Videogames journalism
Encyclopedia
Video game journalism is a branch of journalism
concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games. It is typically based on a core reveal/preview/review cycle. There has been a recent growth in online publications and blogs.
The first consumer oriented print magazine dedicated solely to video gaming was Computer and Video Games
which premiered in the U.K.
in November 1981, two weeks ahead of the U.S.
launch of the next oldest video gaming publication Electronic Games magazine.
The oldest video game publication still in continuous circulation (as of 2008) was Computer Gaming World
, or CGW (now known as Games For Windows), which also debuted in 1981 but does not get credit for being first all around as it began publication as a bi-weekly newsletter before becoming a full scale magazine.
in April of 1992, Game Zero magazine
, claims to have launched a web page in November of 1994, with the earliest formal announcement of the page occurring in April of 1995. Game Zero's web site was based upon a printed bi-monthly magazine based in Central Ohio
with a circulation of 1500 that developed into a CD-ROM based magazine with a circulation of 150,000 at its peak. The website was updated weekly during its active period from 1994-1996.
Another publication, Intelligent Gamer Online ("IG Online") debuted a complete web site in April of 1995, commencing regular updates to the site on a daily basis despite its "bi-weekly" name. Intelligent Gamer had been publishing online for years prior to the popularization of the web, originally having been based upon a downloadable "Intelligent Gamer" publication developed by Joe Barlow and Jeremy Horwitz in 1993. This evolved further under Horwitz and Usenet-based publisher Anthony Shubert into "Intelligent Gamer Online" interactive online mini-sites for America Online (AOL) and the Los Angeles Times' TimesLink/Prodigy online services in late 1994 and early 1995. At the time, it was called "the first national videogame magazine found only online."
Game Zero Magazine ceased active publication at the end of 1996 and is maintained as an archive site. Efforts by Horwitz and Shubert, backed by a strong library of built up web content eventually allowed IG Online to be acquired by Sendai Publishing and Ziff Davis Media, the publishers of then-leading United States print publication Electronic Gaming Monthly who transformed the publication into a separate print property in February 1996.
. Gaming is a technological past-time, thus many gamers, defined here as those interested enough to consider purchasing printed gaming publications, can use the Internet for finding relevant information. This, coupled with the fast pace of the games industry, has eroded the influence of print in computer game journalism. For contrast a typical print magazine is published monthly, and will have on average a three month lead time between when any given article or review is written to when it is finally delivered into the readers hands. This creates a situation where print media is always a couple of months behind their on-line counterparts in covering news.
Future Publishing
exemplifies the old media's decline in the games sector. In 2003 the group saw multi-million GBP profits and strong growth, but by early 2006 were issuing profit warnings and closing unprofitable magazines (none related to gaming). Then, in late November 2006, the publisher reported both a pre-tax loss of £49 million ($96 million USD
) and the sale - in order to reduce its level of bank debt - of Italian subsidiary Future Media Italy.
In mid-2006 Eurogamer
's business development manager Pat Garratt wrote a criticism of those in print games journalism who had not adapted to the web, drawing on his own prior experience in print to offer an explanation of both the challenges facing companies like Future Publishing and why he believed they had not overcome them.
This then combined with the move away from mass media outlets towards niche experts to create a growing market for bespoke games writing. This gaming coverage, rather than trying to be objective, acknowledges that it is written from a certain perspective. Some outlets, Game People
's social media for example, even use this bias as a unique selling point of their content.
s about games have been around since the advent of the first home consoles, it was the inclusion of the internet
in the lives of most gamers that gave independent writers a real voice in video game journalism. At first ignored by most major game publishers, it was not until the communities developed an influential and dedicated readership, and increasingly produced professional (or near-professional) writing that the sites gained the attention of these larger companies.
Independent video game websites are generally non-profit, with any revenue going back towards hosting costs and, occasionally, paying its writers. As their name suggests, they are not affiliated with any companies or studios, though bias is inherent in the unregulated model to which they subscribe. While many independent sites take the form of blogs (the vast majority in fact, depending on how low down the ladder you look), the 'user-submitted' model, where readers write stories that are moderated by an editorial team, is also popular.
In recent times some of the larger independent sites have begun to be bought up by larger media companies, most often Ziff Davis Media, who now own a string of independent sites.
Conflicts of interest
Time spent on the game
term, coined in 2004 by journalist Kieron Gillen
, in which personal anecdotes, references to other media, and creative analyses are used to explore game design
, play, and culture. It is a model of New Journalism
applied to video game journalism
. Gillen's NGJ manifesto was first published on the now defunct state forum/website, a community of videogame players often engaged in discussion and analysis of their hobby, from which an anecdotal piece, Bow Nigger, had appeared. Gillen cites the work as a major inspiration for and example of what NGJ should achieve and the piece was later republished in the UK edition of PC Gamer
, a magazine with which Gillen has close professional ties.
