#like just used so much spanish from the recesses of my mind and they didn't even question it

[kumikko]

sure, being able to converse with ppl in another language is great, but have you ever passed as a native in a language you learned later in life?

[8bitcalavera]

Remembering Old Videogame Magazines

One of the things I don’t miss when it comes to gaming is the whole “you have to get a guide” when you’re stuck in a game and the guide is not in any of the magazines you were able to buy. Primarily because gaming magazines weren’t exactly easy to find, especially when the game I was playing was like from fucking 1990 bC while every magazine in existence at the time was just talking in length about games newly released in like 2008 or something.

So, I’m glad I have access to the internet and very useful guides and tips from users all over the world. You see, in its own bizarre way it’s something that connects us and shit, we’ve all been through the same journey and we’re helping those who are embarking on it have an easier and maybe more fun time. Ain’t that neat? In that way, we become masters of the adventures and may even have our own respective strategies to it, but that is besides the point.

But you know what I do miss? The whole concept of having a videogame magazine in your hands and getting excited to buy one every month. Or every two months, if the magazine near you was one of those freaks. I miss having the thing in your hand and sitting down to listen to the opinions of grown men bitch about the next big thing and how those pesky governors and politicians are always on our asses! because of course us gamers are an oppressed and misunderstood group of folks. Hey, stop laughing! Back in the day we were in the trenches and our struggles as nerds is no longer recognized by the keen-eyed people who have rightfully noticed that us nerdy folks were just as bad as “the normal people” but that is not the topic of today either. 

Gaming magazines! Hoooo wee, don’t I have lovely memories with this one. I vividly remember one of the articles in one of the earliest magazines my sister could pick up. This was after the mythical release of Metal Gear Solid for the PS1 and it seems that Spanish politicians didn't feel good about the whole "Snake taking diazepam" thing, insisting it was teaching drug use to kids who played it. Author goes on a rant about how pathetic and illogical it was and frankly that was a fun read, because while I didn't understand the reason for these emotions (I still don't, like bro it wasn’t that serious) it was a read quite unlike the professional and frankly corny beauty magazine I was forced to read while getting my hair cut.

Getting the latest scoop about the gaming sphere from magazines was also something that felt like you were much cooler than the rest of folks your age (ages 8 to 14 or something). The conversations at the recess hour were tense and intense discussing the rumors and news of whatever game was coming for whatever console rich people could easily buy. The true killer was when someone was brave enough to sneak those magazines out of their home and into the school grounds – because depending on the season the rules of the school would shift and bend to the convenience and whims of the whiney parents who didn’t teach their children to fucking mind their belongings!! But I digress. There was truly no bonding time like the ones where you and your buddies would sit around and read the magazine together or passing it around. Good ol’ days.

I particularly remember being excited about the updates on games that either I already have seen around in the market, or own, as well as games I wanted to own. ‘Cause check it, you dingus. Those screenshots were always during development, meaning that they could have menial differences from the actual final product, making the magazine in your very hands a relic that archived the progress of a game. If the game doesn’t get released then you have a capsule of unfinished work and a possible myth – or at least you did back then. I think that nowadays, any beta and unfinished game has more than archived progress on websites dedicated to it, which leads me to the next thing.

In modern 2024 times, I don’t think magazines would be… all that fun or even necessary to be honest, considering there’s phones and we have access to the latest news about any game developing (indie or AAA) of our liking almost instantly. And frankly, I would not give a platform – however obsolete or unpopular – to a bunch of uptight whiney gamers about how everything is gone woke. I also, personally, don’t think there’s as many exciting gaming news as there was once upon a time so maybe the magazines being gone makes sense. 

Media has changed, so has gaming – and thus the players and their necessities have changed. I understand that maybe Gaming magazines have become obsolete due to the times, or merely changed its format to something more convenient in the modern times, but I am still very much allowed to miss the feeling of having a magazine in my hand to read the reviews written by sensible people that were somewhat qualified for their jobs and reading exciting news of things to come that I would not be able to play.

I do miss it. Except not having the guide at hand for an obscure ass game that magazines didn’t bother to cover. Fuck that.