Gambling no longer attracts. A. Makarenkov, "Gambling": Fashion trend in online games - visualization of space Alexey Makarenkov left gambling addiction

A. Makarenkov, "Igromania": Fashion trend in online games - visualization of space

Online games have long ceased to be fun for children and teenagers. Today it is a serious business of publishers, developers, producers, localizers of game projects, which are increasingly interested in major IT players. How much do they earn from creating and releasing online games? What online games are the most popular? To what extent has the online gaming market been affected by the general enthusiasm of Internet users for social networks?

AT: On the air of the RBC TV channel, the program "Sphere of Interests", I'm Denis Elohovsky, hello. Today we will talk about online games, which online games are the most popular, and what income their creators receive. Our guest is Yaroslav Astakhov, Marketing Director of the Gaming Department of the company MAIL.RU and... MAIL.RU GROUP, and Alexey Makarenkov, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Gambling addiction". I invite viewers to take part in the conversation. You can send questions to our email address: [email protected] Hello gentlemen.

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF THE GAMING DEPARTMENT OF THE MAIL.RU GROUP COMPANY): Hello.

: Good evening.

AT: Well, well, computer games, they exist as long as there are personal computers. That is, when it was already possible to bring it home, and not such a big box at work, that is, well, 30 years old, computer games, by and large.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Well, something like that.

: Hello.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE) A: By and large.

AT: And all this time they have been developing, and, as it were, in parallel with the development of computers. And only when the Internet appeared, the industry of computer games, it took some kind of revolutionary growth, ... That is, the Internet brought something completely new to this industry. Such a completely fresh stream, gave a field for a wide variety, so let's try to somehow systematize what we have today. The industry of online games, network games, what are the main types of it, what are these games? How can you.

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Hello.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE) A: Well, I would single out the following stages. There are big client games that can be compared with regular and single-player games, very good graphics, very well-designed worlds, a very good role-playing system. But the need to download a large client to your computer, install it, play, in fact, well, for example, only from home. The second option is browser games, when you open the game’s website, download it, and also, relatively speaking, already good graphics, but adjusted for the fact that this is most often flash, or some other such light enough technology. There are games that run only on social networks. You live in the world of a social network, at some point you click on a button, you have a game installed, and you can play this very game on this social network from any computer, from anywhere. It is very comfortable. But the graphics are usually lame, well, and the study is understandable. This world is also strange and often very superficial. Well, a completely primitive version is flash games, these are small, small, I don’t know, throw something, throw it at someone, guess the number, a very simple option.

AT: Hard...

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Yes Yes Yes.

AT: That is, roughly speaking, we have 3 species and one marginal species?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Well, actually you can still give a lot of sub-options there, by mail and so on, but the main types, yes, these are.

AT: Here we have such diversity. Yaroslav, roughly, I understand that it is difficult to calculate, but according to your feelings, according to your estimates, what are the approximate volumes of the global network games market and what is the share of Russia in this segment ...

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Well, it's rather difficult to say about the world, but in general, if we talk about Russian, I can say that in the 10th year the market volume was about 350 million dollars, yes.

AT: Are these all types of games that Alexey named?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY) A: Yes, all types of games. And in year 11, we expect it to grow to $450 million, here. Well, in general, if we talk about the Russian market in relation to the entire world market, then it belongs to the growing ones, here. That is, if, well, in many other parts of the world this has already happened, yes. It's like we just have a wave rising.

AT: Is it growing because the number of Internet users is increasing or for some other reason? And accordingly, why is it not growing in other countries?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): There are many reasons, yes, firstly, in Russia, as it were, the Internet still continues to come well to homes, that is, Moscow and St. sometimes small settlements, yes, sometimes it only comes there. By this we can say that yes, due to this growth occurs. Well, plus, that not everyone used to be players, yes, in games, and, as it were, this general wave of people becoming players, it is gaining momentum. For example, if we talk about Korea, then about 80% of the population plays games there, here. And more than 100% are connected there, that is, the Internet coverage there is very serious.

AT: So you just came to such an interesting aspect. This is the audience. Who plays these games? Is it possible to say that the audience of online games is mainly children and youth there, or, for example, pensioners are also pulling themselves up in this?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Well, I can't say that pensioners are catching up, because the audience of modern online games with the advent of social networks and with the advent of games in social networks is, in fact, all the people who sit in these social networks.

AT: Well, in Odnoklassniki there are people both 60 and 70 years old.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE) A: There aren't many of them. That is, the percentage of such people there is still relatively small. But still, here is the percentage of adults who ... both adults and even the elderly, who are on social networks, yes, they also play games that are on social networks.

AT: That is, as if here we have complete democracy and ...

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE) A: Yes, everything about...

AT: It is difficult to distinguish the age group.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): That's it for social media gaming, yes. If we take large client games, there is something like World of Warcraft, Lineage, then this is still a younger audience.

AT: Here you are just about games in social networks, explain to me such a thing. Many of my acquaintances, but they, like me, are users of some social networks there, and here, in appearance, is a serious person who, who can talk there about some kind of films, about some exhibitions, so I look , now he turned away, and he already turns on some "Farmvin" there or "Mafia Worlds" or some kind of "Happy Farmer". And he's sitting here playing. And the graphics, it would seem, are simple, there is no plot, and it seems ... you look at it, and it seems that there is no point in it. But at the same time, millions, tens of millions of people around the world spend precious minutes there every day. Can you explain the phenomenon, what, what attracts so many people in these games?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Well, they are simple, really, everyone can master them. Well, it’s not for nothing that they say that our whole life is a game, right? That is, the game, it passes through our life entirely, so we all somehow somehow play them. And you see, well, I’ll give you such an example, a little bit not from games, yes, that is, for example, any there, well, bonus program, in some supermarket, this is also a game where you score points, there, for you it is also a game plan. And the same is true on social media. That is, these are some simple mechanics familiar to everyone since childhood. And people see it, and they are interested in it, the same company, yes. In our country, they have a lot there, ... sort of.

