It's no secret that print gaming magazines are largely a niche endeavor now, as opposed to the primary source of gaming news, criticism, and insight that they once were. Most of the plethora of gaming magazines that once lined store shelves (in the United States, anyway) have closed shop, leaving only a small handful of monthly gaming publications like Game Informer and PC Gamer. But the reality of the glory days of print gaming magazines having passed us by doesn't mean that there isn't still a smaller enthusiast market for quality writing in a tangible, designed package that arrives in your mailbox. Fortunately for people like me who still enjoy subscribing to a few print gaming mags, writers and graphic designers who share a similar passion for print have taken to crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter to keep the dream alive, albeit not usually on a monthly basis.
The somewhat recent trend of gaming mags being crowdfunded is an interesting evolution (or sidestep) from the fanzine/e-zine culture that has survived on a small scale for decades now. The magazines that end up securing their initial funding this way usually end up being of much higher quality than something purely self-published through a site like HP's Magcloud or similar printing services. That's not to say that self-published magazines can't be excellent as well. One of the publications I'll highlight in this OP is distributed through Magcloud. Since not everyone is really aware of the existence of some of these crowdfunded or self-published gaming mags, I thought I'd create a thread to showcase some of them and discuss this new frontier in print gaming journalism.
Without further ado, here are some of the more prominent magazines that I think everyone should check out:
Kill Screen
Kill Screen was the first example of a gaming magazine being funded through Kickstarter, as far as I know. After surpassing its extemely modest funding goal of $3,500, production started on this quarterly journal that takes a wholly different approach to games writing than pretty much anything else out there. Rather than utilizing on the traditional template of previews, reviews, and features, Kill Screen instead consists of mostly long-form ruminations and essays about games and the ways they've impacted people in their lives. This style of writing may not be for everyone, but I doubt anyone could deny the level of polish put into the magazine. The design throughout is modern and artistic, and the quality of the cover/paper stock is archival-level stuff. These magazines can sit on a shelf for years with no sign of wear, so they make for great collectors items. The fact that it's a quarterly publication hurts it a little bit in my eyes, but they supplement the print issues with quite an abundance of quality articles on their website as well.
Website: http://www.killscreendaily.com
SCROLL
SCROLL is a true passion project. Written and self-published completely by Ray Barnholt, who you might remember from 1UP.com and the Retronauts podcast, SCROLL is a quarterly publication of remarkable quality considering that it's all done by one person. Barnholt is a true enthusiast of the medium and its history, and his passion comes through in every word of his writing. The design of the magazine is also really fun and polished, and as expected from a quarterly magazine it is printed on high-quality materials. If you're the kind of person who likes reading in-depth articles about classic games, obscure and mainstream, then you might want to head over to his website and check out some of the issues digitally on Magcloud. From the looks of it, you can read through entire issues for free on Magcloud and/or pay to have a print version shipped to you.
Website: http://scroll.vg/
Nintendo Force
Nintendo Force (NF Magazine) was kickstarted in the beginning of 2013 after smashing its $49,000 or so goal, and its mission was to fill the void left behind by the late, great Nintendo Power after its sudden demise. From the looks of it, they are honoring that legacy very admirably. It just finished its first year of bi-monthly releases, and their Kickstarter for the second year succeeded easily once again. It's exciting to see the amount of support that is being given to this magazine, especially since it's of such high quality and done completely pro-bono by all of its writers and artists. If the support stays strong, they hope to eventually switch to a monthly release schedule and to start paying their staff. As is the case with all of the magazines highlighted here, you can get it either in print or digital form on their (rather beautifully designed) website.
Website: http://www.nintendoforcemagazine.com
RETRO Magazine
RETRO clocks in as the most recent successfully Kickstarted gaming magazine, and it's currently two issues into its bi-monthly releases for subscribers. The Kickstarter garnered a lot of attention thanks to the magazine's large list of big-name contributors from decades of games journalism's past. Names like Jeremy Parish, Andy Eddy, Chris Kohler, Kat Bailey, Ryan Scott, Ed Semrad, Seanbaby, and Pat Contri got the attention of lots of potential backers who grew up with the gaming magazines of the 80's, 90's, and early 2000's. RETRO aims to be a sort of American equivalent to something like Retro Gamer (UK), albeit much smaller in scope and released on a bi-monthly schedule for now. The one thing that it already has going for it, however, is its breadth of contributors who all bring their own unique writing style to the magazine. Focusing on mainly classic games and modern games that adhere to classic principles, RETRO is definitely the only print publication of its kind in the States. Print and/or digital subscriptions can be ordered for a rather reasonable price at their website, and issue #3 is currently in the works.
