Cheap Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (Magazine) Price

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Customer Reviews of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Once great mag is now limping badly
Games for Windows took the place of Computer Gaming World (CGW), which was a respected magazine for many years. Unfortunately, the final year under the CGW banner was marked by such missteps as deciding to no longer review games, but rather summarize reviews that had already been posted on the Internet by others. The magazine also declined to put out any awards for 2006 games as they said others had already done so. At the same time, they began covering bizarre topics of little interest to most that had nothing to do with computer games. It was literally as though the staff was embarrassed to cover computer games and wanted to move on to other things... completely ignoring the fact that readers weren't looking for socio-political and religious commentary but news and views on games played on the computer. <
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>After a good deal of reader complaints, the magazine shifted gears once again and also re-launched under the name "Games for Windows: The Official Magazine." Why the editors saw fit to compromise the perception of integrity for the right to be Microsoft's house organ is not much of a mystery (sponsorship dollars) but it is an unfortunate choice. The only positive is that they used the re-launch to once again write actual game reviews and most of the nonsense articles have gone away. The content is still not as strong as it used to be. One example is the Tom vs. Bruce column, which humorously depicts two gamers playing head-to-head in an RTS or other competitive game, usually without reading the rules or preparing. In the last few months the column has been used once as little more than an ad for World of Warcraft and once as an ad for casual games like Peggle. Uggh. Tom vs. Bruce has long been my favorite part of the magazine (and one of the few really distinctive aspects of any gaming magazine) and now even it has been largely ruined. <
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>In summary, Games for Windows has improved some since the lowest point at the end of the CGW run. It still suffers from editorial direction that seems determined to "fix" what wasn't broken in the first place. [[ASIN:B000NDESM0 PC Gamer [1-year]]] has been more consistent and solid for the past two years and is probably more deserving of your subscription dollars.

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They stopped the DVD and giving ratings for game reviews
This used to be my favorite gaming magazine, going back as far as when I owned a Commodore 64. Earlier in the year I had purchased a two year subscription. A few months in to my subscription they stopped the DVD which contained demos and all kinds of nice things. They also stopped giving ratings for games they reviewed. The magazine had become more and more previews for upcoming games with some of the specific game previews several pages long. Personally I think previews should not be more than a few paragraphs and screen shots. Now the reviews are nothing more than telling you about the game and nothing about how good or bad the game is. They don't rate the games! CGW(Computer Gaming World) is essentially one big advertisement for the gaming industry and could care less about the gamer. Now CGW has become the new Games For Windows magazine. A sad demise for what was the first and best gaming magazine. <
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>Edited June 4th 2007 <
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>Original review written for Computer Gaming World.

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Could be better if less sexist....
I'm a girl gamer and I subscribe to both computer gaming world and PC gamer. I like them both for different reasons. The writing style in computer gaming is entertaining, the length is good, and the articles when actually focused on GAMING is entertaining. What can I do without? There is a LOT of gratuitous T&A in the magazine, (obviously intended to titillate teen boys and lonely computer geeks), but enough already! Do I really need to see a centerfold of a half-naked fairy in order to buy the latest video card? <
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>And some of the ads depicting violence towards women are repulsive. The first ad depicts a woman whose face is blown off, another add depicts a woman who has been murdered lying in a bathtub. These ads are quite frankly disgusting and have been ran in this magazine several times already. When will gaming magazines buy a clue and realize women DO buy this magazine and such images are disturbingly brutal. Yeesh. <
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>There is also a bit too much focus on online multi-player games. I don't have the interest in playing MMORPG's so the articles rhapsodizing about Warcraft, Everquest etc. Are lost on me. <
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>3 stars. Would be better if the magazine didn't occasionally read like its being put out by a group of horny adolescents.