Customer Reviews

PC Gamer [with CD] (1-year)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Once upon a time, PC Gamer was in a real dogfight with Computer Gaming World for the title of best gaming magazine. This battle ended when CGW basically self-destructed thanks to some massively poor decision-making by their editorial staff. CGW has since re-launched as Games for Windows: The Official Magazine but has not reclaimed their old glory.

PC Gamer provides both reviews and previews of games. They also have a small section covering hardware. One regular feature that is nice is that they give sample builds for three PCs each month, entry level, mid level, and high end. Most magazines just focus on the most expensive parts for their sex appeal but most gamers can't afford that gear. It's nice to see this magazine buck that trend.

Most computer magazines employ humor to keep things from getting too dry and this one is no exception. They do a very professional job of providing coverage but throw in just enough sarcasm to give you a grin or two in every article. They also do a good job of calling out games that have real issues and even in their previews I've seen them point out shortcomings. Overall, this is a very good magazine and well worth the subscription price.

I really like this magazine and have subscribed for the past 3 years. PC GAMER caters directly to PC gamers, each month reviewing several games and previewing several others. Although you can get demos and such online, this magazine also bundles a dvd that contains demos and other things to preview. The articles are generally well written, and most of the ratings are reasonable, with one big exception (see below).

My only problem with PC GAMER is its "world exclusive reviews," where a company will allow the editors to be the first to review some highly anticipated game. The problem is whatever game is reviewed in this matter invariably gets a high score (85%+), almost regardless of quality. In its latest world exclusive, Hellgate: London received a score of 89%--a full 15 percentage points higher than the game's average review rating at Gamerankings[dot]com. I know that this arrangement is supposed to please everyone: PC GAMER gets the early scoop, readers buy the mazagine to read the early scoop, and the game developer sells more copies of the game thanks to PC GAMER's early endorsement. But in my opinion, this scheme compromises the integrity of an otherwise very good magazine.

Anyhow, I recommend PC GAMER to anyone who has at least a casual interest in PC gaming.

I've read PC Gamer for years and years, subscribing on and off and buying them on the newsstand. I remember when they used to be almost half an inch thick, especially around the holidays, full of information on upcoming games, multi-page reviews, a large hardware section, demos and previews and custom programs on the discs, etc. These days they are very thin with very little content. The reviews are short and the previews read like a press release from the developer full of hyperbole and gushing enthusiasm even when the product may be a year away from launching. The hardware section has gotten smaller and smaller and these days you're lucky to see a couple of reviews of a mouse or new $5,000 gaming rig without anything else.

I still pick up a copy every now and then but am disappointed every time compared to what this magazine used to be. They should be writing longer articles, more in-depth with more grown-up writing. The blogs have them beat with any up-to-date info, they need to set themselves apart with quality. See EDGE magazine in the UK for a great example of a gaming magazine (though it is mostly focused on consoles).

*Update Jan 10 2010*
I recently re-subscribed to this magazine thanks to a great deal during the holiday where I got a 12 month subscription for less than the price of a hamburger. Apparently they just got a new editor in chief and so far the quality is even worse than it was before. The magazine is still super thin and lacks real substance and now there are multiple simple typos throughout. They really need to work on their proof-reading, as I noticed at least a dozen spelling mistakes or missing words or sentences that don't make any sense. I'm not normally a stickler for grammar and I'm sure my reviews and the things I write contain some, but you would think that a professional magazine would do a little better job of proof-reading their content before publishing.

This month's magazine did at least have a little more content in the hardware section, but I just wish they would cover more of it since it is a PC gaming magazine after all.

*Update 13 August 2010*
Even the printing quality is cheap on this magazine now. I have resorted to holding the magazine with pieces of copy paper between my fingers and the magazine, because if I don't then the ink smears all over the place and my fingers turn black with ink. This happens on the interior and exterior pages both. Again I have to turn to EDGE magazine for an example of great printing quality that just doesn't seem to be a priority for magazines in the US anymore. Wired magazine in the US at least has a cover that doesn't smear everywhere though. With each new issue of PC Gamer I actually read less and less and skim more and more just so I can put it down before the magazine is stuck to my fingers.

PC Gamer reviews games and hardware that is currently available for the PC. The reviews are the most impressive in terms of the games. They are pretty accurate with their rating system which is setup much like a grading scale on a report card with 90% or higher being considered excellent and so on...Once in a while they will drop a really low rating on a halfway decent game, but 99% o the time they are accurate in my opinion. The hardware reviews seem to be fair, but they only seem to review the utmost PC gaming computers ranging in price from $4000 to nearly $10,000...so theres no surprise when its rated the "fastest machine ever". Overall, it's a quality PC gaming magazine, and for the price I definetly suggest it.

