tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post93965192102486143..comments2024-03-17T03:51:46.681-04:00Comments on Hardcore Gaming 101 - Blog: PLAY magazine is (probably) deadDiscoalucardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04206257399887664488noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-88162214682344206912012-02-06T08:49:24.718-05:002012-02-06T08:49:24.718-05:00Hey do you have scanned copies of your play magazi...Hey do you have scanned copies of your play magazines? I am looking for these magazines but can't find them, I even emailed the publisher and they said they weren't the right publisher (fusion publishing) it seems like I won't be able to find these great magazines.Chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-20014868687116757202011-02-22T15:37:19.581-05:002011-02-22T15:37:19.581-05:00Hi, I'm interested in buying/sampling some PLA...Hi, I'm interested in buying/sampling some PLAY issues. I haven't had much luck finding anything online unfortunately. I remember reading it in some stores and really enjoying it.Multivsysnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-53086566491592006472011-02-02T10:50:27.780-05:002011-02-02T10:50:27.780-05:00Bravo!
I was taken aback when i found out Play was...Bravo!<br />I was taken aback when i found out Play was no longer. Man, really the best video game / entertainment magazine ever. I too was a big fan of Gamefan back in the day and was so happy to have found Play when i first did and happier when i learned the same man was behind it's existence. It was like Diehard Gamefan reborn for a new era! Alas, maybe one day i will have to gather up every back issue i can find...<br />Great article, thanks for giving it the attention and final nod it deserves!Anime Tempurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02438996514772407102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-74106852613111727742010-07-16T13:28:11.993-04:002010-07-16T13:28:11.993-04:00I have it on good authority that Halverson doled a...I have it on good authority that Halverson doled any new writer like they were the chosen one, but inside six months would treat them like yesterday's news, especially if they wrote a bad review for a paying advertiser's product, demanding a higher score and a more favorable writeup. If that didn't happen, he'd take the review and tailor it to fit to his liking, changing the writer's name to something ridiculous. If you see an odd name on a review and they're not listed in the magazine's staff, that's an example. <br />Apparently he demanded too much of his art staff, and would take any product with a high profile to write up himself, passing lesser titles down to his editors so that he could, again, write a favorable review to earn back-of-the-box quotes and advertising dollars. <br />The magazine was gorgeous, the writers loved what they wrote about, but they worked for someone that didn't give a spit about those that made his product look and read the way it did.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-78449293783210930762010-06-25T15:15:34.812-04:002010-06-25T15:15:34.812-04:00So was issue #97 the last issue?
That was the la...So was issue #97 the last issue? <br /><br />That was the last one I got. I never knew about all of this till now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-79380162029954658612010-05-07T10:26:47.312-04:002010-05-07T10:26:47.312-04:00I subscribed to Play magazine since issue 1. When ...I subscribed to Play magazine since issue 1. When that came out with the mixture of Anime and Game reviews I thought it was the perfect hybrid. The style / layout was excellent and I was hooked. I'm sad to see it go. I'm sure Heather is still out there kicking people's ass in Street Fighter. We just won't hear about it anymore.3rdFoundationhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/3rdfoundation/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-63002103025711799992010-03-26T23:23:06.709-04:002010-03-26T23:23:06.709-04:00I read Gamefan, subscribed to Gamer's Republic...I read Gamefan, subscribed to Gamer's Republic, and knew that Dave was involved when i saw the first edition of Play with Jak & Daxter on the cover. I enjoyed most every issue untill they started on the "games are art" argument. Games are entertainment, and that's enough for me. I will sorely miss reviews that were'nt BS tainted, and the majority of their reccomendations were spot on. Vaya Con Dios, PLAYAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-62770816451439959172010-03-07T20:15:10.212-05:002010-03-07T20:15:10.212-05:00If I am not mistaken, Play did feature Castlevania...If I am not mistaken, Play did feature Castlevania three times on its covers: for LoI, CoD and DXC. I am looking for the LoI and DXC issues for collection purposes, just in case any of you has them / can find them around. ^_^The Gamblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10213853365425170013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-4901278385700528042010-02-21T23:59:23.042-05:002010-02-21T23:59:23.042-05:00I finally bought a subscription to these guys arou...I finally bought a subscription to these guys around the end of December and after not receiving a single issue was getting pretty pissed it was taking so long to get here. Guess I know why now! Poor bastards. One of the reasons I subscribed to them was simply because they were the last passionate gaming magazine out there. I really hope EGM comes through with the relaunch...