GameInformer by Andy McNamara

Title: GameInformer June 2016
Editor: Andy McNamara
ISBN: 720150371330
Publisher: Sunrise Publications
Copyright Date: 2016
Genre: Magazine

About the Editor:
One of the original game journalists, Andy McNamara started his career in 1991 writing reviews of NHL Hockey and Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis in the magazine’s premiere issue. Named editor-in-chief in 1994, McNamara turned the quarterly newsletter into the number one monthly video game publication in the world, with over 7 Million subscribers and counting.
From the humble days of running the ASCII version of Star Trek on a workplace server to years of joyously exploring Atari 2600, ColecoVision, and Intellivision games during the golden age of video games, Andy immersed himself in pixilated adventures right up to the industry crash of 1983. Between ‘83 and ‘85 video games fell off the face of the Earth, but Andy rekindled his love of interactive entertainment when the Nintendo Entertainment System launched the modern era of video games with classics like The Legend of Zelda and Metroid. Andy still attributes Metroid as the reason he is involved with video games today. One of the longest standing editors and journalists in the industry, sharing his passion for games with gamers around the world is the reason Andy gets out of bed in the morning. Sure, it¹s around noon, but those are gamer hours.
Andy Mcnamara: Bio. https://www.gameinformer.com/members/giandy/default.aspx.

Curriculum Ties:

• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
• Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).

Plot Summary:

Game Informer talks about upcoming games and detail about them. The June issue covers about forty games, giving details on the platform they will be released on, the format of the game, what the age group is for the game, and also offering further description on the gameplay graphics, and  plot, as well as how the reviewer enjoyed the game and it’s flaws. Grades are offered on the different games, indicating how fun they are. The magazine also offers some more in depth articles on more general topics. In this edition, it had one article discussing stealthiest videogame characters, naturally Solid Snake headed the list, an article about the upcoming trends in virtual reality video games, and another discussing women who make video games and their enlarging role in the gaming world. There is also one game that is highlighted in the issue, Dishonored 2, which is discussed in greater depth than the other games.

Critical Evaluation:

Game Informer is written with an eye toward people who are seriously interested in upcoming games. Many of these are adults and older teens, and the magazine delivers information that they would be more interested in, like graphics and gameplay, rather than a general “this game is fun”. As such, the language of the magazine is more formal and informative. Though reviewers give their personal opinions, they write so that the reader can draw their own conclusions and decide whether they would want to play the game, so the reviews are detailed and easily understandable. The language is full of idioms that do relate more to gamers, and there isn’t gradual explanations for those less familiar with. Since gaming is a visual experience, there is also a lot of pictures to demonstrate what the game looks like, though this is also a common form of medium in magazines, which works well for what the magazine is purposed for. 

Readers Annotation:
Game informer is an excellent place to find information on upcoming games. If you use an XBox, Playstation, or computer, this is the place to find the new developments in games that you are interested in.

Book Talking Ideas:

• Talk about the perception of women in games. Look at the article about women in gaming and talk about what is learned.
• Talk about what goes into making a game. Read the article about Dishonored 2 and discuss what things the reader learned about making games.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 14-Adult

Challenge Issues:

• There isn't really anything that is challenging in this magazine. Games are discussed in terms of graphic and story line, not with graphic descriptions or images. The game age is also given at the top of each game.

Purpose in Collection:

This magazine is written for older readers, but is also popular with teens. This is especially true for teenage boys, who tend to like gaming and want to know games coming out. That makes this an excellent magazine in the teen section, especially near the computers or technology materials.