Computer Games Magazine - RIP - Page 9

Hans Lauring · 03-28-2007, 02:01 AM

Interesting. You link to this very page of this very thread... I don't get it.

rei · 03-28-2007, 02:10 AM

Sorry, wasn't paying attention and pasted in wrong URL. Meant to link to the summary about this month's contents.

DennyA · 08-05-2007, 02:51 PM

I was about to remove the CGOnline.com forum link from my Links bar, and I figured I'd give it one last click for good measure.

Lo and behold, someone's claiming to have purchased CGM, and they claim that they'll be bringing back both CGM and MMO/Massive, plus putting all 197 back issues online. They also indicate that they'll try to use the same writers.

Of course, over the years, CGM became more and more "Steve's magazine." He ran the show for about a decade (save '99, when I came in and gave him a "break" ;), and by the end, he was the full-time editorial staff. So without Steve's top-notch editorial guidance, it won't be the same magazine, if it does come back.

Any writers been contacted by the new owners yet? Any new info?

Matthew Gallant · 08-05-2007, 03:18 PM

I don't see what you're talking about.

Thierry Nguyen · 08-05-2007, 03:56 PM

If you check the forums under "Current Issue," a user with the handle "pdt" is making the claims Denny outlined above.

EDIT: Fixed typo. I had earlier claimed that Paul was making "clims", whatever those are.

Rob_Merritt · 08-05-2007, 04:11 PM

I wonder if my subscription which was renewed after they closed will be honored?

copeknight · 08-05-2007, 04:14 PM

I am cautiously optimistic. While I can't envision it having the same excellence that the old CGM had, more print mags=good news (to me at least). A quick Google search revealed whoever apparently bought CGM is also launching...Kitchen magazine. I sense cross-promotion ;).

DennyA · 08-05-2007, 04:22 PM

This topic has the claims of a resurrection.

The home page has a link to an article claiming a site redesign is in the works, without mentioning the magazine's demise.

The posts are by a Paul Travaglino. A quick Google shows him launching a kitchen magazine in 2006, and points to a quote mentioning how a modern magazine might only need online presence, no print. (At which point I think we call those "websites." ;-)

Raife · 08-05-2007, 04:23 PM

The website is now owned by Polaris Media in Stamford Connecticut, and the contact is listed as a Paul Travaglino. I would guess that this is pdt from the forum.

mystery · 08-05-2007, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raife

The website is now owned by Polaris Media in Stamford Connecticut, and the contact is listed as a Paul Travaglino. I would guess that this is pdt from the forum.

Huh, at one time, an earlier incarnation of the magazine was based in Ridgefield, CT (just up the road from Stamford).

Troy S Goodfellow · 08-05-2007, 04:50 PM

Paul bought the rights and assets of CGM and MMOGames as well as the sites a few months ago, and has been in touch with some of the writers.

Still very much in the "ideas" stage at this point, though.

Troy

Sparky · 08-06-2007, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troy S Goodfellow

Paul bought the rights and assets of CGM and MMOGames as well as the sites a few months ago, and has been in touch with some of the writers.

Well, some of us writers still haven't been paid, and it doesn't seem like they have any intention of doing so.

Also, it doesn't look like his "Kitchen" magazine ever actually launched.

So don't get too excited.

Sparky · 08-06-2007, 12:29 AM

A bit of Googling tells us Traviglino also worked for Synapse Group - they run the big magazine affliliate programs (frequent flyer miles programs that offer subscriptions, Amazon's online magazine sales, etc), and consulted for Special Data Processing, a direct marketing firm that claims to be "one of the largest magazine clearing houses in the United States".

Dave Long · 08-06-2007, 07:12 AM

This is the first I've heard of any of this, and like Sparky, I never got paid for submitted work near the end.

Certainly I'd like to see the magazine like it used to be, but since Steve's got a new job, that means it probably won't be at all like it used to be.

Tyjenks · 08-06-2007, 07:24 AM

Yeah, with no steve, it would no longer be the CGS+ we all grew to know and love. I weep for our computer gaming children. Well, the one's that read. Well, the one's that read articles in magazines that are not over-simplified, throw-away tripe. Hmm, that's not very many is it.

Troy S Goodfellow · 08-06-2007, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky

Well, some of us writers still haven't been paid, and it doesn't seem like they have any intention of doing so.

Also, it doesn't look like his "Kitchen" magazine ever actually launched.

So don't get too excited.

I'm not exactly banking on this going off smoothly, or at all. Paul does have plans for the subscribers, probably transferring their subscriptions to another magazine.

I don't think anyone's under any illusions that CGM is "saved", "resurrected" or "back in business." I know that he had hoped Steve would stick around, but a man's got to eat. He has thoughts about editorial direction, but he still needs an editorial staff.

