PC PowerPlay
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| PC PowerPlay | |
|---|---|
PC Powerplay #145, cover dated December 2007 |
|
| Editor | Anthony Fordham |
| Categories | PC gaming |
| Frequency | 28 days (13 times yearly) |
| Circulation | 18,023 |
| Publisher | Next Publishing Pty Ltd |
| First issue | 1996 |
| Company | Next Media Pty Ltd |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Website | Official website |
| ISSN | 1326-5640 |
PC PowerPlay (PCPP) is one of Australia's best-selling PC games magazines. Also available in New Zealand, PC PowerPlay focuses on news and reviews for upcoming and newly released games on the Microsoft Windows platform. The magazine also reviews computer hardware for use on gaming computers. The magazine is published by Next Media Pty Limited.
The magazine comes with a DVD which includes game demos, freeware games, anime episodes, teaser trailers, patches, mods, maps, utilities, computer wallpapers, and the bunker, a section maintained by various members of the PC PowerPlay Online community. A CD version was also available until September 2005 where it was replaced by a cheaper no DVD or DVD version.
Contents |
[edit] Main sections
The main sections, most of which are included in each months magazine, include:
- Inbox. Letters to the editor; also contains Snippets, a small section where a sentence of a writer's letter is used in a comical fashion.
- INSIGHT. Usually opened by a two-page screenshot of a game with bits of text scattered around the page pointing out interesting things. Also includes State of Play, a series of columns discussing current developments in the broad genre fields of Strategy, Action, Simulation and RPG/Adventure.
- Out To Play. General discussion of game-related topics. Author changes on an issue to issue basis.
- Tech Talk. PCPP's tech editor, Lindsay Handmer, examines an aspect of PC-related technology.
- Guerrilla Gamer. A fictional writer, Guerrilla Gamer, discusses a topic to which he usually has dislike towards.
- INCOMING. A round-up of soon to be released games.
- PLAYTEST. A section where games are reviewed and given a rating out of 10.
- TECH. The tech section includes reviews on new hardware products such as videos cards, motherboards, and monitors. An interesting section included in Tech is MyPC, where a reader has submitted a photo of their workstation and 10 funny things are pointed out by the magazine.
- Hotware. Includes commercial products, some computer related, others not, which a gamer may find interesting. Usually, there is at least one product that costs a substantial amount of money.
- Briefing. An article which explains the history or use of a specific computer part.
- Reshuffle. A review of several products, always video cards, where the frames per second and 3DMark points are stated along with a rating out of 10.
- POWERTEST. Powertest is where several hardware items are reviewed for their pros and cons and given a rating out of 10.
- Tutorials. A lengthy article describing in relatively simple terms how something can be done. Usually starts with a paragraph or two why the change is good.
- The Beast. All the components need to make a super commercial computer for crazy amounts of money. There is also "The Beastie". The Beastie is the cheaper version of the Beast using low to mid range parts which are chosen on a "bang for buck" basis. As of early 2008, there are also three cheaper, "core" systems: the coupe, the roadster and the GT.
- The Vault/Flashback. This section of the magazine alternates between two types of retrospective examinations. The Vault looks at an older game, greater than 10 years, where a key developer is interviewed and their thoughts are included on how the design process and the time after the game's release went. Examples include the original Doom, the original Ultima, and Commander Keen. Meanwhile, Flashback is a more casual look at a similarly older game, usually approached in a style seen in the Playtest reviews. Examples include The Last Express, Spycraft: The Great Game and Gabriel Knight.
- On the Discs. Usually a two-page description of the software on the DVD. A short summary is given for each demo included.
- Yellow Boots. An often amusing last page where a non-computer related topic is discussed, from the point of view of a man with a pair of apparently sentient yellow boots, with these tales often involving the author's "Crazy Ex-third flatmate" Victor Ninox.
A number of notable sections that used to appear in the magazine include:
- dr claw. A parody of the online gaming/IRC community written in Leet speak from the perspective of an early teen gamer.
- Flotsam and Jetsam. A roundup of the all latest budget releases.
[edit] Scoring system
Each review of a game or product is given a score out of ten. As stated in PCPP, a score above 5 is considered good and is very much worth your consideration. The scores are as follows, from best to worst:
- 10 Masterpiece
- 9 Superb
- 8 Excellent
- 7 Very Good
- 6 Good
- 5 Average
- 4 Poor
- 3 Bad
- 2 Awful
- 1 Stinker
PCPowerPlay has given 10/10 scores to Psychonauts, Civilization IV, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Medieval II: Total War, BioShock and most recently to Crysis. Though some online community members and readers argue that the 10/10 system is flawed, the magazine insists it a well established and informative system. The 10/10 system is a system which replaced the old system of percentages. PCPP states "what was the difference between a game which gets 95% and a game that gets 96%? Yet this was precisely what people argued about". Under the previous percentage system, only Wolfenstein 3D ever received 100% (actually a 10/10 but converted to 100% when printed in review score summaries in later issues), while the next closest, 98%, were given to Deus Ex, Falcon 4.0, Half-Life, System Shock 2, Total Annihilation, and Unreal. The score of 96% given to the WWI shooter Iron Storm in November, 2002 also generated significant controversy,[citation needed] particularly the "as good as Half-Life" phrase used to describe the game.
