let the GAME! begin
By the time you’ve read this, GAME! would have prolly already been placed on the racks.
There were many people involved with the creation of the second local gaming title (the first is Games Master) in the Philippines. But it is also important to note that this is the first all-Filipino gaming magazine. This means that content isn’t syndicated from abroad (unlike Games Master that syndicates some of its content from the West).
Going back to the people involved, there are many many many of them who labored hard, enduring sleepless nights to get this thing conceptualized, laid-out, flattened, CMYK-ed, and printed. There’s Mitch, Aiza, Adel, Poch, Topper, and Joey to name a few, as well as the writers - I apologize if I forget to name all - Karl, Kiven, Ryu, Raphy, Jones, Karen … there’s just so many, I’m overwhelmed at the amount of support you’ve all given.
Now for the juicy part.
For those who’ve been paying attention to the gaming industry, there was a rumor back then that an Inquirer sister company (hi there!) was going to bring in a local franchise of Electronic Gaming Monthly, one of, if not the best magazine gamers my age (I’m 25) have grown up with. This wasn’t a rumor. In fact, it was highly possible for something like this to happen since this sister company (hello again!) was already publishing the local franchise of PC Magazine Philippines, which, like EGM is also a Ziff Davis title. There was a lot of emotion involved in this decision making process, whether to pursue EGM or not.
In the end, the following points were raised:
First. EGM’s target market was very different from the market we intended to reach. I grew up reading EGM. I can remember that since the 1980’s, there was a magazine that featured the very best of the 8-bit era. So that era has come and gone, and the gamers that we were before .. well a lot of us evolved to the online scene. Some of us have moved on and stopped playing altogether. A few have gone totally hardcore. But, truth be told, the market has changed. The gamers now aren’t the gamers of before. My generation has a nostalgic excitement for EGM. But the youth of today don’t really care (it showed in several of our studies). They grew up with Wytch, Anime, the Internet …
Second. The gaming culture here is very different from the States. Though we are also a console-playing country, we get most of our games from bootleg sources (aka piracy). That’s why the gaming industry here in the Philippines takes the online gaming model where a series of checks and controls are implemented to make sure that pirating a game is impossible. Thus you have Ragnarok, Khan, RAN Online, PangYa, O2 Jam and many many more. That brings in the bucks.
Third. We decided that it is much better to invest in the Philippines. With all the things going on now in this country, we do need a pep talk. One thing about GAME! that a lot of you prolly don’t know is that we have on board with us Joey Alarilla, a fellow gamer, the guy behind hackenslash, the founder of the Asian Gaming Journalists Association (AGJA), and a bunch of other embarassing things he’d rather not disclose.
So there you have it. P80.00 for a full glossy gaming magazine. 100% Filipino. Made by the publishing group of the nation’s biggest broadsheet. Oh, nice poster inside too 
Random Posts
bwahahahaha it’s alive!!!!!!
Congratulations to GAME! Magazine and HIP, from your Cebu Daily News family. Maybe we can contribute? *wink, wink* Hehehe.
wow CDN!!
of course you can contribute joel. just drop us a line.
Hehehe. Cool. Now I have an outlet for gaming articles.
I’m afraid CDN has a long way to go before it realizes the potential of gaming journalism.
I’d appreciate it if you can send me a format for the articles, ie. length, mood, etc.
Thanks, Jayvee.
please remove the link from your blog to mine. thanks.
ay, ayaw nya. taray!
his wish is my command.
please add a link from your blog to mine. thanks bosing hehee.
Just out of curiosity… aren’t you going to tell those guys still posting on the EGM Philippines forums that GAME! is in and EGM is out?
actually, yeah
were working on the new site now too. good idea to lock it up.
tatlong blacklisters nalang… tatapos ko na ang NFS Most Wanted!!!
now what to do after. hummm.
Hi this is corina from life in focus. Please check out our site and our plan to do a free photography workshop for children in the Philippines. I think your magazine would be of great help.
thanks
If you need illustrations for Game! let me know! I’d love to illustrate for it, and I know others who would too! - http://www.pixelpintura.com
[...] Read the rest of Jayvee’s post. [...]
[...] Starting with its second issue, I’ll be on board GAME! magazine as editor-at-large. GAME!, the country’s first purely homegrown gaming magazine from Hinge Inquirer Publications, is now out in the market, and I have an article and column piece in this maiden issue. Originally, I’d only committed to being a columnist for the mag, but I’m looking forward to helping set the direction for GAME! and see great things ahead for this publication. Plus HIP made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, heh. [...]
On behalf of the F3Data Team (A Purely Filipino Made FLYFF Fansite), we congratulate you on this magazine! Hope it can feature some FlyFF tips as well.
P80 bucks…yes, it seems cheaper than the OTHER mag, pero parang pang-masa yung itsura ng Game! masyado na nde ata dapat P80–dapat po ata P50-P60 lang to. Try kong bumili…sana po hindi wasted ang P80 ko.
p.s.
wala po ba kayong ginagayahan sa design ng cover nyo?
teka bakit wala pa ung issue ng mag sa stands? kelan b talaga ung release? san naman d kayo gaya ng isang mag diyan na “biased” hopefully worth it ung review at sana cover nyo n lng ung MMORPG’s lhat khit ung upcoming pa lang
Hi
out na ba ang mag?
wala pa akong nkikita ni anino ng mag nila khit saan and they expextr us to believe that the 2nd issue will be out by May? what is this ala GM 1 issue for two months?
[...] More details from Jayvee Fernandez’ Blog about why it isnt EGM Ph anymore…. [...]
this magazine looks interesting,…kasi isa sa maga writer ay kaibigan ko…hope makilala pa ang magazine na ito…
[...] Their magazine lineup includes the following: Game, MPH, Golf Digest, SME Insight, F&B World, Baking Press, Burn, and Spark. Quite noticeably, you do not see them competing in bigger markets such as men’s and women’s lifestyle. One thing worth remembering is they would have joined the licensing wars more than two years ago had they been successful in bringing in Electronic Gaming Monthly. Unfortunately, this did not push through. [...]