AT: ... in parallel...

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): They can calmly...

AT: That is, in the summer you have a decline in interest in these games, because people have a real effect ...

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): I wouldn't say it's a recession, it's just, well, the audience, yes, it's changing a bit, and...

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): I'll add on my own, here, in my opinion, the key phrase sounded, this is a simple mechanics. For example, let's take the big games that young people are most often fond of. In order to play it, you need to go, buy, download, make money on your computer. Further there, in something to understand. The same fun farm. You opened this business in a social network, there, you made a couple of clicks, poke-poke, and your plant grew. You closed this case, once again, connected to the Internet somewhere else, clicked there again, "Piggy" ran. You see the result, investing in it a minimum of time. That's what these games are all about.

AT: That is, this is some kind of exploitation of such a basic need of some kind, an instinctive need to play something and something somewhere ...

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Well, someone runs to the smoking room there every 15 minutes, and someone went online and played.

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): A good opportunity to be distracted.

AT: But I wonder what percentage of social network users, well, let's say, those who are under the control of MAIL.RU GROUP. They regularly play online games. That is, what percentage of people are subject to this kind of passion?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Well, I can’t say about the percentage, but I can say that about 19 million people play social games on our social networks every month.

AT: And users in total?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY) A: Well, I can't say that, unfortunately.

AT A: Well, okay, here. You can answer this question.

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): For understanding, I can say that in general the audience of the Russian, not Russian, but Russian Internet is somewhere around 300 million people. Here it is evaluated.

AT: Wait a minute. Lives with us.

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): There is not only Russia, but.

AT: A, Runet. Yes?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Yes. That is, those who communicate in Russian write on the Internet for those for whom it is their native language, which they know well.

AT: These are such a financial aspect. Is it possible, judging by the fact that almost any social network, well, with the exception of some serious ones like Linky Din and professional things, almost any network acquires some kind of gaming applications, can it be argued that if the social network does not have any If users have the opportunity to play for free, then it will not be profitable either. That is, what is the reason for such a general offer of games. How strong is the relationship between the ability to play and the profits of the social network.

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Well, of course, games are one of the options for monetizing a social network. Yes? In addition to games, it can be advertising and perhaps some kind of paid services, such as, for example, becoming invisible there, yes, in Odnoklassniki. Well, yes.

AT: Well, well, how does the process of making money on games look like? People stay on the site a little longer, so the banner looks a little more. Or they buy something. That's just the mechanics on what, what are the methods you use to make money on a social game.

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY) A: The mechanics are very simple. Well, in general, a person plays the game for free. And if he wants some additional service, he pays money for it. Usually.

AT: That is, for some painted carrot

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Well, yes. But for people it has value. Because it becomes, as it were, a part of their life, well, there is a hobby, entertainment. Here. Well, in general, this phenomenon of games, in my opinion, what is it, why did it develop, right? Because games here before they were before the advent of the Internet and before the advent of games on the Internet they were quite marginal in this way of entertainment. Now it is already gaining momentum and is becoming comparable to cinema, music, and books.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): No need to be so ridiculous about this, because I bought a "carrot", a lot of people buy "carrots". Let's take Zinga. That's just on Farmwill, one of the most popular games, they receive several tens of millions of dollars a year. And the annual turnover is about 300 million and, in fact, only on these small games, which are sold inside for relatively little money.

AT: This is what surprises me. Now, if you take Zinga, which just makes these simple games, take, for example, the Electronic Arts empire, which is all these NBA, FIFA games, well, a lot of everything, a huge empire. According to some estimates, today the capitalization of Zing, which is not a public company, exceeds the capitalization of Electronic Arts.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE) A: This is not public data after all, I believe that.

AT: But nevertheless, people are ready, some investors are ready to buy shares in the capital of Zinga. So I can’t understand how, that is, here already, the very quality of the game, it is, this is already purely financial, probably, such an aspect. People don't care what they do.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): But if you make a low-quality product, then no one will buy it. In order to earn normally on the game, it must be of good quality.

AT A: I'm just talking like that's a man who is in his student days.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Yes, I understand.

AT: I played a lot in the 90s, so it's just organically difficult for me to understand. Well, explain to me here, how much does a game like "Happy Farmer" cost, or how much does it cost to develop it, how much does it cost?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Well, it depends on the kind of game, well, if we talk about social ones, yes, then it is from several tens to a couple of hundred thousand dollars, somewhere on average like this.

AT: And the development of a full-fledged game - is it like a Hollywood movie?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Well, yes, often sometimes more expensive than the average Hollywood movie.

AT: And by the way, another moment, how often do the developers of such games come to you and offer to tie their games to your social networks and what criteria should the game have so that you do not immediately discard it, but think about it?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Well, in general.

AT: What percentage do you reject?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Everyone can put the game on our social networks. That is, it does not look like we have a commission that accepts them. Yes, we have a set of simple rules that are publicly available. And any person who made the application can place it there if it satisfies him. Well, simple rules, meaning that there should not be pornography, conditionally ... and that's it.

AT: So it's actually like "Webstore", right? You apply the game, if it is really good, the users themselves will pull it up.

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): In fact, social networks are some platforms in which games act as content.

AT: Alexey, let's talk about big client games. I'm not talking about special big online games like the same World of Warcraft or Lineage, I'm interested in games that have been in the series for a long time, let's say Call of Duty is the same or Starcraft, which with each new series, they are increasingly shifting the focus specifically to multiplayer modes.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Well, yes, there is.

AT: And one gets the impression that the developers, as it were, pay less attention to interesting plots in a single-player and in fact it turns out, as it were, to the detriment of some interesting passage of the hero one on one with computer enemies, this is the field where in as a result, the whole game comes down to the banal frags there and some kind of thoughtless mochilov.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Yes, there is.