The Crysis review reignited the scoring controversy in December 2007, with some readers unhappy the game had received 10/10 despite various problems with the title.[citation needed]
[edit] Associated media
In addition to the magazine itself there are several websites that are closely linked with it. The official PC Powerplay website was re-launched in July 2006 (after being offline for a number of years). The site is augmented by the PC Powerplay forums which are actually older then the official website, the forums having been launched in 2002. The forums provide an environment for the discussion of gaming and computer related software and technology. Within the forums there are also sections dedicated to general chat and banter, serious discussion regarding Australian national, regional and international issues and a section for discussion of TV shows, films and music. In addition to the PC Powerplay website and forums a new site, PCPowerplaying, was launched to coincide with the official website launch. This site is designed to allow the organization of multiplayer games amongst the PCPP readers and forum members.
[edit] Audited circulation
PC PowerPlay is the only PC gaming magazine (and indeed the only gaming magazine) in Australia to use the Audit Bureau of Circulations audit system. These circulation figures are used primarily as a marketing tool to attract advertisers. The stringent Audit Bureau of Circulations system has been adjusted several times with the result that the magazine's apparent circulation has dropped from a high of approximately 29,000 to its current circulation of approximately 19,000 (18,000 not including New Zealand sales).
While the Internet and competing magazines have taken some of the magazine's audience, it is the changes to the audit system that have had the most effect on reported circulation.[citation needed]
PCPP bucked the market-wide downturn in magazine readerships and circulations during 2002-2005 by releasing a DVD coverdisc version of the magazine which boosted readership as users upgraded their PCs to include DVD drives. While DVD version sales continue to grow steadily, the discless version of the magazine continues to drop in circulation accounting for most of the drop.[citation needed]
[edit] Audience loyalty
PC PowerPlay is an unusual magazine in that its sale figures do not change significantly from issue to issue.[citation needed] Detailed sales information also reveals most copies of each issue are bought in the first week of onsale, instead of being distributed across the first two or three weeks as is more common with magazines.[citation needed]
The magazine has an extremely loyal core audience that will buy the magazine each issue regardless of cover or content. However, it is also an aging audience and attracting new readers is proving a challenge.[citation needed]
Various attempts have been made to entice new readers, including adding movie reviews, more consumer electronics and even console reviews during the launch of the first Xbox.
[edit] DVD version and discless version
The magazine publishes two versions each issue. One is a plain magazine, while the other more expensive version includes a double-sided DVD10 disc, totalling 9GB of demos, mods and other content.
The magazine launched with a 640MB CD coverdisc, which was upgraded in 2000 to a double-CD. The DVD edition joined the lineup in 2002 alongside the CD version, and the CD version was finally dropped in 2005.
The November 2005 edition included the first discless magazine at a little over half the price of the DVD version. While sales were not spectacular, dropping the CD did slow the rate of decline of the non-DVD version of the magazine.[citation needed] May 2008 saw subscriptions being offered for the discless version at half the price.
The Bunker is a section of the DVD originally compiled each month by ROM, a respected member of the PCPP online community. However, following his retirement from the position (announced in issue #143), the Bunker undertook a drastic transformation and hence became the PCPP Community Bunker. Readers and members of the online community are actively encouraged to submit to the section. Regular contributors now include ]{ing Nothing, Em, jagji56, noobule, Paingod556, Shinji Ikari, Elder Snake and Zilla.
[edit] Competition
PC PowerPlay has no direct competition in the Australian market in that there is no other Australian PC games magazine. However, there is indirect competition from technology enthusiast magazine Atomic. Rivalry exists between the two magazines since Atomic attracted many PC PowerPlay readers on launch due to its more in-depth tech coverage.
Various PC games magazines from the UK and US are sold in Australia (such as PC Gamer and PC Zone), but their circulations are minimal.
An Australian version of PC Gamer launched shortly after PC PowerPlay but was shut down in 1999 following a dispute between the publisher and printer.
Australian publishing company Derwent Howard launched a competitor called PC Games Addict in 2002, using some Australian content filled out by licensed content from PC Gamer in the UK and PC Format. The magazine closed in 2005.