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-43821156984605396232010-02-21T23:37:43.275-05:002010-02-21T23:37:43.275-05:00This is truly depressing. Play represented, to my ...This is truly depressing. <i>Play</i> represented, to my mind, some of the best video game journalism has to offer. When I first discovered it about a year ago, I was blown away, and it was the first piece of video game journalism I had paid for since I'd canceled my <i>Nintendo Power</i> subscription as a teenager who just discovered this thing called bias.<br /><br />I'm not only sad for the disappearance of the mag but the journalists who worked there. Heather Chaplin had become one of my favorite reviewers/columnists, and now I'll never know what she thought about <i>Avatar</i> :-(Ben Villarrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06988256305990891816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-5682791216082433652010-02-21T12:44:39.658-05:002010-02-21T12:44:39.658-05:00I note that Greg Orlando wrote for PLAY. I'm n...I note that Greg Orlando wrote for PLAY. I'm not surprised. I remember him from the official Dreamcast mag from back in the day, where other colorful writers (Francesca Reyes, et al.) infused their own single, 20-ish slacker personalities into the mag, devoting whole sections to Fight CLub paraodies and a fictitious Sega cocktail party, populated DC mascots like Sonic and Seaman.<br /><br />I make them sound stupid. But they weren't. :) The mag had a considerable amount of leeway and independence, and as you're describing PLAY, I think the atmosphere was identical between the two.johnnyfognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-50019393515721337832010-02-11T21:31:59.550-05:002010-02-11T21:31:59.550-05:00Gah I loved PLAY magazine, was the only video game...Gah I loved PLAY magazine, was the only video game magazine I read anymore =( <br /><br />I am glad to see Gamefan coming back, it was my childhood gaming magazine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-52783505426298200502010-02-11T19:25:04.547-05:002010-02-11T19:25:04.547-05:00I loved GameFan (I loved it post-Halverson too) an...I loved GameFan (I loved it post-Halverson too) and Gamer's Republic. When they were gone, I loved Play. I'm going to re-read the first issue tonight, and drink a Nintendo themed energy drink to its memory.<br /><br />This new magazine sounds interesting too.GoldenPigsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00185768299619712399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-69710144153170160452010-02-11T12:59:35.456-05:002010-02-11T12:59:35.456-05:00Forgot to mention... Club Nintendo was the magazin...Forgot to mention... Club Nintendo was the magazine from where that page about the Cammy censorship was taken.Antonio Francisco Magaña Gómezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02015868740050853287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-2079715162413189272010-02-11T12:19:40.957-05:002010-02-11T12:19:40.957-05:00Glad to see they're coming back in another for...Glad to see they're coming back in another form. And i say glad like someone who watched the news from a foereign country and felt good for seeing that, since i'm from Mexico. Here we don't have much love for videogame magazines... since there's only like 3 or 4 of them, two of those being localized versions of USA magazines (EGM, Gamepro or some of the others, since i don't buy them i forgot). Obviously, i'm expecting a younger, more avid vg magazine mexican consumer steps up and corrects me.<br /><br />When i was young... ok, more like when i was 17-21 y.o., i used to collect Club Nintendo, a mexican version of Nintendo Power... althought calling it version would be doing it no justice. It had a very unique flavor, written by mexicans and having the support of C-Itho or some name, the distributors back then of anything Nintendo related. I even won some SFII coins back then! Something pretty uncommon for those days (giving gifts to readers, not me winning anything).<br /><br />Nowadays i barely buy a magazine, and the last time i tried one (Atomix) it's pretty much a carbon copy of american design. Hell, even their online community is a copy of USA, as they have the trolls and snobs in their forums. <br /><br />Whatever, thanks for your insight on a piece of history. And again, glad it's not over for them. See ya.Antonio Francisco Magaña Gómezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02015868740050853287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-28390914741087445452010-02-11T09:19:48.578-05:002010-02-11T09:19:48.578-05:00PiQ was really fantastic. I bought all four issues...PiQ was really fantastic. I bought all four issues on the stands and was about to subscribe until they collapsed. It was a great looking mag and had scores of quality articles. Any of the other "geek culture" mags I've seen never really clicked, but this one did. Pity it was wasted on whiny anime fans.Discoalucardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04206257399887664488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-45160359950392160562010-02-11T09:04:21.055-05:002010-02-11T09:04:21.055-05:00I noticed each issue