In 2016, the first issue of a magazine called A Profound Waste of Time was released. Marrying heartfelt essays on video games with beautiful art, it was great, and did well enough that five years later a second edition was put together that was just as good. Now it’s time for issue #3.
Some of the highlights of this latest issue include:
– Journalist and author Simon Parkin travels to Tokyo, Japan to speak with Fumito Ueda (Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, The Last Guardian), exploring the themes and philosophies behind both his iconic games and his working practice.
– Grace Curtis explores the history of early web games with a focus on Nitrome, a British independent games studio that started out making online browser games.
– Rodney Greenblat (PaRappa the Rapper) is interviewed by Kyle Bosman about his approach to both his fine art and character design, and how he hopes his work inspires joy in others.
– Tim Schafer (Psychonauts, Grim Fandango) talks to Ben Bertoli about how to manage your outlook and take care of your mind when creating and working on video games.
– Journalist and author Matt Leone chronicles the early history of Street Fighter and the birth of fighting game combo analysis in Japan.
While the features have been (and look in this case to be) fantastic, one of the big selling points of the magazine has been its production. Shipping as a hardcover, the art leaps off the page, and for this issue in particular the fancier edition of the Last Guardian-themed cover is going all out:
The Special Edition of Issue 3 features a different colour pallette and a special thermo-chromatic ink layer, allowing you to banish the darkness and reveal Trico underneath by simply touching the cover with your hands. Touch and tactility is such a prominent concept in the games of Ueda and his team, so it felt fitting to have that referenced in the cover with this unique production process
If you want to order a copy, you can get it — and previous issues — here.
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