing how much Nintendo hates EGM, that is), this is the first "themed" issue of EGM ever. The theme: the future of video games, which covers almost half the editorial pages and confirms what people like me have been stating for a while: game mags are interesting when they complement the gamer lifestyle, not try to be the sole outlet for everything in the industry.

The theme centers around a 22-page piece in the middle that divides the "future" into six distinct areas -- controllers, online, TV displays, the industry, the gamers, and finally the games themselves -- and has one writer do a large-scale piece on each. The articles aren't just something some freelancers made up, either: Each one is packed with quotes from developers and other industry people, from the usual suspects (Cliffy, Warren Spector) to the more unusual (a gaggle of analysts and professors, along with David Cross and his unique take on the year 2343). One designer gets a crack at designing the future of their chosen genre (Ted Price for platformers, the Virtua Fighter guy for fighting games), and it's all oodles more interesting to read than 22 pages of previews.

Every other section of the mag, including Seanbaby and the retro bit in the back, gets the "future" treatment, too, and by and large I'd call it a success.

This is another Afterthoughts-heavy issue, with pieces on MotorStorm and God of War II. Also worth mentioning: The Forza Motorsport II ad, the first time I've seen a "smell strip" ad in a video-game magazine. It smells great.

GamePro May 2007

Cover: Heavenly Sword

After a pretty neat April issue, GamePro gets a bit back to normal with a very large PS3 preview feature in the middle and the usual rabble of previews and reviews elsewhere. Unique bits this time around include a page on Duke Nukem Forever (really, DNF delay jokes never get old, do they?) and the annual LamePro roundup...except GP cut LamePro down to a half-page advertisement of sorts, as opposed to Game Informer going four-page nutso with its April Fools stuff. (LamePro has an amusing cover redesign, too. You'd appreciate it if you saw it.)

A couple of tiny copy-editing mistakes show up here and there: one page has "April 2007" on the bottom instead of May, and an image of Team Ico's Famitsu help-wanted ad in the news section still has the massive 2ch Japanese watermarking text all over it, which makes it look pretty silly.

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

Cover: Army dude

Crysis, Company of Heroes, and the usual PC genres dominate this preview-heavy issue of GFW, along with an eight-page look at Windows Vista as a game platform. Of more interest to mag-heads: Cindy Yans, one of the people behind the already-fondly-remembered MASSIVE Magazine, contributes a few pieces to this issue, including a review of the new Broken Sword game (jeez, they made another one?) and an MMO column. I hope for more.

PC Gamer May 2007 (Podcast)

Cover: If I had to guess, Guild Wars 2

This is the quintessential PC Gamer US cover right here: enormous logo of a game that's ages away from release, a random swipe at console gamers in the corner, and some kind of inscrutable MMO giveaway (apparently you can win Paris Hilton's dog? I don't know) lining the top. Inside, there's 13 pages on Guild Wars and its sequel, four on Hellgate: London, and two on game physics -- a seemingly favorite topic amongst PCG editors, and I had no idea that the folks behind the PhysX card were still around.

PSM May 2007 (Podcast)

Cover: Devil May Cry 4

15 pages on DMC4 (including a very nice and deep interview with Hiroyuki Kobayashi), six on Turok (whoa), and eight devoted to an interview with Sony's Jack Tretton (fresh off stints in EGM and GamePro) are the main highlights here. Not a whole lot to say otherwise.

Official Xbox Magazine May 2007 (Podcast)

Cover: Project Gotham Racing 4

OXM gets all DUB and Maxim'd out this month, with six pages on PGR4 and a disk with demos of Def Jam: Icon and NBA Street Homecourt. Again, though, it's OXM that shows the most originality out of Future US's mag stable, with six pages on Xbox Live Achievements -- an inside guide to landing the most difficult ones (wave 100 in Robotron 2084? No problem!), and a guide to getting a Gamerscore of 10,000 in 30 hours. All tongue-in-cheek, all very fun to read.

Beckett Massive Online Gamer April/May 2007

Cover: Why, WoW, of course

There's a "pirates vs. ninjas MMORPG" joke on page 4 and I'm a little scared to go any further.

Game Developer April 2007

Cover: Like a deer in the headlights, so go game industry salaries this year (Plus Burger King)

I really, really, really, really wish Simon had given the Burger King games postmortem the full cover (now that would turn heads at bookstores). But GD's annual salary survey is admittedly just a bit more important to the magazine's readership, and if you're in the industry you'll be studying it carefully before your next evaluation (unless you're in QA, in which case you'll just cry over your 3rd bowl of Cup Noodles today).

[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.]