PC Gamer
Encyclopedia
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing
. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries. The magazine features news on developments in the video game industry, previews of new games, and reviews of the latest popular PC games, along with other features relating to hardware, mod
s, "classic" games and various other topics.
, Half-Life 2
, and Crysis
), while the UK edition has never awarded more than 96% (Civilization II
, Half-Life, Half-Life 2
and Quake II
).
In the UK edition, the lowest numerical score was 2%, awarded to Big Brother 1. The sequel, Big Brother 2, was given an even lower score of N/A%, the review explaining that "[PC Gamer] put as much effort into reviewing it as they did in making the game". In the US edition, the lowest score awarded was 4%, given to Mad Dog McCree
, unseating the previously lowest-rated game, Skydive!, given 5%.
. Founded in the United Kingdom in November 1993
, the American sister version was launched a year later in June 1994
.
There are also numerous local editions that mainly use the materials of one of the two editions, typically the British one, including a Malaysian and Russian
edition. The Swedish
edition, though rooted in its UK counterpart, has grown to be more independent, largely due to the immense popularity of PC games compared to console
games in Sweden, and now produces most of its own material. An Australian edition was published monthly by Perth-based Conspiracy Publishing since August 1998
, but it appears to have been discontinued in mid-late 2004. A 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.
Almost exclusively devoted to PC games, the magazine has a reputation for giving in-depth reviews.
The magazine originally shipped with an accompanying 3.5 inches (88.9 mm) floppy disk. A CD demo
disc (labelled CD Gamer) was released alongside the floppy disk edition from issue 11 onwards with the first CD Gamer containing all the content from the previous 10 issues' floppy disks. The single CD was later expanded to two CDs.
An edition with a 9 GB DVD known as DVD Gamer ran alongside the 2CD edition for a couple of years, until production of the CD Gamer edition ceased as of issue 162. The UK Edition now only comes with a single double-sided DVD. In August 2011, the UK magazine announced it was to be discontinuing the disk as of issue 232, and replacing it with more pages of content within the magazine and exclusive free gifts.
There is also a ´Systems´ section, which reviews and recommends hardware such as video cards and monitors. The back page of the magazine is entitled ´It's All Over´ and usually consists of game related artwork such as a version of Dali's
The Persistence of Memory
featuring items from Portal.
For a time, one of the magazine's features, ´Gamer Snap´, where amusing pictures sent in by readers were printed in the magazine, however the feature was discontinued and replaced with a ´Guess the game´ where readers sent in drawings of memorable scenes in video games drawn in Microsoft Paint.
In 2010, PC Gamer re-launched their website and blog by bringing together the online communities of both the US and UK magazines into one website. As a result, the PC Gamer blog now has contributions from both the US and UK magazines, all hosted at the new website along with the forums for both magazines.
, Graham Smith, Jon Hicks
or Jim Rossignol. The podcast was formerly hosted by Ross Atherton until his departure in June 2009. It is normally released a week before the release of the magazine each month, and can usually be found on the magazine's DVD in the "resources" section. The podcast starts with the PC game charts and goes on to discuss features in the current issue and gaming news.
In 1999, Future Publishing, then known as Imagine media, purchased rival magazine PC Games and merged its staff into the magazine.
According to a 2005 study, subscribers to the magazine are overwhelmingly male (97%), and make up over two thirds of the magazine's readership.
, though diskless versions are available. The CDs are replaced by DVDs in the American edition on a month-to-month basis.
When PC games with full motion video
(FMV) sequences were popular in the mid-to-late 1990s, PC Gamer's CD-ROM included elaborate FMV sequences featuring one of their editors. To access the features of the CD, including the demos, patch
es and reviews, the user had to navigate a 'basement', which played very much like classic PC games such as Myst
. It was in this game sequence that the magazine's mascot, Coconut Monkey, was introduced just as the editor was leaving the magazine, marking the transition from the FMV demo CDs to the more contemporary menu driven demo CDs that they use today.
In the September 2011 edition of PC Gamer, it was announced that they would be dropping the demo disk altogether and concentrating on improving the quality of the magazine instead with a promise of a larger magazine printed on heavier paper stock. The usual demo disk content would be made available online.
The Coconut Monkey is often used to parody vaporware
by advertising the unreleased game Gravy Trader, which has been given a 101% score on some of the review disks. The character would often cite that he would do "something" (dependent on the train of thought), but use the excuse "but I have no hands" as a reason for not doing it. As a side note, he claimed he was the product of a coconut (his mother) and a Sri Lankan rat basher (his father).
