[jaap]

I think PCGamer has way too many advertisements in their latest Holiday 2003 issue. Therefore I sent them this email:

Do you think I will get a reply?


Greetings,

Jaap



Sent to letters_aT_pcgamer.com
Subject : ratio of 40:60
-----------

Hi PCGamer,

I browsed through your latest Holiday 2003 issue and noticed that this issue consists of approximately 71 pages of PCGamer stuff (index, previews, reviews, columns, etc.) and 105 pages of Advertisements, which results in a ratio of 40:60 for PCGamer:Ads.
This ratio is commonly seen in newspapers/magazines/periodicals that are for free. And no, I don't wan't the PCGamer for free, I just want to appeal your moral insights by asking the question: 'If we want to make a PC Games Magazine, shouldn't it at least consist of more real PCGamers stuff than ads? If not, is the denomination 'PC Games Magazine' still valid, and can we easily argue this?
Another thing: does a Game Boy Advance advertisment belong in a PC Magazine?


Greetings,

Jaap Jansen
The Netherlands

[Zygomaticus]

I'm sure that is what keeps them alive. Partly.

[Starflux]

Imagine 1.5 pop-up banners on EVERY page of adventuregamers.com @_@;

[Curt]

Originally Posted by Flux

Imagine 1.5 pop-up banners on EVERY page of adventuregamers.com @_@;

lol

I dare not. :eek:

[DustCropper]

I used to subscribe to PC Gamer but felt that the magazine was getting bad and decided it isn't worth the money, especially when there are so many free PC game websites on the internet. And so I no longer subscribe to them.

[remixor]

I'm very happy with the $5/month (cheaper if you pay by the year) I pay to Gamespot. No ads at all, and far better coverage than any print magazine could ever accomplish.

[mycroft]

Yeah...I see the same problem with CGW.

Though the ads are lesser...I see XBox mag. ads,gba ads and other stuff.A similar situation with PC World.

From whatI've gathered reading the feedback sections of the magazines...the number of ads is a common complaint.

So there's no reason why they shouldn't reply to you jaap.

I'm sorry but I have a little selfish motive here...so I'm sorry to hijack this thread.

I too sent a mail.But not to PC Gamer or any other such influential mag,but a local gaming mag.
Basically it is a stupid magazine.The brainchild of a few l33t LAN gamers who feel that they're the best thing to have happened to game journalism.The reviews are pretty cheesy and ALL reviews are often written by a single person.
What's worse is that the feedback section is always full of praise about the magazine.It has developed a kind of 'cult' status here.
So..I decided to send in a different kind of 'fanmail'.
The magazine is called "SKOAR!".I rest my case.

I'm sorry but the mail does contain immature language,so if you're easily offended...please discontinue reading.I'm posting my original mail Verbatim.



Hello,

I'd like to mention one thing first up.I do not expect you to publish my letter in the magazine.What I would appreciate ,however,is an honest and prompt reply.

I like your magazine.It is one of the best things to have happened to the Indian gaming community.

What I do not like ,however, is the sheer lack of professionalism .Poor printing quality.Poor screenshots with screwed up aspect ratios.And most importantly...and disturbingly...stupid,subjective and monotonous reviews.(This is where it gets a little impolite).

What kind of narrow-minded dick heads do you have reviewing games.Sometimes the entire mag is filled by reviews written by a single person.It makes reading the entire mag a monotonous affair.Especially when the reviewer is some moronic gamer with a lot of free time on his hands.I always begin reading your magazine with a fresh virility.That the future of Indian gaming is in my hands.However,by the time I finish it..I realize that it is getting worse with every issue.The future of Indian Gaming is fading into oblivion.

I realize it is extremely tough to please all the people all the time.It is also near impossible to write objective reviews.But I'd like a little more professionalism to be reflected in the writings.This is journalism you dolts...not some fucking chat room.

And what's this deal with 3 CDs full of crap.Listen guys,I think you should have a little discussion with the powers that be on this matter.I do not like the content on the CDs.You guys are blatantly ripping us off.If you're going to have 3 CDs...please take the time and put useful stuff in there.Scrap the videos...unless the game is universally popular.Try to have demos of all genres.Patches and add-ons are another goodies.I realize that in this age of 300MB demos it gets a little hard to pack loads of stuff onto the CDs.

Do not exercise your monopoly.Just because you're the only good mainstream gaming mag available doesn't mean there won't be any competition in the future.You have been warned.