AT: This trend, what causes it, can you explain?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): The trend is purely financial. Look, if you buy a game that only has a single-player walkthrough, you have completed this game and you forgot about it. And game development costs more and more every year, for example, the last Call Of Duty cost more than 100 million just for development, plus another 200 million was...

AT: And what do they earn? I bought the game, I don't pay for anything.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Look, you continue to play online. If the game is good, you keep playing online a lot. And then 2-3 months pass there after the release of the game, when it has already come out. You keep playing there. And op, the developer releases 3-4 new maps, DUC, dawnloadеbl content. That is, what is sold here is literally a small bag like this. 5 maps online. They are also very cheap. There from three to seven dollars. It is offered right inside the game. No need to spend money on an advertising company. The development of such a package of cards is also very cheap in terms of the cost of the game itself. Here the window in the game was highlighted, pay. Want to buy, ...

AT: They put me on, and then they spin me.

): Yes Yes.

AT: Well, it's being commercialized not only on the part of the developers, but also on the part of the players. that is, you can hear a lot about how big there are big online auctions where players sell each other some important art facts, some magic balls and other found things there. And people offer services for pumping other people's avatars. That is, it’s here, I’m wondering, here you are a professional magazine about games. Are there any such interesting cases of what kind of opportunity where players themselves commercialize each other's passion for online games that you can recall?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Ah, yes, there are actually a million such cases. That is, in China, for example, there are a huge number of farms where people only grow characters and then sell them. Moreover, they dump prices and do not allow people in Europe to do the same. Because there are many Chinese, there are thousands of them.

AT: Cheap labor.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE) A: Yes, cheap labor. Exactly. And then there from 5 to 40 there, well, sometimes 100 dollars, a very cool pumped "Avatar" is for sale.

AT: But does MAIL.RU GROUP sell any artifacts to its clients? Let's say I want to buy some very powerful tractor there. Whether you are selling and if you are selling, are the buyer's rights protected by consumer protection law. How is this all legally regulated? If I don't like the tractor, can I somehow return it in 14 days?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY) A: Well, usually not.

AT A: But you sell?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Well, let's just say we don't sell artifacts that, well, you can only buy with money. In general, we have such a policy that we change money for a while. That is, about what I said, yes, a person can play for free and buy additional services for money. This is done just so that if a person has little time and wants to remain competitive, he can buy something for himself. Well, what will the other person spend money on in order to earn it in the game, as if in game ways. Do you understand?

AT A: Well, I'm trying. There is such an interesting moment, this is all the data, in recent years, then the mobile Internet will develop even more rapidly. What will the development of the mobile Internet bring to the online gaming market? What can the fundamental moment, what new will appear?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Well, as if there are already mobile games that make people act together. On the terms ... role-playing games based on mobile technologies, taking place well in the reality of our city. That is, some kind of role-playing game, when each person needs to perform certain actions in order to achieve some result.

AT: Moreover, being physically in the moment where in the place where you need to perform.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Yes. Yes.

AT: It is interesting. I didn't even hear that. Let's look even further into the future. Let's say the Internet in 10-15 years and what games will be relevant for multiplayer games. What do you think?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Well, as I said before, it seems to me that games are a part of our life and with the development of the Internet they will be configured for the entire list of devices, yes, what they are. That is, there will be games on refrigerators, on a washing machine, in a car. And so on. Everywhere, anywhere. Yes? They will all be united into one large network, and in fact it will all be, well, like some kind of matrix, let's call it that.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Another very fashionable and modern trend is augmentation.

AT: I'm sorry, what?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Augmentation. Reality change. When you, relatively speaking, point the video camera of your phone or your tablet at any absolutely object or just at space, and additionally the game adjusts to this space and adds something to the picture that you see through, in fact. That is, I will now point my mobile phone at you, for example, what could be done. Formally, in the video camera I should see only you and the surrounding space. And the computer completes this space and introduces an element of the game into it. Relatively speaking, a devil may appear on your head, and I will have to slap him in real time, like this, and they will show me on the monitor that I killed him on your head.

AT: We are moving on to the "Blitz" section.

Alex, here's a question for you. Will the day ever come when there will be nothing to play offline, because such games will no longer be made?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): I think that offline games will still exist for a long time, because this is a large segment of the market, but someday such a moment will surely come.

AT: Are there any rough estimates of the daily turnover of online poker battles?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): That's it.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Wow.

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY) A: Hundreds of millions of dollars.

AT: Children have been known to kill each other due to conflicts over virtual property, when they died at computers from overwork. While it turns out, as with alcohol and tobacco. The responsibility for use rests with the user. But at least somehow they fight with alcohol and tobacco. In the field of online games, it is still a real Wild West. When will they even admit that this is a real social disease?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Cases where people really died from spending too much time in online games, yes, there are. But these are isolated cases and it makes no sense to draw an analogy with cases with drugs and alcohol. It's completely different...

AT: Well, what about the fact that people drop out of life there, families collapse, studies are lost because of all sorts of World of Warcraft and other things?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): It seems to me that the effect is greatly exaggerated in fact. That is, I don’t know, let’s say a yellow press raid.

AT: Do Russian developers have any notable success in the international online game markets?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Oh sure. And in particular in the market of mobile games.

AT: Is it true that the game "Happy Farmer" is copied from Facebook Farmwille or is it a coincidence, like the fact that "Vkontakte" is copied from Facebook? This is such an angry question.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): This is a separate strange topic, there are actually battles on the topic of who actually stole the idea from whom and in general, well, now it’s just games, it looks like there are so many of them that to say that someone has someone stole something, just pointless.

AT: These farmers really have a huge number ...

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "IGROMANIA" MAGAZINE): Yes, just some schemes that everyone is trying to make money on.

AT: What online games do you play? Let's.

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): In the games "Mail Ru", in "Allods Online", for example.

AT: And also in some, in some ...

