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[ElyrionX]

Ok, I just obtained the latest copy of EGM from the newsstand. No, its not the one with the Fable scores. Its the Scarface issue.

Well imagine my surprise when I realised that the price has been raised quite significantly. And what was the reason for the price hike? A "premium" DVD chock-full of "freebies". I haven't gone through the DVD yet. However, I kind of have the impression that whatever that can be found on the DVD can probably be downloaded from online for FREE.

Anyway, I flip through the mag and realised that its the same as before. Its the same relative amount of content and information. And on the plastic packaging, it was claimed that the DVD is "free". WTF?

I've been buying EGM from the newsstands for more than 5 years but this is just ridiculous. Bundling a DVD with your mag does not mean that you can simply raise the price of it just like that. If the next issue is still priced at the same level, I'm going to discontinue my monthly purchase of the mag. The magazine has become increasingly worthless in recent times anyway.

 

[AniHawk]

The years of free subscriptions Wario64 has are finally catching up with EGM.

 

[Deg]

Yeah DVD's are pointless. The past year i've downloaded higher quality vids on the internet for everything.

 

[aoi tsuki]

You're much better off just getting Gamespot Complete instead of paying the newsstand price every month. i flip through it every now and then, but EGM hasn't been worth buying for nearly a decade.

 

[Gantz]

Anyone who would pay for EGM or Gamespot complete is beyond me.

 

[aoi tsuki]

At least with Gamespot Complete (or IGN Insider for that matter) you're getting high-quality videos, in addition to access to a plethora of reviews, previews, and more from the free services, something magazines can't touch. The "Gaming Life in Japan" feature on IGN would've help make it worth it for me, but the time i spend downloading videos, even on a broadband connection, is better spent playing games.

 

[ElyrionX]

Maybe EGM is getting desperate to resort to doing this?

 

[fennec fox]

EGM is hardly the only magazine that has done this on the newsstand. In fact they're one of the last. GamePro did it ages ago.

Remember, the hardcore gamer with Wario's free mag subscriptions and perhaps a Insider/Complete account or two is typically not the audience any magazine aims for with newsstand sales. It's more of a casual crowd.

 

[cvxfreak]

Good thing I got a free subscription with Insider. Really, that's the way to go if you bother to buy EGM from newsstands, which really isn't a good idea.

 

[Drinky Crow]

The embarrassing reviews of Phantom Brave and HSG4 -- both of which should have been all 8.5s minimum -- show how disturbingly out of touch EGM is with the only guy can provide a 100% objective opinion on videogames: me.

I'm taking away the Drinky Crow endorsement and giving it to OPM, where Phantom Brave got a perfectly appropriate 4.5/5. Good job, OPM. I'm not going to write your press release, though.

 

[FortNinety]

Yeah DVD's are pointless. The past year i've downloaded higher quality vids on the internet for everything.

Very interesting point. I highly doubt anything they provide is anything that "new". I'm sure much will be stuff we've already seen, and perhaps weeks before the issue gets in people's hands.

So my question is this: what do you think the ratio between people who get their news on the net and from the mags are? Even though video games is "mainstream", one who would spend money on a mag with a DVD, which will surely raise the price to $7-8 already tells me this person is a bit more "hardcore" than a casual player. But wouldn't this hardcore person already seen the vids? Does he not already go to sites and the such have exposure to the aforementioned vids?

 

[fennec fox]

Actually it's $5.99 on the newsstand, like GamePro. This makes it cheaper or on par with the great deal of European games magazines that include video DVDs on the cover.

I do not speak for Ziff Davis Media or any of its employees when I state my personal opinion that firing up a DVD with direct footage from 50 or so games on it, as well as some special features and freebie games included, is more convenient than downloading the equivalent of all that video from the net. I know that downloading three or so GB of video isn't all that much of a bother nowadays, as long as I'm patient, but the DVD's right there already, so...

Of course, not all of this video may be up-to-the-minute. But that's not the point. Nobody buys print magazines in 2004 because they are looking for the hottest news and they somehow don't have a net connection, but because they find that the particular way a magazine packages all of this information fits their personal tastes and lifestyle. The future of the DVD, like any other part of any magazine, is decided by reader response, and if EGM's readers enjoy it, then I'm sure it will continue.

If you find the DVD doesn't match your needs, then I encourage you to buy or continue your subscription, which does not include it.

 

[chespace]

Actually it's $5.99 on the newsstand, like GamePro. This makes it cheaper or on par with the great deal of European games magazines that include video DVDs on the cover.

I do not speak for Ziff Davis Media or any of its employees when I state my personal opinion that firing up a DVD with direct footage from 50 or so games on it, as well as some special features and freebie games included, is more convenient than downloading the equivalent of all that video from the net. I know that downloading three or so GB of video isn't all that much of a bother nowadays, as long as I'm patient, but the DVD's right there already, so...

Of course, not all of this video may be up-to-the-minute. But that's not the point. Nobody buys print magazines in 2004 because they are looking for the hottest news and they somehow don't have a net connection, but because they find that the particular way a magazine packages all of this information fits their personal tastes and lifestyle. The future of the DVD, like any other part of any magazine, is decided by reader response, and if EGM's readers enjoy it, then I'm sure it will continue.

If you find the DVD doesn't match your needs, then I encourage you to buy or continue your subscription, which does not include it.

i think magazines target an audience that's more casual than the folks here at GAF, but more hardcore than your average Madden player. somewhere in between.

