Videogame Magazines

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J.M. Vargas

Videogame Magazines

Postby J.M. Vargas » April 8th, 2005, 3:08 pm

The Neo Geo games thread spawned a very interesting sub-discussion about videogame magazines that I believe deserves its own thread.  So I'll start by asking the critic what videogames magazines (past or present) does he like if he thinks the defunct 'Next Generation' magazine was such a bad rag.  Although I ragged on 'NG' as being compared to toilet tissue I actually liked reading the pompous way the writers of 'NG' (who also doubled as the zany crew of another less formal game magazine... Ultra something) touted themselves as the know-it-alls in the industry.  Remember this was 1994/95 and the internet was still in its mainstream infancy, so game magazine reviews back then had a lot of sway and influence on whether a game sold well or not. 

Even though I realized the 'NG' writers were full of themselves at the time I enjoyed reading their rants and previews.  The reviews were biased as heck (the Saturn games were shallacked with unfairly low scores) and venomous against anything 16-bit or older, which was fun to read just because it was so damn off-base.  Three stars for 'Yoshi's Island' (SNES)?  No way!  I've kept every 'NG' copy I ever bought (including the debut issue with 'Virtua Fighter' on the cover) and love pulling them back for nostalgia's sake.  Heck, I'm incapable of throwing away game magazines.  I'm weird like that. 

mappy mouse pd

Videogame Magazines

Postby mappy mouse pd » April 8th, 2005, 3:33 pm

Next Generation started off as a very good magazine for gamers who wanted more than just reviews and previews. Their features and interviews were the best in the business. Who else would feature an interview with Eugene Jarvis?

Later on, they started to do crazy features just to sell the magazine, and their reviews started to take a dive.

I didn't think they were against the Saturn. They put NiGHTS in their top 100 list, and games like Dragon Force, Tomb Raider and Shining the Holy Ark got great reviews.

My favorite magazine is still Video Games and Computer Entertainment. I wish I still had some of those sitting around.




sega saturn x

Videogame Magazines

Postby sega saturn x » April 8th, 2005, 5:04 pm

My all time favorite mag was gmr which got canned and it really does suck they has such great writing. 


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Videogame Magazines

Postby VideoGameCritic » April 8th, 2005, 7:38 pm

I get a ton of magazines, including Electronic Gaming Monthly, Gamepro, Game Informer, and some other Playstation-only mag. Obviously, they all have inflated scores, because they have to kiss the game publishers' asses to receive free games to review.

Personally, I prefer Game Informer, because they were the first to include a "retro" section where old video games are reviewed. Now the rest of them are jumping on that backwagon as well. Who would have thought that gamers would be so interested in old games?

I also keep all of my magazines, and I love looking back over them, especially the ones from the early 90's. They all bought into the forthcoming "Virtual Reality" era (which never came), and also the "convergence" all-in-one set boxes (3DO, CDI) which were going to revolutionize our lives.

sega saturn x

Videogame Magazines

Postby sega saturn x » April 8th, 2005, 7:52 pm

I used to love opm (what was once the only good playstation magazine) but the they fired all of the smart writers and hired a bunch of college kids.  Who couldent tell a good game froma hole in the ground they keep calling new games old school and it just looks silly.  In one review they called a 3D hack and slash old school!  What?  Any game that uses only 2 buttons or is 2-d is for some reason old school you know maybe if they played a system older then the ps1 they wouldent sound so stupid, when describing old school games.


J.M. Vargas

Videogame Magazines

Postby J.M. Vargas » April 8th, 2005, 7:54 pm

The oldest magazine I have that I purchased myself (I buy older one's when I can on eBay: [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6950151339&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1 [/url]) is a Nov./Dec. '93 issue of Gamefan magazine with 'Cybermorph' (for the Atari Jaguar) on the cover.  I bought it at a newstand in New York's Grand Central station after attending a taping of the then-new 'Conan O'Brien' late night show.  I read it on the train back to the Upstate New York college I was attending at the time.  They had this cool comparison chart between the then-unknown Sony, Sega, Nintendo (called Ultra 64) systems and the already-out 3DO and Atari systems.  I remember buying everything these guys said as if it were true.  I still have the mag, and re-reading it (along with almost every magazine from that era) shows how manipulated the press was by the people at Sony and Nintendo (and, to a lesser extent, Sega) that knew how to spin them like they were drying machines.


sega saturn x

Videogame Magazines

Postby sega saturn x » April 8th, 2005, 9:26 pm

Sega was never good at spin ever and they havent gotten any better and how do you spin the 32X?


Alienblue

Videogame Magazines

Postby Alienblue » April 8th, 2005, 10:47 pm

I have kept EVERY game magazine since I
started collecting in 1982...everything from
EGM to Next Gen, Game informer, etc...

my favorite old game mags:

VIDEO GAMES AND COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT (only 2 issues printed sadly)

ELECTRONIC FUN WITH COMPUTERS AND GAMES

VIDEO GAMES

VIDEO GAMING ILLUSTRATED

Gunstarhero

Videogame Magazines

Postby Gunstarhero » April 9th, 2005, 1:26 am

For me, it is with out any doubt, Q64 Magazine for the N64. It was $9.99 an issue, but man it packed a heck of a punch. It was very well bound, with a very thick cover, and plenty of pages with  minimal adverts inside. Each game showcased in Q64 got an enormous amount of indepth coverage compared to other  mainstream mags out there. We're talkin a minimum of 4 pages for every game reviewed with huge screenshots, not those tiny thumbnails rags like EGM give you. Good writeups, and fair reviews....not to mention multiple 15-20 page strategy guides for games. They also had plenty of exclusive developer interviews...theres so much to an issue...I reread this magazine quite regularly...its that good! Most other mags I have stashed away don't get reread at all, they just take up space, but Q64 was so dang interesting and insightful...

I don't think it had many issues, I only have the first or second issue...I think the $9.99 price tag probably did it in rather quickly. I would love to have all of the volumes, however many there are.

zenzerotron

Videogame Magazines

Postby zenzerotron » April 9th, 2005, 2:01 am

I have fond childhood memories of the "propaganda" mags........Nintendo Power, Sega Visions, and Atari Club. Those weren't trust-worthy magazines, but they did enhance the fun/experiences I had owning their respective consoles.

I subscribe to EGM and Gamepro. I read magazines just to be aware of what games are coming out. I don't actually fully trust any magazines' reviews anymore.

I feel that the best, most honest magazine ever was early 1990's EGM.

A far-cry from today's EGM, whom seems to be in their own trendy/clicky universe when it comes to game reviews.



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