Gaming Magazines: Pleasant Surprise

Today's mail brought two pleasant surprises, in the form of the latest Gamepro and PC Gamer magazines. My thoughts on these are found within the post. Along with that, I'm getting excited that January is almost over and I will have achieved my goal of posting every day. Woohoo!

Going out to get the mail this afternoon, I was fairly certain that I would find two things contained among the rest of the junk mail and bills: the copy of Hellgate: London I requested from Goozex and a package of assorted iPhone accessories that I'd ordered from a cheap online outlet. My assumption was correct, as both items were safely nestled in the mailbox. However, two other pieces of mail caught my eye as I scanned through the pile on the way back to the house. My first issue of Gamepro had finally arrived, as well as the latest issue of PC Gamer. Still being a sucker for media I can hold in my hand and flip through, it's always a treat to get magazines in the mail. Getting a free moment after the little monsters were all safely tucked into bed, I perused both and was very pleasantly surprised.

Having no prior experience with Gamepro, I signed up for a subscription after reading and hearing about the new direction the magazine and website was taking under their new Executive VP of Content, John Davison. I first read and heard Davison while he was at Ziff Davis Media, working with the former incarnation of EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Games for Windows/Computer Gaming World, and 1UP.com. Honestly, I loved his British accent, but more so it was refreshing to hear his opinions on games and the industry. He had insights and ideas that clearly showed he understood the industry, its highs and lows, and if given the right opportunity would be able to use this knowledge and experience to do great things. It seems that opportunity has come at Gamepro. The magazine has a crisp feel, and a focus not just on the games, but on the people behind the games. This is a facet that is often under-represented in the gaming press, and the treatment by the staff indicates high quality content will not be in short supply. I can't rave enough about this, and look forward to watching John and his talented team recreate the magazine's image over the next year..

PC Gamer has been a staple of my reading diet for some time now, and have seen it change editors-in-chief three times since I started subscribing (from Greg Vederman to Kristen Salvatore to Gary Steinman), with the reins now in Logan Decker's hands. This issue marks the second of his official run, and it feels as if he's moving in the right direction. There's something about the new layout, content and page design that appeals to me, as if it's cleaner in some way. The writing continues to be top-notch, and I look forward to it every month. Between this and Gamepro, my evening reading just got better.

In other news, today felt like a success. Between my wife and I, we completed our taxes, and were pleasantly surprised to determine that we are, in fact, going to be receiving more in our return than last year. This is due in no small part to my wife figuring out that we could deduct the sales tax paid when we purchased the minivan. Overall, this will allow us to dig out of some of the self-imposed debt of the past year, and also to perform some much needed home improvements. Our twins are getting older, and some changes are required to keep them from killing themselves on the electronics in the living room.

That's all for tonight. Tomorrow is Sunday, and hopefully I'll have some earth-shattering topic to discuss. I wouldn't hold your breath, though.