was becoming thinner and thin...I noticed each issue was becoming thinner and thinner recentlt. Local bookstores didn't even carry the Muramasa issue a couple of months back, I suppose it was too racy. I liked Play and bought almost every issue though; but I didn't care much for scores being dropped last year and the loss of the Play Japan article a few months back was a bad idea as well(I need to know about my imports!) <br />I am eager to see what this new DieHard Gamefan looks like. I stil have my first issue of the original from my childhood. It sounds like they will be mixing movie culture and gaming culture like the ill fated Piq magazine. Piq was an excellent magazine that replaced Newtype USA yet only ran for around five months. I hope this doesn't happen to Halverson. I also think he needs to bring Heather Campbell on board his new magazine. She writes interesting articles and she is also a total babe.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01295270874390217697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-80436299508846634122010-02-11T04:06:10.144-05:002010-02-11T04:06:10.144-05:00@Brian:
Wait, people hate Halverson for "call...@Brian:<br />Wait, people hate Halverson for "calling out game reviewers for giving good scores to games paying advertising dollars while saving all their pent-up rage for lower key titles?"<br /><br />Because as an ex-journo I can tell you this is absolutely true. This was the case in the UK for why some magazines were so critical of the GI Joe game. It's seldom writers have the freedom to really lay into something, so when they do, they vent all their frustration. I can't speak for the game personally, but there are some titles you don't score below a 7 or 8 or are critical about (such as Konami and Activision titles), and there are those games where you can be as cruel as you like without risk. A magazine could be critical of certain games, but watch as the game publisher pulls all advertising from every magazine that magazine company runs. Dan Shoe Hsu was right on the money when he called people out, god bless him.<br /><br />For several years RAMRaider has spoken out against the corruption in journalism, and despite him not regularly updating his blog anymore, it's worth reading his archives and seeing some of what he has written. He only scratches the surface of what really goes on - it's a tiny fraction of how games journalism really works. The masses though don't see it.<br />http://ramraider.blogspot.com/ <br /><br />It makes me depressed.<br /><br />To paraphrase Hunter S Thompson: Games journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for fuckoffs and misfits — a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage.Sketczhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02333200178515493705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-55831439872475969382010-02-11T02:14:21.386-05:002010-02-11T02:14:21.386-05:00I was a big fan of Die Hard GameFan up until it ju...I was a big fan of Die Hard GameFan up until it just dropped off the face of the Earth (it took the Internet years later to shed some light on the drama involved) and I never really got interested in another magazine the same way. It sounds like I would have enjoyed PLAY very much, so it's sad to learn of it just as it too is dying.TerraEsperZnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-9348302373112294952010-02-11T00:12:34.000-05:002010-02-11T00:12:34.000-05:00Life sucks for anyone who loses their job. While I...Life sucks for anyone who loses their job. While I can't relate to PLAY Magazine personally, I know that other magazines, such as EGM, had employed people who loved video games, and loved writing about them. It's really sad that these people will be out of job for something that seems (to me anyways) out of their control.Anup Chagamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18146959319739288607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-89188411604162130422010-02-10T23:10:09.076-05:002010-02-10T23:10:09.076-05:00Based off the comments on that Quarter to Three th...Based off the comments on that Quarter to Three thread, I'm going to say yes. Every since they (mostly) got rid of scores, the monthly "Play review thread" on NeoGAF went away, so nobody seemed to complain as much, but it also seemed to mean less exposure.<br /><br />I've never taken anything Halverson's ever put on paper seriously. It seems like it had furries or tits (or both) it would get a pass to be slobbered over. Beast Rider was an objectively terrible game, for example, although Sonic 2006 is usually the review people link to when they're discussing the lack of critical faculty. That being said, I still enjoyed his writing anyway, however overblown it may be. The man sure does love his games.Discoalucardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04206257399887664488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1135815543912646655.post-43262465746159765812010-02-10T22:13:10.634-05:002010-02-10T22:13:10.634-05:00Does the gaming community still hate Halverson for...Does the gaming community still hate Halverson for liking Beast Rider and calling out game reviewers for giving good scores to games paying advertising dollars while saving all their pent-up rage for lower key titles?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com