PC Gamer is a magazine founded in England in 1993 devoted to PC games and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with English and US editions becoming the best-selling gaming PC magazine in their respective country. The magazine features news about developments in the video game industry, new game previews and reviews of the latest popular PC games, along with other features related to hardware, mod, "classic" games, and various other topics.
Video PC Gamer
Review system
PC Gamer reviews are written by magazine editors and freelance writers, and assess games on a percent scale. In the English edition, no games have been earned more than 96% ( The Herbal Space Program , Civilization II , Half Life < Life 2 , Minecraft , Spelunky and Quake II ). In the U.S. edition, no games were rated higher than 98% ( Sid Meier Alpha Centauri , Half-Life 2 , and Crysis ).
In the English edition, the lowest numerical score is 2%, awarded to the 4th Gold Satellite Award for Interactive Media Winner Big Brother 1 . The sequel, Big Brother 2, was given an even lower N/A score, a review that explains that "[PC Gamer] puts a lot of effort into reviewing just like they did in game making". In the 255, August 2013 issue, the 2% score was matched with a review of the re-released Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, originally awarded 3% when first launched. In the US edition, the lowest score given is 4%, given to Mad Dog McCree , revealing the previous low game, Skydive! , given 5%.
Maps PC Gamer
Issue
There are two main editions of the PC Gamer , the English version and the American version, both published by Future plc. Founded in England in November 1993, the American sister version was launched a year later in June 1994.
There are also many local editions that mainly use materials from one of two editions, typically English editions, including the Malaysian edition (discontinued in December 2011) and Russia (each discontinued in December 2008). The Swedish edition, although rooted in its UK counterpart, has grown to become more independent, in large part due to the enormous popularity of PC games compared to Swedish game consoles, and now produces most of its own material. The Australian edition is published monthly by Perth-based Conspiracy Publishing since August 1998, but appears to have been discontinued in mid-late 2004. The Spanish edition titled "PC Juegos y Jugadores " also exists.
Both American and British magazines are published thirteen times per year (twice in December), although there are sometimes variations.
PC Gamer English
Magazine
The English Edition PC Gamer has been in a constant monthly publication since 1993. Customers get a special edition of a magazine without a headline on the cover (mastheads and BBFC ratings only).
Almost exclusively devoted to PC games, this magazine has a reputation for providing in-depth reviews.
The magazine was originally shipped with a 3.5-inch (89 mm) floppy disk that accompanied it. The demo disc CD (labeled
The 9GB DVD edition known as the DVD Gamer ran with the 2CD edition for several years, until the production of the Gamer CD edition stopped in the 162 edition. The English edition then only came with a single two-sided DVD. In August 2011, UK magazine announced to stop the disc in the 232 edition, and replaced it with more pages of content in exclusive free magazines and gifts.
Regular features
The magazine has many regular features that make up every magazine edition. This includes sections called Ã,Â' Eyewitnesses Ã,Â', Ã,Â' Preview Ã,Â', Ã, Â' Submit Ã,Â', where letters from readers spread over 2 two pages spread, at least one special feature, which reports game related issues like PC gaming effects on the environment, the review section review the latest released PC games and review titles released on the budget and Ã,Â' Extra Life Ã,Â' reporting on game mods and game culture and reviewing old games. There is also a section Ã,Â' Systems Â', which reviews and recommends hardware such as video cards and monitors. The back page of the magazine is entitled Ã,Â' It's All Over Ã,Â' and usually consists of game-related artwork such as DalÃÆ''s The Persistence of Memory version featuring items from < i> Portal . In the meantime, one of the magazine features, Ã,Â' Gamer Snap Ã,Â', where the cute photos sent by readers are printed in magazines, but the feature is discontinued and replaced with Ã, Â' Guess the game  'where the reader sends unforgettable scene pictures in a video game drawn in Microsoft Paint.
Forums and blogs
The PC Gamer blog begins to coincide with the UK PC Gamer website transfers to become part of the network of Computers and Video Games that incorporates all Future plc game magazines. This move brings some controversy, with many long-standing forum members due to the limited schedule of new forums, advertisements and slow loading times. The introduction of the blog is seen as one of the redeeming features of the switch. This blog has been updated regularly with contributions from many magazine staff. Topics covered range from controversy over violent video games, to the benefits of buying a PC over the console.
In 2010, PC Gamer relaunched their website and blog by bringing together online communities from both US and UK magazines into a single website. As a result, the PC Gamer blog now has contributions from US and UK magazines, all hosted on a new website along with forums for both magazines.