, and Norman Chan. It is generally released weekly on Thursdays, but is subject to change when the group is too busy or forgets. The podcast celebrated its 100th episode on 20 September 2007, and was hosted by Dan Morris, who had not appeared since he left the position of EIC of PC Gamer in 2006 to become the magazine's publisher. For its 200th episode released on Nov 12, 2009, the podcast featured two former editors in chief: Gary Whitta and Kristen Salvatore.
A video podcast is also produced and features game developers discussing their newly or soon to be released games, as well as other notable figures in the gaming world. It is produced on a semi-regular basis.
Several notable guests that have appeared on the podcasts include Richard Garriot, Sid Meier
, Chris Taylor
, the Frag Dolls
, Jens Pulver
, Chris Sigaty, and Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel.
To date, three episodes have included a gaming-themed quiz show. Introduced in episode 81 by Logan Decker, the segment is named Catfantastic after the book series of the same name. Logan, however, announced on Catfantastic II that the quiz show would be discontinued because "after two good things, it gets boring." However, Logan hinted in later episodes that Catfantasic could return some day. It did in episode 133, episode 200, and episode 250.
As of episode 119, Andy Bauman has taken over as producer from Jeremy Williams, who accepted a job at Future US in South San Francisco. (While Jeremy will be working in the same office with the PC Gamer crew, his new responsibilities left him no time to continue on as podcast producer. He has hinted he may return as a contributor.) Andy lives in Salt Lake City, Utah
. Andy's last podcast was episode 258. Podcast production was subsequently moved in house.
Future Publishing
Future plc is a media company; in 2006, it was the sixth-largest in the United Kingdom. It publishes more than 150 magazines in fields such as video games, technology, automotive, cycling, films and photography. Future is the official magazine company of all three major games console manufacturers...
. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries. The magazine features news on developments in the video game industry, previews of new games, and reviews of the latest popular PC games, along with other features relating to hardware, mod
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
s, "classic" games and various other topics.
Review system
PC Gamer reviews are written by the magazine's editors and freelance writers, and rate games on a percent scale. In the US edition, no game has yet received a rating higher than 98% (Sid Meier's Alpha CentauriSid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is the critically acclaimed science fiction 4X turn-based strategy video game sequel to the Civilization series. Sid Meier, designer of Civilization, and Brian Reynolds, designer of Civilization II, developed Alpha Centauri after they left MicroProse to join the newly...
, Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
, and Crysis
Crysis
Crysis is a science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek , published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, and released in November 2007. It is the first game of a trilogy. A separate game entitled Crysis Warhead was released on September 12, 2008, and follows similar...
), while the UK edition has never awarded more than 96% (Civilization II
Civilization II
Sid Meier's Civilization II is a turn-based strategy computer game designed by Brian Reynolds, Douglas Caspian-Kaufman and Jeff Briggs. Although it is a sequel to Sid Meier's Civilization, neither Sid Meier nor Bruce Shelley was involved in its development.Civilization II was first released in...
, Half-Life, Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
and Quake II
Quake II
Quake II, released on December 9, 1997, is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Id Software and distributed by Activision. It is not a sequel to Quake; it merely uses the name of the former game due to Id's difficulties in coming up with alternative names.The soundtrack for Quake II...
).
In the UK edition, the lowest numerical score was 2%, awarded to Big Brother 1. The sequel, Big Brother 2, was given an even lower score of N/A%, the review explaining that "[PC Gamer] put as much effort into reviewing it as they did in making the game". In the US edition, the lowest score awarded was 4%, given to Mad Dog McCree
Mad Dog McCree
Mad Dog McCree is the first live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games. It originally appeared as an arcade shooting game in 1990....
, unseating the previously lowest-rated game, Skydive!, given 5%.
Editions
There are two main editions of PC Gamer, a British version and an American version, both are published by Future PublishingFuture Publishing
Future plc is a media company; in 2006, it was the sixth-largest in the United Kingdom. It publishes more than 150 magazines in fields such as video games, technology, automotive, cycling, films and photography. Future is the official magazine company of all three major games console manufacturers...
. Founded in the United Kingdom in November 1993
1993 in video gaming
-Events:*March — In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY starts. The original name is Super Power.*Midway Games embroiled in controversy for its game Mortal Kombat from 1992 when the game is launched for video game consoles in 1993....
, the American sister version was launched a year later in June 1994
1994 in video gaming
-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
.
There are also numerous local editions that mainly use the materials of one of the two editions, typically the British one, including a Malaysian and Russian
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
edition. The Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
edition, though rooted in its UK counterpart, has grown to be more independent, largely due to the immense popularity of PC games compared to console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
games in Sweden, and now produces most of its own material. An Australian edition was published monthly by Perth-based Conspiracy Publishing since August 1998
1998 in video gaming
-Events:*Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo to the AIAS Hall of Fame*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 1st annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards...
