been missing for a decade (or even longer),” wrote the author of the 8bitrocket gaming blog. “There were several levels of donations (on Kickstarter). I could have given US$5.00 for the pdf (version), but I wanted a real MAGAZINE. To hold in my hands, put on shelf, or read on the can. I chose the US$20 option because I could both feel ‘involved’ and get a physical copy to covet. The whole idea of a magazine about video games written by adults (even if those adults were younger than me), was exciting.”
When the first edition arrived in the
8bitrocket blogger’s mailbox, it more than fulfilled expectations: “I would… have to call Kill Screen Issue 0 a rousing success,” wrote the author. “All I asked was that it make me feel something about my place in the world of video games, and the place that they have in my life. When my throat welled-up reading ‘Player One, Player Two’, I knew it had achieved that goal that several times over. I plan to buy the next issue, and if the quality continues at this level, I might just be hooked for good.”
Hacker Monthly was another unlikely candidate to make the reverse publishing decision. A printed collection of posts
culled from the Hacker News website, it was originally created by Malaysian computer programmer Lim Cheng Soon to solve the difficulties that he had in being “offline and not wanting to miss out.”
Using techniques that come straight
from the print magazine playbook, Soon’s publication has now produced 21 issues, has 4,700 worldwide subscribers, and has allowed Soon to give up his day job.
Pitch Invasion, an online soccer resource founded by an expat Brit in Chicago, recently announced that it would be producing a quarterly magazine entitled XI, with each issue containing original content not available on the website.
“North American soccer is unlike soccer
anywhere else,” said Tom Dunmore, the editor and founder of Pitch Invasion. “XI wants to tell this story by moving beyond short blog posts, through giving the time and space for insightful, original writing by people who see soccer not just as a sport but as part of society.”