The Triumphant Return Of... PCXL?
Adorable GameSetWatch tipster Scott S. is upon us, and he points out the following: "Remember this GSW article about PC Accelerator? Well, guess who's BAAACCKK?" And then he links us to a PC Gamer forum post which reveals that the infamous Future PC gaming mag has indeed returned.
Not much information out there just yet - other commenters note that "Norman Chan is the senior editor of the magazine. I flipped through and saw that Greg Vederman also has an column as well... Cost is 9.99 US, 12.99 Canadian."
The cover of the relaunched PCXL features the Fragdolls, and a 'leave on news-stands til December' note elsewhere on the front, which indicates that this isn't a monthly magazine, but rather a 'special' - not sure if it's quarterly or just an experiment to see how the games + girls crossover fares on news-stands nowadays.
In any case, a little history lesson - the Wikipedia page for PC Accelerator, aka PCXL, explains: "PC Accelerator (PCXL) was a personal computer game magazine that was published by Imagine Media (now a subsidiary of Future Publishing). It was known for its Maxim-like humor and photography, and its last issue was dated June 2000. After the split up of the magazine editor-in-chief Mike Salmon went on to start the Official Xbox Magazine while some of the staff was sent to PC Gamer; others went on to work for Daily Radar." And now they're back. For a bit. Or a lot. Depending!
[UPDATE: Our very own Magweasel Kevin Gifford has a copy, and will be discussing it further in his column on Saturday - he notes that the spine says 'Fall 2007' and he believes it's one of the quarterly PC Gamer special issues under a sneaky PCXL guise. More on this soon!]
Comments
If I had to make a short list of things that would improve the state of videogame journalism, I must confess "Maxim-like humor and photography" would not be on that list.
Posted by: JP | September 6, 2007 9:37 AM
That's my buddy Jinx on the cover, there. :) I'm going to see her on Saturday at the WIGI, where she's FD recruiting.
Also read the issue. There's a one-page article lamenting the end of booth babes, asking in a headline, "Why do they hate our freedom?" It's all very 90s.
Posted by: J. | September 6, 2007 10:48 AM
Finally, someone is reaching 16-year-old boy gamers. They have no media outlets to call their own and are sadly neglected in their favorite format, print.
Posted by: steve | September 6, 2007 2:17 PM
Mike Salmon and Rob Smith were the heart and soul of PCXL. Without those two involved, I'm really skeptical.
Posted by: CryingTheAnnualKingo | September 6, 2007 2:57 PM
All negative comments aside, PCXL had a swagger to it I've only seen elsewhere in Maximum PC.
The mag pulled no punches and gave good reviews.
Plus, they actually scored great exclusives. I remember back in the day they had what was at the time the largest piece written previewing Half-Life with the most exclusive content.
It's funny to look back at that article and see how different the game was from the concept but also how much of the original concept made its way into the HL universe.
So don't pooh-pooh the mag. Just because it had some babes in there doesn't make it bad.
Posted by: phil | February 27, 2008 12:45 AM