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY) A: Well, I used to play World of Warcraft.

AT: Why did you get off?

YAROSLAV ASTAKHOV (MARKETING DIRECTOR OF GAMING DEPARTMENT OF "MAIL.RU GROUP" COMPANY): Well, somehow outgrown, I guess.

AT: And you?

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Well, I play all the major online projects on duty.

AT: You have a great job, actually, playing games and getting paid for it.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): But you have no idea how difficult it is to win back all the online games, because there, in order to figure it out, you need to spend months. And then when something big comes out, like World of Warcraft, then you go headlong into it and ...

AT: Yes, most importantly, you still need to be distracted and somehow remain to write an article about it.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Oh sure.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): Yes there is.

AT: I remember, there was "Lari", such a network again ...

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): No no. "Lari" is all very superficial. There is a whole industry of porn games, they are not allowed, of course, young people, although they also break through there.

AT: Gentlemen, thank you very much, in fact, the topic is inexhaustible. I think we will return to it regularly. Thank you very much, Yaroslav Astakhov, marketing director of the gaming department of MAIL.RU GROUP, Alexei Makarenkov, editor-in-chief of the Igromania magazine, and myself, Denis Elohovsky, were in the studio of the RBC TV channel. Goodbye.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV (CHIEF EDITOR OF "GAMMERIA" MAGAZINE): All the best.

Hello dear readers! So, what you have been asking for so long, what we have been preparing for so long, has happened. The "Mail" section returns to the pages of "Igromania" in an updated format. I finally sorted out a bunch of other important things in the magazine, on trips and in general for work, and now I’m again ready to proofread hundreds of the most interesting letters every month, select the best questions, grab Alexei by the scruff of the neck shortly before the next issue, arrange a detailed analysis of your opuses with him . It's scary to say how much I missed all this.

At the same time, there will be (or rather, has already happened) several important changes with the “Mail”, which I’ll tell you about right now. We decided to completely remove small questions of a current nature from the rubric, because for this we now have a section "Tribune" on www.site . I plan to be there too.

In the "Mail", we now answer global questions, which sometimes require some additional research or knowledge. At the same time, if necessary, we are ready to look for experts and take comments from them. It is not a fact that this will be needed every issue, but if the question requires the opinion of a specialist, we will seek and torture this specialist with prejudice.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV

I welcome everyone. With a start. Sveta has already told you everything about the main positions of the Light. I will add that, based on the new logic of (damn, what words!) "Mail", now each letter is a small article ranging in size from half a page to a spread. Although, if there is some very global issue, perhaps it will take more space. Someone will ask about the most terrible games, and even in an equally terrible dream I can’t imagine how to tell about them on two pages. Only about the most important horrors - this is a conversation of five or six pages.

As for purely technical issues, you can already see them on neighboring pages. Since we are now parsing only large serious letters, the design is appropriate. Each letter is an independent material, with illustrations, signatures, sometimes even with accompanying thematic inserts.

We have another idea for the near future. Make Mail interactive. How to achieve this, we have not yet finally decided, but the main idea is that you have the opportunity to participate in an interactive dialogue with us and also comment on the letters that come to the editor. And the most interesting and thoughtful answers may end up on the pages of the magazine.

But we talked about something. Let's get started.

ZOMBIE SUSHI

What do zombies taste like and should they be eaten?

I have a few theoretical questions about zombies that have literally flooded games over the past few years. Yes, in general, and TV screens too. At first, the question is banal: can zombies exist at all? Many people answered this question, but, as I understand it, there is still no unambiguity?

And the second question, the answer to which I could not find at all. Here in the games after the apocalypse, zombies fill literally the whole world. And the heroes have not only to constantly escape from them, but also to look for food for themselves. But! Is it possible to eat the zombies themselves? It's such an obvious decision. I understand that it's disgusting. But in extreme conditions, people didn’t eat that. So what's the problem? - Fedor Yeltsov

SVETLANA POMERANTSEVA

To be honest, the question confused me a little. I know that, in general, zombies can exist, if we are not talking about a dead person, but simply about the effects of poisons and psychotropic substances. In detail, by the way, you can read about zombies right in this issue of the magazine, in the article “Games + Science =?”. But is it possible to eat zombies?!

Here, I think, Alexei with his medical education and forensic specialization will be able to answer something intelligible. I'll just say that I can't imagine a situation in which I would agree to swallow the flesh of a zombie. Well, that is, it is necessary that you be put in a closed room and nothing else is given. Only the dead. In reality, it is always possible to find alternative sources of food.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV

Sveta made a very correct reservation. If we are talking about a zombified living person, then the answer is obvious - physiologically it is possible to eat the meat of such a zombie, but this is real cannibalism. Even in a world where the laws no longer apply, either complete scumbags, or people who have no way to get themselves another livelihood, will sink to this.

But in the case of canonical zombies, the situation is not at all as simple as it seems. If we assume that a zombie is a corpse, decomposing, but for some reason walking and very hungry, then the same processes must take place in it as in a corpse.

I have always sincerely wondered why the creators of zombie worlds do not take into account a number of obvious things. Where do zombies have cadaveric spots? Where is the stiffness? And, after all, why don't they decompose and fall apart?

As for preparing tasty and nutritious food from zombies, the main obstacle here is cadaveric poisons. Mercoptans and ptomains. These substances are deadly and even in small quantities can send a gourmet to the next world. Thermal and microwave processing of food can partially solve the problem, but, alas, it will not work out completely to get rid of biogenic amines.

True, there is one "but". There are people who can easily eat rotten meat full of ptomains and feel good about it. For example, some northern peoples - Eskimos, Chukchi, Evenks. They have a range of traditional tainted meat dishes.

Cutie puffin - some nationalities, alas, also use this beautiful bird to make kiviak.

