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I was going through my old EGM issues this morning...

S

Saturnman

Banned
...and while I can't really speak for the last few years, in its first decade, EGM really sucked.

I think the only reason why I bought them was for the review crew. It's not like they really went indepth, I probably thought they were some kind of reference in the industry so what little they had to say mattered. But previews are amateurish and mostly filled with filler text. There's really a lot of advertizing too, making some issues ridiculously big and with little relevant content with all things considered. No wonder EGM2 failed miserably. No reviews and all the filler crap left in.

Anyway, they're all in the trash now. Good riddance. :)


P.S. I know many former EGM employees are responsible for GA. :D
 
lol, yes. :lol

Usually a quickly collage of pics, even with no hard info on the games, they'd just speculate some nonsense.
 
Maybe it's unfair to judge them with today's standards, but as far as EGM is concerned, I don't think you can talk about a golden age of game mags. :)
 
Yep, funny how the press was so horrible back then. Horrible, but perfectly fine for us growing, know-nothing youngsters. I lapped it up and loved it.

I find the games press boring these days, but it's indisputably better, in terms of professionalism and general quality, than it was ten years ago. There's just no contest.

It's just not fun anymore.
 
As far as quality and professionalism, Computer & Videogames was certainly better than in EGM in the early 90's (I still have a few issues): long reviews, real articles, you really feel like it's not some kids in their summer jobs.
 
If you mean Video Games & Computer Entertainment, yes, that was a decent mag. Andy Eddy represent. On the other hand, EGM was a completely unprofessional fanboy incubator, GamePro was mindless kiddy fodder, and GameFan ... well, you know. And I loved two out of three of those. ^_^
 
Noooo! Games journalism is still fun, dammit! Fun I say!! Here! Have some fun!

Don't listen to Fennec Fox!
 
Gamefan has the advantage of having bigger and more pics of the games they covered, but the text was just fanboy nonsense.
 
Saturnman said:
...and while I can't really speak for the last few years, in its first decade, EGM really sucked.

I think the only reason why I bought them was for the review crew. It's not like they really went indepth, I probably thought they were some kind of reference in the industry so what little they had to say mattered. But previews are amateurish and mostly filled with filler text. There's really a lot of advertizing too, making some issues ridiculously big and with little relevant content with all things considered. No wonder EGM2 failed miserably. No reviews and all the filler crap left in.

Anyway, they're all in the trash now. Good riddance. :)


P.S. I know many former EGM employees are responsible for GA. :D
Click to expand...

Actually,

EGM2 = Xpert Gamer = GameNow = dead
 
The original Electronic Games of the 80s was great, as was the relaunched one in the early 90s. Yeah, Video Games and Computer Entertainment was good too. And the 8-bit computer era had some great, great magazines. As a Commodore user, I loved Ahoy, Commodore Magazine and Compute's Gazzette. I always thought it was EGM and Gamepro that began the crap influence.
 
I'm still hoping to lure some former or current EGM employees in this thread, giving their input.

"I resent that. We had a lot of games to cover with little staff, our publisher was always pressuring us to cut costs andI'm still proud of the little miracles we pulled every month on that deadline."

Or even better.

"Yeah, it was crap, no doubt about that, but we were #1 in terms of sales so why try to fix what wasn't broken? You suckers just ate it up anyway."

:)
 
Saturnman said:
I'm still hoping to lure some former or current EGM employees in this thread, giving their input.

"I resent that. We had a lot of games to cover with little staff, our publisher was always pressuring us to cut costs andI'm still proud of the little miracles we pulled every month on that deadline."

Or even better.

"Yeah, it was crap, no doubt about that, but we were #1 in terms of sales so why try to fix what wasn't broken? You suckers just ate it up anyway."
Click to expand...

The mag was good, at first. You could argue that's mostly cause there wasn't much else out there, and maybe you'd be right, but in any case it was the best thing going.

Around issue 40 it went to shit, especially considering GameFan and Next Generation were out or about to be. I let my sub run out at like 49 or so I think.... I have previews and reviews from that time up on my door that will make you laugh your ass off. Just, horrible, horrible stuff. The worst. Trash.

Around issue 100 it got decent again, by @ 120 it was good, and issue 131 issued in a new golden age, aka "The MacDonald era" :D
 
I don't know. Sure by today's standard's it was pretty bad, but the first EGM I got (had Fabio from Ironsword on the cover, Ish #2 or something) captivated me back then. I've got most of the issues from then through about 50. I looked at the other mags but frankly there was just nothing that seemed better to me at the time. The review crew concept was the best way to review games, IMO. Gamepro was a rag from the start. Gamefan was good but too short lived.

One of the things you have to remember from that era is that most people had never heard of the Internet. I remember studying early screenshots from Super Fami games and reading the previews like they were scripture. The mags seemed great because in many cases it was the only way to hear about new games, systems, and get any kind of idea of what you might buy.