I've been reading PC Gamer since 1999 and they have really fallen in terms of quality. The magazines are practically paper thin now. It has been awhile, but I believe my copy of the issue that previewed Duke Nukem Forever in 1999 may have been over 200 pages worth of content. Now? 80, 90, etc.

Instead of being the gritty, hard to please mag they used to be they are essentially ad-magnets now. I've seen multiple games that were widely frowned upon get high scores simply for one reason: they got the "exclusive". I can't help but think PC Gamer is in the back pockets of many companies now that they're the "top" PC gaming mag around.

R.L. Ermey once said on one of their discs that PCG had "its **** in the bag", and it once did. Once. The mag still has some wit and charm about it and the hardware section is still quite good... but that's about it.

One by one the pc gaming magazines have disappeared because the internet can provide so much more than any one magazine but never the less I kept up my subscriptions until the only one left I subscribe to is PC Gamer. At one point I subscribed to 4 magazines and PC Gamer was probably my third favorite, the main reason was because I felt it was to mainstream and mostly covered the more popular releases.

In the last few years it had become obvious that all the magazines were catering to the big developers and their reviews reflected that. I still held to hope that PC Gamer was not doing the same even though it was steadily becoming obvious they were. The last straw for me was the 91% Editor's Choice they gave Spore. I felt Spore should have gotten no better than a 70% and had nothing to do with the copy protection.

Even though the cd with the demos and other things is nice I can't justify the wasted paper to print the magazine any longer. PC Gamer has become an advertisement for the bigger developers and lost any creditability it had.

You would be hard-pressed to find a better magazine out there that deals with PC games. This mag has previews, reviews and even hardware reviews. The reviews are pretty much fair but I have seen some questionable ratings and omissions that leave me wondering.

Like one of the other reviewers here said, when they do a big review on a hyped game, they always seem to give the game a really great score. One exapmle would be Crysis. They did a really big review on it before the game was released and gave it a 98/100! That is one of their biggest scores ever and they gave it to a game that got an average score of about 90/100 on gamerankings.com. Not to mention the game was released with bugs that should have been counted against it, but there was no talk of bugs in the review at all. This is the main problem with the mag IMO. You only get one person's point-of-view and that person's job depends on large PC game companies making games for them to review. If they give a company like EA a bad review thus causing gamers not to buy the game, EA being one of the largest PC Game publishers may decide to stop making PC games and concentrate on console-only titles potentially putting the PC Gamer staff out of a job.

One other thing that bothered me was how they did not mention the copy protection used in their BioShock review or Spore review. Come to find out the games actually only allowed the consumer to install the game three times and after that the game was useless not to mention the impossible-to-uninstall SecuRom files. Seems to me a big time mag like PC Gamer would have at least mentioned this, but they did not. They instead gave the game a 91/100 leading many to buy the game without knowing about the ridiculous copy protection.

Finally, the mag is absolutely filled with ads. Every other issue gives us a 20-page ad for some crappy cell phone games. I definately could do without this annoyance as they have nothing to do with PC's or PC gaming.

As for the positive, the reviewers and staff seem likeable and there are always contests where you can win something cool. I especially like the articles on assembling a computer from scratch and hardware reviews. Both helped me greatly when I built my first computer. I would say that I can trust the review scores for the most part. The mag also sends out 13 issues a year instead of 12 and come bundled with DVD-ROM demos and reviews.

The mag also does some reviews on MODS for some of the games. This came come in handy if you have beat your favorite game and you are looking to extend the life of the game through modding. Sometimes they even include some MOD files on their DVD's that they send out with each issue.

With computer games seemingly taking a back-seat to console games, it is nice to have a mag that will only focus on the PC side of gaming. I do feel, however, that this mag is past it's prime as are PC games in general and is in need of an overhaul that benefits the subscriber. As of right now, I am considering not renewing my subscription that I have had for 4 years but I also recedntly got a PS3 so I admit that my attention is now more focused on the PS3 as are most game companies these days. I would recommend the mag for diehard PC gamers but if you own a console like the 360 or PS3, you may find that many PC games today are simply ported (sometimes very poorly) from a console anyway.

Update: No mention of Spore DRM in November issue. They gave the game a 91% however. Lego Indiana Jones got a public scolding for SecuROM DRM but Spore, another EA game, got no mention of the DRM at all. Also, I have heard on the forums that people automatically have their subscriptions renewed and are sent to collections if they don't call up and say they want to cancel....not a good way to keep long-time subscribers.

