Gaming Magazines and Websites

A couple days ago, members of The Administration received an e-mail (reproduced below) from a couple OGS alumni. It asks us for what general gaming magazines/websites we gamers like to read. Not only do we want to help out our wonderful alumni (remember, those awesome t-shirts were made possible through an alumni grant), but this is a pretty interesting topic of conversation as well!

Hey now everyone,
For the 'old-timers' out there, if you remember Sharon from HeatCIGL days, she just asked me via IM about what gaming magazines do gamers like us find to be interesting, credible, et cetera. I was wondering if anyone out there still reads any gaming publications - online or in print - and what you think of them. She is interesting in sites or publications that tend to appeal to a general gaming audience as opposed to a site that is dedicated to just one game.

If possible, could we poll the CMU-OGS via email to ask what current members would have to say? I would very much appreciate the assist with this as Sharon and I are longtime friends. If you can just take a minute to think about this and ask OGS'ers what they think, that would be great!

Thank you much in advance,
Joe

So I'm curious. What do you guys read? Which websites do you frequent? Why?

Long ago (back in middle school) I had subscriptions to GamePro, EGM, and PC Gamer. I occasionally read my friend's Nintendo Power, but never was a fan. Once I got to high school, I just stopped and switched permanently to online sites, namely IGN, gamefaqs, and E3expo. Very rarely did I visit gamespot. That basically sums up my experience with general gaming magazines and websites.

Magazines
I used to love EGM but they're kinda not what they once were... I now subscribe to Edge Magazine, which, in my opinion, is the only gaming magazine worth reading. Journalistic integrity, a keen eye towards gamer culture, and a few developer-side stories that you won't find anywhere else. I find that Edge Magazine is very well-worth the high price. I really can't say enough good things about it. Also, I feel that GameInformer is a piece of trash, made to hype up and sell video games rather than actually be informative.

Websites
As far as websites go, I used to be big on GameSpot, back when it was winning awards, but after the Kane and Lynch scandal when Jeff Gerstmann was fired, I followed him and Ryan Davis to their new website, Giant Bomb, which I think is fantastic. I became somewhat disillusioned with bigger, all-platforms style websites like GameSpot and IGN, and currently, the only one of those I still read i Eurogamer, mainly because of their ties with Edge Magazine, and the great news that comes out of its GamesIndustry.biz and DigitalFoundry divisions. The most important website I read, though, is definitely Gamasutra.

Blogs
Currently, the only blog I read regularly is The Escapist, although sometimes the website just upsets me. I'm not sure if it really counts as a blog... it's more of a weekly magazine? I definitely should start reading Kotaku, but I can't seem to get around to it. Oh, and I read Penny Arcade, because everybody should read Penny Arcade.

I feel I should help out some alumni due to my extreme level of ownership of said awesome shirts.

Back in middle school I used to get Nintendo Power, but I stopped getting it around the time I went to high school because I really wasn't that interested in following gaming at the time.

The sites I use now are gamefaqs whenever I need a guide for getting through a game, and I read Penny Arcade, which keeps me aware of most gaming happenings.

Ditto Anonalbe.

Hey now,
Thank you for the responses to this question. I have passed along the information to Sharon and I am sure it will be helpful. I will try to lurk the forums from time to time to keep in touch with what is going on with the OGS and see if I can help out any.

Best of luck to all OGS'ers, present and former, and keep on gaming.

Best regards,
Joe
[CMU-OGS]JoeCool,
Former OGS President