 

[Wario64]

I'm glad my free EGM subscription expires in 2011. By that time, we'll probably be in the generation after the next one

 

[FortNinety]

Very interesting point. I highly doubt anything they provide is anything that "new". I'm sure much will be stuff we've already seen, and perhaps weeks before the issue gets in people's hands.

So my question is this: what do you think the ratio between people who get their news on the net and from the mags are? Even though video games is "mainstream", one who would spend money on a mag with a DVD, which will surely raise the price to $7-8 already tells me this person is a bit more "hardcore" than a casual player. But wouldn't this hardcore person already seen the vids? Does he not already go to sites and the such have exposure to the aforementioned vids?

BTW, I should perhaps mentioned that I personally am not opposed to DVDs... and I'm not just saying that since I too write for Ziff Davis. I'm just curious if a DVD would indeed reach its target audience. Who is the target audience, since the means that hardcore gamers get their info seems to change every few years or so. I'm just playing devil's advocate.

Actually, I'm a stickler for image quality, I'd rather have high quality footage straight from the DVD (proved its encoded properly) than hunting something similar on the net, and I rarely find anything that is at that level. Bare in mind I'm on a Mac, so many WMVs don't look as nice on a Mac as it does a PC, plus they can be resource hogs and the such. But with footage from a DVD, that's not the same case.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I'd gladly pay 6 or even 7 dollars per issue if EGM was anything like it was in 1993 and 1994. God, I loved those November issues.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

i have NO problem with EGM and would gladly pay two or even THREE times what i pay now for my subscription!

 

[skip]

I'd gladly pay 6 or even 7 dollars per issue if EGM was anything like it was in 1993 and 1994. God, I loved those November issues.

someone should post that old-school EGM scan right about now.

 

[SentientStone]

I regret subscribing for 2 years to EGM. Should've just done 1 or even better... none at all.
I barely read my new issues when I receive them, either because they are bad or I have lost interest in gaming (or both). Should not be the latter though since I read this forum practically daily (or hourly ). My subscription is ending soon; this time no more EGMs unless I get them for "free" (which is hard being Canadian ).

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Some classic EGM love:

 

[cvxfreak]

The price difference between NES and SNES in 1993 was $20?!?

 

[GDGF]

Some classic EGM love:

That 1993 Video Game Buyers Guide was one of my favorite issues of EGM ever. I spend more time reading my old classic issues of EGM than I do the new free ones I get.

I wish there was an online archive that had all the backissues scanned or something.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

Some old scans I did a while ago:

URLS to bigger scans from that era:

http://trippingmartian.virtualdogshit.com/Articles/ctegm1.jpg
http://trippingmartian.virtualdogshit.com/Articles/ctegm2.jpg
http://trippingmartian.virtualdogshit.com/Articles/ff3egm1.jpg
http://trippingmartian.virtualdogshit.com/Articles/ff3egm2.jpg
http://trippingmartian.virtualdogshit.com/Articles/ff3interview.jpg
http://trippingmartian.virtualdogshit.com/Articles/ffviegm1.jpg
http://trippingmartian.virtualdogshit.com/Articles/ffviegm2.jpg

 

[cvxfreak]

Ah, Mother 2... *hugs GBA version*

 

[Deg]

I'm glad my free EGM subscription expires in 2011. By that time, we'll probably be in the generation after the next one

can you post european deals?

 

[belgurdo]

Some classic EGM love:

7676 for Neo Geo? wtf

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Sushi X questioning the 24 bit power? He needs to feel the 100 MEGA SHOCK!

 

[GDGF]

I was so pissed when that Akira game didn't come out. I don't think an Akira game has ever seen release (although several have beeen announced)

 

[Crazymoogle]

The EGM DVD is suprisingly decent; even for just the (extensive) direct-feed Burnout 3 coverage. The Jade Empire video is embarassing though - the game is choppy, the narration is a joke, and though I had doubts about the game before, my expectations are ten times lower now.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Oh and the DVD is 100% MUST BUY for those interested in the Seanbaby E3 video diary and Mega64 videos.

 

[Asskicker064]

Oh and the DVD is 100% MUST BUY for those interested in the Seanbaby E3 video diary and Mega64 videos.

I'm getting it just for the Mega64 videos. I wish the Mega64 DVD would come the fuck out.

 

[Crazymoogle]

I'm getting it just for the Mega64 videos. I wish the Mega64 DVD would come the fuck out.

The Ghost n' Goblins video is 100% CLASS. I don't know what's funnier, the guys on the street trying to intervene in the sword fight, "Arthur" losing his shirt, or Dr. Poque admitting he's called "D. Pizzle" on a livejournal gangsta blog.

 

[FoneBone]

I was so pissed when that Akira game didn't come out. I don't think an Akira game has ever seen release (although several have beeen announced)

There was a Famicom game, a JAP-only PS2 pinball game, and a European game that was on CD32 and Amiga, I think.

 

[FortNinety]

Man... I miss the days when how megs a game had was essential info.

 

[DCX]

i think magazines target an audience that's more casual than the folks here at GAF, but more hardcore than your average Madden player. somewhere in between.

You sir, are correct.

DCX

 

[M3wThr33]

Seanbaby E3 Video diary?
I met him this year at E3. I was the guy in the green hat. Apparently his scavenger hunt was looking for worst hat/hair and they thought I was the best(Worst?) they could find.

 

[Fularu]

There was a Famicom game, a JAP-only PS2 pinball game, and a European game that was on CD32 and Amiga, I think.

Horrible game by ICE

 

[GDGF]

That's cool! Crappy or not I must find those games

 

[FoneBone]

I have to say that it kind of annoys me when companies offer those newsstand bonuses that subscribers can't get... they gotta make money, though.