I’ve talked before about the preservation of physical printed media for the gaming industry and how important it was to ensure that such artifacts of a bygone generation are kept to not lose sight of our past. I wanted to discuss further gaming magazines and just how they were back in the day, considering I’m sure there are many readers who weren’t even around back then to know what these were like.
Gaming Magazines were great, they were an insight into gaming news and the inner workings of games without ever having to boot up a console. They had fun game facts, interviews, world premieres and even the beloved demo disks, CD’s that had various game demos printed on them for people to try out. I adored demo discs specifally as they allowed me to play games that I had no idea even existed, I’m sure there are many kids to this day that spent hours playing on demo disks with no intention of even buying the games in question. Magazines were also one of the ways in which important details about consoles were distributed to the public, giving people more insight into the games and specs of upcoming hardware. For those in the know, this was valuable consumer information, for kids, it was shiny new things that they could get excited about.
In this age of up to date instant digital news unfortunately the magazine doesn’t really have a place anymore, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss it. In many ways, I think there was a special charm to these big binders of plastic paper that the digital age simply can’t match. It’s a shame to see such a titan of the industry fade away, but that doesn’t mean we should forget about them. Let’s instead talk about our favourite gaming magazines, or even our favourite covers! Discuss them below and let’s feel nostalgic together.
That’s all for now, and as always. It’s not just a game, It’s a Life.