Most New Games Journalism articles are not reviews of games in the traditional sense. They can instead be understood as being analogous to travel journalism, where the writer responds to subjective experiences presented to them by the game world, as well as interactions with other players online, real-world events surrounding gameplay, and other personal experiences and anecdotes which create a unique story. The story is not necessarily indicative of the experience any other player will have with the game and will be unlikely to offer any objective value-judgements regarding the game's merits or failings. Instead attention is focused on the subjective experience of the person playing the game.
, Kotaku
, Destructoid
, Gaming-Unleashed, ScrewAttack
Online - 1UP
, IGN
, GameSpot
, GameSpy
, GamesRadar
, Eurogamer
, Bitmob, ScrewAttack
, Gaming-Unleashed
Video-based - GameTrailers
, ScrewAttack
Strategy guides, and previews - Prima Games
Print
Television
Online - Gamasutra
Print/Online - MCV
Online - GamesIndustry.biz
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games. It is typically based on a core reveal/preview/review cycle. There has been a recent growth in online publications and blogs.
History of print based video gaming magazines
The first magazine to cover the video game industry which is still in continuous publication is the subscription only, trade periodical Play Meter magazine which began publication in 1974 and covered the entire coin-operated entertainment industry.The first consumer oriented print magazine dedicated solely to video gaming was Computer and Video Games
Computer and Video Games (magazine)
Computer and Video Games is a video game magazine and website published in the United Kingdom.- History :...
which premiered in the U.K.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in November 1981, two weeks ahead of the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
launch of the next oldest video gaming publication Electronic Games magazine.
The oldest video game publication still in continuous circulation (as of 2008) was Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
, or CGW (now known as Games For Windows), which also debuted in 1981 but does not get credit for being first all around as it began publication as a bi-weekly newsletter before becoming a full scale magazine.
History of web based video gaming magazines
There are conflicting claims regarding which of the first two electronic video game magazines was the "first to be published regularly" online. Originally starting as a print fanzineFanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
in April of 1992, Game Zero magazine
Game Zero magazine
Game Zero Magazine was a U.S. based video game magazine published from 1992 to 1998 . Initially starting out as a photo-copy based zine with a print circulation of 500. By the start of 1994 the publication had become a two-color magazine with a print circulation of 1,500, published bi-monthly...
, claims to have launched a web page in November of 1994, with the earliest formal announcement of the page occurring in April of 1995. Game Zero's web site was based upon a printed bi-monthly magazine based in Central Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
with a circulation of 1500 that developed into a CD-ROM based magazine with a circulation of 150,000 at its peak. The website was updated weekly during its active period from 1994-1996.
Another publication, Intelligent Gamer Online ("IG Online") debuted a complete web site in April of 1995, commencing regular updates to the site on a daily basis despite its "bi-weekly" name. Intelligent Gamer had been publishing online for years prior to the popularization of the web, originally having been based upon a downloadable "Intelligent Gamer" publication developed by Joe Barlow and Jeremy Horwitz in 1993. This evolved further under Horwitz and Usenet-based publisher Anthony Shubert into "Intelligent Gamer Online" interactive online mini-sites for America Online (AOL) and the Los Angeles Times' TimesLink/Prodigy online services in late 1994 and early 1995. At the time, it was called "the first national videogame magazine found only online."
Game Zero Magazine ceased active publication at the end of 1996 and is maintained as an archive site. Efforts by Horwitz and Shubert, backed by a strong library of built up web content eventually allowed IG Online to be acquired by Sendai Publishing and Ziff Davis Media, the publishers of then-leading United States print publication Electronic Gaming Monthly who transformed the publication into a separate print property in February 1996.
New Media and games journalism
The traditional video games press has suffered the most at the hands of new mediaNew media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
. Gaming is a technological past-time, thus many gamers, defined here as those interested enough to consider purchasing printed gaming publications, can use the Internet for finding relevant information. This, coupled with the fast pace of the games industry, has eroded the influence of print in computer game journalism. For contrast a typical print magazine is published monthly, and will have on average a three month lead time between when any given article or review is written to when it is finally delivered into the readers hands. This creates a situation where print media is always a couple of months behind their on-line counterparts in covering news.
Future Publishing
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...
exemplifies the old media's decline in the games sector. In 2003 the group saw multi-million GBP profits and strong growth, but by early 2006 were issuing profit warnings and closing unprofitable magazines (none related to gaming). Then, in late November 2006, the publisher reported both a pre-tax loss of £49 million ($96 million USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
) and the sale - in order to reduce its level of bank debt - of Italian subsidiary Future Media Italy.