For example, kiwiak. They catch little auks or puffins (these are such birds), sew up several hundred unplucked and not gutted carcasses into a walrus skin, press down with stones and leave for six months. Then they open the skin, take out slightly homogenized birds and eat. It is absolutely impossible to eat it indoors, but even on the street, they say, the smell is such that an unprepared person closer than ten meters is unlikely to fit.

The same peoples often prepare kopalhem: they lower the carcass of a killed deer into a swamp, where it decomposes slowly for several months. At the same time, the process of peat tanning is going on, so that a kind of half-rot, half-mummy is obtained. Then they take it out and eat it too.

The Scandinavians, by the way, have one of the national dishes - hakarl, rotten pieces of polar sharks. Tourists sometimes buy out of ignorance, and then they are evacuated from the hotel in whole herds, because the ambre from hakarl is such that you even hang yourself.

To get to the point of eating such creatures, you need to be very hungry and properly train the liver to process biogenic amines.

Now back to our favorite zombies. People who eat the dishes described above from childhood get used to them, and cadaveric poisons no longer have such a negative effect on them. They can easily tolerate concentrations of ptomains hundreds of times higher than those that kill an unprepared person. And if suddenly it comes to eating zombies, then it is these peoples who can easily chop the walking ghoul into pieces and make nutritious sushi out of it. Perhaps they will even enjoy eating such a strange product. But the rest may not survive such a meal.

SHAME BANK

On the benefits of the mat in the choice of weapons

I play online action games all the time. And almost all of them have weapons that are considered cheating by many players. If you play with him, you are covered in a chat with selective obscenities. Why aren't the developers doing anything about it? Don't you think that if there are weapons in the game, then they can't be ashamed to use them? - Roman Ivashkin

SVETLANA POMERANTSEVA

In general, I know very few games in which they would not be overlaid with a choice checkmate if you start to win. Let me give you a simple example: I have been playing a lot of Black Ops 2 since the release. First, I downloaded shotguns. And almost every time I won a round, there were a couple of players who wrote in the chat that playing with KSG or M126 is cheating and shameful.

Good. After a while I got fed up with shotguns and started pumping assault rifles. Do you think the opponents have calmed down? Of course no. They immediately began to write to me that SMR was for noobs, that AN-94 was for suckers, and if I played with Type 25, then people just started howling.

Some people think that a shotgun with a laser sight is a cheat weapon. Especially if they camp with him in narrow aisles.

OK. After a couple of months, I got bored with assault rifles, and I tried to play as a sniper. I wasn't very good at it, but in the few rounds that I managed to finish in first place, they always wrote to me that Ballista is not cool and a shame. When I jumped to the PP and did something terrible - I reached the Scorpio and ran with it for some time - I was simply mixed with dirt. They called him either a cheater, because it is supposedly impossible to shoot so many frags in a round, or a noob, because the Scorpion is an exclusively noob weapon.

And it's very good that I can distance myself from other people's opinions. I think the game should be fun. If you like a particular gun in the game, then shoot from it, regardless of someone else's opinion. If there is an imbalance in the game, then the claim can only be against the developers, but certainly not against the players.

In most cases, swearing and swearing in chat is the result of ordinary envy. Some cannot accept that someone plays better. And, alas, there's nothing you can do about it.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV

Light, I won’t argue - it’s the envious people who usually yell in the chat. But there is another side of the coin. In Black Ops 2, there is a really strong bias towards submachine guns, and the developers do not seem to be going to correct the situation in the near future. A perky horseman with a Scorpion and a laser sight can mow down everyone, even if he himself plays average at the same time - he doesn’t know how to tactically move around the level, he doesn’t know how to shoot accurately, but, in general, he doesn’t know how to do anything. Only shoot from the hip - spray.

For those who love tactics and strategy, such gameplay naturally infuriates. There are unwritten rules: if you play with an SMG, then without a "laser" and be kind enough to aim. And Scorpion, as well as MP7 and PDW-57, are considered the most burning sprays.

When you grow up to a certain level of skill, it is considered chic to limit yourself in the choice of weapons. Show everyone that even with a difficult-to-handle barrel, you can taxi those who run around with hurricane guns. This does not mean that all the rest are noobs, but only that you have reached a fairly high level of amateur play.

Players from CoD who came to Battlefield often consider as noobs everyone who does not run headlong around the map, but often fires from behind cover.

I regularly catch myself thinking that I would love to run with Scorpion - it feels and sounds very nice - but at the same time I understand how the people I usually play with will look at me. Therefore, we either agree in advance that everyone runs with sprays, but without lasers, or I go to public meetings, where every second performs with Scorpion. Actually, you yourself know this very well, they played together more than once.

By the way, there are unwritten rules in almost all games. Take the same Battlefield 3, where most of the audience is adult and not very emotional. But even there, the M16A3, AS "VAL" and grenade launchers do not favor. The funniest situation is when someone wants to look like a pro, but he needs to fill a certain number of frags from a grenade launcher in order to unlock the achievement. Runs around, sits in everyone and suffers abuse in the chat.

I am for freedom with both hands - play with any barrel if the developers added it. But it is equally interesting to study the structure of the game, to understand what is accepted and what is not accepted in the community of experienced players, and try to play by the unspoken complicated rules.

BIOTOPE WAR

The battle of mobile platforms

Tell me, what, in your opinion, is going on in the market of modern smartphones and mobile phones? It's kind of a nightmare! Not much time has passed when Nokia ruled the ball, and now everyone is just saying that the company will soon drop its hooves. I held the latest Nokia phones in my hands, they are comfortable and ergonomic. At the same time, I read a lot of theories why the situation on the market has changed, but everyone goes into details and particulars, no one answers the question clearly. I really want to hear your answers. - Cheburek

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV

Let's take a bird's eye view of the situation. Remember what was important for any cell phone owner, say, ten years ago. To keep the network well. So that the speakers are loud and do not distort the voice. So that the pipe lies well in the hand. To make the buttons comfortable. So that the iron embodiment of the functions listed above costs not a whole salary. Well, and - as the limit of perfection - so that a dozen interesting games were sewn up, and not a couple of idiotic ones. In general, the requirements of the average person for a cell phone were exhausted on this.