, but it appears to have been discontinued in mid-late 2004. A Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
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.
Magazine
The British edition of PC Gamer has been in constant monthly publication since 1993. Subscribers get a special edition of the magazine with no headlines on the front cover (only the masthead and BBFC rating).Almost exclusively devoted to PC games, the magazine has a reputation for giving in-depth reviews.
The magazine originally shipped with an accompanying 3.5 inches (88.9 mm) floppy disk. A CD demo
Game demo
A game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version....
disc (labelled CD Gamer) was released alongside the floppy disk edition from issue 11 onwards with the first CD Gamer containing all the content from the previous 10 issues' floppy disks. The single CD was later expanded to two CDs.
An edition with a 9 GB DVD known as DVD Gamer ran alongside the 2CD edition for a couple of years, until production of the CD Gamer edition ceased as of issue 162. The UK Edition now only comes with a single double-sided DVD. In August 2011, the UK magazine announced it was to be discontinuing the disk as of issue 232, and replacing it with more pages of content within the magazine and exclusive free gifts.
Regular features
The magazine has many regular features which make up each edition of the magazine. These include sections called ´Eyewitness´, ´Previews´, ´Send´, where letters from the readers are spread over 2 two page spreads, at least one special feature, which reports on gaming related issues such as the effect of PC gaming on the environment, a review section which reviews the latest released PC games and re-reviews titles that have been released on budget and ´Extra Life´ which reports on modding games and gaming culture and revisiting old games.There is also a ´Systems´ section, which reviews and recommends hardware such as video cards and monitors. The back page of the magazine is entitled ´It's All Over´ and usually consists of game related artwork such as a version of Dali's
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
The Persistence of Memory
The Persistence of Memory
The Persistence of Memory is a 1931 painting by artist Salvador Dalí, and is one of his most recognizable works. The painting has been in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1934...
featuring items from Portal.
For a time, one of the magazine's features, ´Gamer Snap´, where amusing pictures sent in by readers were printed in the magazine, however the feature was discontinued and replaced with a ´Guess the game´ where readers sent in drawings of memorable scenes in video games drawn in Microsoft Paint.
Forum and blog
The PC Gamer blog was started to coincide with the transfer of the PC Gamer UK site to become part of the Computer and Video Games network which incorporates all of Future Publishing's gaming magazines. The move brought some controversy, with many long standing members of the forum leaving due to the new forum's cramped spacing, advertising and slow loading times. The introduction of a blog was seen as one of the redeeming features of the switch. The blog has since been regularly updated with contributions from many of the magazine's staff. The topics discussed range from the controversy over violent video games, to the benefits of buying a PC over a console.In 2010, PC Gamer re-launched their website and blog by bringing together the online communities of both the US and UK magazines into one website. As a result, the PC Gamer blog now has contributions from both the US and UK magazines, all hosted at the new website along with the forums for both magazines.
Podcast
The PC Gamer UK podcast was started on the 4 May 2007. It is currently hosted by Tim Edwards with regulars Tom Francis and Craig Pearson contributing. There is a fourth spot filled by one of John Walker, Kieron GillenKieron Gillen
Kieron Gillen is a British computer games and music journalist, as well as a comic book author. Gillen has worked for many years as a video game journalist and has, more recently, worked on various comics. He is perhaps best known for his creator-owned comic Phonogram, created with artist Jamie...
, Graham Smith, Jon Hicks
Jon Hicks (journalist)
Jon Hicks is the editor-in-chief of the UK edition of the Official Xbox Magazine. He wrote the first published review of Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV....
or Jim Rossignol. The podcast was formerly hosted by Ross Atherton until his departure in June 2009. It is normally released a week before the release of the magazine each month, and can usually be found on the magazine's DVD in the "resources" section. The podcast starts with the PC game charts and goes on to discuss features in the current issue and gaming news.
Magazine
The American edition of PC Gamer launched in 1994.In 1999, Future Publishing, then known as Imagine media, purchased rival magazine PC Games and merged its staff into the magazine.
According to a 2005 study, subscribers to the magazine are overwhelmingly male (97%), and make up over two thirds of the magazine's readership.
Demo disk
Similarly to the British edition, the magazine ships with a demo diskGame demo
A game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version....
, though diskless versions are available. The CDs are replaced by DVDs in the American edition on a month-to-month basis.
