Hardcore Gamer Magazine
Encyclopedia
Hardcore Gamer magazine
is an American
video game magazine published by Robert Kotick
. First published in 2005, Hardcore Gamer has had over 30 issues published and has since spawned a website, Hardcore Gamer.
Hardcore Gamer concentrates on "hardcore" or niche
video games titles, such as Peggle
and Minecraft
. Every issue contains specialty features
which differ from what more mainstream
magazines generally cover. The Graveyard
feature, for instance, covers forgotten retro
games. Although usually focusing on specialty games, Hardcore Gamer has featured cover stories for larger releases such as Dead Space
and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
.
drawn. Beginning in 2008, Hardcore Gamer changed its format. Switching from monthly to quarterly, Hardcore Gamer shifted their review coverage to the newly launched website, Hardcore Gamer Online. In addition to the change of format, Hardcore Gamers logo was changed and the magazine began to be referred to as simply Hardcore Gamer. On January 6, 2009, the gaming blog Kotaku
reported that Hardcore Gamer was listed for sale on auction website eBay
. It was listed with a starting bid of US $42,000.00. The auction was ended early by the seller on January 13, 2009 at 15:57:21 PST. The listing had indicated that if no buyer was found, the magazine would continue to be published.
. Both magazines have an emphasis on the hardcore gaming community and feature article layouts stylistically embedded with images. In addition to Tim Lindquist, Terry Wolfinger and Greg Off, who were key staff of GameFan, both work on Hardcore Gamer.
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
video game magazine published by Robert Kotick
Robert Kotick
Robert A. Kotick , also known as Bobby Kotick, is the CEO, president, and a director of Activision Blizzard.- Early career :...
. First published in 2005, Hardcore Gamer has had over 30 issues published and has since spawned a website, Hardcore Gamer.
Hardcore Gamer concentrates on "hardcore" or niche
Niche market
A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing; therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact...
video games titles, such as Peggle
Peggle
Peggle is a casual puzzle video game developed by Sukhbir Sidhu and Brian Rothstein of PopCap Games. Initially released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X systems in 2007, it has since had versions released for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, the Nintendo DS , Windows Mobile, the iPod, the...
and Minecraft
Minecraft
Minecraft is a sandbox-building independent video game written in Java originally by Swedish creator Markus "Notch" Persson and now by his company, Mojang, formed from the proceeds of the game. It was released as an alpha on May 17, 2009, with a beta version on December 20, 2010...
. Every issue contains specialty features
Feature story
- Published Features & news :While the distinction between published features and news is often clear, when approached conceptually there are few hard boundaries between the two. It is quite possible to write a feature in the style of a news story, for instance...
which differ from what more mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
magazines generally cover. The Graveyard
Graveyard
A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
feature, for instance, covers forgotten retro
Retro
Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc...
games. Although usually focusing on specialty games, Hardcore Gamer has featured cover stories for larger releases such as Dead Space
Dead Space (video game)
Dead Space is a survival horror third-person shooter video game, developed by EA Redwood Shores for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was made available on Steam on October 20, 2008...
and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
is a video game developed by Kojima Productions for the PlayStation 3 console. The game was directed by Hideo Kojima and made its worldwide release on June 12, 2008, ten years after the release of Metal Gear Solid and twenty years after the North American release of Metal Gear.Guns of the Patriots...
.
History
Hardcore Gamer magazine printed its first issue in June 2005. While most magazines were strictly print, Hardcore Gamer offered free copies of every issue in PDF file format in addition to the hard copies. Until April 2007, nearly every issue's cover was handHand
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered extremity located at the end of an arm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs...
drawn. Beginning in 2008, Hardcore Gamer changed its format. Switching from monthly to quarterly, Hardcore Gamer shifted their review coverage to the newly launched website, Hardcore Gamer Online. In addition to the change of format, Hardcore Gamers logo was changed and the magazine began to be referred to as simply Hardcore Gamer. On January 6, 2009, the gaming blog Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
reported that Hardcore Gamer was listed for sale on auction website eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
. It was listed with a starting bid of US $42,000.00. The auction was ended early by the seller on January 13, 2009 at 15:57:21 PST. The listing had indicated that if no buyer was found, the magazine would continue to be published.
Related publications
Many call Hardcore Gamer the spiritual successor to the popular 1990s magazine GameFan. Tim Schafer, the founder of Hardcore Gamer, co-founded GameFan with Dave HalversonDave Halverson
Dave Halverson is the founder of video game magazines GameFan, Gamer's Republic, Play and currently the new version of "Gamefan," which comes in digital PDF versions as well as print....
. Both magazines have an emphasis on the hardcore gaming community and feature article layouts stylistically embedded with images. In addition to Tim Lindquist, Terry Wolfinger and Greg Off, who were key staff of GameFan, both work on Hardcore Gamer.