And lastly...I could kiss you guys for spotlighting adventure games.This is my favourite genre.Oft-maligned in recent years.Adventure games in India are a rarity.It was good to see you guys manage to get an interview with the Head-honcho of Revolution.The interviewer knew what he was talking about btw.I don't think he had played the previous Broken Sword games though.This clearly proves that you guys have a certain amount of influence.I would love to see more adventure game related coverage in your mag.Maybe it'll make these no good publishers consider importing and distributing adventure games for once.I'm adventure game starved over here.Everyone in India is only obsessed with the Quakes and UTs and CounterStrikes.What the FUCK happened to cerebral gaming.

There are numerous adventure games coming out.Some..like URU are revolutionary.I would love to read a review of it in your mag.Hell,I'd love to write a review for it in your mag.If only it were available here.

What would I have to do in order to be considered as a reviewer in your magazine ?
Write a sample review ?





Ok..so that was my mail.I have been in constant..errr...correspondence with them since.I'll post the rest of my correspondence with them if anyone's interested.


Oh and btw,the guy who replied says that he is a big adventure gamer.So...the joke's on me if he's reading this thread right now.

[remixor]

That is one of the most schizophrenic letters I've ever read :eek:

[mycroft]

Originally Posted by remixor

That is one of the most schizophrenic letters I've ever read :eek:

...and your point would be..?

Err..Ok.I realise that.

I didn't know exactly what sort of people I was dealing with.

So..it's part rant and part a**-kissing.

Anyway..here's the reply I got.I've already mailed a reply to the following letter to which I've received a reply.

I've..err..masked my real name.




Hi *my real name*,

Nice of you to take all that time to write such a lovely mail. If it
does
get published, we'll have to sensor all those sweet things you've said
about our reviewers, or our readers might think we're too biased
towards
ourselves.

Basically, 99% of your mail is nothing but a rant, so there's no real
point relpying to it. I'll cut right to the chase.

If you think you can do a better job, do it. You've read SKOAR!, so you
know what needs to go into each review (elements like pros\cons,
cheats,
strategy, etc)

Just take your favourite game and review it. No need for screenshots,
and
the game doesn't have to be new. I trust you'll have the good sense to
make your work 100% original, and not copy from other sites\reviews.

Let's see you put your money where your mouth is. Good luck.


Regards,
Badri Narayan
SKOAR! Magazine





My reply will be posted subsequently.

[Zygomaticus]

Mycroft, you from India?

[mycroft]

Originally Posted by Kode

Mycroft, you from India?

Yes.


Here's my reply.


Hi Badri,

Thank you for a prompt and courteous reply.

I apologize for the language used in the earlier mail.But I HAD to make a point.
I'm disgusted seeing the feedback section of your mag and that most of them write how this is such a great magazine and all.It is saturated with praise where ,in all honesty,this is pretty much a below average magazine.It is just a mere shadow of its former self(CGW India).And it disturbs me to see you guys basking in the glory and exploiting your monopoly where you could be hard at work improving the magazine.

And you are delightfully mistaken if you considered my previous mail as a rant.It was meant to be feedback.You asked for it.I guess mails like mine do not often end up in your inbox.Or is it quite the opposite ?

And you didn't even address the issues I presented in the previous mail.(Poor printing quality,screenshots with screwed up aspect ratios).Did you even read my mail .I question your intent of actually improving the magazine.Or do you feel that it is perfect ?

As for the reviews...I have absolutely NO interest in reviewing for your magazine.I merely included that as a ruse.Looks like it worked.

I would like to compliment you for the excellent news section.Even if the news is a couple of months old.

I don't care how expensive your magazine is.I would still buy it.There is some genuinely good content in it.I already subscribe to PC Gamer and CGW so I know good content when I see it.

And I know bad reviews when I see them.What I mean by 'bad' reviews is that most of the time the reviewers don't know what they're talking about.It is perhaps they who are cut/pasting reviews .But I think the existence of another magazine with such stupid reviews is highly improbable, so the reviews might be original after all.They take an elitist approach and that's putting it mildly.And you should explain your reviewing criteria once in a while.What has 'Mojo' got to do with games ?

Severe lack of professionalism.

I would like to close with the final words.Please respond positively to criticism.You may not have heard the last of me.

Thumbs up for the adventure gaming content though.You deserve it.

Regards,
*my real name*



Either I caught him off guard or I severely frustated him with this mail.He sounded a little pissed off in his reply.A little pathetic even.As will be evident when I post his reply.

[Starflux]

Wow, I wish getting a job as a professional gamejournalist here would be as easy as what you did: writing an aggressive rant where you demonstrate a severe lack of writing skills yourself! If only it were that easy... But I think I'll try it on my own way; by actually writing something proving my own capabilities instead of a letter with no point, that shifts from prepubescent insulting to honeyfilled @sskissing to requesting ill-conceived ideas.

Not that I have anything against you personally, Mycroft, but I think you get my point.

