The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Games Unplugged

Can I fairly review a magazine that lists me as one of the "50 Most Influential People in the Industry"? Probably not, but "Games Unplugged" hit my desk last week and it's worth writing about.

I admit I'm a luddite... I love the feel of paper and greatly enjoy magazines. Print is limited in space, though, and so the game industry generally has three sorts of magazines:

House organs (i.e. Dragon == WotC/TSR products)
Independent small press (i.e. many dead magazines)
General Industry mags that end up covering only the top seller (i.e. InQuest and its CCG focus)

The reason for cat.3 above is, well, in order to sell a magazine has to appeal to as many folks as possible. Anyway, in this scheme, GU is actually Category 4: a magazine that gives coverage to everything.

They do this by having a lot of good news and investigative journalism into a heck of a lot of products. So we get designers giving us the behind-the-scenes scoop or preview information. We read lots of new blurbs about upcoming projects. In short, this magazine focuses on news and upcoming stuff and behind the scenes stuff.

In a way, it's like RPGnet got made into a print mag. Which is why I had to write about it. It's a cool concept, and it's done really well.

If you visit the website (www.gamesunplugged.com) you can see what's specifically in this issue. So the rest of my review will look at the intangibles.

Production quality is excellent. It's a pretty, glossy mag, and I have no idea how they can sell it at just $3.99. Lots of pages, and lots of content.

Article quality is very good; I enjoyed reading it. They seem to be aiming for a hip but not patronizing feel, sort of 'banter with teeth'. This makes for a light, fun feel on meaty topics.

Who's who. The folks doing the writing and art are well chosen; you have solid freelancers and designers like Robin Laws, Spike Y. Jones, and a host of others whose work many of us have read (even if we didn't bother to check the credits). So the talent is folks in the biz, and I think this helps keep the feel "real" and avoid fluffiness or overeager hype.

Content: this is good stuff to read. Heck, I learned stuff I didn't know and I used to do the press stuff here at RPGnet. So GU isn't just skimming Usenet for info; looks like Tony Lee (the editor) and crew did some real footwork to find things out.

Surveys. Okay, they have a kinda gimmicky survey-- this month is the 50 most influential people in the industry. Upcoming ones will be include best game designer and (no doubt), best artist, etc. How much value you put into these things is up to you, but it's always at least humorous to see such rankings, and I think it may help point people to games and ideas they haven't seen before. So I give this a plus.

In short, this magazine is very good, and at $3.99, I highly recommend picking it up (or snagging a free copy at a Con). Great stuff!

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Games Unplugged
Author: various Category: Magazine Company/Publisher: Dynasty Presentations, Inc Line: magazine Cost: 3.99 SKU: issue 1 Capsule Review by Sandy Antunes on 06/07/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Science fiction Modern day Historical Horror Far Future Space Anime Espionage Conspiracy Post-apocalypse Old West Vampire Gothic Asian/Far East Superhero Diceless Generic Live-action sponsored by	Games Unplugged Can I fairly review a magazine that lists me as one of the "50 Most Influential People in the Industry"? Probably not, but "Games Unplugged" hit my desk last week and it's worth writing about. I admit I'm a luddite... I love the feel of paper and greatly enjoy magazines. Print is limited in space, though, and so the game industry generally has three sorts of magazines: House organs (i.e. Dragon == WotC/TSR products) Independent small press (i.e. many dead magazines) General Industry mags that end up covering only the top seller (i.e. InQuest and its CCG focus) The reason for cat.3 above is, well, in order to sell a magazine has to appeal to as many folks as possible. Anyway, in this scheme, GU is actually Category 4: a magazine that gives coverage to everything. They do this by having a lot of good news and investigative journalism into a heck of a lot of products. So we get designers giving us the behind-the-scenes scoop or preview information. We read lots of new blurbs about upcoming projects. In short, this magazine focuses on news and upcoming stuff and behind the scenes stuff. In a way, it's like RPGnet got made into a print mag. Which is why I had to write about it. It's a cool concept, and it's done really well. If you visit the website (www.gamesunplugged.com) you can see what's specifically in this issue. So the rest of my review will look at the intangibles. Production quality is excellent. It's a pretty, glossy mag, and I have no idea how they can sell it at just $3.99. Lots of pages, and lots of content. Article quality is very good; I enjoyed reading it. They seem to be aiming for a hip but not patronizing feel, sort of 'banter with teeth'. This makes for a light, fun feel on meaty topics. Who's who. The folks doing the writing and art are well chosen; you have solid freelancers and designers like Robin Laws, Spike Y. Jones, and a host of others whose work many of us have read (even if we didn't bother to check the credits). So the talent is folks in the biz, and I think this helps keep the feel "real" and avoid fluffiness or overeager hype. Content: this is good stuff to read. Heck, I learned stuff I didn't know and I used to do the press stuff here at RPGnet. So GU isn't just skimming Usenet for info; looks like Tony Lee (the editor) and crew did some real footwork to find things out. Surveys. Okay, they have a kinda gimmicky survey-- this month is the 50 most influential people in the industry. Upcoming ones will be include best game designer and (no doubt), best artist, etc. How much value you put into these things is up to you, but it's always at least humorous to see such rankings, and I think it may help point people to games and ideas they haven't seen before. So I give this a plus. In short, this magazine is very good, and at $3.99, I highly recommend picking it up (or snagging a free copy at a Con). Great stuff! Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)