Between John Davison recently promising a revitalization of GamePro, Steve Harris' purchase and subsequent relaunch of EGM (as EGM Now), and now the announcement of "Kill Screen" from Jamin Brophy-Warren and Chris Dahlen, it's been quite the year for gaming magazines. But Kill Screen seems to be taking a decidedly different approach to publishing, aiming its first print run at "2 or 3,000 copies," Brophy-Warren told us this afternoon.
With an editorial directive to thematically tackle game writing -- and no obligation to the traditional reviews/previews/news format due to a donation/subscriber-funded, non-profit approach -- Kill Screen intends to avoid the mechanical nitty gritty that plagues game writing. "A great example of that is with Brütal Legend," Brophy-Warren said. "Tim Schafer had to come out and defend the RTS elements ... When we talk about games critically, it's not going to be in that sense."
The first issue, the "test run" or "zero issue" as it's being called, will be finished in "the next week or two" and shipping by January. Brophy-Warren added that he's hoping the second issue will be ready for GDC, but he's not so certain. And as for the short initial print run, he says "Everyone's gotta start somewhere, right?" and encourages people to subscribe to insure they'll get a copy. We wish them the best of luck!
Reader Comments (41)
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:07PM TheyDidItFirst said
this sounds cool, but I'd rather see Amusante (that French artsy game mag) get an English language version
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Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:08PM (Unverified) said
I don't know, on one hand, a lot of gaming mags have lost aa lot of their luster nowasays, examples including Gameinformer and Nintendo Power, and on the other, a lot of the announced "re-launch" magazines tend to be quite interesting...
I'm pretty much on the fence on this, IMO.
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I'm pretty much on the fence on this, IMO.
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:11PM ch3burashka said
That is the most ambiguous thing I've heard today, in terms of tone: I have no clue whether or not you're joking or not.
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Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:29PM OptimumEDGE said
Holy batman robin, I think we just found Dr. Sarcasm's evil lair.
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Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 8:02AM Benjamin Gilbert said
It's as if no one in this comments section read the piece at all. They're not aiming for some lofty new gaming mag meant to compete with Game Informer and Nintendo Power (like *some* people, cough EGM Now cough). They're printing a super small initial run (2-3000 copies is REALLY small for a magazine) and printing to a subscriber base (as in not throwing away 70% of what they print like most magazines -- I shit you not, that's the actual percentage most mags trash of their own print run). They're trying something different and doing it in a classy way. As I personally know Jamin, I can attest to the fact that he's not in the slightest a pretentious guy or an unrealistic person. He, I'm sure, is well aware of the world of print publications and the potential issues one can face in creating a print magazine (especially in gaming). That being said, him and Chris Dahlen are trying something new and doing so in an intelligent way. Rather than berate them, how about we be supportive gamers and try to give them a shot?
Worst thing that happens, you don't like it. I assure you there are worse things in the world than that.
I love you all!
Reply
Worst thing that happens, you don't like it. I assure you there are worse things in the world than that.
I love you all!
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:12PM (Unverified) said
Only way they will make it big is if they have like 5 exclusive premiers in each issue
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Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:20PM (Unverified) said
Hopefully when they say highbrow they're not intending to take it in a pretentious Adbusters/New Yorker direction, because it'll fold quickly.
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Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 9:10AM Petebot330 said
I assume by highbrow they mean a magazine that speaks more to the ideas in games (like the blog Brainy Gamer) rather than their new "hands-on" with game X. I think this is exactly what's needed.
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Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:31PM (Unverified) said
The sample pages are some of the worst looking designs I've ever seen.
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Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:34PM Professor Lario said
I generally go here for my 'higher brow' game related content - http://www.gamespite.net
The books Parish puts together are excellent as well.
Reply
The books Parish puts together are excellent as well.
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:36PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said
There's a staaaaaarman, waiting in the sky...
He's like to come and meet us, but he thinks he'd blow our minds...
Reply
He's like to come and meet us, but he thinks he'd blow our minds...
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:40PM Funkmaster General said
Let the children lose it, let the children use it, and let all the children boogie.
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Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:41PM Funkmaster General said
This looks pretty interesting. I like the idea, and I think that I will contribute.
