PC PowerPlay
Encyclopedia
PC PowerPlay is Australia
's only dedicated PC games
magazine. Also available in New Zealand, PC PowerPlay focuses on news and reviews for upcoming and newly released games on the Microsoft Windows
platform. The magazine also reviews computer hardware for use on gaming computers. The magazine is published by Next Media Pty Limited.
The magazine comes with a DVD
which includes game demo
s, freeware games, teaser trailer
s, patches
, mods
, maps
, utilities and computer wallpaper
s. A CD
version was also available until September 2005 where it was replaced by a cheaper no CD or DVD version.
A number of notable sections that used to appear in the magazine included:
, Civilization IV
, Half-Life 2: Episode One
, Medieval II: Total War, BioShock
, Crysis
, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, Far Cry 2
, the Fallout Collection (featured in the 'Bargain Bin' section of the mag), and most recently to Mass Effect 2
and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. A 10/10 game is connoted not as a perfect game but as a masterpiece with flaws. The 10/10 system is a system which replaced the old system of percentages. PCPP states "what was the difference between a game which gets 95% and a game that gets 96%? Yet this was precisely what people argued about". Under the previous percentage system, only Wolfenstein 3D
ever received 100% (actually a 10/10 but converted to 100% when printed in review score summaries in later issues), while the next closest, 98%, were given to Deus Ex
, Falcon 4.0
, Half-Life, System Shock 2
, Total Annihilation
, and Unreal
.
The current website includes features and news, but most traffic on the site goes to the PC PowerPlay forums.
The forum database has been largely preserved across a number of technology migrations. It first began on a ColdFusion-powered site in 2001, then moved to phpBB and was converted to vBulletin in 2007.
The forums provide an environment for the discussion of gaming and computer related software and technology. Within the forums there are also sections dedicated to general chat and banter, serious discussion regarding Australian national, regional and international issues and a section for discussion of TV shows, films and music. This site is designed to allow the organization of multiplayer games amongst the PCPP readers and forum members.
The "general chat" section of the PCPP Forum is titled "Rhubarb", because of editor Anthony Fordham's love of the old British joke of having extras in movie crowd scenes say "rhubarbrhubarbrhubarb" to simulate incidental conversation.
A website re-launch occurred on the 22nd of April 2009, consisting of a customised Joomla install and layout and featured regularly updated blogs, news and features. The site again entered a period of disuse shortly thereafter.
On Wednesday, March 12, 2010, the PCPP website and forum software were replaced with a CMS provided by CyberGamer. This software also powers the cybergamer.com.au website. PCPP is now listed as a 'Media Partner' of CyberGamer whilst CyberGamer now receives advertising space within PCPP and PCPP's sister magazine, Hyper. A press release was issued on March 18 detailing the arrangement between both parties. As part of this online merger, PCPP's established community were incorporated within the CyberGamer Network. The CyberGamer Network acts as a single-sign on service for all CyberGamer-powered sites. Hyper Magazine was due to migrate their web presence to a CyberGamer network powered system on April 8, 2010.
The transition to the CyberGamer forums have generally been considered to have been handled badly by many short and long term forum participants and it remains to be seen if the level of forum participation will return to its former heights.
On the 12th August, 2010, PC Powerplay's then-editor, Anthony Fordham, announced that the PCPP Forums would be reverted back to the old vBulletin software, stating that the PC Powerplay community were not happy with the current CyberGamer software.
This conversion has stopped, as of the start of 2011, and community support continues to dwindle.
The magazine launched with a 640MB CD coverdisc, which was upgraded in 2000 to a double-CD. The DVD edition joined the lineup in 2002 alongside the CD version, and the CD version was finally dropped in 2005.
The November 2005 edition included the first discless magazine at a little over half the price of the DVD version. While sales were not spectacular, dropping the CD did slow the rate of decline of the non-DVD version of the magazine. May 2008 saw subscriptions being offered for the discless version at half the price.
The Bunker was a section of the DVD originally compiled each month by ROM, a respected member of the PCPP online community. However, following his retirement from the position (announced in issue #143), the Bunker undertook a drastic transformation and became the PCPP Community Bunker. Readers and members of the online community produced and were actively encouraged to submit to the section.
The Bunker was replaced in 2009 with a streamlined Application and Utilities section.
