The internet is a remarkably present tense being. In the game industry, especially, this has fostered a mentality that you’re only as good as your last blog post. I remember the thrill of videogame news aggregators and realizing the days of monthly updates were over. But for all that I love being inundated with videogame news, I also miss the invitation to reread an article that magazines so easily provide. It is the notion that an article can offer as much upon a second read through as it did with the first. I worry that writing as a craft has become secondary to the snappy wit, the controversial opinion and quick-fire output.
The computer screen asks only that we address what is directly in front of us. The physical presence of a magazine, no matter the age, always begs to be read or at least flipped through. There is value in being stuck with one magazine for a month. We find ourselves forced to reread a favorite article or, out of pure boredom, reading the article we weren’t even interested in initially. And in that process maybe we discover an especially poignant sentence we missed, or that the boring article we skipped was the most interesting one of all. Print may be dying, but the medium still has a few things to teach that young upstart, the internet.
This week The Escapist highlights some of the best writing to have graced the site over the past six months. These are the articles that we think deserve a reread or second chance at a first read. It’s worth nothing that when the staff was asked to submit their five favorite articles from this period, with only a few exceptions, everyone provided five totally different articles. While this might be an indicator of the diversity of opinion on our staff, it also signifies the enormous amount of good writing we have to choose from. So beyond just our favorites, this week is also a reminder to take a minute and look back through some of our older issues and find favorites of your own.
Happy Holidays,
