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[shuri]

I bought the august edition of EGM. I also bought the august edition of the official Xbox magazine.

God, what happened? When did EGM became so generic and souless? I realise this when I saw the "10 years ago" collumn. The August edition of EGM 1994 was talking about super star wars: return of the jedi, killer instinct and a last minute update with exclusive screenshots of MK2 for snes. I happen to own that 1994 issue, so I went in my room, and dug it out.

Damn, that issue was much more interesting than the 2004 one. It had the usual cool import coverage, the sense of humor, the "unique" layout, the weird stuff at the end. at least the good, the bad and the ugly is still there, but it's missing something..And what the fuck is up with the size. About 100 pages, but 60 of them are ads. There is absolutely nothing interesting in the mag. E3 Coverage.. for the August Issue?

The Xbox mag was equally crapnig. Once again, the layout looked generic, hell, it looked like the same guy was behind the layout of egm and the official xbox mag, down the font and the way the screenshots and text was made.

Mags went so fucking downhill since the early '90. I still read my old issues of videogame mags from time to time, but I will never read those two ever again.

Also I noticed how reviewers were more direct back then, they didnt seemed afraid of losing ads revenues, when a game sucked, they said it

Now every review sounds fake. What happened to the old crew?

 

[belgurdo]

I bought [a copy of] EGM

You poor sad bastard

 

[Wario64]

Haha, you bought a magazine. I must be on someone's ignore list

 

[Ninja Scooter]

would you like a cookie?

 

[DCX]

You poor sad bastard

Yeah when if you look around, you could get it for free... The internet has changed magazines forever.

DCX

 

[shuri]

Well those offers dont work in Canada

 

[DCX]

Well those offers dont work in Canada

Well then his quote still stands, two fold

DCX

 

[Littleberu]

I also bought the august edition of the official Xbox magazine.

What the hell were you thinking?

 

[Wario64]

Still no excuse, I posted a digital subscription to EGM twice, and those are Canadian friendly (as long as you can borrow an American address)


Also, XBN >>>>>>>>>> OXM

 

[Mr. Lemming]

XBN is awesome... only magazine that I get from all these free subscriptions that I think would be possibly worth paying for. If only it had the demos like OXM has.

 

[aoi tsuki]

i've bought a few XBNs because they're really good reads, and i don't have an XB.

 

[cvxfreak]

Yep, XBN is simply fantastic.

 

[DCX]

Yep, XBN is simply fantastic.

DCX

 

[Pachinko]

I bought the new XBN yesterday , I have to say I wish they had a demo disc as well becuase then I'd never bother with the official mag. The only good thing about Xboxm is that steve tilley sometimes does reviews for it these past couple of months.

 

[God's Hand]

Where EGM fails, XBN succeeds. I read every magazine out there, and XBN is usually full of interesting stuff that sometimes aren't even related to Xbox. I don't even own an Xbox, btw. It's a nicer looking layout too.

 

[Syckx]

XBN is quite simply the best American rag out there right now. The only magazine I don't feel ripped off getting for free.

 

[Yusaku]

The digital subscriptions suck unbelivable amounts of ass. They're not even worth free.

 

[aoi tsuki]

Howso?

 

[nubbe]

The information super highway made magazines worthless

Magazines can't be as exiting as they where before since we get to know everything and more month before they print.

 

[skip]

except for reviews, interviews, and exclusive previews.

 

[chespace]

if you guys hadn't heard of XBN on the great international network, is the magazine something that would attract you to buy off the newstand, based purely on how it looks (game demo dvd notwithstanding, of course)?

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http://chespace.1up.com

 

[jedimike]

if you guys hadn't heard of XBN on the great international network, is the magazine something that would attract you to buy off the newstand, based purely on how it looks (game demo dvd notwithstanding, of course)?

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http://chespace.1up.com

Unfortunately no... the mag looks great, I like the multiple DOAU covers, but the demo is gravy for OXM.

The only reason someone (casual gamer, etc.) would buy XBN over OXM is if they just couldn't afford the rather expensive OXM. People love those demo's. Plus the new editor-in-chief at OXM has done a better job at toning down the fanboy crap and getting exclusive previews. OXM is a pretty good read now days.

XBN mag >>> OXM mag
OXM demo >>> *

 

[chespace]

Unfortunately no... the mag looks great, I like the multiple DOAU covers, but the demo is gravy for OXM.

The only reason someone (casual gamer, etc.) would buy XBN over OXM is if they just couldn't afford the rather expensive OXM. People love those demo's. Plus the new editor-in-chief at OXM has done a better job at toning down the fanboy crap and getting exclusive previews. OXM is a pretty good read now days.