When PC games with full motion video
Full motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
(FMV) sequences were popular in the mid-to-late 1990s, PC Gamer's CD-ROM included elaborate FMV sequences featuring one of their editors. To access the features of the CD, including the demos, patch
Patch (computing)
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
es and reviews, the user had to navigate a 'basement', which played very much like classic PC games such as Myst
Myst
Myst is a graphic adventure video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan , a Spokane, Washington––based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in and released it for the Mac OS computer on September...
. It was in this game sequence that the magazine's mascot, Coconut Monkey, was introduced just as the editor was leaving the magazine, marking the transition from the FMV demo CDs to the more contemporary menu driven demo CDs that they use today.
In the September 2011 edition of PC Gamer, it was announced that they would be dropping the demo disk altogether and concentrating on improving the quality of the magazine instead with a promise of a larger magazine printed on heavier paper stock. The usual demo disk content would be made available online.
Coconut Monkey
Coconut Monkey is the mascot for the US edition. He was created by founding editor Matt Firme, and modelled on a Bermudan tourist trinket. Coconut Monkey appears in the pages of the magazine, and has occasionally provided commentary on demo discs included with the magazine. The Coconut Monkey appears in a number of game mods.The Coconut Monkey is often used to parody vaporware
Vaporware
Vaporware is a term in the computer industry that describes a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is never actually released nor officially canceled. Vaporware is also a term sometimes used to describe events that are announced or predicted,...
by advertising the unreleased game Gravy Trader, which has been given a 101% score on some of the review disks. The character would often cite that he would do "something" (dependent on the train of thought), but use the excuse "but I have no hands" as a reason for not doing it. As a side note, he claimed he was the product of a coconut (his mother) and a Sri Lankan rat basher (his father).
Podcast
The PC Gamer US podcast started in August 2005, and is hosted and produced by various PC Gamer editors. Regular contributors include Logan Decker, Dan Stapleton, and Evan Lahti. Former contributors include Dan Morris, Jeremy Williams, Greg Vederman, Chuck Osborn, Kristen Salvatore, Gary WhittaGary Whitta
Gary Whitta is an English screenwriter, author, game designer, and video games journalist. He is known as the former editor-in-chief of both the UK and US editions of PC Gamer magazine and contributor to gaming magazine, ACE....
, and Norman Chan. It is generally released weekly on Thursdays, but is subject to change when the group is too busy or forgets. The podcast celebrated its 100th episode on 20 September 2007, and was hosted by Dan Morris, who had not appeared since he left the position of EIC of PC Gamer in 2006 to become the magazine's publisher. For its 200th episode released on Nov 12, 2009, the podcast featured two former editors in chief: Gary Whitta and Kristen Salvatore.
A video podcast is also produced and features game developers discussing their newly or soon to be released games, as well as other notable figures in the gaming world. It is produced on a semi-regular basis.
Several notable guests that have appeared on the podcasts include Richard Garriot, Sid Meier
Sid Meier
Sidney K. "Sid" Meier is a Canadian programmer and designer of several popular computer strategy games, most notably Civilization. He has won accolades for his contributions to the computer games industry...
, Chris Taylor
Christopher Taylor (game designer)
Christopher "Chris" Taylor is a computer, board and card game developer originally from Southern California. Taylor is most famous for designing the original Fallout title for Interplay Entertainment, along with Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky and Jason Anderson. While at Interplay, Taylor contributed...
, the Frag Dolls
Frag Dolls
The Frag Dolls are a group of girl gamers recruited and employed by Ubisoft with the aim of promoting women in gaming and in particular the promotion of games made by Ubisoft. The Frag Dolls are all avid gamers...
, Jens Pulver
Jens Pulver
Jens Johnnie Pulver is an American mixed martial artist . He was the first Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion and was a coach on the The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show, which aired on Spike TV. He was formerly signed as a featherweight with World Extreme Cagefighting , which is...
, Chris Sigaty, and Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel.
To date, three episodes have included a gaming-themed quiz show. Introduced in episode 81 by Logan Decker, the segment is named Catfantastic after the book series of the same name. Logan, however, announced on Catfantastic II that the quiz show would be discontinued because "after two good things, it gets boring." However, Logan hinted in later episodes that Catfantasic could return some day. It did in episode 133, episode 200, and episode 250.
As of episode 119, Andy Bauman has taken over as producer from Jeremy Williams, who accepted a job at Future US in South San Francisco. (While Jeremy will be working in the same office with the PC Gamer crew, his new responsibilities left him no time to continue on as podcast producer. He has hinted he may return as a contributor.) Andy lives in Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. Andy's last podcast was episode 258. Podcast production was subsequently moved in house.