And in this situation, the market was dominated by the manufacturer who produced the maximum number of coolly assembled pipes to satisfy the tastes of the most diverse categories of people. With pink buttons, bulletproof, unsinkable, strict business, clamshells with a book, clamshells with a slider ... the list is endless. And Nokia was in the lead in this cellular arms race, because it had a huge staff of smart designers, marketers, and there were capacities that made it possible to release a phone for almost any request.

And then evolution took a sharp turn. Phones and smartphones from the category of devices that can only be called, began to turn into compact multimedia centers. To call, and play, and listen to music, and watch a movie, and print a letter.

The new model Nokia 105 has a battery life of about 35 days, the price is about 15 euros. No ecosystem - just a pipe to call. Such devices diverge perfectly in third world countries, but they are often not even supplied to developed countries.

The attitude to the pipe in the pocket has changed. People were no longer interested in the appearance of the device, but in its functionality. The pipe could look like a brick, but if it had three dozen cool games and it could play music and movies, then they bought it. The battle of cellular ecosystems has begun.

Now, choosing between a phone from Nokia, Motorola, Apple or, say, HTC, you choose not a device, but a system of services that this device provides. The iron itself faded into the background. Yes, it is highly desirable that the gadget itself be beautiful and convenient, but this has become not the main, but only one of the important conditions for success. Now phones sell software environments for which these phones are sharpened. Android, iOS, Windows Phone.

This is the battle Nokia is losing. I did not feel in time which way the wind blew. Now, having teamed up with Microsoft, he is trying to jump into a train rushing at full speed. There are chances.

SVETLANA POMERANTSEVA

Can anyone imagine that ten years ago a company with just one phone would have been successful? Yes, they would laugh in your face and say that the line should consist of at least twenty devices. And now... can I not point my finger at a company that over and over again sells... just one phone, transplanting a significant part of the owners of the previous generation to the new generation. Now imagine an iPhone without the App Store, without thousands of games and programs. Who needs him like that?

And the further, the more clearly this pattern will be traced. We will pay not for the phone, but for the services. I won’t be surprised if at some point phones will be given away for free, and earn on content sales. Just like that, it is unlikely that anyone will decide on such a step, but if a company starts to lose the competition, it is precisely such a move that can turn out to be winning.

Free thinking about what the new iPhone might look like. Beautiful, expensive, charge for a maximum of a couple of days, and after the purchase, you will most likely pay not only for cellular communications, but also for additional programs, that is, for the ecosystem. The modern market of mobile technologies tries to live by such rules.

Regarding the opinions of the analysts you write about, many of them often mention that Nokia should have developed MeeGo and Symbian. But here's the rub. Modern services on phones are very tightly tied to other platforms. On Mac OS in the case of iOS, on Windows in the case of Windows Phone, and Android itself has long settled on netbooks and other gadgets. Nokia had nothing of the kind, which is why they decided to abandon the development of their own systems and turned their attention to someone else's development.

BOOKS OF THE FUTURE

What and how will we read

Hello, Gaming. Every year fewer paper books are sold, more and more digital ones. But at the same time, I do not see any diversity in the digital second-hand book market. Well, that is, everyone sells just analogues of paper books - the same pure text, only in numbers. It's good if the pictures are screwed. Will it continue to develop like this? In a sense, just will not and will remain in place. After all, digital has so many possibilities, but what has it all degenerated into? - Evgeny Tortsev

SVETLANA POMERANTSEVA

Degenerated, it seems to me, it's not the worst. There are quite a lot of interactive books in digital format now. More precisely, not even interactive books, but books with interactive elements. It all started with a banal animation of pictures. You poke your finger at the image, and something happens on it. At first there was something indistinct, then meaningful, and now almost completely good.

There were attempts to release books with embedded video, but it didn't work out very well because people didn't understand why it was necessary. You can also watch the video on YouTube. There were several attempts to make books with built-in author's comments, but the idea also died out.

"Biophilia" Björk. Yes, this is a strange thing - the visual processing of a musical composition. Many people like it and are willing to pay for it.

But I really liked it when thematic musical accompaniment began to be built into the books. Each story or chapter has its own music. You turn the page, and then you have time, and with the help of music they change the mood.

But if frankly, then personally to me what is in paper, what is in digital format. The main thing is the text. And it is with great pleasure that I buy electronic versions of books, because it is fast, simple, cheap and there is no need to destroy trees. Development, of course, is necessary, I would like it to go in the direction of encyclopedia. For example, you are reading some fantastic story about dinosaurs, and here is a link for you, and you can directly study information on a particular lizard without leaving the cash register, look at the comments of a dinosaur specialist, evaluate some statistics, look at photos from archaeological excavations. I understand that all this can be found separately on the Internet, but when it's all in one book, it's very cool.

ALEXEY MAKARENKOV

The interactive that is now customary to add to digital books is so funny that you don’t even want to discuss it. Poke a tree - a leaf will fall off, knock on a hollow - a squirrel will come out and start shitting with a nut shell, in the sense of littering.

This format worked great when the iPad/Android dance was just getting started, because poking at squirrels and hollows is fun at first. But it gets boring very quickly. The only place where this direction can and should be developed is children's books. Here the format “stroke the barbosik”, “tickle the pussy”, “pierce the bunny” works great. Moreover, this is exactly how children's books should be done, because the child wants to interact with the pictures, but on paper he does not have such an opportunity, but here you are.

Adults need something more interesting. The first thing that comes to mind is context interactive. Not a banal finger pointing at a picture, but to make the book itself react to how you read it. Sounds complicated, but let's imagine how this can work.

