Product Description

PC GAMER the #1 PC games magazine. The lastest game reviews, gaming news, tips, tricks and strategies to get the most out of your computer gaming experience.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #294 in Magazine Subscriptions
• Formats: Magazine Subscription, Print + CD

Customer Reviews

Very Good Magazine for Gamers
Once upon a time, PC Gamer was in a real dogfight with Computer Gaming World for the title of best gaming magazine. This battle ended when CGW basically self-destructed thanks to some massively poor decision-making by their editorial staff. CGW has since re-launched as Games for Windows: The Official Magazine but has not reclaimed their old glory.

PC Gamer provides both reviews and previews of games. They also have a small section covering hardware. One regular feature that is nice is that they give sample builds for three PCs each month, entry level, mid level, and high end. Most magazines just focus on the most expensive parts for their sex appeal but most gamers can't afford that gear. It's nice to see this magazine buck that trend.

Most computer magazines employ humor to keep things from getting too dry and this one is no exception. They do a very professional job of providing coverage but throw in just enough sarcasm to give you a grin or two in every article. They also do a good job of calling out games that have real issues and even in their previews I've seen them point out shortcomings. Overall, this is a very good magazine and well worth the subscription price.

Caters directly to the PC gamers out there
I really like this magazine and have subscribed for the past 3 years. PC GAMER caters directly to PC gamers, each month reviewing several games and previewing several others. Although you can get demos and such online, this magazine also bundles a dvd that contains demos and other things to preview. The articles are generally well written, and most of the ratings are reasonable, with one big exception (see below).

My only problem with PC GAMER is its "world exclusive reviews," where a company will allow the editors to be the first to review some highly anticipated game. The problem is whatever game is reviewed in this matter invariably gets a high score (85%+), almost regardless of quality. In its latest world exclusive, Hellgate: London received a score of 89%--a full 15 percentage points higher than the game's average review rating at Gamerankings[dot]com. I know that this arrangement is supposed to please everyone: PC GAMER gets the early scoop, readers buy the mazagine to read the early scoop, and the game developer sells more copies of the game thanks to PC GAMER's early endorsement. But in my opinion, this scheme compromises the integrity of an otherwise very good magazine.

Anyhow, I recommend PC GAMER to anyone who has at least a casual interest in PC gaming.

It is what it is...
PC Gamer reviews games and hardware that is currently available for the PC. The reviews are the most impressive in terms of the games. They are pretty accurate with their rating system which is setup much like a grading scale on a report card with 90% or higher being considered excellent and so on...Once in a while they will drop a really low rating on a halfway decent game, but 99% o the time they are accurate in my opinion. The hardware reviews seem to be fair, but they only seem to review the utmost PC gaming computers ranging in price from $4000 to nearly $10,000...so theres no surprise when its rated the "fastest machine ever". Overall, it's a quality PC gaming magazine, and for the price I definetly suggest it.