Game Informer Is A Healthy Meal Among Fast Food
Last month, Game Informer announced an update to its magazine with readers now being able to purchase a standalone subscription which includes print and digital versions of each issue. After years of it being pushed as nothing more than a perk for Gamestop’s PowerUp Pro membership, fans can directly support the long-running magazine for less than $2 an issue (a one-year subscription including ten issues is currently on a special promotion for $19.91). Many may wonder what’s the point of paying money for delayed video game news in the year 2024 when all the newest updates are available immediately for free on the internet, but as one of, if not the last major gaming magazine in the US, Game Informer offers something the many websites and Youtubers can’t. The chance to actually read the news.
Every day, people are inundated with all the information the world has to offer every time they pick up their phone or go online. Some things are heartbreaking like a foreign government providing a death toll from a natural disaster. Some are infuriating like a politician's most recent comments. And some truly don’t matter such as new photos of a celebrity couple who were seen eating outside like us normal folk. All this can lead to a sensory overload that can be overwhelming and create a sense of apathy about the subject or even just the concept of news in general. This applies to gaming news too. Hundreds of websites are refreshed every couple of minutes with more news about additional layoffs from a major company after record profits or a new trailer for the next big game in a year filled with too many for people to realistically play. There’s always more, and the hunger for us is never filled because we know more content could just be a refresh away. Usually, we are absent-mindedly absorbing this information, procrastinating at work or waiting at a doctor’s office. It’s like eating an entire bag of chips while watching television. It’s not about sating hunger, it's a dopamine hit, but it's not healthy.
Game Informer (and physical media) offers a healthier alternative to receiving industry news. Reading the print magazine means making a conscious decision to sit down and engage with what is happening in the industry. There is no refresh button to get more, there are only so many pages in each issue, and when you read it cover to cover that is it. There will be another serving next month. Obviously, as soon as you finish, you could go onto their website or one of the seemingly infinite gaming websites and start drinking from the firehose again but maybe after spending an hour or so reading about video games, you will feel full.
Game Informer also offers the chance to find news that you may never come across under the deluge of stories asking for your attention. Every issue features pages dedicated to previews of all the biggest games, but many smaller ones as well. A quick paragraph explaining an upcoming title accompanied by a screenshot is sometimes enough to gather interest in a title that would have been buried under the deluge of stories and posts from one of the bigger sites. How you feel about this newly discovered title will be your thoughts and feelings as Game Informer also avoids one of the many drawbacks of gaming websites.
As a print magazine, there is no comment section. When readers read a news story or preview, they avoid being sucked into a toxic discussion about why they should hate something or an argument about if a developer was lazy in some way. There is obviously nothing wrong with not finding a game appealing but many communities don’t communicate these thoughts effectively or in a positive way. It becomes arguing and potentially insulting to those who feel differently. When reading a magazine, like Game Informer, even when something doesn’t sound appealing to a reader, they at least come to terms with that on their own instead of being talked into that stance by xXGokuBro69Xx. There are healthy communities among gaming sites, but even in these, it can be good to have differing points of view to allow meaningful discussion or else every conversation will just become parrots talking to each other.
As someone who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s, gaming magazines were a huge part of my relationship with the industry. Even after the internet provided gaming news as soon as it became available, magazines like EGM still helped me find some of my favourite games. Game Informer will never replace the internet, but it definitely offers something websites can’t offer. The team there is writing interesting, detailed and thoughtful takes on the industry and its products and is providing something it feels like no other organization is right now. Support Game Informer and show the industry you are willing to turn off the buffet of information and have a pre-portioned meal instead.