Solar System for iPad - an interactive encyclopedia of the solar system. You can rotate the planets, study the trajectory, find out a lot of additional background information. Everything is interactive and adapted for the tablet. An example of how to properly convert books from paper to electronic. But this pleasure is worth a lot.

There are systems that track the direction of gaze. These are no longer bulky helmets, from which the neck becomes numb after five minutes, but rather compact devices. You can make not a banal soundtrack for each page, but produce sounds that are directly tied to the text. If you read about a tiger - you heard a roar, if you read about a beach - you hear the rustling of the surf, the author describes the jungle - here's an infernal cacophony of hamadryas, parrots and flying dormouse singing along.

Vizualka can also adapt to reading. There have already been attempts to make cartoons accompanying the text, but this does not work, because making a good cartoon is a separate and difficult job. But some abstract images that set the mood could well be realized. On a text background or in a separate window. Attempts, again, have already been made, but so far very timid.

The funny thing is that the most interesting interactive projects are realized in music, and not in digital books. Although, it would seem... A serious statement in the genre is Björk's album "Biophilia", which, in addition to being released in its usual form, can be bought in the format of audiovisual games. Each song is a new gaming experience, a visual experience.

Our prizes

Traditionally, we reward the authors of the most interesting letters. And since this time all our letters are very, very interesting, everyone gets prizes. And we will try very hard so that in future issues of the Post, all the authors of letters receive excellent gifts for their excellent questions.

Zombie Sushi Letter. Prize - tablet computer Ritmix RMD-900 running Android 4.0. The model is equipped with a 9-inch 16:9 display with capacitive touch. Built-in speaker, microphone, front webcam, G-sensor and Wi-Fi module, support Quad HD 2160p video.

Letter "Shameful Trunks". Professional rebar type headphones ATH-CK70PRO. The ear cups are designed in the form of an acoustic horn, which can significantly reduce the resistance to sound radiation. Thanks to its high impedance, the CK70PRO can be used with powerful sound sources. The model provides a high level of sound insulation while maintaining comfortable wearing. The CK70PRO has two styles of wearing: wired down or wired up around the ear.

Letter "War of biotopes". Headphones Audio Technica CKF500. The model offers an original system for shortening the cord, allowing you to beautifully wind it on a complete keychain, designed in the form of a key and designed to be worn openly on the chest. Elegant calligraphy on the speaker cups denotes the right and left earphones. The 8.8mm diaphragms generate the highest quality sound. The special design of the ear cushions provides a snug and comfortable fit to the ear, guaranteeing excellent sound isolation.

Letter "Books of the Future". Set of three games. Tomb Raider, Crysis 3 and Aliens: Colonial Marines (yes, blind xenomorphs are waiting for you).

RULES FOR WRITING LETTERS TO "MAIL"

On the [email protected] website Letters come in with different content. Sometimes extremely interesting, and torn to the pages of the "Mail". But not all of them are published in the rubric. In order for you to have a general idea of how we need to write, so that Svetlana and I will answer your letter IN THE MAGAZINE, study the following text.

The heading of the letter should be written in Russian, begin with the word "Gambling", correspond to the main topic of the conversation and clearly demonstrate that the letter is addressed to the editors. There are times when a spam bot or editor deletes a particular message, suspecting that it is spam or a virus. In particular, letters without a completed Subj (Subject) field are completely deleted. An example of a correct title: "Gambling: opening space in shooters!" (the word "Gambling" guarantees that your letter is not spam) or "Gambling: games and their impact on the psyche."

The topic you want to discuss with us should be of interest to most of our readers. Be guided by logic. Talk about the left heel of the eighth tentacle of the octopus from the planet Shelezyaka is much less interesting than, for example, the topic of violence in computer games.

The text of the letter itself must be at least 100 and not more than 2000 characters in length. The restriction is conditional.

If you manage to clearly and interestingly state the topic in 50 characters, we will, of course, publish it. It's just that it's difficult. A letter with a volume of more than 2000 characters runs the risk of simply not fitting in the magazine because of the volume. Again, though, there may be exceptions.

Forum "Journal Mail". On the gambling forum, the “Journal Mail” branch is constantly working, where letters published and unpublished in the issue are discussed. There you can also ask a question to Svetlana and Starpom. Direct address - http://forum.site .

Publication date: 24.09.2017 21:12:44

We all heard about gambling addiction. Many even read it. I am one of those many. At one time, I read this magazine and looked through the holes with discs with Videomania. However, now the once flagship magazine has turned into a dull mediocrity, like Pegacha. How did it happen? Come closer, now I'll tell you everything!

Frames are everything

In the late nineties and early 2000s, gambling addiction formed a very, very good team. The guys were not professional journalists, but they were not untalented. That is why the articles coming out from under their pen were a pleasure to read. They had their own styles and a lot of good humor. Any preview or review was interesting and welcomed by the public. Those special special projects (several pages long) that told so much about the game that you wanted to immediately get it and start playing already, these materials teased so much. As I said above - the people of the then gambling addiction They were talented and loved their job.

One of these was Anton " TJ» Logvinov who created in 2004 Videomania and became its producer. Logvinov right, because at that time most Russians did not have access to the Internet, and hence the content supplied Videomania appreciated, like treasure.

What was not there: trailers and moments from the gameplay, announcements and videos from exhibitions, jokes, tips and cheats. But the main thing, the main thing has always been (at least for me) the rubric "Opinion", in which a number of authors and editors gambling addiction expressed his opinion about a particular game. There he glowed Anton, who, thanks to his manner of presenting thoughts, quickly became popular among those who liked to watch "Opinion".

In general, it should be said that "Opinions" all more or less normal-speaking authors and editors sat out, sometimes even editors-in-chief, but I would like to single out the people whom it was most pleasant to listen to. These people were: Albert Einstein Alexander Kuzmenko, Alexey Makarenkov, Oleg Stavitsky, George Kurgan,Igor Asanov, Alexander Shakirov and Anton Logvinov(where without Patriarch?).

