An interview ... about "Stuff" ... for gamers ...

Simon Munk is a long way from the penny arcades of London's West End, which he wandered as a boy, coin in hand, looking for new video games.

Now, Munk's all grown up, but he's still looking for the next big thing. This time, he's doing it from New York, as the editor-in-chief of Stuff Gamer, a special holiday video gaming issue of Stuff Magazine.

"We're trying to bring the classic video game concept to a whole new audience," said Munk during a phone interview from his New York office. "[Stuff Gamer] should deliver great fun and entertainment."

And Munk does know what he's talking about. For the past three years, he has been Stuff magazine's video games writer and has worked closely with Stuff's in-house team to develop their video game content. Munk is also a freelance video game journalist for international print media and is a correspondent for the international broadcast TV show Gamer TV.

Those familiar with Stuff magazine (from Dennis Publications, publishers of Maxim) will have a good idea of what to expect from the new special issue, which is scheduled to hit the newsstands in October - babes, comedy, what Munk describes as "high-gloss value" - along with all the information a reader needs to find just the right game to make his - or her - thumbs happy.

"Our readership is adult men," said Munk, "and this willl be a very good fit with our target audience. The overwhelming majority of gamers are male, but we're hoping to pick up female readers as well. This magazine is about fun - it takes kind of a sideways look at life.

"We're trying to deliver something very different - big features, news, reviews - we're including a lot of core info [on games], and making it very guy-friendly, while at the same time trying for laugh-out-loud funny."

According the offical news release, "Stuff Gamer is aimed at the millions of guys out there who play games but don't want to wade through pages of technical jargon, cheat codes and overly-detailed articles just to find out what's hot in gaming. The magazine will cut straight to the point - giving hardcore gamers the depth of information they need, with hard-hitting news and a massive, authoritative reviews section, while recreational gamers will get hooked in by the action-packed features and visually appealing, user-friendly design throughout."

Munk reiterated many of those points, stressing that Stuff Gamer wasn't trying to replace the many Web sites gamers visit on a regular basis, but instead trying to repackage and present some of the more useful information in a fashion that would appeal to a broader audience.

"The video game industry has outgrown the arcades," Munk said. "It's time for a magazine that doesn't just appeal to the hardcore, but to the vast majority of regular guys who're recreational gamers too."

"We're diving back on a lot of stuff the sites on the Internet do so well. If you want cheat codes or walkthroughs, turn to the Internet. Internet sites do that so much better. We want you to be able to carry our magazine into a shop and know what games to buy."

At least for the holidays. According to Munk, the official word on next month's first issue of Stuff Gamer, which will be exclusively sponsored by the Nokia N-Gage mobile game deck, is that it will be neither a one-shot publication nor the launch of another monthly magazine.

"We've talked about [the magazine] for a while, and we can't wait to have it in our hands," Munk said. "It's a holiday special, entirely dedicated to the holidays."

"Obviously, we're quite interested and very nervous about how it will be received. We're at the point where everyone is getting very excited."

As for what titles will be heating up computers and consoles this winter, Munk didn't hesitate.

"Prince of Persia, Dues Ex, XIII, Need for Speed, Horizons" Munk said. "Those are just some of the games we'll be looking at."

Look for Stuff Gamer on newsstands in October, and keep an eye out for their new Web site .. they swear it's coming soon. In the meantime, check out their galler ... err ... articles ... about the Stuff cover girls!