[mycroft]

Originally Posted by Flux

Wow, I wish getting a job as a professional gamejournalist here would be as easy as what you did: writing an aggressive rant where you demonstrate a severe lack of writing skills yourself! If only it were that easy... But I think I'll try it on my own way; by actually writing something proving my own capabilities instead of a letter with no point, that shifts from prepubescent insulting to honeyfilled @sskissing to requesting ill-conceived ideas.

Not that I have anything against you personally, Mycroft, but I think you get my point.

OK...I guess there's been some misunderstanding.

I completely understand what you're trying to say.Unfortunately,I am to blame for not making myself clearer.

You are correct when you say that it was an aggressive rant.That is what I intended it to be.I have explained the purpose of the mail in my first post.The last thing on my mind is getting a job as a professional game journalist .Especially at a stupid magazine as this.I'm well-aware of what kind of person it takes to write for a professional magazine.And I know I'm not that sort of person.

English isn't my first language and I readily admit that my English is rather poor.As is my vocabulary.

You,unfortunately, do not know what kind of people work at the mag.The prepubescent insulting is all these guys understand.Believe me.I have to suffer through their reviews.And once I realised that the person who replied my mail was not one of those people,I ceased the foul language.

So,without wasting any time.

1.The mail was a rant.A hatemail to be precise.
2.I have no interest in game journalism.
3.Sorry.

So..best of luck in pursuing game journalism as a career.I'll look forward to any reviews you may write .And take heed that there are idiots like me out there.

Sorry again.

Nonetheless,I still hate these guys.And it was blind rage which made me write what I did.I regret nothing.

I'm sorry if I offended you Flux.My sincerest apologies to you.
I think I should stop coming here from now on.

[Starflux]

Hey hey, no harm done ^__^ I was just making a point. That was also subliminally directed against the magazine, I guess. It's just that I would choose for myself to retain the level of professionality in writing any letter to a magazine that I'm accusing them of of not having themselves. Hatemail gets accross a lot better if they get the idea it's written by someone who knows what he's talking about. If that happens, you immediatly place yourself in a superior position. In this case I guess you're lucky they took you serious and replied in the manner they did ^__^

[zarathustrian]

Originally Posted by Flux

Imagine 1.5 pop-up banners on EVERY page of adventuregamers.com @_@;

Oh, lord, I'd rather the site go down in flames than have popups on every page.

[Marek]

I rely on websites for 95% of my gaming information. The only disadvantage a website has is that unlike a magazine, you can't really leaf through it and discover things you wouldn't really have "clicked on". For example, I'd never have found out about how interesting Full Spectrum Warrior is, because the title doesn't sound like something I'd play. But in a magazine I would have been more likely to find out about it, as I *have* to pass those pages to get to the end of the magazine.

However, watching GameSpot Live sort of does the trick. It gives a nice overview of recent releases with video footage.

The only magazines I get right now are Develop (which came with my IGDA registration) and CGW, a UK trade magazine that's largely uninteresting, but for some reason I've been getting it for free for the past year or-so. I also read Edge at my school's library. I like Edge for its feature articles, its clean layout and its good ad/content ratio, though I guess I'll have to be looking for another mag now that it's going to dissapear.

Flux: you could send a rant to the Dutch Power Unlimited and try to get hired, and there's a big chance you'd succeed. I used to read PU when I was a kid and it had this whole letter exchange going on between different readers and the "boertje" from Friesland who frequently trashed the magazine in his writings. I heard he now has his own column! Now, trying to get into a more respectable game mag would be a lot more difficult.

[Starflux]

That would be the infamous "Mortal Marcel", who became somewhat of an icon of the Power Unlimited. Many people afterwards tried to do the same, but they were all obvious clones. See, the difference was that Mortal Marcel really had something to say, he also frequently frequented Japan to try out new games, and things like that. He was kind of the unsollicited but nonetheless welcomed staffmember

I already appeared in the Power Unlimited though with a review of Sanitarium in a contest. But my dreams were always with the Belgian PcGameplay. Right now I'd more than happily take on a job on the new Nintendo-mag N-Gamer though, as I've become a Nintendo-loony as of late ^_^

[Marek]

PC Gameplay is a realistic goal! Go for it!
Fun fact: we used to have one of the PC Gameplay writers on our staff (David Vanneste) around 1998, but if I remember correctly he left due to health reasons.

[Starflux]

Why in Hell's barnacles is the PcGameplay a realistic goal?! o_O I'd practically have to move to Belgium for it ^_^; and they're very professional. Not that I'm doubting I could get in with a healthy motivation...

I am planning to get an actual paid job writing [gaming] articles one day, so I can finance being an artist in my free time ^_^ or all-round slacker, I haven't decided.

(*clappping hands for the Netherlands though*)