XBN mag >>> OXM mag
OXM demo >>> *

what i meant to ask was, what if OXM didn't have a demo disc? side by side, which magazine looks more appealing off the newstand?

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http://chespace.1up.com

 

[Yusaku]

Howso?

You need a fucking super computer to read them. My Athlon XP 2800+ with 1GB of RAM takes forever to turn pages or zoom in. I don't even want to get it into what it was like on my P3 750 with 512MB of RAM.

 

[aoi tsuki]

what i meant to ask was, what if OXM didn't have a demo disc? side by side, which magazine looks more appealing off the newstand?

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http://chespace.1up.com

Definitely. XBN is up there with Play and GMR. Actually, it's up there with GMR. It's been a while since i've actually read magazines, but from what i remember, i don't like Play's layout outside of the reviews/previews as much as GMR and XBN.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

XBN and GMR are the wave of the future. I still got much love for PSM though, they have really turned thmselves around.

 

[wipeout364]

ITs all about Simon Cox. That guy knows how to deliver a magazine. Ever since Official Dreamcast magazine he's been on a roll. And XBN blows official Xbox out of the water. I used to like Mike Salmon at PC accelerator but OXM is just ass, way too corporate and by the numbers. Its like they bought a how to make a magazine book. XBN has soul, great feature articles and is trying some cool stuff, like PLAY, both have faults but they have personality. EGM, OXM, OPM ahave no personality, EGM in particular has picked up some deadwood over the past 2 years that has not helped at all.

 

[totoro'd]

Simon Cox is hot too.

I've been a subscriber to EGM for about 8 years now. First, they use too much cardboard/thick paper crap in the mag now, where you can cut out stuff, etc. It interrupts the reading experience IMO.
From an advertising point of view, the whole mag is too busy. Their reviews are all over the place (literally, that is). I know they're trying to appeal to the MTV generation and all, but they shouldn't be trying to give their readers ADD.

I still love the mag though, and miss Chris Johnston.

 

[Crispy]

I used to read ARCADE, it was a British multi-console magazine. That was really good magazine, a lot of articles, good reviews and a lot of humour. After about a year they had to stop...I never bought a gaming mag again!

 

[MC Safety]

ITs all about Simon Cox. That guy knows how to deliver a magazine. Ever since Official Dreamcast magazine he's been on a roll. And XBN blows official Xbox out of the water. I used to like Mike Salmon at PC accelerator but OXM is just ass, way too corporate and by the numbers. Its like they bought a how to make a magazine book. XBN has soul, great feature articles and is trying some cool stuff, like PLAY, both have faults but they have personality. EGM, OXM, OPM ahave no personality, EGM in particular has picked up some deadwood over the past 2 years that has not helped at all.

I think the editors and writers for Xbox Nation would argue that it's not all about Simon Cox.

Sincerely,
The editors and writers for Xbox Nation

 

[Mr_Furious]

I just bought my first gaming mag in nearly 10 years

 

[SantaC]

only reason gaming mags excist today is because they get review copies ahead of internet sites. That and sometimes exclusive scoops.

 

[wipeout364]

I think the editors and writers for Xbox Nation would argue that it's not all about Simon Cox.

Sincerely,
The editors and writers for Xbox Nation

That may be but GMR, XBN, and Official Dreamcast Magazine all seemed to have a certain flavour to them. He is the only common thread. Anyway Orlando (IGN DC forever) can be entertaining and Che is solid. Shamoon I am not so hot about I think the Mag took a turn for the worse under his watch IMO.

 

[Saint Cornelius]

I only buy gaming magazines if they come with a demo disc, or if I'm taking a long trip somewhere and I want something to read.

I do like Famitsu, though, when I can get my hands on it - just to look at the pretty pictures

 

[chespace]

I think you've hurt Evan's feelings. So much so he's just gone downstairs to drink beer. I think I shall join him now.

p.s. - Otogi 2 has excellent localization.

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http://chespace.1up.com

 

[MC Safety]

I think you've hurt Evan's feelings. So much so he's just gone downstairs to drink beer. I think I shall join him now.

p.s. - Otogi 2 has excellent localization.

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http://chespace.1up.com

What he said.

Also, I am leaving in protest, but really only to play Silent Hill 4 and also Pikmin 2.

 

[puck1337]

Blah.

 

[novery]

Hooray for Tokyo Tribe!

Three cheers for Xbox in Japan!


-rp