In mid-2006 Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
's business development manager Pat Garratt wrote a criticism of those in print games journalism who had not adapted to the web, drawing on his own prior experience in print to offer an explanation of both the challenges facing companies like Future Publishing and why he believed they had not overcome them.
This then combined with the move away from mass media outlets towards niche experts to create a growing market for bespoke games writing. This gaming coverage, rather than trying to be objective, acknowledges that it is written from a certain perspective. Some outlets, Game People
Game People
Game People is a UK based video game review website whose style, which could be categorised as New Games Journalism, is centered on video game coverage that focuses as much on the people playing the games as the games themselves...
's social media for example, even use this bias as a unique selling point of their content.
Independent games journalism
While self-made print fanzineFanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
s about games have been around since the advent of the first home consoles, it was the inclusion of the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
in the lives of most gamers that gave independent writers a real voice in video game journalism. At first ignored by most major game publishers, it was not until the communities developed an influential and dedicated readership, and increasingly produced professional (or near-professional) writing that the sites gained the attention of these larger companies.
Independent video game websites are generally non-profit, with any revenue going back towards hosting costs and, occasionally, paying its writers. As their name suggests, they are not affiliated with any companies or studios, though bias is inherent in the unregulated model to which they subscribe. While many independent sites take the form of blogs (the vast majority in fact, depending on how low down the ladder you look), the 'user-submitted' model, where readers write stories that are moderated by an editorial team, is also popular.
In recent times some of the larger independent sites have begun to be bought up by larger media companies, most often Ziff Davis Media, who now own a string of independent sites.
Ethics
The computer and video game media industry is criticised for holding lax journalistic standards. Reviews are the most controversial area, with issues in the following areas:Conflicts of interest
- A publication reviewing a game when it has received advertising revenue from the game's publishers or has been invited to lavish 'press day' parties is often held in suspicion. Reviews by 'official' console magazines such as Nintendo PowerNintendo PowerNintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
, Official PlayStation MagazineOfficial PlayStation MagazineOfficial U.S. PlayStation Magazine is a now-defunct monthly video game magazine, published by Ziff Davis Media. It was a sister publication of Electronic Gaming Monthly. The magazine focused exclusively on PlayStation hardware, software, and culture, covering the original PlayStation, PlayStation...
or the Official Xbox MagazineOfficial Xbox MagazineOfficial Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and...
, all of which have direct financial ties to their respective platform holders, usually find themselves in similar positions. Publishers have been known to withhold material and/or advertising money from publications that do not adhere to their wishes (e.g. making the game in question the cover story) or do not show the game in a positive light.
Time spent on the game
- Unlike linear media, getting a complete sense of a game can require far longer than the time it takes to play it from start to end. Further to this, games such as RPGs can last for hundreds of hours. Computer and video game reviewers therefore tread a fine line between producing timely copy and playing enough of a game to be able to reliably critique it.
- A famous exposé of underplaying was published by Penny ArcadePenny Arcade (webcomic)Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic...
's Mike KrahulikMike KrahulikMike Krahulik is the artist for the popular webcomic Penny Arcade and co-founder with Jerry Holkins of Child's Play, a multimillion dollar charity that organizes toy drives for children's hospitals. He goes by the online moniker "Jon Gabriel" or "Gabe"...
in September 2006: he dissected a review of Enchanted ArmsEnchanted ArmsEnchanted Arms is a science fiction/fantasy-based role-playing game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Although the game was intended to be an Xbox 360 launch title for the Japanese market, its release date was pushed back to , by the developer, From Software...
and among other findings concluded that the reviewer had barely played three hours of the game's fifty before forming his opinion. This conclusion was later refuted by the review's assigning editor, citing proof of the reviewer's completion of the game.
New Games Journalism
New Games Journalism (NGJ) is a video game journalismJournalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
term, coined in 2004 by journalist Kieron Gillen
Kieron 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...
, in which personal anecdotes, references to other media, and creative analyses are used to explore game design
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
, play, and culture. It is a model of New Journalism
New Journalism
New Journalism was a style of 1960s and 1970s news writing and journalism which used literary techniques deemed unconventional at the time. The term was codified with its current meaning by Tom Wolfe in a 1973 collection of journalism articles he published as The New Journalism, which included...
applied to video game journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
. Gillen's NGJ manifesto was first published on the now defunct state forum/website, a community of videogame players often engaged in discussion and analysis of their hobby, from which an anecdotal piece, Bow Nigger, had appeared. Gillen cites the work as a major inspiration for and example of what NGJ should achieve and the piece was later republished in the UK edition of 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...
, a magazine with which Gillen has close professional ties.
Most New Games Journalism articles are not reviews of games in the traditional sense. They can instead be understood as being analogous to travel journalism, where the writer responds to subjective experiences presented to them by the game world, as well as interactions with other players online, real-world events surrounding gameplay, and other personal experiences and anecdotes which create a unique story. The story is not necessarily indicative of the experience any other player will have with the game and will be unlikely to offer any objective value-judgements regarding the game's merits or failings. Instead attention is focused on the subjective experience of the person playing the game.
