Magazine Audiences

Well this quest is called Magazine Audiences and for it I’m going to examine an issue of the magazine Game Informer. As you can probably guess by the name the magazine it is about news from around the gaming industry and what is going on. They preview and review games and it also talks about the rumors within the industry.

I have read both the physical and online version of Game Informer for a number of years now and I will admit I have never really thought about the message the magazine conveys in till this class. I have always just picked it up and read the parts that I want to and learned more about what game I’m going to go buy. For this quest after looking the newest issue over a few times, I think the message the magazine is trying to convey is that by reading their product you are going to be the most informed gamer and that only their magazine is going to do that for you. To achieve that goal and to give the reader that feeling, they use big bold pictures and headline making you feel like you just received a glimpse of a secret bit of info that only they can provide. On the cover of the April 2012 issue is the main character Connor from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 3, his image take’s up the entire cover and at the top is Game Informer by doing the layout this way it draws your attention and make you want to find out what is so important about this game or character that a magazine has devoted it whole cover to it.

  

This theme and style of layout are commonly used in the magazine to draw you in by appealing to your curious side. They also put the feedback part of the magazine right up front in the printed version. By doing that and answering other readers’ letters and email first and foremost, they are conveying a message of not only do they care about the reader but want you to feel like you are a part of the magazine and a feeling of community to keep you coming back month after month.

The values I think they are trying to express be that it’s ok to be a part of the video game subculture and no matter what console you play them on that you’re welcome to take part in the magazine. They show pictures of the employees around the office sometime this builds on the concept of family and community by showing the readers what the people making the magazine happen look like and it show that they are normal everyday folk like the rest of us.

 My opinion is the values that are implied complement the overall message about the magazine, by blending a feeling of family and community they are making the reader feel good about buying the magazine which helps them stay in business. It also helps the reader feel like they can trust the views and advice given in the articles as if they are coming from people that really care about making you the most informed gamer. So in the end it still all about making money and keeping readers but now I’m a little more informed on what the magazine companies are doing and what drives their decision making but I like the message that Game Informer is conveying to me in my opinion so I will keep on reading it.