PC Gamer Magazine Subscription

PC Gamer
$7.99 / $9.99 CDN (with the demo CD).
They used to have an edition on the newsstand for $3.99 US that didn't have the CD, but I don't know if that exists anymore. I haven't seen it recently.

With the rise of the Internet, the need for video game magazines was lessened quite a bit, but you wouldn't know that from the plethora of magazines out there. The immediacy of reviews on the Internet (as opposed to waiting two months or more for a magazine to get to it) means that the magazines need to have something to make them worth getting anyway. PC Gamer is, at least for me, one of those magazines. It offers interesting review writers and other features that do make it worth getting. If you still are working the Internet on dial-up, the CD of demos is even more valuable.

One thing that PC Gamer has managed to do is to snag first reviews on all of the big games that have come out this fall. Half-Life and Doom 3 reviews showed up almost as soon as the games themselves did, as the reviewer was able to play it as soon as it "went gold" (which means the CDs are pressed and getting ready for shipping). Thus, they were able to avoid the usual lead-time between the release of a game and the appearance of a review. It's very possible they beat most of the game review sites, or at least came out very close to the on-line reviews. Other reviews aren't quite as timely, but they are close. Gamespot's review of Rome: Total War was posted on September 23, and it appeared in PC Gamer in the November issue (which ships in October, of course), meaning it was only a matter of a couple of weeks difference.

Another area where PC Gamer is valuable is that they have been around long enough to get some world exclusive scoops on upcoming games. They had an in-depth preview of Quake IV in the November issue that was 10 pages long and was an exclusive. They also contain many articles on up-and-coming games, though I do not know how these relate in timeliness to the web sites.

The last area relating to timeliness is in the news, and unfortunately there's no way around it; the news articles are usually pretty old by the time we get to read them. I don't follow the web sites as closely as I could, so some of the information is still news to me, so if you're the same, then this section will be valuable. They do reports on conventions here as well, so these can be interesting in their own right. However, if you do follow the web, this is a section you could probably skip. Glance through it in case they do something that's more analysis than actually news, such as November's article on poker games.

So, we've established that timeliness is not that much of an issue. How's the content? To me, that's what makes this magazine fun to read. It opens with an editorial, including a movie quote contest. Often this is just talking about what's coming up in the issue, but sometimes it deals with a major issue in the PC gaming field. It's usually interesting, though. Then, there are the letters. This is a very irreverent section that I love to read. Some of the letters have to deal with issues brought up in previous magazines (usually prompted by a request for letters about that subject) and some are funny or disagreeing (or sometimes both) responses to previous reviews.

After that, we get the scoops and previews, and then the Eyewitness section (both mentioned above). In each issue, there's usually a large section on an area of gaming (November had flight sims beginner's guide while December had the world premiere review of Half-Life 2).

What follow these sections are the reviews themselves. The reviews are given percentage ratings, with 90-100% given "Editor's Choice" badges. Most of them are very detailed, and even the briefer reviews give you enough detail to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the game. The negative reviews can often be extremely funny, but that has lessened a little bit as those reviews are usually some of the briefest ones around. I remember a couple of years ago how some of the games were really savaged with wit, especially in the "pros and cons" section, which no longer exist for the brief reviews. Even the higher-rated reviews have their share of humour which makes them fun to read.

Following the reviews is a hardware section, consisting of reviews of PC gaming systems and other hardware (mice, speakers, other gaming equipment) as well as a good Q&A area. While I'm not an avid gamer (I'm more mid-range, not cutting edge), the section is still usually interesting to read and contains the wit of the previous sections.

Finally, there are the columns and the cheats/strategy section. PC Gamer has a columnist for every area of the video game world, from shooters to sports game to RPGs and wargames. For a long time, my favourite columnist with William Trotter, as I love wargames and he always wrote a fascinating column. He left the magazine, though, and Mark H. Walker has taken his place in the November issue. So far, I'm not as fond of him, but the two columns I've seen were still good. He's going to be different, and that's always a plus. I'll miss William.

Each issue ends with a column by Gary Whitta, formerly editor in chief and now just a contributor. This is usually good and always thought-provoking, such as his November column where he wonders whether any people who have actually been in combat manage to play some of the modern-war shooters (such as Joint Operations) without having flashbacks as the games are getting increasingly realistic.

If you like computer games, you should give an issue of PC Gamer a try and see what you think. Whether or not you like it may depend on how often you check the sites on the web, but you may still find something in here to enjoy. I know I'm enjoying my subscription.