Publications of note
- See: :Category:Video game websites
- See: :Category:Video game magazines
Consumer
Blogs - JoystiqJoystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
, 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...
, Destructoid
Destructoid
Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month...
, Gaming-Unleashed, ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
- Four mass-appeal blogs that rose to prominence at similar times. Often carrying the latest rumours and hype, they are viewed as being the primary tabloid games journalism sites.
Online - 1UP
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
, GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
, Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
, Bitmob, ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
, Gaming-Unleashed
- Nine notable examples online games journalism. All attempt to cater to a wide audience, contain enormous amounts of information on all the major platforms, offer paid subscriptions (with the exception of 1UP, GamesRadar, and Eurogamer) and have extensive community features.
Video-based - GameTrailers
GameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
, ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
- A media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming (such as reviews and previews), game trailers and recorded game play. Many of the video clips are offered in high definition along with standard definition.
Strategy guides, and previews - Prima Games
Prima Games
Prima Games, a division of Random House, is the largest publishing company of video game strategy guides in the United States. It is an imprint of the Random House Information Group, based in Roseville, California...
- One of the biggest producers of video game strategy guides, with over 1000 published books, both Official and Unauthorized, publishers of walkthroughs as well as reviews and previews, of console and home computer programs. See also List of Prima Games guides.
- Edge
- FamitsuFamitsuis a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
- GameProGameProGamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
- Game InformerGame InformerGame Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
- Nintendo PowerNintendo PowerNintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
- Official PlayStation MagazineOfficial PlayStation MagazineOfficial U.S. PlayStation Magazine is a now-defunct monthly video game magazine, published by Ziff Davis Media. It was a sister publication of Electronic Gaming Monthly. The magazine focused exclusively on PlayStation hardware, software, and culture, covering the original PlayStation, PlayStation...
(United StatesPlayStation: The Official MagazinePlayStation: The Official Magazine is a magazine originally known as PlayStation Magazine . After Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was canceled, Sony Computer Entertainment announced on October 1, 2007 that PSM would become "PlayStation: The Official Magazine"...
, United KingdomPlayStation Official Magazine (UK)The Official UK PlayStation Magazine is a now-defunct magazine, launched in November 1995 to coincide with the launch of the PlayStation console. It ran for 108 issues, with the last hitting news stands in March 2004. The first issue sold 37,000 copies...
, AustraliaOfficial PlayStation Magazine (Australia)Official PlayStation Magazine is a magazine published by Media Factory Pty. Ltd. The magazine was previously called Official PlayStation 2 Magazine but changed its name to coincide with the release of the PlayStation 3...
) - Official Xbox MagazineOfficial Xbox MagazineOfficial Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and...
- Play
- PC GamerPC GamerPC 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...
- BioGamer Girl MagazineBioGamer Girl MagazineBioGamer Girl is an internationally-distributed US publication dedicated to females in the genres of horror and gaming since 2010.According to the Better Business Bureau of North Alabama, BioGamer Girl is a Limited Liability Corporation and a publisher's magazine that is located in Fyffe, Alabama,...
Television
- Good GameGood GameGood Game is an Australian video gaming talk show television programme created by Janet Carr and Jeremy Ray currently on ABC2. It premiered on ABC on 19 September 2006...
- X-PlayX-PlayX-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
- GameTrailers TVGame HeadGameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley is a television show about video games hosted by video game journalist Geoff Keighley. Originally titled Game Head, on January 25, 2008, the show relaunched under its current name with a slightly different format and further incorporation of GameTrailers hosts,...
Trade publications
Print - Game Developer MagazineGame Developer Magazine
Game Developer magazine is the premier publication for working video game creators, and reaches over 35,000 industry professionals monthly. Each month, industry leaders and experts share technical solutions, review new game development tools, and discuss strategies for creating innovative,...
Online - Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
- The largest games trade magazine (circ 35 000), and its associated website. A focus on North America.
Print/Online - MCV
Market for Home Computing and Video Games
MCV is a United Kingdom-based trade magazine which focuses on business aspects of the video game industry, including game retailing. It is published every Friday and is available freely online or via print subscription...
- UK trade publication (circ 10 000). Unusually, it is published weekly.
Online - GamesIndustry.biz
- Popular trade website for Europe.
External links
- International Game Journalists Association
- Video Game Media Watch
- So You Want to Be a Games Journalist: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
- The New Games Journalism
- Ten Unmissable Examples of New Games Journalism
- The Gamer's Quarter Collaborative NGJ irregular quarterly and related forums
- GameDaily BIZ's Media Watch column