Podcasts
The PC Gamer The UK Podcast began on May 4, 2007 and ran 93 episodes up to its final episode, which was released on July 5, 2013. It has a rotating cast consisting of staff members including Chris Thursten, Tom Senior, Graham Smith , Tom Francis, and Marsh Davies. This podcast was previously hosted by Ross Atherton until his departure in June 2009 and then Tim Edwards until his departure in 2012. The host's position varied between Chris Thursten and Graham Smith from week to week. Previously every month, podcasts are recorded every two weeks. Participants discussed the games they played and news from the industry, and answered questions asked via Twitter.
Podcasts start again in March 2016 with new episodes being released every week.
PC Gamer AS
Magazine
The American Edition of PC Gamer was launched in 1994.
In 1999, Future plc, later known as Imagine media, purchased rival PC Games magazine and merged its staff into magazines.
Disk demo
Similarly for the English edition, magazines are sent with demo disks, even though diskless versions are available. CDs are replaced by DVDs in the American edition on a month-to-month basis.
When PC games with full motion video sequences (FMV) were popular in the mid to late 1990s, the Gamer PC CD-ROMs included an intricate FMV sequence featuring one of their editors. To access CD features, including demos, patches, and reviews, users have to navigate the 'basement', which is very similar to classic PC games like Myst . In this game sequence the magazine mascot, Coconut Monkey, was introduced just as the editor left the magazine, marking the transition from the FMV demo CD to a more contemporary demo menu CD which was then used.
In the September 2011 issue of PC Gamer, it was announced that they would drop the demo disk altogether and concentrate on improving the quality of the magazine, not with the promise of larger magazines printed on heavier paper stocks. The usual demo disc content will be available online.
Coconut Monkey
Coconut Monkey is the mascot for the US edition. He was created by the founding editor of Matt Firme, and imitated the Bermudan tourist jeweler. Coconut Monkey appeared on the pages of magazines, and occasionally commented on the demo discs that came with magazines. The Coconut Monkey appears in a number of game mods.
The Coconut Monkey is often used to parody vaporware by advertising an unreleased game Gravy Trader , which has scored 101% on some review disks. The character often quotes that he will do "something" (depending on the train of thought), but use the excuse "but I have no hands" as an excuse not to do it (though both his hands and fingers are clearly visible on his stomach). As an added note, he claims that he is a product of coconut (his mother) and a basher of rats Sri (his father).
Podcasts
The PC Gamer US podcast began in August 2005, and is hosted and produced by various PC Gamer editors. Regular contributors include Logan Decker, Evan Lahti, Tyler Wilde, and T.J. Hafer. Former contributors include Dan Stapleton, Dan Morris, Jeremy Williams, Greg Vederman, Chuck Osborn, Christian Salvatore, Gary Whitta, Josh Augustine, and Norman Chan. These are generally released weekly on Thursdays, but may change when groups are too busy or forget. Podcast celebrates its 100th episode on September 20, 2007, and is hosted by Dan Morris, who has not appeared since he left the EIC of PC Gamer in 2006 to become a magazine publisher. For the 200th episode that was released on 12 Nov 2009, the podcast featured two former main editors: Gary Whitta and Kristen Salvatore.
Video podcasts were also produced and featured game developers discussing new or soon-to-be-released games, as well as other well-known figures in the gaming world. It is produced semi-regularly.
Some notable guests who appeared on podcasts include Richard Garriott, Sid Meier, Chris Taylor, Fragin Doll, Jens Pulver, Chris Sigaty, and Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel.
Some episodes include game-themed quizzes. Introduced on episode 81 by Logan Decker, this segment was named Catfantastic after the book series of the same name. Logan, however, announced on Catfantastic II that the quiz show would be stopped because "after two good things, it gets boring." However, Logan hinted at later that Catfantasic could return one day. It happened in episode 133, episode 200, episode 250, episode 300 and episode 350. Episodes 250 and 300 are called LazerDeathCatFantastic and ELECTROCATFANTASTIC respectively.
On episode 119, Andy Bauman took over as producer of Jeremy Williams, who has received a different job at PC Gamer, Future US parent company, in South San Francisco. Jeremy suggests he can return as a contributor. The last podcast of Bauman is episode 258 and since then he worked on CBSi as a Video Producer for GameSpot and Giant Bomb.
Anthony Valva, PC Gamer intern at the time, took over producing podcasts until episode 274. After his apprenticeship ended, podcast production was handed over to former PCG Intern Erik Belsaas.
Ethical incident
In January 2015, author Tyler Wilde was found to have written many articles about Ubisoft while dating an Ubisoft employee under the title, "Associate Communications". This, along with the fact that Team Leader Tim Clark realizes the relationship, raises general questions about publication ethics policy. Clark and Wilde replied, pointing out that Wilde has not reviewed any Ubisoft games during the relationship, and acknowledged that the relationship should be expressed in other coverage. Clark stated, "PC Gamer writers will continue to be obliged to reveal significant personal relationships with people whose work they may be covering."
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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