Familiar names? I really hope so, because they all expressed their thoughts so well that after they left gambling addiction, founded their own publications, game channels on YouTube or join existing ones. Personally, I continue to watch four from the list: Makarenkov- gone to 4Game, Logvinov- your channel named after yourself on Youtube, Kuzmenko and Asanov – C-c-combo Breaker!- channel on YouTube.

channel logo C-c-combo Breaker! I also highly recommend going there.

Actually, here it is - the main problem of the fact that modern gambling addiction rolled into do not understand what. All talented people left there sooner or later, and they were replaced by amateurs who filled articles and materials with a huge number of grammatical and spelling errors, and the editors did not correct this situation, because they are also amateurs. It even got to the point that the authors of the articles began to engage in skirmishes with users negatively commenting on the articles. Agree, not very decent behavior for a gaming journalist.

The last one, from old guard who left gambling addiction, was "Starpom" Makarenkov. Alexei stepped down as editor-in-chief in 2015, which was seen by many as the final and irreversible death of the once-cult magazine. And you know, I agree with them.

The internet is to blame

Here is the second reason for rolling gambling addiction which is more like an excuse. The magazine had to switch to an electronic format, because a huge number of modern magazines (not only gaming ones) have long since switched to it and successfully broadcast from the Internet, stopping the release of print publications forever.

Naturally, this led to a huge reduction in the circulation of the magazine and active actions on the part of the management, which tried to find the right format and determine a new policy for the development of the magazine in electronic form. Because the Videomania has lost its relevance due to the mass use of the Internet, then nothing is left of it now, those same "Tens of the most-most" and "History of the Series", sounded incredibly delivering Boris Repetur, gone "Opinions", due to the inability of new authors to express their thoughts beautifully and their lack of charisma. Only trailers, video versions of reviews, gameplay videos, industry news and technology videos remain.

The new (and only) valuable acquisition was the rubric Gambling-Flashback, which recalls the games of yesteryear. Leaving the print edition behind, the magazine headed for In contact with and YouTube and he did not lose, his audience is now successfully growing, even despite all his modern mediocrity.

It's no secret that any magazine, printed or otherwise, survives on advertising. This is certainly the case if he wants to remain more or less free to the audience. Paid subscription in electronic publications is now rare, everyone prefers to work according to this scheme: if you are not subscribed, you see a lot of ads, if you are subscribed, you see much less ads. An excellent approach that has already justified itself in countless online publications.

However, gambling addiction now different. The magazine takes some product and promotes it at the same time as a popular game, pushing in every possible way to purchase the product. A prime example is advertising for super-wide monitors. LG, which is bolted to the special project for Divinity: Original Sin 2.

When describing the game, they mention a million times how cool it is to play co-op from one computer using this super-wide monitor. Annoying, isn't it? I also understand when they take and arrange just a review-advertisement of equipment, this is still normal. But passing off ads as game material is a heinous hoax that I'm sure repels audiences more than it attracts them.

Of course, everyone understands that the audience gambling addiction big and advertisers are happy to buy ads from the magazine, but you can do it more cultured and civilized, without cheating and using the hype of good and high-profile games.

Cinema, wine and dominoes.

In his article "Tips for Beginners: Gaming Journalism" I already mentioned this problem, which, in my opinion, is quite firmly entrenched in modern gaming publications. Namely, an attempt to attract a new audience by expanding the content. AT gambling addiction took desperate measures and decided to find new readers and viewers by creating a division called Gambling CINEMA. Just think about this phrase. Gambling CINEMA.gambling addiction. MOVIE. This is sheer horror. The magazine, which has been only about games for its entire existence, begins to write about movies and TV shows.

Of course, I understand that games and movies have one thing in common - they are two branches of the entertainment industry. And that's it! There is nothing more. There is no reason to introduce such a division. I was frankly disappointed with this decision, because I might still be interested in hearing about movies from the old team gambling addiction, which could beautifully express her thoughts, but hardly from modern mediocre nouns.

The most annoying thing is that the magazine began to speculate very actively on the topic of cinema and series: all sorts of special materials, previews and reviews, opinions of editors and authors, discussions of series, and so on and so forth. A huge pile of unnecessary nonsense, I think. If you are already creating a publication about games, then keep it within your competence. By doing this, firstly, you show respect for your readers, and secondly, you show your professionalism. A gaming publication should be about games. Only about them, period!

Rate the score.

The last factor in the downward slide of the once great magazine can be called their bias in the evaluation vector. That is, as it was before, a game came out, if it was average, then it was given 5-6 points, good from 7 to 8, excellent 9 points, and dozens were so rare that there were only 5 of them in eight years. Now the situation has changed. The middle peasants are rated at 7-7.5 points, they give good games from 8 to 9, excellent 9.5 points, and now they give dozens even less often. And I absolutely do not understand why you have a ten-point rating system when you, in fact, use only five points.

But this is not even the point, but the fact that earlier the assessment was more fair, and made it possible to evaluate the game in more detail, indicating the pros and cons and justifying the choice of its assessment. Now this is absolutely impossible, all good games are awarded their eight and a half points with far-fetched pluses and minuses.

I'm especially frustrated by the fact that the ratings are often very high and do not match other, more honest sites or sites where players vote for ratings. Seems like an opinion gambling addiction disagrees with the opinion of the players and shows that once again they did not forget to bring their suitcases to the editorial office.

How sad it is to admit it, but the era gambling addiction gone. Once a great magazine, the flagship of gaming journalism in Russia turned into its pathetic likeness, losing all the talented authors and surrounding itself with the most terrible and intrusive advertising of all possible.

I would like to hope that the darkest night is before dawn and that gambling addiction there will be another stellar time. But for me, the best time of the magazine will remain those wonderful fifteen years, during which I could proudly say: “I am a reader of Igromania!”.

Thank you for your attention and good luck!