Back pay is still a matter for The Globe - he did not acquire that debt.

I'm surprised he hasn't contacted you or Dave, though. One of you would make an excellent underpaid editor-in-chief.

Troy

Matt Perkins · 08-06-2007, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troy S Goodfellow

I'm surprised he hasn't contacted you or Dave, though. One of you would make an excellent underpaid editor-in-chief.
Troy

Sounds like a dream job! :P

Sparky · 08-06-2007, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DennyA

they claim that they'll be bringing back both CGM and MMO/Massive, plus putting all 197 back issues online.

Well, he's not putting the stuff I didn't get paid for online, whether he incurred CGM's debts or not. For that matter, there was never any agreement with CGM that the stuff I was paid for could be used online. He does not own those rights. Did any of you other writers have any sort of agreement about online usage?

Ben Sones · 08-06-2007, 10:52 AM

The standard writer's agreement at CGM (at least when I was there) classified all freelance jobs as "work for hire," which means that the magazine owns all rights once it buys your work. If you didn't get paid for an article, though, then of course the magazine doesn't own any rights to that. If a new owner were to publish such work in any format, you could probably sue them for copyright violation.

Sparky · 08-06-2007, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben Sones

The standard writer's agreement at CGM (at least when I was there) classified all freelance jobs as "work for hire," which means that the magazine owns all rights once it buys your work.

Well, that's not the agreement I had.

Ben Sones · 08-06-2007, 11:01 AM

If you retained specific rights to your work (i.e. you only sold first NA rights, or something to that effect), then of course a new owner would have to work out an arrangement for payment, subject to your approval, to republish the work. And you would be wise to demand payment for the initial (unpaid) publication in addition to that, as I'm sure you realize. The vast majority of the freelance work published over the course of the magazine's run is the exclusive property of the magazine, though. That stuff, they can use however they want.

Honestly, I'd be pretty surprised if anything at all came out of this. I don't think Steve would have left if he thought there was even a fair chance that the magazine would pull through under new ownership.

Sparky · 08-06-2007, 11:30 AM

Well, if I become editor-in-chief I promise to run a LOLcat centerfold in every issue. I'll hire Miss Manners to write reviews of first-person shooters. Ooh, and we'll run Marmaduke and Ziggy cartoons. And a column called "Kids Say The Darndest Things". And five pages inside each issue will be a "Choose Your Own Adventure". And we'll have a Mad fold-in at the back. In fact, I will hire Sergio Aragones to doodle in the margins of every page. If I can't afford him, I'll do it myself. That's the level of commitment you can expect from COMPUTER GAME HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN AND STRATEGY PLUS.

That's the new name, whaddya think?

Oh, and it'll be in large print like Reader's Digest. I know our audience isn't getting any younger.

Troy S Goodfellow · 08-06-2007, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky

Well, if I become editor-in-chief I promise to run a LOLcat centerfold in every issue. I'll hire Miss Manners to write reviews of first-person shooters. Ooh, and we'll run Marmaduke and Ziggy cartoons. And a column called "Kids Say The Darndest Things". And five pages inside each issue will be a "Choose Your Own Adventure". And we'll have a Mad fold-in at the back. In fact, I will hire Sergio Aragones to doodle in the margins of every page. If I can't afford him, I'll do it myself. That's the level of commitment you can expect from COMPUTER GAME HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN AND STRATEGY PLUS.

That's the new name, whaddya think?

Oh, and it'll be in large print like Reader's Digest. I know our audience isn't getting any younger.

/subscribe

Troy

Brad Grenz · 08-06-2007, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky

Well, if I become editor-in-chief I promise to run a LOLcat centerfold in every issue. I'll hire Miss Manners to write reviews of first-person shooters. Ooh, and we'll run Marmaduke and Ziggy cartoons. And a column called "Kids Say The Darndest Things". And five pages inside each issue will be a "Choose Your Own Adventure". And we'll have a Mad fold-in at the back. In fact, I will hire Sergio Aragones to doodle in the margins of every page. If I can't afford him, I'll do it myself. That's the level of commitment you can expect from COMPUTER GAME HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN AND STRATEGY PLUS.

That's the new name, whaddya think?

Oh, and it'll be in large print like Reader's Digest. I know our audience isn't getting any younger.

I've decided to write my philosophy thesis in choose-your-own-adventure format. I will send samples and then we can negotiate a price.

Tyjenks · 08-06-2007, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky

Well, if I become editor-in-chief I promise to run a LOLcat centerfold in every issue. I'll hire Miss Manners to write reviews of first-person shooters. Ooh, and we'll run Marmaduke and Ziggy cartoons. And a column called "Kids Say The Darndest Things". And five pages inside each issue will be a "Choose Your Own Adventure". And we'll have a Mad fold-in at the back. In fact, I will hire Sergio Aragones to doodle in the margins of every page. If I can't afford him, I'll do it myself. That's the level of commitment you can expect from COMPUTER GAME HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN AND STRATEGY PLUS.

