The editors of Gamasutra sister publication
Game Developer have released the January 2007 issue of the magazine, featuring a
Tony Hawk Wii postmortem and the Front Line Awards for tools, in a
free-to-read digital version as a sample issue.
This updating of
the sample issue allows readers to try out the magazine's digital version, for which
6 month and 12 month subscriptions are now available. The yearly deal includes digital access to back issues of the magazine through May 2004, as well as a digitally readable version of the Game Developer Career Guide special edition. (
Physical subscriptions to the magazine are also still available.)
As for the freely readable version of the January 2007 issue, the cover feature is 'Not Your Typical Grind:
Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam for Wii' by Toys for Bob's Toby Schadt, and described as follows:
"Skateboarding at home, in the living room, on the couch, never felt so alive. In this postmortem of the newest Tony Hawk game, Toys for Bob lead designer Toby Schadt explains how playtesting was different for this Wii game, and how the legal department can hinder even the most generic design choices."
The January issue also reveals Game Developer’s 2006 Front Line Awards, as
announced in December, which "pays homage to the companies and products that make game development possible. Seven winners are named—and one tool that no developer could live without is inducted into the Hall of Fame."
Another major feature is Chris Hind and Dan Bell's 'Setting The Bar', for which it's said: "'There wasn’t enough time to fix them all,' said the game developers about the bugs they just couldn’t get rid of. Sound familiar? Two test engineers from the Microsoft Games Test Organization have a theory about why developers should just let go and accept that some bugs are inevitable."
The issue is rounded out by in-depth news, code, art, audio, and design columns from Game Developer's veteran correspondents, as well as product reviews and game art features, plus a bonus preview guide to GDC 2007.