.
Various PC games magazines from the UK and US are sold in Australia (such as PC Gamer
and PC Zone
), but their circulations are minimal.
An Australian version of PC Gamer launched shortly after PC PowerPlay but was shut down in 1999 following a dispute between the publisher and printer.
Australian publishing company Derwent Howard launched a competitor called PC Games Addict in 2002, using some Australian content filled out by licensed content from PC Gamer in the UK and PC Format
. The magazine closed in 2005.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's only dedicated PC games
Personal computer game
A PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
magazine. Also available in New Zealand, PC PowerPlay focuses on news and reviews for upcoming and newly released games on the Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
platform. The magazine also reviews computer hardware for use on gaming computers. The magazine is published by Next Media Pty Limited.
The magazine comes with a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
which includes game 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....
s, freeware games, teaser trailer
Teaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
s, patches
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...
, mods
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...
, maps
Level (computer and video games)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
, utilities and computer wallpaper
Computer wallpaper
Wallpaper is an image used as a background of a graphical user interface on a computer screen or mobile communications device. On a computer it is usually for the desktop, while for a mobile phone it is usually the background for the 'home' or 'idle' screen...
s. A CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
version was also available until September 2005 where it was replaced by a cheaper no CD or DVD version.
Main sections
The main sections, most of which are included in each months magazine, include:- Inbox. Letters to the editor; also contains Snippets, a small section where a sentence of a writer's letter is used in a comical fashion. Currently snippets have been removed from the section.
- FRONTEND. Usually opened by a two-page screenshot of a game with bits of text scattered around the page pointing out interesting things.
- Out To Play. James Cottee discusses issues of a general gaming nature. Past contributors have included Darren Wells, Timothy C Best and Nathan Cocks.
- Guerrilla Gamer. A fictionFictionFiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al writer, Guerrilla Gamer, discusses a topic to which he usually has dislike towards. - INCOMING. A round-up of soon to be released games.
- PLAYTEST. A section where games are reviewed and given a rating out of 10, based on graphics, reliability, etc.
- TECH. The tech section includes reviews on new hardware products such as videos cards, motherboards, and monitors. An interesting section included in Tech is MyPC, where a reader has submitted a photo of their workstation and 10 funny things are pointed out by the magazine.
- Hotware. Includes commercial products, some computer related, others not, which a gamer may find interesting. Usually, there is at least one product that costs a substantial amount of money.
- Reshuffle. A review of several products, always video cards, where the frames per second and 3DMark3DMark3DMark is a computer benchmarking tool created and developed by Futuremark Corporation to determine the performance of a computer's 3D graphic rendering and CPU workload processing capabilities. Running 3DMark produces a 3DMark score with higher numbers indicating better performance...
points are stated along with a rating out of 5. - POWERTEST. Powertest is where several hardware items are reviewed for their pros and cons and given a rating out of 10.
- The Menagerie. All the components need to make a super commercial computer for crazy amounts of money. There is also "The Beastie". The Beastie is the cheaper version of the Beast using low to mid range parts which are chosen on a "bang for buck" basis. As of early 2008, there are also three cheaper, "core" systems: the coupe, the roadster and the GT.
- The Vault/Flashback. This section of the magazine alternates between two types of retrospective examinations. The Vault looks at an older game, greater than 10 years, where a key developer is interviewed and their thoughts are included on how the design process and the time after the game's release went. Examples include the original Doom, the original Ultima, and Commander Keen. Meanwhile, Flashback is a more casual look at a similarly older game, usually approached in a style seen in the Playtest reviews. Examples include The Last ExpressThe Last ExpressThe Last Express is a video game created by Jordan Mechner and Smoking Car Productions, published in 1997. It is an adventure game that takes place on the Orient Express, days before the start of World War I. It is noted as being one of the few video games that attempts to realistically simulate...
, Spycraft: The Great GameSpycraft: The Great GameSpycraft is an adventure CD-ROM game published by Activision in 1996. It details the attempted assassination of the President of the United States and the CIA and SVR attempts to save him...
and Gabriel KnightGabriel KnightGabriel Knight is a series of adventure games produced by Sierra On-Line in the 1990s. Three games were released in the series: Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery and Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned.One compilation was...
