Games for Windows: The Official Magazine | 
| Publisher: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company
List Price: $59.88
Buy New: $19.97
You Save: $39.91 (67%)
Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 372
Format: Magazine Subscription
Type: Consumer magazine
Subscription Issues: 12
Subscription Length: 12 Months
Issues Per Year: 12
First Issue Lead Time: 6-10 Weeks
ASIN: B00005N7PE
Release Date: November 23, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 3 months
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Abstract
Covers the tradition & culture of computer gaming by providing reviews, previews & strategies for core gamers.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 They stopped the DVD and giving ratings for game reviews November 25, 2006
Mark B. (Burlington, VT)
19 out of 29 found this review helpful
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.
 Once great mag is now limping badly August 14, 2007
Joseph Boone (Irvine, CA United States)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
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.
 If you're only to get one, this is it July 16, 2003
silt (Portland Maine, USA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Computer Gaming World has the best reviews going. Unlike most anywhere else I can think of, its reviewers insist on games ... and grade accordingly. Occasionally they even correct lapses of judgment, as in the spectacular re-rating of Black & White. That the magazine is also less youngster-orientated in the writing is a welcome bonus: the writers occasionally stray outside the ten thousand most common words in the language. Oh, the shock! Another nice feature is a print summary of predicted game release dates ... Every issue has a strategy section for one or more games. This content ranges from useless (occasionally it feels like someone copied down bits of the manual & on-screen unit descriptions) to very strong, with my favorite semi-regular feature being two guys playing head-to-head in all types of games (shooters, sims, rts, even the Sims[!]) with annotated turn by turn carping and analysis. Reminds me of The General magazine.... The downsides are all the common ones: even this magazine occasionally feels a bit like a junior high school bus trip, the magazine is short and getting shorter, way too much time spent on previews (though many like this).
Amazon Magazine Subscription Services are lacking in SERVICE May 28, 2004
kokomo (Bucks County, PA United States)
10 out of 18 found this review helpful
While the magazines are fine, the subscription services operate in the dark ages, which adds a middleman to the address change process. This caused errors in the delivery of my magazines and the company was unable (unwilling?) to send the missing issues.After you subscribe to the magazine you may wish to submit an address change. Neither subscription service company used by Amazon has an online process. You either send an email or make a phone call. In my case I sent an email to Magazine Express, Inc. and they erroneously changed the mailing address to the billing address which sent 3 months worth of magazines to the wrong address. After getting them to correct the mistake, they were unable to get Computer Gaming World to send the misdirected magazines to the correct address. If the magazine subscription services had an online process for address changes, this would eliminate the middleman and reduce errors. My future magazine purchases will be made through companies that offer a better online service.
 Infantile comments and jokes hurt the mag August 4, 2004
Austin Josh (Austin, TX)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
If you get a gaming magazine, you have to know what you're getting into. Most articles are reviews are going to be outdated due to the monthly publishing cycle. CGW is no exception, and if you visit a lot of online news sites, you're not going to come across a lot of new content. However, I don't hold that against the magazine.
What I did find to be annoying was the sometimes infantile writing in the magazine. The jokes fall flat, and often make the writer look moronic and makes the reader feel that time is being wasted.
It's a solid magazine, but could benefit from a more professional editorial direction.
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