I decided to write to the PC Gamer Staff to get an explination of their new policy not to mention DRM in the reviews and now they claim they don't know if a game is going to include DRM even though for the past year or so they have. For me, not including DRM in the description is the end. If they aren't going to tell their subscribers that installing a certain game can also install privacy invading software that can potentially take control of your computer and cause compatibility issues, then I will look elsewhere. Keep in mind, on-line reviews are free and some sites even get many people's point of view rather than just one person like in this magazine. As of 2/16/09, if I could, I would change my review to 2-stars for the awful way the magazine has decided to handle DRM.

I agree with the reviews that say the quality of the publication has diminished over time, but this magazine still puts out a quality product every month. Here are a few genuine PROS and CONS:

PROS
* I am consistently impressed with game and hardware reviews. In the six years I've been reading PC Gamer, they have only steered me wrong once with a review (that game was "Black & White")
* Depending on the subscription you choose, there is a game demo disk each week. Although this a hit or miss feature depending on the game demo.
* The magazine is put together by a very laid back, down-to-earth group of people that are often very funny and in general a pleasure to read
* The publication puts out a top-notch podcast every week that is a necessary compliment to the magazine.
* You're not just a reader, you feel like you're a part of community. PC Gamer regularly publishes letters to the editor and plays audio questions on their podcast. They always have some sort of giveaway or contest going on.
* You get the feeling these guys (and gals) really "get" the community for which they serve.


CONS
* Regularly features typos and misprints (one issue accidently printed the same page twice instead of the first page of its cover story. How does that happen?). I'm not perfect with typos either, but from a professionally published magazine, that's unacceptable.
* The issue itself has slimmed down to a dangerously skimpy thickness. The issues with any reasonable girth are only thick due to multi-page advertising spreads (i.e. its "Cell Play" section)
* There is an increasly shorter turnover rate for its editors. This hasn't affected the magazine too directly, but it is a future concern in terms of providing consistent, quality content.

I've read a few other gaming magazines but this one is my all time favorite. I don't want to mention any names, but some magazines read like infomercials written by the company that makes the gaming platform. Others are just plain boring and dry and they put me to sleep. PC Gamer is fun and witty and I enjoy reading it from cover to cover. I've heard others complain that it isn't the magazine it once was, but I have only been a subscriber for about 2 years now and I'm very happy with the quality of the magazine and the writing in general.

IMPORTANT NOTE:MUCH TO MY DISMAY, PC GAMER IS UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP AND FOR SOME CRAZY REASON, THEY HAVE REMOVED ALL THE WIT, HUMOR AND SARCASAM FROM THE MAGAZINE. PC GAMER IS NOW AS EXCITING AS STALE WHITE BREAD AND AS ENJOYABLE AS A ROOT CANAL. I WON'T BE RENEWING MY SUBSCRIPTION AND IF I COULD REVISE MY RATING I WOULD GIVE IT ZERO STARS! SAVE YOUR MONEY, THERE ARE BETTER GAMING MAGAZINES OUT THERE NOW THAT PC GAMER HAS HAD IT'S SOUL RIPPED OUT!

It is shocking that this is the most sold PC gaming magazine in the US. Now I realize why they have it wrapped in plastic at the stores: They don't want anyone to descry the low quality of their product.

The key problem with this mag is its low content. The most sold PC gaming magazine in Germany has over 250 pages per monthly issue, compared to 100 in PC Gamer. There are no bestseller or score charts, broken down by genre - so that the reader may make an informed decision to purchase a game (especially considering that most of the titles that occupy the pages are low-profile titles). The hardware portion of the magazine is four pages long - but length is by far not the only problem. There are not enough tables and charts (for benchmarks, noise, temperature, power consumption comparisons etc.). The PC recommendations are weak (unbalanced component performance, suboptimal cost-effectiveness, inconsistent in objectives), there are no recommendations for particular components, no charts that would compare them quantitatively based on a rating of quality. The verdict score is just a single number; there is no table that breaks down graphics, gameplay etc. -3 Stars for low content.

The second significant problem is the presentation. The color schema looks like something you would find in a daycare center. The use of fonts and other design elements is extremely inconsistent and fickle. When you look at the main title of a game review, you don't see the game's title; I don't like the style decisions of the editors at all. Since presentational style is subjective I will not deduct any stars for this.

Compared to European gaming magazines, PC Gamer displays an over-proportional amount of ads. However, because I got the subscription for a low price, I don't mind skipping ads, and I would actually be interested in buying a custom computer from one of the advertisers, I did not remove any stars for the plethora of displayed ads.

With the performance of this magazine it is no wonder why print media is going to dust.