Website: http://www.readretro.com
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These are the only four major examples that I know of, but please feel free to mention others in this thread. I'd like to know about them! Also, I'd like to hear some impressions from those of you who subscribe to one or more of these mags. Hopefully this thread will bring these quality enthusiast publications to light for some of you who've never heard of them.
The somewhat recent trend of gaming mags being crowdfunded is an interesting evolution (or sidestep) from the fanzine/e-zine culture that has survived on a small scale for decades now. The magazines that end up securing their initial funding this way usually end up being of much higher quality than something purely self-published through a site like HP's Magcloud or similar printing services. That's not to say that self-published magazines can't be excellent as well. One of the publications I'll highlight in this OP is distributed through Magcloud. Since not everyone is really aware of the existence of some of these crowdfunded or self-published gaming mags, I thought I'd create a thread to showcase some of them and discuss this new frontier in print gaming journalism.
Without further ado, here are some of the more prominent magazines that I think everyone should check out:
Kill Screen
Kill Screen was the first example of a gaming magazine being funded through Kickstarter, as far as I know. After surpassing its extemely modest funding goal of $3,500, production started on this quarterly journal that takes a wholly different approach to games writing than pretty much anything else out there. Rather than utilizing on the traditional template of previews, reviews, and features, Kill Screen instead consists of mostly long-form ruminations and essays about games and the ways they've impacted people in their lives. This style of writing may not be for everyone, but I doubt anyone could deny the level of polish put into the magazine. The design throughout is modern and artistic, and the quality of the cover/paper stock is archival-level stuff. These magazines can sit on a shelf for years with no sign of wear, so they make for great collectors items. The fact that it's a quarterly publication hurts it a little bit in my eyes, but they supplement the print issues with quite an abundance of quality articles on their website as well.
Website: http://www.killscreendaily.com
SCROLL
SCROLL is a true passion project. Written and self-published completely by Ray Barnholt, who you might remember from 1UP.com and the Retronauts podcast, SCROLL is a quarterly publication of remarkable quality considering that it's all done by one person. Barnholt is a true enthusiast of the medium and its history, and his passion comes through in every word of his writing. The design of the magazine is also really fun and polished, and as expected from a quarterly magazine it is printed on high-quality materials. If you're the kind of person who likes reading in-depth articles about classic games, obscure and mainstream, then you might want to head over to his website and check out some of the issues digitally on Magcloud. From the looks of it, you can read through entire issues for free on Magcloud and/or pay to have a print version shipped to you.
Website: http://scroll.vg/
Nintendo Force
Nintendo Force (NF Magazine) was kickstarted in the beginning of 2013 after smashing its $49,000 or so goal, and its mission was to fill the void left behind by the late, great Nintendo Power after its sudden demise. From the looks of it, they are honoring that legacy very admirably. It just finished its first year of bi-monthly releases, and their Kickstarter for the second year succeeded easily once again. It's exciting to see the amount of support that is being given to this magazine, especially since it's of such high quality and done completely pro-bono by all of its writers and artists. If the support stays strong, they hope to eventually switch to a monthly release schedule and to start paying their staff. As is the case with all of the magazines highlighted here, you can get it either in print or digital form on their (rather beautifully designed) website.
Website: http://www.nintendoforcemagazine.com
RETRO Magazine
RETRO clocks in as the most recent successfully Kickstarted gaming magazine, and it's currently two issues into its bi-monthly releases for subscribers. The Kickstarter garnered a lot of attention thanks to the magazine's large list of big-name contributors from decades of games journalism's past. Names like Jeremy Parish, Andy Eddy, Chris Kohler, Kat Bailey, Ryan Scott, Ed Semrad, Seanbaby, and Pat Contri got the attention of lots of potential backers who grew up with the gaming magazines of the 80's, 90's, and early 2000's. RETRO aims to be a sort of American equivalent to something like Retro Gamer (UK), albeit much smaller in scope and released on a bi-monthly schedule for now. The one thing that it already has going for it, however, is its breadth of contributors who all bring their own unique writing style to the magazine. Focusing on mainly classic games and modern games that adhere to classic principles, RETRO is definitely the only print publication of its kind in the States. Print and/or digital subscriptions can be ordered for a rather reasonable price at their website, and issue #3 is currently in the works.
Website: http://www.readretro.com
______________
These are the only four major examples that I know of, but please feel free to mention others in this thread. I'd like to know about them! Also, I'd like to hear some impressions from those of you who subscribe to one or more of these mags. Hopefully this thread will bring these quality enthusiast publications to light for some of you who've never heard of them.