Good on ya, Joystiq.
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Good on ya, Joystiq.
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:48PM (Unverified) said
Interesting. It's a good thing they offer a PDF version (even if I HATE PDF).
Print is dead.
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Print is dead.
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:49PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said
I hope it never dies.
I still need bathroom reading, damnit.
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I still need bathroom reading, damnit.
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:53PM (Unverified) said
That's what Tetris is for.
That's actually one of the most common uses for old Game Boys and their Tetris carts: Bathroom entertainment.
Reply
That's actually one of the most common uses for old Game Boys and their Tetris carts: Bathroom entertainment.
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:54PM (Unverified) said
Firefox doesn't play nice with PDF's, and they're too bulky.
For example, I've got the entire Calvin and Hobbes collection in PDF. It takes way too long to open.
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For example, I've got the entire Calvin and Hobbes collection in PDF. It takes way too long to open.
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:59PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said
Darth, you bastard, I love C&H.
Where'd you... get that?
:)
Reply
Where'd you... get that?
:)
Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 12:01AM (Unverified) said
I bought a PocketPC back in 2006, and it came with a disk loaded with eBooks and such. The Calvin and Hobbes collection was just a bonus.
And yes, C&H is awesome.
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And yes, C&H is awesome.
Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 2:22AM (Unverified) said
I agree. I think print will go on for another 50 years or so.
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Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:58PM (Unverified) said
Having checked out the sample pages, I can't say I have high hopes for this publication. They did sort of go for an Adbusters look in the design department, where it changes from minimal one page to shitty and hard to read on the next. A games magazine still needs to be primarily about games, not some guy's nostalgia for the past coupled with pixel art.
On the other hand, GameSpite looks pretty neat; definitely getting a bookmark.
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On the other hand, GameSpite looks pretty neat; definitely getting a bookmark.
Posted: Dec 2nd 2009 11:59PM (Unverified) said
Sounds like a great mag. But I don't think there's enough intelligent folk like myself that'll keep em in buisness yo.
I hope they still have trophy hints.
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I hope they still have trophy hints.
Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 12:12AM AtomicPlayboy said
Edge has this genre pretty well covered in print, and The Escapist owns it in digital. I'll be interested to see how these folks improve upon these or differentiate from them. Please, no pseudo-intellectual pap about the post-modern profundity of Braid, ok?
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Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 12:52AM (Unverified) said
Can't wait to read hipsters discussing WHY DO WE PLAY GAMES and other such nonsense.
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Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 12:53AM Fuzunga said
One of my favorite gaming mags was also the shortest lived. It was called Surge: The Pulse of Gaming. It's so obscure, in fact, that I can find nothing about it on the internet. The only thing that proves its existence are the two or three issues I have. I don't even know how many issues were made.
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Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 1:23AM Lectoid said
I'm still waiting for "Retro Gamer" to come over to the states. A 13 issue (1 year) subscription shipped to the US from the UK costs over $130.
http://www.retrogamer.net/
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http://www.retrogamer.net/
Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 2:25AM (Unverified) said
they will publish only two issues before they realise you can't expect cheese and wine readers from an industry that's most popular titles usually involve a gun, killing people, jumping on things and fps perspectives and then go back to a fun easy reading style magazine to avoid bankruptcy. i'm not saying we gamers are unintelligent but the vast majority of mainstream casual gamers are.sorry if my english is bad, its a hard language to learn. and me still doesn't does it right, do me?
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Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 8:12AM Vegeta has a ps3 said
I just kind of like how you decide to generalize an entire group of people simply because they like one genre of gaming.
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Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 2:17PM (Unverified) said
i mentioned at the very least 3 of the most popular genre's.should i have included sports too?
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Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 11:20AM (Unverified) said
I'm all for a more "highbrow" gaming mag but those preview pages were just awful.
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Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 12:01PM cbarrentos said
this is less of a magazine, and more of an independent 'zine.
i like it.
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i like it.
Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 6:36PM (Unverified) said
Well first of all, I am a guy who loves magazine, nat geo adventure, nat geo, economist, esquire, new yorker, and perhaps this coming year kill screen. I liked the sample pages, defintly something I'll read.We need more magazine like that, and more sites like joystiq.
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