Hello and thank you for the interest!

About your suggestions:

1. I should have mentioned that I don't plan on giving away 10-12 big new AAA titles each month. I'd simply run out of keys and money fast if that was the case. Buuut, I do see your point. Some bigger games will require more time in order to be finished and fully experienced. So 7 weeks sounds more reasonable for that. Read point 8. of my initial suggestions. We could give a bigger tittle to the winner of the first issue, since they proved they can write a solid review and give them more time for it. In time (after 3-4 issues), we'll have some good reviewers on some good games, with their new game reviews making it on the "cover" of the magazine.

2. I like the PDF format and I'm afraid I am not familiar with EPUB, but I am willing to do some research on it and learn how to use it. At a quick glance it looks perfect for this project. I do agree that being mobile friendly would be good.

Thank you for the suggestions. They were well received!

I'd be happy to have you in!

I do agree. A point system shall be decided.
That used to be my favourite part of any review magazine I've read. Score + conclusion.

We'll have to decide on that. So far I am thinking these 4 are vitals:

• Story
• Graphics
• Sound
• Gameplay

Glad you like the idea!

I've made this post precisely for this reason. To find out if there is interest in something like this, and read suggestions in order to make it a better experience for everyone.

I'm down to find some interesting game I can afford and make one of the first group giveaways

Hello and thanks for liking the idea!

I thought of giving away most games myself (at least for the first issue), but of course I'd gladly accept if others want to contribute to the games list.

I am thinking of separating them into categories like:

• 1 retro game
• a few indies
• 1 racing/sports game
• 1 action/adventure
• 1 horror
• 1 shooter
• 1 strategy/RTS
• 1 big title (the cover one)

Something like that..

And yes! Exactly. Stuff like this makes me want to play games as well. It offers extra motivation on playing and finishing games we've won.

Hello and thank you!

I think for bigger titles, it would be highly recommended to beat the game in order to form a honest and accurate review. For smaller titles, indies or simulators/racing etc.. it'd be acceptable if it isn't fully beaten/completed.

I do repeat myself, we won't monetize or gain anything out of it. I want to do this out of passion for old game magazines, for fun and in order to offer extra motivation for people to play the games they've won.

I am not strict on getting the best reviews (I am aware not everyone is capable of good writting, even myself). The only thing I'd be strict on are the deadlines. I want it to be a monthly thing and I need time for myself in order to create the magazine each month. So from 21st of the month till the end I need to read & correct spelling mistakes, create or find background graphics/images for the cover and each page and basically put it all together. By the time the month ends, the new wave of games/giveaways should be in effect, so we keep it rolling.

Awesome! Would love to have you :)

Hello,

They'll be Group giveaways, not private through link.

Hello again!

Regarding my post here.

Rosebonbon raised an interesting concern..

" Uh, maybe it'd be a good idea to ask cg for permission and input first... you know, like whether using the name of the site would be legally okay, or whether to include Fanatical ads on every page or only at the end of the magazine, etc."

Would it be an issue if we name it "SteamGifts Magazine"? Who should I address this question?

Thank you in advance!

Hello!

I am not sure I understand the "complete review" thing you mentioned. I guess we all have a different opinion on what an complete review is or should be.

I am looking for light hearted reviews. Indie or smaller titles, no longer than 1-2 pages, while the bigger titles I expect a minimum of 2 pages and a maximum of 6. I'd like to imagine these type of reviews as you (the reviewer) speaking to your best friend and describing aspects of the game that you like or dislike. Making sure to check on important aspects such as the story, the graphics, sound/music and gameplay mechanics. And finally, an overall conclusion and recommandation (if it's the case) of the game. Jokes, memes, personal stories, rants are all accepted, but the core elements must be there :)

As for not being a native english speaker, that's totally fine. I am not either. And I won't expect perfect grammar or description of the game. That's why I am going to check each review personally and make sure I tidy it up as best as possible.

I'd say it's time consuming if it is your first time writing a review on something. Otherwise I think it comes pretty easy to you when you start layin down your thoughts on "paper". If you know the game, you'll find it easy to talk about it.

But of course, this is something that I encourage only the people that are truly passionate about old style game reviews. I don't want to inflict stress or discomfort on anyone :)

Hello and thanks for the interest!

1-2 pages shouldn't be an issue. Think of it this way, if you write a few paragraphs on the story, a couple on gameplay, another couple on graphics and sound.. and finish it with an overall conclusion paragraph of around 100 words or so. It is more than enough to have a full review.

And words can be made bigger or stretched :)

What I am trying to say is that I don't want those types of reviews you see on steam pages, in which they use a template and comment in each category "Graphics - Good, could be better"; "Sound - Meh, I don't like the voice acting" etc..

There must be some "personality" to it, that's all.

As a "page" is subjective to the application/font size etc.

