Game Informer with Zelda on cover

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VideoGameCritic
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Game Informer with Zelda on cover

Postby VideoGameCritic » February 19th, 2017, 10:07 am

I've always been a big video game magazine fan and I have a large collection of old EGM and Gamepro mags. The last remaining one I get in print is Game Informer, and while I this it's a worthwhile subscription, I can't help but notice the reviews are REALLY hard to read!

I don't know if it's a result of trying to appeal to the adult audience, but reading these things is like reading a damn thesis. I wish they didn't make me think so hard. Please let me know if my reviews ever start getting like this.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Game Informer with Zelda on cover

Postby Retro STrife » February 19th, 2017, 2:51 pm

I just signed up for Game Informer after a long hiatus and this is my second issue. Now that I finally got a PS4, I figured I need to get back in touch with modern gaming. Back as a teenager, I checked gaming websites like GameSpot every day, so gaming magazines weren't much use to me. Nowadays, I'm more than happy to get a months' worth of news and reviews all lumped into one monthly magazine, just so I know what's going on and what's worth looking into further. GI serves that purpose for me, even if gaming magazines aren't what they used to be.

I haven't read the reviews in this issue yet. I will say though..I've started flipping through it and stopped once I got to the reviews because they were so long..so that's not a good sign. But I won't put much stock in GI reviews anyway...because the magazine is owned by Gamestop, I expect everything in there to have a biased slant, since it definitely serves as a marketing tool for the store. I rely mostly on Metacritic/Gamerankings for aggregate scores. On the rare occasion that I read a review on another site, I still prefer GameSpot. Perhaps it's loyalty from my younger days when it was a much better site, but I still trust them more than most other places, I like their writing style, and they don't overinflate their scores as much as other sites, like IGN.

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Re: Game Informer with Zelda on cover

Postby Retro STrife » February 19th, 2017, 3:20 pm

My last post (mentioning other places I check for reviews) makes me wonder... Critic, where do you go for reviews? I mean, many of us come to your reviews for ideas of games we should try, but you don't exactly have that same luxury. And for modern reviews, I know you have qualms with the mainstream gaming media, but is there a particular one or two of the big sites/magazines that you trust more than others when deciding which games to buy?

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Re: Game Informer with Zelda on cover

Postby CharlieR » February 20th, 2017, 9:00 am

I remember the critic also posting a while back about a game informer with South Park on the cover I believe...

He mentioned the same thing about the reviews in that one as well... I guess some trends never change with game informer reviews.

Seems like game informer, and other review sites, have these long, drawn out reviews to sound more professional. That was not meant to be a shot at the reviews on this site. The reviews here are way better (not just saying that by the way.) I think with your reviews vs those other sites is that yours are more relatable.

I think reviews from other sites are long and drawn out, while yours are more to the point. You'll address how the gameplay is right off the bat.. where it would take those reviews a few long paragraph to do so. I also find that they talk about the story in the game first, and the gameplay second.

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Re: Game Informer with Zelda on cover

Postby VideoGameCritic » February 20th, 2017, 10:41 am

Besides Game Informer magazine I generally don't read video game reviews. I do like to peruse tech sites like Arstechnica which keeps me in the loop with the latest console news. In terms of games I generally just buy what looks good to me.


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