. - Yellow Boots. An occasionally amusing last page where a non-computer related topic is discussed, from the point of view of a man with a pair of apparently sentient yellow boots, with these tales often involving the author's "Crazy Ex-third flatmate" Victor Ninox.
A number of notable sections that used to appear in the magazine included:
- Tutorials. A lengthy article describing in relatively simple terms how something can be done. Usually starts with a paragraph or two why the change is good.
- Briefing. An article which explains the history or use of a specific computer part.
- On the Discs. Usually a two-page description of the software on the DVD. A short summary is given for each demo included.
- dr claw. A parody of the online gaming/IRC community written in LeetLeetLeet , also known as eleet or leetspeak, is an alternative alphabet for the English language that is used primarily on the Internet. It uses various combinations of ASCII characters to replace Latinate letters...
speak from the perspective of an early teen gamer. - Hack. A short lived comic about the antics of a PC games magazine writing team.
- Flotsam and Jetsam. A roundup of the all latest budget releases that often gave the reviewers a chance to showcase their writing skills by denigrating some of the more crappy titles on the market.
- Generation XX: Meghann O'Neill provided a look at gaming from a female perspective.
Scoring system
Each review of a game or product is given a score out of ten. PCPowerPlay has given 10/10 scores to PsychonautsPsychonauts
Psychonauts is a platform video game created by Tim Schafer, developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Majesco. The game was released on April 19, 2005, for the Xbox, April 26 for Microsoft Windows and June 21 for PlayStation 2. It was released on Steam on Oct 11, 2006, as an "Xbox...
, Civilization IV
Civilization IV
Sid Meier's Civilization IV is a turn-based strategy, 4X computer game released in 2005 and developed by lead designer Soren Johnson under the direction of Sid Meier and Meier's studio Firaxis Games. It is the fourth installment of the Civilization series...
, Half-Life 2: Episode One
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Half-Life 2: Episode One is the first in a series of episodes that serve as the sequel for the 2004 first-person shooter video game Half-Life 2. It was developed by Valve Corporation and released on June 1, 2006. Originally called Half-Life 2: Aftermath, the game was later renamed to Episode One...
, Medieval II: Total War, BioShock
Bioshock
BioShock is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Boston and designed by Ken Levine. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on August 21, 2007 in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia. It became available on Steam on August 21, 2007...
, 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...
, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, Far Cry 2
Far Cry 2
Far Cry 2 is an open world first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released on October 21, 2008 in North America and on October 23, 2008 in Europe and Australia. It was made available on Steam on October 22, 2008...
, the Fallout Collection (featured in the 'Bargain Bin' section of the mag), and most recently to Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010 and for PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011...
and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. A 10/10 game is connoted not as a perfect game but as a masterpiece with flaws. The 10/10 system is a system which replaced the old system of percentages. PCPP states "what was the difference between a game which gets 95% and a game that gets 96%? Yet this was precisely what people argued about". Under the previous percentage system, only Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D is a video game that is generally regarded by critics and gaming journalists as having both popularized the first-person shooter genre on the PC and created the basic archetype upon which all subsequent games of the same genre would be built. It was created by id Software and...
ever received 100% (actually a 10/10 but converted to 100% when printed in review score summaries in later issues), while the next closest, 98%, were given to Deus Ex
Deus Ex
Deus Ex is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role-playing video games...
, Falcon 4.0
Falcon 4.0
Falcon 4.0 is an air combat simulation originally released on December 12, 1998 by MicroProse. It is a realistic simulation of the Block 50/52 F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter in a full scale modern war set in the Korean Peninsula. Falcon 4.0s dynamic campaign engine runs autonomously...
, Half-Life, System Shock 2
System Shock 2
System Shock 2 is a 1999 first-person action role-playing video game, designed by Ken Levine for Microsoft Windows. The title is a sequel to the 1994 PC game System Shock, and was co-developed by Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios...
, Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and released on September 30, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. It was the first RTS game to feature 3D units and terrain...
, and Unreal
Unreal
Unreal is a first-person shooter video game developed by Epic MegaGames and Digital Extremes and published by GT Interactive in May 1998...
.
Associated media
In addition to the magazine itself there are several websites that are closely linked with it. The official PC PowerPlay website was launched in 2001, was taken offline following the collapse of the online division of publishing company Next Media, then lay dormant until July 2006.The current website includes features and news, but most traffic on the site goes to the PC PowerPlay forums.
