Surf, I'm sorry that you're blinded to the idea that popularity does not constitute quality. I'm also a subscriber to PC Gamer, just as I was a CGW/GFW subscriber, and the quality difference between the two was staggering.
PC Gamer is an average, more "informative" consumer-report type magazine than anything. Their writing isn't anything special, their reviews talk way too much about what the game has as a product than how the game is from a subjective point of view, their 100-point rating scale is annoying as hell, and from their podcast, it's obvious that they're simply a group of geeks that may not be the most talented bunch, but at least enjoy what they're doing. Go read their Orange Box review - not a single sentence of their Team Fortress 2 review offers a single subjective opinion. The entire thing is a damned description, and that trait carries over to most everything else they write too.
GFW, on the other hand, had much more interesting features that dove far more deeply into certain subjects, had editors with very unique writing styles that gave a different personality behind every style of article, an had one of the best damned podcasts ever released. GFW Radio was amazing - absurdly hilarious and raunchy talking about Second Life antics one second, while quickly delving into some of the most interesting, thoughtful, and insightful serious gaming discussions the next, all completely naturally, all thoroughly entertaining. These guys weren't simply geeks having fun, they are geeks who are talented writers and intelligent minds, first and foremost, with incredible chemistry that came together in fantastic ways.
It should also be noted that the GFW editors knew their place when it came to reviews - they knew that no one was reading their reviews 1-2 months after a game's release for a purchase decision, since they could just read online reviews 1-2 months back instead. Rather, they used their reviews as a way to have a more detailed postmortem of sorts. Go look at their Bioshock review as an example.
PC gamer is a decent, mainstream magazine with writing and a podcast that has easily accessible widespread appeal. CGW/GFW was a much more thoughtful, higher-quality magazine that was fully self-aware of the limitations of print media, and a desire to look outside the box for ways to overcome those limitations in the form of different types of features, different styles of reviews, and their podcasts.
Surf, based on your extensive capability of thoughtfully criticizing CGW/GFW, and your inability to recognize the idea that mainstream success =/= quality, it's hardly surprising where you stand.
This comment was edited on Jan 7, 2009, 22:33.