You know the gaming magazine formula, right? Editorials, rumors, previews, reviews plus a teaser to bring you back next month equals one issue. A French gaming mag known as Amusement has taken a different perspective.
It's going for the "lifestyle" angle, blending gaming — and "geek topics," as described by founder and editor-in-chief Abdel Bounane — with fashion, art and culture, along with some stunning photo spreads for something out of the ordinary. PingMag's Jean Snow interviewed the Bounane about his mag, now three issues deep.
Bounane tells PingMag he was inspired to start up the publication because "there was a huge gap between the inventiveness of my primary passion — videogames— and the way it was treated in the press" citing video game press homogeny (and monopoly) as part of his inspiration.
It's an interesting take on a staid format, one that you can check out for yourself with the online versions of each issue. While it may seem easy to brush off Amusement as a vapid fashion rag with loose gaming references, it certainly appears that Bounane and company have a genuine interest in the art form and the tertiary forms it often flirts with.
Not to mention that the latest issue looks to have content of real interest to gamers, with interviews with Sony's Kaz Hirai, sci-fi author Michael Moorcock and film director Michel Gondry.
It's coming to the US and UK in 2009, if you find this sort of thing to your liking.