That reminded me of creative ways people at uni were using to have reports that are "long enough". Bigger margins, font 13 instead of 12, big paragraph gaps, images that are unnecessary big or verse distance of 1,5 instead of 1,15. The horror of biochemistry department that was requiring all to be submitted as docs in standard format.

Hello and thank you!

Would love to have you :)

I haven't thought of a particular font, but I am considering using different fonts for each game. Or at least have 4-5 variations. But if that's something you guys are against, I'll stick to one font only. Something basic and clean.

Thanks! And I totally feel the same way..

That's awesome!

I'll create the Group and decide on the name tomorrow. Will send you an invite after it's done :)

Oh, that's a good one!

I'll add it to the poll tomorrow! :)

Going to post the name poll in a few minutes and after that I'll create a different post with more details and hopefully I'll have time to add the giveaways for the group.

Also, on a completely different suggestion, it would be freaking awesome if in the future we open up a section for short reviews not from GAs/new titles but around bundles- in particular Humbles Monthly. If releases get anywhere mid month or before a month ends opening a spot for shorter reviews (and or sg pool results too) open for anyone who owns and played that months entries.

Doesnt need to be big, deep nor even complete. For example in one page mentioning the list, each steam score and or metascore, and then next page 3 paragraphs, 2 thumbs up and one thumb down- in this example 3 users would have sent a 'recommended short review' and 1 a 'dont recommended/warning' one

I can also imagine a number of 'sections'(with titles) that could come up irregularly - instead of every issue having A, B, C sections just very few or one of those (example: game of the month/cover) and in any issue a number of others could come up as they come- 'hidden jewel', 'oldie but goodie', and so on... A 'bundle trash or smash' comes to mind, anytime someone reviews some highly bundled/cheap title to see if its really just meh, asset flip or a good gem some would`ve overlooked otherwise...

Hello and thank you for the interest and for this detailed comment! :)

To address some of your comments:

"Just one caveat- ive seen projects like this in the past (community projects around a nice idea, multiple people togeter on a timetable), 2 zines btw- that didnt go well or blew up at the start for trying too much too quickly"

Yes, I am very familiar with the term "don't bite more than you can chew" and I can tell from own experience that I have started many projects and abandoned. Projects involving other people.. never. I won't give up on it unless everyone does.

"My sugestion is not starting from the get go with 'monthly'- thats already a big commit when we dont even know how easy or hard it will be to coordinate everything or what kind of unexpected decisions or issues may come up. Better to set monthly as a target for the future, but start smaller- start with a 'as it gets done' issues first"

I do see your point, and tbh it's a real concern. I for one, know for sure that 3 weeks would be enough for me to finish a game (or at least play a vast majority), and I shouldn't need more than a few hours to write a decent review. But that's ME. I don't know how others will deal with the deadline. I do hope tho that the participating members will understand and be able to manage their time. Some might not make it, I'm sure there will be some cases. That's totally understandable if the reason is justified and I'm being told that they need additional days to finish. I do have an idea on how to deal with this as well. There are going to be some group rules and surely we're going to have a limit on how many times a member can delay a review. I believe it is beneficial to have a "deadline" and a "monthly issue" otherwise some might get complacent and keep on delaying.

"Steam group or similar for PLANING and discussions, open for everyone, so multiple threads on specific subjects or issues can be made"

I do plan to create different posts on the Steam Group page, for each game that has been assigned to a member. There members can share their progress or ask for guidance, share screenshots from the game and more.

I also want to use Discord in order to keep in touch with the "reviewers" and the "contributors".

I'll consider each member of the Group as "part of the team". But I'll need a couple of "right hands" to help me out on Discord and on the Steam Group page.

"important not to be a group for review GAs only, the number of reviewers will always be smaller then everyone involved directly or interested in just reading but with ideas to share"

My idea is that we'll permanently have an open discussion "SG Magazine Central Hub" in which we'll keep track of each issue released, the giveaways for the "next" issue will be linked there as well, and a group rules and explanation so that anyone can comment and request to join at any time.

"smaller amount of titles to start"

I want to start with 10 titles that I will giveaway + the ones from contributors. Ideally I want the first issue to have at least 10 reviews. Even if there are going to be 15 giveaways for example, we'll only use 10-12 for the first issue. The remaining being saved for the next one. Each issue will have a minimum of 10, and a maximum of 18 "articles".

"Also: Notion"

I'll check it out!

Hello,

I am planning to correct any errors I may find, and even change entire sentences if the idea is poorly translated. I am not a native english speaker myself. Actually my english is far from perfect, but I think we can manage it. Nobody is paying for the magazine, so no harm done! :)

Hello,

I'd be more than happy to recruit you!

Currently we are voting for the name of the Magazine. After we decide on that, I'll create the group and start recruiting members that are interested :)