261: The Escapist's Bold Experiment

[Allen Varney]

The Escapist's Bold Experiment

Many industry insiders thought that it wouldn't work, including some of its contributors. Allen Varney eats his words as he speaks to the founders of The Escapist and learns the history of the magazine and what has made it the mouthpiece of the gaming generation.

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[stutheninja]

great article, the escapist truly is the mouthpiece of the gaming generation

 

[Sporadic chaos]

Good article, its pretty cool to see the Escapist's origins considering I've only been here a fairly short time.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Very interesting indeed, I haven't been around for much of the Escapist's history, so it's interesting to see how it's come along over the years.

 

[mjc0961]

Very good read! Although there is one thing bothering me now...

"We're working with multiple content producers all over the world. LoadingReadyRun, based out of British Columbia, produces four separate video shows for us."

Four? I must be missing something... I can think of Unskippable, ENN, and the LRR videos. I am very disappointed that I'm drawing a blank on what the 4th is, and I'm also very disappointed that I haven't apparently seen it yet as I'm sure it's quite entertaining.

 

[AgentNein]

Honest to god, the magazine layout throwback of this particular issue brought a tear to my eye. Hearkened back to the days when I had no idea anybody out there thought about games on the same level that I did, because no websites catered to those thinkers. Then I believe it was Penny Arcade that pointed me in the right direction, I can't be sure, stumbled on to you folks and I fell in love the moment I read the first article (I believe it was on the subject of Psychonauts?).

Talking about great gaming moments is a lot like dancing about great literature. There's bound to be something lost in the translation. Which is why I was so impressed by those articles that simply dealt with someone's favorite gaming anecdotes. They without fail always did a fantastic job of really conveying the moment without losing much of the magic. That's hard to do! I can't even tell you how many times I've tried to communicate the magic of Shadow of The Colossus to non-gamers only to receive blank stares in return. It's not their failing, it's the fact that Shadow is a videogame and not a traditional story. It's strengths are in the medium of videogames. But by golly you folks always did an excellent job of really communicating those strengths in print!

Happy anniversary folks!

 

[whaleswiththumbs]

"We wanted to treat games and the industry with respect. That's not to say we never say bad things about games

And thank god for that one, huh?

Yay Escapist! I like the anniversary/birthday issues having the pdf. Nostalgia can apparently be developed over a relatively short time.

 

[Aphroditty]

great article, the escapist truly is the mouthpiece of the gaming generation

*takes out his mouthpiece, looks at it with a wide-eyed, mounting horror*

You mean everybody in this generation has used this thing?

And happy birthday Escapist!

 

[(Insert name hear)]

I will be honest, I first only came here to watch Yahtzee. But then I found more and more things to love about this site. And now, I can't imagine a day on the web without going to the escapist.

 

[nik3daz]

Bravo guys.

I also was drawn in by Yahtzee, linked from VGCats.

It helps to have a celebrity like Yahtzee to draw in the crowd. But really, I stay for the romantic view of gaming this site holds.

Good luck in future years, as long as the attitude and focus of the site remain the same, I think it has a long future and will grow as the gaming industry does. (The REAL gaming industry. Not the casual gaming industry =.= [although there is some overlap these days])

 

[Phyroxis]

The Escapist's Bold Experiment

Many industry insiders thought that it wouldn't work, including some of its contributors. Allen Varney eats his words as he speaks to the founders of The Escapist and learns the history of the magazine and what has made it the mouthpiece of the gaming generation.

Read Full Article

Sounds like its time for the Escapist Festival. We all should get together and hang out and celebrate our shared hobbies.

 

[Luke Cartner]

Interesting article, to be honest its hard to imagine an Escapist without a Yahtzee, Movie Bob, LRR(I've lumped all their stuff here) or I hit it with my axe.
To me they are the core of the escapists content with the articles and other videos as side shows to entertain until the next ZP..

It must have changed alot in the last 5 years to get where it is now.

 

[Killerbunny001]

Very nice article.

Long live the Escapist, it`s a place I come almost everyday day, it would be a shame to lose it.

 

[Narcogen]

Congrats to the Escapist.

I was originally drawn in by articles that treated themes in gaming seriously, as well as great design and writing-- but I also enjoy ZP a lot.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Very well said. I find it highly interesting to realize that, when browsing the forums of other gaming and gaming-related sites, I often run across links to the Escapist, or jokes told in any of the videos featured prominently. The news stories get passed around site to site, and a few have been original, with their very own "Via: The Escapist" links upon other pages. Cheers, guys. Thanks for all you've done.

 

[BrotherRool]

Long may it continue! I just wish I'd started reading earlier

 

[Jack Da Ripper]

wow, I joined last year ,but have been lurking around the site since Yhatzee showed up all those years ago... the site has changed so much. I remember when i first started comming here. I didnt have this place bookmarked so when I went to google and typed in the Escapist this site wasn't even the top result like it is now. Congratulations to 5 good years and I hope you have many more to come.

 

[sharp_as_a_cork]

While most articles are still top notch, I find that the site is drowning in video content I don't really like, it's noisome and full of uninteresting news and the forums have deteriorated...but maybe it's just me being a grognard, or disliking the fact that having over 4 million visitors means something of that high-class feel of old had to go.

Still, congratulations on achieving the 5-year mark.