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I used to pick up Play whenever I saw it in the store and the cover seemed interesting. The articles would end up being the real draw though since they are well written and have a much broader spectrum than most other video game magazines. The overall feel is aimed more towards adults than children/teens and since I have grown up with video games it just seems like a natural choice to continue learning about my favorite hobby. Now I subscribe (much cheaper than picking up individual issues) and have enjoyed every issue.
The paper is extremely high quality and the photos are of equally high quality. This one however goes beyond the usual "hype game x". I have sub'd to alot of gaming magazines. This feels like a high production rag. They have detailed articles where developers sound off, research articles and VERY interesting featured pieces on various topics related to gaming in general. Its much much more then a simple collection of reviews. HIGHLY recommend for those who love gaming but want to also hear what developers think and are into reading about history and present topics of games. This is of the highest quality period.
It's hard to keep this in my bookshelf where children may stumble on it.The latest cover finally crosses the line, and I have to either hide the magazine from kids for no good reason or personally censor all the offending pages/covers. They periodically have salacious articles dedicated to virtual pinups and so on.
Great layout, articles, geared towards people who want to know about games, written by people who know games. Unfortunately, every couple of issues they are dedicated to targeting perverts to sell copies.
Play is one of the few last great gaming magazines. This magazine is definitely not appropriate for kids, the recent cover notwithstanding.
The September cover in particular crosses the line and is softcore porn consisting of suggestions of tentacle rape. Judge for yourself:[.].I have no problem with softcore porn, but if I wanted that I'd order Maxim.
Which is fine by itself, it just isn't appropriate for kids and probably doesn't belong in a video game magazine. Play wasn't always this bad, now it's ridiculous.
Their rationale behind most editorial is that they like a particular theme such as half-naked girls and 'beasts' and therefore love the game, in this case Beast Rider (Xbox 360 and PS3).I think that this approach is the equivalent of choosing games from cover art and back of the box descriptions. The artwork and layout are wonderful, but the editorial that fills the pages is lacking.The staff clearly enjoy what they do and this almost always positive perspective shines through their content. They love everything.I find the actual writing a mess filled with personal anecdotes, lengthy overly deatailed descriptions of gameplay, and plot points while lacking in a clear structure. If this works for you, why buy this magazine. Just go to the store and pick something out.
Having said that, the writing can leave me scratching my head sometimes, and it could use a more thorough proofreading regularly.I work in magazine printing and on occasion I've seen some production problems in issues of PLAY that make me cringe. PLAY is the only Video Game MAG I have ever subscribed to and currently it's the only subscription I have period. But it's hard not to be awestruck by the big beautiful glossy colorful pages that have detailed previews of fantastic games that I usually can't wait to play.It's hard to say how long they can keep it up in this digital age. It has great visual style, and often covers games I wanna play. But I'm sure it's not for everyone, and no good magazine of any interest should be.Dave Halverson and his band of merry geeks have turned me on to many and most of my favorite games. Printing is not dead, but like so much else right now it has taken a downturn. They can thank their stars that they write for an industry that will weather better than most in the current financial crisis.-M.
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