That's the new name, whaddya think?

Oh, and it'll be in large print like Reader's Digest. I know our audience isn't getting any younger.

Not if you are going to, with malice and forethought, leave out Family Circle.

Patrick · 08-06-2007, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky

Well, if I become editor-in-chief I promise to run a LOLcat centerfold in every issue. I'll hire Miss Manners to write reviews of first-person shooters. Ooh, and we'll run Marmaduke and Ziggy cartoons. And a column called "Kids Say The Darndest Things". And five pages inside each issue will be a "Choose Your Own Adventure". And we'll have a Mad fold-in at the back. In fact, I will hire Sergio Aragones to doodle in the margins of every page. If I can't afford him, I'll do it myself. That's the level of commitment you can expect from COMPUTER GAME HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN AND STRATEGY PLUS.

That's the new name, whaddya think?

Oh, and it'll be in large print like Reader's Digest. I know our audience isn't getting any younger.

Can we also get a monthly section on what we should all do if 99.9% percent of the world suddenly dies from a super virus?

henryc · 08-07-2007, 07:44 AM

I can't believe that I actually had a dream about CGM coming back last night - I shit you not. The EIC was Norman Chan. Let's see if I can give Nostradamus a run for his money.

Lee Johnson · 08-07-2007, 08:09 AM

Quote:

I weep for our computer gaming children. Well, the one's that read. Well, the one's that read articles in magazines that are not over-simplified, throw-away tripe.

I weep for the English language, and the poor, confused, abused apostrophe. Won't anyone think of the apostrophes!?

;)

mutt · 08-07-2007, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by henryc

I can't believe that I actually had a dream about CGM coming back last night - I shit you not. The EIC was Norman Chan. Let's see if I can give Nostradamus a run for his money.

Nah, I'd like to see it with William (Bill?) Abner at the helm. I don't know if he's an idea guy or not, but I've always liked his writing and his judgment about games. Tom McDonald, too, but he seems to have gone into hiding or something after writing for that other rag...

Tyjenks · 08-07-2007, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Johnson

I weep for the English language, and the poor, confused, abused apostrophe. Won't anyone think of the apostrophes!?

;)

Ummm, bite me or something. :P

You would think I would have paid more attention if I was going to make a joke calling kids today dumbasses.

08-05-2007, 02:51 PM	#243
DennyA New Romantic Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Seattlish. XBL:Editer PSN:DennyA These are my opinions, not my employer's, but they should be yours. Posts: 8,834	Pining for the fjords? I was about to remove the CGOnline.com forum link from my Links bar, and I figured I'd give it one last click for good measure. Lo and behold, someone's claiming to have purchased CGM, and they claim that they'll be bringing back both CGM and MMO/Massive, plus putting all 197 back issues online. They also indicate that they'll try to use the same writers. Of course, over the years, CGM became more and more "Steve's magazine." He ran the show for about a decade (save '99, when I came in and gave him a "break" ;), and by the end, he was the full-time editorial staff. So without Steve's top-notch editorial guidance, it won't be the same magazine, if it does come back. Any writers been contacted by the new owners yet? Any new info?

08-05-2007, 03:56 PM	#245
Thierry Nguyen Mad Chester Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: San Francissyco, CA USA \| GamerTag: DancinTedDanson Posts: 1,314	If you check the forums under "Current Issue," a user with the handle "pdt" is making the claims Denny outlined above. EDIT: Fixed typo. I had earlier claimed that Paul was making "clims", whatever those are. Last edited by Thierry Nguyen; 08-05-2007 at 04:26 PM..

03-28-2007, 02:01 AM	#241
Hans Lauring How To Go Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Gamertag: Japrufrock Posts: 10,204	Interesting. You link to this very page of this very thread... I don't get it.

03-28-2007, 02:10 AM	#242
rei New Romantic Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Edmonton Posts: 5,760	Sorry, wasn't paying attention and pasted in wrong URL. Meant to link to the summary about this month's contents.

08-05-2007, 03:18 PM	#244
Matthew Gallant New Romantic Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Bothell, WA Posts: 9,646	I don't see what you're talking about.

08-05-2007, 04:11 PM	#246
Rob_Merritt New Romantic Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Baltimore, Maryland Gamertag: Baron Calamity Posts: 9,754	I wonder if my subscription which was renewed after they closed will be honored?