The first 10 issues of Next Generation (I still have them!) are magnificent. Then it just got worse and worse.

Now the only time I ever look at a game mag is when I can get in on these free subscription deals. Even then, I thumb through the mag quickly, skipping the 95% of old news and screenshots I saw online a month ago. I would never, ever spend money on one nowadays because of places like CAG. Better news and a lot more quickly. If I want something to read on the crapper I'll just get a book.
 
Dr. Zoidberg said:
I don't know. Sure by today's standard's it was pretty bad, but the first EGM I got (had Fabio from Ironsword on the cover, Ish #2 or something) captivated me back then. I've got most of the issues from then through about 50.
Click to expand...

the EGM with the IronSword / Fabio cover was EGM Number 3 - August-September 1989

egm034ko.jpg


this was my 2nd EGM :D I remember it fondly, I got it in Chicago IL, read it on the bus after a doctors visit. it had Ghouls N Ghosts for Genesis. will never forget seeing the pig projectile vomiting. EGM even used a good phrase for comparing arcade games to home versions 'carbon copy'. even though it wasn't that. :lol you will never see the phrase 'arcade perfect' until the mid 1990s, on the web and in GameFan magazine (which i think spread to other magazines soon after)
 
MarkMacD said:
The mag was good, at first. You could argue that's mostly cause there wasn't much else out there, and maybe you'd be right, but in any case it was the best thing going.

Around issue 40 it went to shit, especially considering GameFan and Next Generation were out or about to be. I let my sub run out at like 49 or so I think.... I have previews and reviews from that time up on my door that will make you laugh your ass off. Just, horrible, horrible stuff. The worst. Trash.

Around issue 100 it got decent again, by @ 120 it was good, and issue 131 issued in a new golden age, aka "The MacDonald era" :D
Click to expand...

I thought you were going to say "The Sewart era."
 
I saw this thread and got nostalgic for the days of old. I'd have to agree that the magazine isn't what it used to be (for reasons discussed in the other EGM thread) Upon flipping thru the stacks I happened upon this...makes me laugh every time.
(From issue 141/April 2001 btw)




Sorry, just couldn't resist


(p.s. Going to Canada this weekend to see if this is true)
 
Spectral Glider said:
The original Electronic Games of the 80s was great, as was the relaunched one in the early 90s. Yeah, Video Games and Computer Entertainment was good too. And the 8-bit computer era had some great, great magazines. As a Commodore user, I loved Ahoy, Commodore Magazine and Compute's Gazzette. I always thought it was EGM and Gamepro that began the crap influence.
Click to expand...

Agree with this 100%. The 8-bit home computer magazines were my favorite. Since I was an Atari fanboy, I was into Antic, ANALOG, Atari Explorer, etc. Also Compute!, Computer Shopper (back before it was all IBM PC), and Byte (ditto). The writing in many of those old 8-bit magazines was light years better than what you see in the gaming press now. I think part of the difference was that a lot of the writers then were doing it on a lark, and they came from outside the industry with a wide variety of backgrounds, whereas nowadays you have writers who grew up playing video games and who have done nothing outside of writing about them. VG&CE was my favorite in later years (the guys behind that mag came from ANALOG IIRC). I also liked the Turbo-specific mag the VG&CE guys did.

EGM was very badly edited, but I still enjoyed it early on. They had more import coverage than most of the other mags of the time (I'm thinking of the 88-91 time period). I never read GamePro. I liked Game Players well enough, it was dry but still a good read. GameFan was absolute utter shit.

And even though it was just a mouthpiece for Nintendo, I still love Nintendo Power from 88 to around 92 or so. Yes, it was aimed at kids and a bit silly at times, but it was always well written and edited for its target audience IMO.
 
Mac the KNife said:
I saw this thread and got nostalgic for the days of old. I'd have to agree that the magazine isn't what it used to be (for reasons discussed in the other EGM thread) Upon flipping thru the stacks I happened upon this...makes me laugh every time.
(From issue 141/April 2001 btw)




Sorry, just couldn't resist


(p.s. Going to Canada this weekend to see if this is true)
Click to expand...


Those were the days.
 
I mostly got EGM for its Japanese coverage during its early years. Once that section started to get progressively smaller, I just couldn't be bothered with it back then.
 
EGM was outstanding when it was owned by Sendai Publications Inc in Lombard IL. that was 1988-89 through 1994, if i am not mistaken. when ZD acquired EGM around 1995 or so, things became alot worse. because Steve Harris was then gone, with the ZD buyout (iirc), EGM suffered. but was still an ok read from 1995 to 1997. when Ed Semrad left in 1997, that was basicly the end of EGM and I havent been reading it seriously since 1997. And in the 1996-1997 timeframe when I started using the internet, magazines as a whole became far, far, far, far less relavant to me for getting news and infomation about games.


in my early days of videogaming in 1989-1990, I relied almost ENTIRELY on EGM for what I bought. well, VideoGames & Computer Entertainment as well. I loved both magazines dearly. GamePro was an extra, and I never got into GameFan as seriously although i did read almost every issue, but didn't take GameFan seriously like i did EGM and VG&CE. GameFan as more like a videogame enthusiast magazine, not to be taken seriously.

