New Videogames Express

What videogame journalism needs is a magazine that's a bit like what the NME used to be (before it decided to go after the Smash Hits readership). I imagine a mag which is indie in outlook and spirit, but still covers some 'mainstream' stuff so as to stop it disappearing up its own arse completely.

Pretty much everything gets worse over time. Except perhaps videogames.

It seems almost inevitable really. Thanks to digital distribution platforms like Steam, well-written and informative websites like Rock Paper Shotgun, and powerful mobile devices like the iPhone, the independent game sector is easily the most exciting thing happening in videogames at the moment. So let's have a look at some pictures and see what I would cover if I was going to launch the first issue in November:

Machinarium
Contender for cleverest and most beautiful game of the year?

The Path
Poignant work of art or dangerous rape simulator?

Dwarf Fortress
Why play the most inpenetrable game ever made?

Defense Grid: the Awakening
Can tower defense games find an audience on the 360?

Ben There Dan That
Are point-n-click games back for good?

Democracy 2
We put George Osborne through his paces and ask, "if he can't reduce the Malaganga budget deficit, what hope does he offer for the UK?"

Miami Shark
Is it possible not to love something this ridiculous?

So there we are. That's a pretty thorough proof of concept I'd say. Now I just wait for Future or Imagine to drop me an email asking me to be the Editor of this exciting magazine of the future.

Isn't that how these things work?