The forum database has been largely preserved across a number of technology migrations. It first began on a ColdFusion-powered site in 2001, then moved to phpBB and was converted to vBulletin in 2007.
The forums provide an environment for the discussion of gaming and computer related software and technology. Within the forums there are also sections dedicated to general chat and banter, serious discussion regarding Australian national, regional and international issues and a section for discussion of TV shows, films and music. This site is designed to allow the organization of multiplayer games amongst the PCPP readers and forum members.
The "general chat" section of the PCPP Forum is titled "Rhubarb", because of editor Anthony Fordham's love of the old British joke of having extras in movie crowd scenes say "rhubarbrhubarbrhubarb" to simulate incidental conversation.
A website re-launch occurred on the 22nd of April 2009, consisting of a customised Joomla install and layout and featured regularly updated blogs, news and features. The site again entered a period of disuse shortly thereafter.
On Wednesday, March 12, 2010, the PCPP website and forum software were replaced with a CMS provided by CyberGamer. This software also powers the cybergamer.com.au website. PCPP is now listed as a 'Media Partner' of CyberGamer whilst CyberGamer now receives advertising space within PCPP and PCPP's sister magazine, Hyper. A press release was issued on March 18 detailing the arrangement between both parties. As part of this online merger, PCPP's established community were incorporated within the CyberGamer Network. The CyberGamer Network acts as a single-sign on service for all CyberGamer-powered sites. Hyper Magazine was due to migrate their web presence to a CyberGamer network powered system on April 8, 2010.
The transition to the CyberGamer forums have generally been considered to have been handled badly by many short and long term forum participants and it remains to be seen if the level of forum participation will return to its former heights.
On the 12th August, 2010, PC Powerplay's then-editor, Anthony Fordham, announced that the PCPP Forums would be reverted back to the old vBulletin software, stating that the PC Powerplay community were not happy with the current CyberGamer software.
This conversion has stopped, as of the start of 2011, and community support continues to dwindle.
DVD version and discless version
The magazine publishes two versions each issue. One is a plain magazine, while the other more expensive version includes a double-sided DVD10 disc, totalling 9GB of demos, mods and other content.The magazine launched with a 640MB CD coverdisc, which was upgraded in 2000 to a double-CD. The DVD edition joined the lineup in 2002 alongside the CD version, and the CD version was finally dropped in 2005.
The November 2005 edition included the first discless magazine at a little over half the price of the DVD version. While sales were not spectacular, dropping the CD did slow the rate of decline of the non-DVD version of the magazine. May 2008 saw subscriptions being offered for the discless version at half the price.
The Bunker was a section of the DVD originally compiled each month by ROM, a respected member of the PCPP online community. However, following his retirement from the position (announced in issue #143), the Bunker undertook a drastic transformation and became the PCPP Community Bunker. Readers and members of the online community produced and were actively encouraged to submit to the section.
The Bunker was replaced in 2009 with a streamlined Application and Utilities section.
Competition
PC PowerPlay has no direct competition in the Australian market in that there is no other Australian PC games magazine. However, there is indirect competition from technology enthusiast magazine AtomicAtomic (magazine)
Atomic is a monthly Australian magazine and online community dedicated to computing and technology, with an emphasis on gaming, modding and computer hardware. Atomic is marketed at technology enthusiasts and covers a number of topics that are not normally found in mainstream PC publications...
.
Various PC games magazines from the UK and US are sold in Australia (such as PC Gamer
PC Gamer
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...
and PC Zone
PC Zone
PC Zone was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as PC Leisure, PC Format and PC Plus had covered games but only as part of a wider remit. PC Zone was founded in 1993.The magazine was published...
), but their circulations are minimal.
An Australian version of PC Gamer launched shortly after PC PowerPlay but was shut down in 1999 following a dispute between the publisher and printer.
Australian publishing company Derwent Howard launched a competitor called PC Games Addict in 2002, using some Australian content filled out by licensed content from PC Gamer in the UK and PC Format
PC Format
PC Format is a computer magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and licensed to other publishers in countries around the world. In publication since 1991, it is part of Future Publishing's Format series of magazines that include articles about games, entertainment and how to...
. The magazine closed in 2005.