I am not blind and EGM had its faults back in its heyday, but there is no denying that the magazine has fallen from its once high place, and isnt nearly as relavant to gamers today in the age of the internet.
 
Actually, I think EGM's nose dive was a lot more recent. A lot more crude and childish comments scattered throughout. And of course, there's "Sean baby" with his "EXTREME ATTITUDE DOOD!!!!11" reviews which are pretty much unreadable garbage meant to be witty. Blah.
 
Gilatif said:
Actually, I think EGM's nose dive was a lot more recent.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. Lately it feels across the board for most game mags that there is more emphasis on being snide and witty rather than providing any real meat or information on a game. It's bad enough the no one will really say what they think about a game until a month after it's released, once they do give you the low down on how that super hyped game is really a piece of crap, I have to wade through all their "i'm very witty" remarks to figure out what the hell the game is really like. ugh.
 
Magazines were so awesome back in the day before the internet. Once the internet hit, especially broadband, the real appeal of magazines - information and screens - started to dwindle.
 
I chalk it up to magazine editors not knowing how to deal with the internet and how they can coexist, as the real reason why these mags really suck hard nowadays, even for free. As for the old mags, yeah, they were full of fanboy nonsense, but I'd take that over the corporate cheerleading and press release sounding crap nowadays. I guess it's too hard or takes too much effort to put tons of information that gamers should want to see, displayed in an efficient manner, while being interesting to read, all at the same time (like Gamefan, ahem).

The main reason why I keep mentioning loving Gamefan is because they kept it real. A real geniune love for gaming that was very contagious, and it really didn't matter if they sp00ged over games and genre's I would not be caught dead playing. I respected the realness, something all the other mags lacked (except for the possible exception of early EGM). So what, if it had harmless fanboyish nonsense, with one magazine, I was informed about the whole industry worldwide. I can't even say the same in this internet age where so much is happening overseas that I have no idea what's going on, and that wouldn't change if I was stupid, and payed for IGN or Gamespot.

I can't see myself throwing away my Gamefans.
 
EGM, in its presentation and coverage, is a very smart magazine.

A lot of my problems with game magazines and InterWeb sites has to do with the pretension. I absolutely do not want to read a poorly written 5,000-word personal essay thinly disguised as game criticism, nor do I care to wade through a lecture or sermon as presented to me by a marginally trained writer with delusions of self-importance.

Next Generation in all its incarnations was great because it talked to its readers and never down to them. It showed, not told, why a game was worthy of praise or scorn. It was smart and funny, but never made you feel stupid or pedestrian -- because you were nodding along and laughing with it.

With EGM, I am presented with news and previews, reviews and features that are simple and straightforward. Its writers are friends talking to friends, not high-minded jerkwads standing on platforms pointing their fingers accusingly. I find this refreshing.
 
By the way, PLEASE KILL HSU AND CHAN, even that god damn furry comic with the cats dressed as Link talking about buttsex is funnier.
 
BlackClouds said:
I chalk it up to magazine editors not knowing how to deal with the internet and how they can coexist, as the real reason why these mags really suck hard nowadays, even for free. As for the old mags, yeah, they were full of fanboy nonsense, but I'd take that over the corporate cheerleading and press release sounding crap nowadays. I guess it's too hard or takes too much effort to put tons of information that gamers should want to see, displayed in an efficient manner, while being interesting to read, all at the same time (like Gamefan, ahem).

The main reason why I keep mentioning loving Gamefan is because they kept it real. A real geniune love for gaming that was very contagious, and it really didn't matter if they sp00ged over games and genre's I would not be caught dead playing. I respected the realness, something all the other mags lacked (except for the possible exception of early EGM). So what, if it had harmless fanboyish nonsense, with one magazine, I was informed about the whole industry worldwide. I can't even say the same in this internet age where so much is happening overseas that I have no idea what's going on, and that wouldn't change if I was stupid, and payed for IGN or Gamespot.

I can't see myself throwing away my Gamefans.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%! I loved Gamefan and will never through away my old issues...even the one that got ripped in half and thrown across my room in a fit of videogame-related rage(might have been a fighting game, can't remember)...the poor thing was the closest/cheapest thing in arms reach I could exact my rage upon.
 
As its been said before, the reason why EGM and others were so great back then was that it was a nice small thing following an interest which was still "a nice small thing". But now that gaming is mainstream, EGM and others have had to adapt, and that killed a good deal of the personality.

Plus, we all know the internet killed the game magazine.
 
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