GMA 2011 FINALISTS: Coverage by a Mainstream Magazine

There are just over two weeks to go until the biggest night of the year for the UK’s games media. In the run-up to the big event on Wednesday October 26th at Vinopolis, we’re providing a series of features profiling those media brands and individuals in the running for an award.

BBC Focus

Focus is the BBC’s award-winning science and technology magazine. With articles on everything from astronomy to archaeology, genetics to geology, Focus is jargon-free and accessible to all. Aimed mainly at the men’s lifestyle market, the magazine also covers entertainment, gadgets and the web. The Focus games section features reviews and expert commentary on the latest trends in gaming, written to appeal to a mainstream audience.

Front

Founded in 1998, and relaunched in 2007 as an ‘alternative lad’s mag’, Front is gaining a huge cult following within its core 16 to 25 year-old, with rising sales to reflect this. In terms of games, Front boasts preview spreads of upcoming games and reviews from in-house writer Alex Sim-Wise, who took over the section in April 2009. By covering a wide variety of games, from MMORPGs to shooters, Front tries to offer its readers more than just a token review of Pro Evolution Soccer, with plenty of humour to boot.

Nuts

For Nuts games exclusives stand shoulder-to-shoulder with mass- market stories like the misadventures of the latest Big Brother evictee. That means it has secured world-first print coverage of hot games. Meanwhile, Nut’s gaming news section is the fastest-growing corner of its men’s consumer website Nuts.co.uk.

Shortlist

Aimed at 20 to 35-year-old ABC1 men, ShortList reaches a readership practically untouched by other mainstream magazines. It is distributed free in 11 British cities every week and through a network of workplaces, airlines and retailers. Shortlist is the UK’s largest men’s magazine, with an audited weekly circulation of 523,665. Gaming is a core element of its coverage, even extending to covers – a rarity in men’s lifestyle titles – and this year saw it launch its first annual Best Of E3 awards.

Video games are also covered on its website Shortlist.com.

T3

T3 is the UK’s biggest consumer tech lifestyle publication. Over 400,000 people interact with T3 Magazine, T3.com and the UK’s No.1 selling iPad magazine on a monthly basis. This truly multiplatform brand provides readers with everything they need to know about the latest and best gadgets and technology in the ultimate product showcase.

Wired

Wired casts early light on smart innovators and significant new ideas in the world around us, supported by an award-winning, clean and crisp design. The magazine’s games coverage consistently picks up on hot trends: ‘serious games’ that hope to change the world; games that bridge both digital space and meatspace; games that capitalise on multi-screen viewing. But it also finds smart ways into the mainstream. In the October issue, for instance, there is an interview with one of the "Tier 1 operators" that EA consulted to add realism to its next Medal of Honor instalment.

The Games Media Awards 2011, in association with Grainger Games, take place on Wednesday October 26th at the super chic Vinopolis venue near Borough Market. Greg Davies, top stand-up and star of The Inbetweeners, will be the host for the evening.

Grainger Games has signed up as headline sponsor of the event, with other sponsors already signed up including Microsoft, Codemasters, EA, Sony, Ubisoft, Nintendo, OnLive, Namco Bandai, Trion Worlds, Gamescom, Nordic Games, Konami, Sega, NC Soft, Rising Star Games, Green Man Gaming, Games Tribe, 2K Games and Venatus Media.