Games for Windows. The Official Magazine :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

They stopped the DVD and giving ratings for game reviews

2006-11-25
This used to be my favorite gaming magazine, going back as far as when I owned a Commodore 64. Earlier in the year I had purchased a two year subscription. A few months in to my subscription they stopped the DVD which contained demos and all kinds of nice things. They also stopped giving ratings for games they reviewed. The magazine had become more and more previews for upcoming games with some of the specific game previews several pages long. Personally I think previews should not be more than a few paragraphs and screen shots. Now the reviews are nothing more than telling you about the game and nothing about how good or bad the game is. They don't rate the games! CGW(Computer Gaming World) is essentially one big advertisement for the gaming industry and could care less about the gamer. Now CGW has become the new Games For Windows magazine. A sad demise for what was the first and best gaming magazine.

Edited June 4th 2007

Original review written for Computer Gaming World.

Misleading

2006-04-21
Don't be fooled by the cover and description, this is for a magazine only & "NO DVD included', or should I say for a magazine containing mainly adverts for components and games.
Waste of time and money

Hands Down The Best Computer Gaming Magazine

2006-02-23
Computer Gaming World has been around since the early 80's and it's always been the best in my opinion. A lot of people think their reviewing style is a bit harsh, but given the price of games and how much garbage is released, you really can't afford not to read reviews before buying. Computer Gaming World gives concise, critical reviews that explain exactly what is good and bad about games on the market. Highly recommended!

bye CGW

2005-07-01
I have been a subscriber to CGW for almost 10 years. Sadly, I have to end the subscription now. It was a very good magazine; but no more. One reason is that more than half of the magazine are now ads. The second reason is that the size of the magazine is getting smaller and smaller with the layout that is getting very hard to read. And the reviews are bad. The reviews don't have a professional kind of feel anymore. I can't totally blame the magazine. A big part is due to the gaming industry. There is no good game anymore. They are all FPS and MMORPG. Just how many time you can review the same type of games?

One positive thing about CGW is that it now comes with a DVD full of demo. I think the DVD alone is worth the subscription. But for me, it is done.

A good magazine

2004-10-08
I have been a subscriber to CGW for about a year and have been pleased with their coverage of PC games. In addition to having a healthy dose of advertisements, the typical issue includes previews of upcoming games, reviews of released games, and a hardware commentary section. The articles are generally well written, even with some humor thrown in. I plan to remain a subscriber and would recommend the magazine to anyone who plays computer games.

Title has been Discontinued

2008-06-02
Don't bother subscribing to this one. Their last issue was Issue 17, April/May 2008.

Don't Order -- the magazine is now defunct

2008-04-16
Amazon is being a little slow. The print magazine went defunct about a week ago (April 7th -ish?).

Once Great

2007-12-15
Now but a former shadow of itself. This publication has lost all its original identity and all of its integrity.

Little more than a front for the gaming industry and Microsoft, the information presented is no longer to be trusted, what little there is of it.

Pass this one by, it is no longer worth the paper it is printed upon.

RIP Computer Gaming World, we will miss you.

Excellent

2007-12-06
This is one of the best PC gaming mags out there. PC Gamer has sinked so low that I'm amazed the thing is still being published.

I usually enjoy reading general articles on the gaming industry more so than reviews. And GFW offers such articles for my reading pleasure on every issue. Reviews are not usually biased, and they are constructive. Sure, there is the occasional "odd" verdict (i.e. they (Sean) gave Bioshock 10/10 which is stupid), but what magazine doesn't have them? But the actual review is more important than the verdict, anyway, and they are nicely written (I just wish they compared the game being reviewed with similar previously released games a bit more often).

Also, the GFW editors are awesome (their GFW Podcast is THE best PC gaming podcast on the net.)

If you are a true PC gamer, then this mag is for you.

Once great mag is now limping badly

2007-08-14
Games for Windows took the place of Computer Gaming World (CGW), which was a respected magazine for many years. Unfortunately, the final year under the CGW banner was marked by such missteps as deciding to no longer review games, but rather summarize reviews that had already been posted on the Internet by others. The magazine also declined to put out any awards for 2006 games as they said others had already done so. At the same time, they began covering bizarre topics of little interest to most that had nothing to do with computer games. It was literally as though the staff was embarrassed to cover computer games and wanted to move on to other things... completely ignoring the fact that readers weren't looking for socio-political and religious commentary but news and views on games played on the computer.

After a good deal of reader complaints, the magazine shifted gears once again and also re-launched under the name "Games for Windows: The Official Magazine." Why the editors saw fit to compromise the perception of integrity for the right to be Microsoft's house organ is not much of a mystery (sponsorship dollars) but it is an unfortunate choice. The only positive is that they used the re-launch to once again write actual game reviews and most of the nonsense articles have gone away. The content is still not as strong as it used to be. One example is the Tom vs. Bruce column, which humorously depicts two gamers playing head-to-head in an RTS or other competitive game, usually without reading the rules or preparing. In the last few months the column has been used once as little more than an ad for World of Warcraft and once as an ad for casual games like Peggle. Uggh. Tom vs. Bruce has long been my favorite part of the magazine (and one of the few really distinctive aspects of any gaming magazine) and now even it has been largely ruined.

In summary, Games for Windows has improved some since the lowest point at the end of the CGW run. It still suffers from editorial direction that seems determined to "fix" what wasn't broken in the first place. PC Gamer [1-year] has been more consistent and solid for the past two years and is probably more deserving of your subscription dollars.