Games - PC PowerPlay

Main Sections

• Inbox. Letters to the editor; also contains Snippets, a small section where a sentence of a writers letter is used in a comical fashion.
• INSIGHT. Usually opened by a two-page screenshot of a game with bits of text scattered around the page pointing out interesting things. Also includes State of Play, a series of columns discussing current developments in the broad genre fields of Strategy, Action, Simulation and RPG/Adventure.
• Out To Play. General discussion of game related topics. Author changes on an issue to issue basis.
• Tech Talk. An employee of Vivendi Universal Games and former PCPP staff, Bennett Ring, discusses a topic of his choosing.
• Modlife. A writer, James McHugh, discusses a mod (game modification
  ) of his choosing. The discussed mod is sometimes included on the DVD at a later date.
• Guerrilla Gamer. A fictional writer, Guerrilla Gamer, discusses a topic to which he usually has dislike towards.
• INCOMING. A countdown of soon to be released games.
• PLAYTEST. A section where games are reviewed and given a rating out of 10.
• Replay. An older game, around 1-2 years, is reviewed for its impact on the gaming industry.
• TECH. The tech section includes reviews on new hardware products such as videos cards, motherboards, and monitors. An interesting section included in Tech is My PC, where a reader has submitted a photo of their workstation and 10 funny things are pointed out by the magazine.
• Hotware. Includes commercial products, some computer related, others not, which a gamer may find interesting. Usually, there is at least one product that costs a substantial amount of money.
• Briefing. An article which explains the history or use of a specific computer part.
• Reshuffle. A review of several products, usually video cards, where the frames per second and 3DMark points are stated along with a rating out of 10.
• POWERTEST. Powertest is where several hardware items are reviewed for their pros and cons and given a rating out of 10.
• Tutorials. A lengthy article describing in relatively simple terms how something can be done. Usually starts with a paragraph or two why the change is good.
• The ISP Directory. A list of Australian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with their fees per month, their limits, penalties, and their URL. A good value ISP is chosen from the list and given a small article.
• The Beast. Created from the highest performance parts available, The Beast is an extreme computer which can be created for a ridiculous amount of money. This section also includes "The Beastie" which is a lower performance version of "The Beast" at a substantially lower price. The section also breifly included a midway style system called "The Mutant", which is the system that the PCPP staff use to review games. In their words "The Mutant is the system we DO own, versus the Beast, which is the system we'd LIKE to own".
• The Vault. An older game, greater than 10 years, is reviewed. Sometimes, a key programmer is interviewed and their thoughts are included on how the design process and the time after the game's release went. Examples include the original Doom, the original Ultima, and Commander Keen.
• On the Discs. Usually a two-page description of the software on the DVD. A short summary is given for each demo included.
• Yellow Boots. An amusing last page where a non-computer related topic is discussed, from the point of view of a crazy man with yellow boots.

Score System

• 10 Masterpiece
• 9 Superb
• 8 Excellent
• 7 Very Good
• 6 Good
• 5 Average
• 4 Poor
• 3 Bad
• 2 Awful
• 1 Stinker

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for PC PowerPlay ]

Searches on eBay

• pc powerplay