Cuervo
01-17-2004, 07:16 PM
I picked up the new issue of P8NT, expecting more of the goodness that I've been accustomed to.
The stories covered within:
-The Gravity Games & NPPL
-Dick Clark Productions & NXL
-Paintball Videos
-Pack Overviews
-NPPL New Jersey
-PSP Philadelphia
-Some crappy band I've never heard of.
The information on the Gravity Games and the future of paintball on TV (with Dick Clark Productions taking over rights to film NXL matches and whatnot--read the articles) are pretty good. Definately worth reading.
As always, the tournament coverage is second to none. They didn't disappoint.
My complaint is that, in a 128 page magazine (including advertisements), the article on Videos took up 11 pages (including 1 full-page advertisements and a handful of partial-page ads.) And it sucked. It's basically an interview with a couple filmmakers which no one gives a rat's about. Seriously, I don't care how some dip got started into paintball. I don't care if he went to Columbia Film. I care aboutthe freakin' paintball videos, not his background in skate and surf videos. The only redeeming factor of this article is that it spotlights a couple new releases and explains the format. I now know that Derder's 300fps will be solely a highlight reel, while Division One's Sunday Drivers is more of a paintball documentary. For being 50% of the articles listed on the cover (the other being the Gravity Games), this article sucked hard. It's worth reading the captions under the pictures of the DVD covers and that's about it.
The Pack Overview was just like all the rest of P8NT's "reviews": bland. There was no specifics to it. It's run of the mill "this info on that pack." It's an 11-page advertisement... except with "actual" advertisements between every other page. If you're in the market for a pack, or like looking at pictures, it might be useful because it cuts down on research. But there's no attempt at determining which is the best, the worst, or in-between. It's just restating the information on the company websites with a glossy picture. of course, this is how all of their reviews end up, so I shouldn't really complain about this one in particular.
Overall, I give this magazine a B-. It's by far the worst issue of P8NT ever. Usually I expect A or A+ material, but I was severely disappointed. I still consider this issue better than the average issue of Paintball2Xtremes, but not better than the average Facefull (which I rate a B+/A-.) Only the very best of most magazines will top this issue, but the average for P8NT blows it out of the water. Overall, it's worth the $4.99 cover price.
The stories covered within:
-The Gravity Games & NPPL
-Dick Clark Productions & NXL
-Paintball Videos
-Pack Overviews
-NPPL New Jersey
-PSP Philadelphia
-Some crappy band I've never heard of.
The information on the Gravity Games and the future of paintball on TV (with Dick Clark Productions taking over rights to film NXL matches and whatnot--read the articles) are pretty good. Definately worth reading.
As always, the tournament coverage is second to none. They didn't disappoint.
My complaint is that, in a 128 page magazine (including advertisements), the article on Videos took up 11 pages (including 1 full-page advertisements and a handful of partial-page ads.) And it sucked. It's basically an interview with a couple filmmakers which no one gives a rat's about. Seriously, I don't care how some dip got started into paintball. I don't care if he went to Columbia Film. I care aboutthe freakin' paintball videos, not his background in skate and surf videos. The only redeeming factor of this article is that it spotlights a couple new releases and explains the format. I now know that Derder's 300fps will be solely a highlight reel, while Division One's Sunday Drivers is more of a paintball documentary. For being 50% of the articles listed on the cover (the other being the Gravity Games), this article sucked hard. It's worth reading the captions under the pictures of the DVD covers and that's about it.
The Pack Overview was just like all the rest of P8NT's "reviews": bland. There was no specifics to it. It's run of the mill "this info on that pack." It's an 11-page advertisement... except with "actual" advertisements between every other page. If you're in the market for a pack, or like looking at pictures, it might be useful because it cuts down on research. But there's no attempt at determining which is the best, the worst, or in-between. It's just restating the information on the company websites with a glossy picture. of course, this is how all of their reviews end up, so I shouldn't really complain about this one in particular.
Overall, I give this magazine a B-. It's by far the worst issue of P8NT ever. Usually I expect A or A+ material, but I was severely disappointed. I still consider this issue better than the average issue of Paintball2Xtremes, but not better than the average Facefull (which I rate a B+/A-.) Only the very best of most magazines will top this issue, but the average for P8NT blows it out of the water. Overall, it's worth the $4.99 cover price.