08-05-2007, 04:14 PM	#247
copeknight Broad Band Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Wichita, KS Gamertag: copeknight Posts: 199	I am cautiously optimistic. While I can't envision it having the same excellence that the old CGM had, more print mags=good news (to me at least). A quick Google search revealed whoever apparently bought CGM is also launching...Kitchen magazine. I sense cross-promotion ;).

08-05-2007, 04:22 PM	#248
DennyA New Romantic Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Seattlish. XBL:Editer PSN:DennyA These are my opinions, not my employer's, but they should be yours. Posts: 8,834	This topic has the claims of a resurrection. The home page has a link to an article claiming a site redesign is in the works, without mentioning the magazine's demise. The posts are by a Paul Travaglino. A quick Google shows him launching a kitchen magazine in 2006, and points to a quote mentioning how a modern magazine might only need online presence, no print. (At which point I think we call those "websites." ;-)

08-05-2007, 04:23 PM	#249
Raife New Romantic Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Gtag: Plasmasaint Posts: 8,420	The website is now owned by Polaris Media in Stamford Connecticut, and the contact is listed as a Paul Travaglino. I would guess that this is pdt from the forum.

08-05-2007, 04:50 PM	#251
Troy S Goodfellow New Romantic Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Maryland Posts: 6,065	Paul bought the rights and assets of CGM and MMOGames as well as the sites a few months ago, and has been in touch with some of the writers. Still very much in the "ideas" stage at this point, though. Troy

08-06-2007, 12:29 AM	#253
Sparky Neo Acoustic Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Custer's Tibia, NV Posts: 1,788	A bit of Googling tells us Traviglino also worked for Synapse Group - they run the big magazine affliliate programs (frequent flyer miles programs that offer subscriptions, Amazon's online magazine sales, etc), and consulted for Special Data Processing, a direct marketing firm that claims to be "one of the largest magazine clearing houses in the United States".

08-06-2007, 07:12 AM	#254
Dave Long How To Go Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Reading, PA Posts: 14,166	This is the first I've heard of any of this, and like Sparky, I never got paid for submitted work near the end. Certainly I'd like to see the magazine like it used to be, but since Steve's got a new job, that means it probably won't be at all like it used to be.

08-06-2007, 07:24 AM	#255
Tyjenks World's End Supernova Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: In my head and it is pretty filthy in here. Posts: 15,064	Yeah, with no steve, it would no longer be the CGS+ we all grew to know and love. I weep for our computer gaming children. Well, the one's that read. Well, the one's that read articles in magazines that are not over-simplified, throw-away tripe. Hmm, that's not very many is it.

08-06-2007, 10:52 AM	#259
Ben Sones World's End Supernova Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Boletaria, Gamertag: Ben Sones PSN: bsones Posts: 16,949	The standard writer's agreement at CGM (at least when I was there) classified all freelance jobs as "work for hire," which means that the magazine owns all rights once it buys your work. If you didn't get paid for an article, though, then of course the magazine doesn't own any rights to that. If a new owner were to publish such work in any format, you could probably sue them for copyright violation.

08-06-2007, 11:01 AM	#261
Ben Sones World's End Supernova Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Boletaria, Gamertag: Ben Sones PSN: bsones Posts: 16,949	If you retained specific rights to your work (i.e. you only sold first NA rights, or something to that effect), then of course a new owner would have to work out an arrangement for payment, subject to your approval, to republish the work. And you would be wise to demand payment for the initial (unpaid) publication in addition to that, as I'm sure you realize. The vast majority of the freelance work published over the course of the magazine's run is the exclusive property of the magazine, though. That stuff, they can use however they want. Honestly, I'd be pretty surprised if anything at all came out of this. I don't think Steve would have left if he thought there was even a fair chance that the magazine would pull through under new ownership.

08-06-2007, 11:30 AM	#262
Sparky Neo Acoustic Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Custer's Tibia, NV Posts: 1,788	Well, if I become editor-in-chief I promise to run a LOLcat centerfold in every issue. I'll hire Miss Manners to write reviews of first-person shooters. Ooh, and we'll run Marmaduke and Ziggy cartoons. And a column called "Kids Say The Darndest Things". And five pages inside each issue will be a "Choose Your Own Adventure". And we'll have a Mad fold-in at the back. In fact, I will hire Sergio Aragones to doodle in the margins of every page. If I can't afford him, I'll do it myself. That's the level of commitment you can expect from COMPUTER GAME HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN AND STRATEGY PLUS. That's the new name, whaddya think? Oh, and it'll be in large print like Reader's Digest. I know our audience isn't getting any younger.

08-07-2007, 07:44 AM	#267
henryc Goodluck!! Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 135	I can't believe that I actually had a dream about CGM coming back last night - I shit you not. The EIC was Norman Chan. Let's see if I can give Nostradamus a run for his money.

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Computer Games Magazine - RIP