Once upon a time (1981) there was an excellent gaming magazine called Computer Gaming World. It provided insight, interviews and reviews for decades to computer game players. Eventually, (as in 27 YEARS later, 2006) the market became a little too soft for magazine publications (I’m looking at YOU Internet and.. oh my god, I SEE MYSELF IN THE MIRROR AS A CAUSE), and in order to stave off the dreaded axe, they transformed from an independent voice in the computer gaming industry into an independent voice in the computing industry with a 4-10 page section dedicated to the wonders and amazement of the Microsoft Windows operating system and how games are that much more amazing on its various platforms, especially Vista. Oh, and they changed their name to reflect this by calling themselves Games For Windows Magazine.
Now, citing the reason that everybody is already online, Games For Windows Magazine is ceasing publication and planning to rebuild itself as an “online-exclusive” endeavor, ending an era, and in my opinion, an ethically murky one.
It always seemed suspect to me that they not only took money from Microsoft to stay afloat in 2006, but changed their magazine’s name AND added that ad-
vertorial bit to the back of each magazine. I may not be a gaming journalist, but I do know when something seems fishy. Isn’t this akin to changing the name of the local Fairbanks paper to Alyeska: No One Gets Hurt The Newspaper, and dedicating the entire classifieds section to how committed Alyeska is to the environment and why gasoline is a great investment and why it is important to not consider any alternate forms of energy because Alyeska says so? Anyone else have an analogy?
The Escapist has a nice little eulogy and timeline for the magazine on their site.
