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From: "Ben Arnold" <BenArnold@Arsenal-Mad.co.uk>
Newsgroups: alt.games
Subject: An open letter to the games community
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 18:59:59 +0100
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This is a letter which I'm currently posting to a number of PC gaming
fansites on the web and which I'd like to get distributed as far and as wide
as the community will allow. Its contents are as equally relevant to anyone
who uses the Gamer forums, so without any further ado:
Hello,
This is an open letter to anyone who's interested in videogames
writing or having the unique achievements of their gaming community aired to
a wider audience.
My simple view is that news-stand games magazines and large sections
of the gaming community have gradually drifted apart.
As editor of PC Gamer in the UK, it is painfully apparent to me that
while the magazine does a reasonable job of fulfilling its review/preview
functions, it does not adequately reflect the incredible diversity of
culture and invention that now characterises the PC community online.
I'd like you to help us put that to rights. Games mags are constructed
by small, tight-knit teams. In-house expertise is broad enough to cope with
retail gaming, but the available resources are unable to cover the far-flung
corners of gaming that now exist. That's partly why magazines have failed to
keep pace with their communities.
In order to cover these communities properly, PC Gamer needs their
representatives to help us out. I regularly read web-published articles
which I think are easily good enough to appear in a magazine. But the writer
may never have considered that opportunity. Perhaps they didn't think a
games mag was an appropriate place for such an article. Perhaps they didn't
think it was good enough. Whatever the reason, I'd like you to consider
submitting your articles to PC Gamer.
What kind of articles are we looking for? Anything. Anything that you
could imagine yourself, as a gamer, opening a magazine and being interested
in. I'm trying to create a magazine that communicates the incredible
experiences gamers have. A magazine that reports on the amazing
transformations that dedicated communities have wrought upon the games they
love. I think such a magazine would print articles about the destruction of
Kerafyrm The Sleeper in Everquest. It would report on the morphing of games
like Grand Prix Legends and Interstate 82. It could relate the tale of a
dramatic duel in Jedi Knight 2 or cover the phenomenon of swoop bike races
in Star Wars Galaxies. Anything at all. Single-player gaming, multi-player
gaming, modding, MUDs, indy games. The building of the Space Station in
There, the development of unique in-game body language. A well-argued
opinion piece on the state of videogame interfaces. Crazy antics on stunt
servers or a simple essay on how a game stirred an individual's emotions.
Anything which says something fascinating about game culture. The only rules
are it's got to be about games, and, if it's not about PC's then the article
has to be applicable to the universal gamer. PC Gamer is not a console mag.
Articles can be of any length. And PC Gamer will pay for articles
published. I can't promise to say yes to everything, but I am open to all
ideas. And if you don't want to write but know of a vibrant gaming community
we should cover then tip us off. We've recently been mailed by people
involved with Trespasser, Grand Prix Legends and Interstate 82.
I hope this letter is not seen as a threat to some of the excellent
websites that I regularly visit. Publication of an article in PC Gamer does
not prevent its subsequent use elsewhere. Moreover, PC Gamer is not big
enough to absorb the entire community's output. But if you have an article
at your fingertips that deserves a wider audience then let us know.
Best regards,
Mark Donald
Editor, PC Gamer (UK edition)
Britain's Best-Selling PC Games Magazine
mark.donald@futurenet.co.uk
--
Posted by Ben Arnold :-)
(PCG Regular!)
Sorry if you don't want to read this on your newsgroup. Solution: stop.
Possession of a powerful PC is not a substitute for a working brain.
Possession of a working brain is not a substitute for a powerful PC.
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