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I've just returned from the Nintendo forum, and the current talk in there - Magazines.
Not your monthly top shelf material but more the middle section, a place where grown ups and children alike can reach. Gaming Magazines.
After seeing there was talk of not only Nintendo Magazines but also Xbox ones and PS2 I thought I'd bring the chat right over here and express my opinion on them. Hey, it's better to talk in large crowd rather then four or five people. More opinions, more natter (if that is a word), more chatter.
So do I buy Games Magazines?
When the N64 was strong and I was a weak little 13 year old I did. I bought Nintendo Official Magazine for around two years, every month, without fail. It gave me the information I needed all packed into one magazine. I looked forward to going to the shop and buying the magazine, just to see what new games were announced and all that.
Then suddenly I stopped buying them, my Dad wasn't giving me enough pocket money and no way was I getting a job, GCSE's were approaching.
*I promote studying in every single way possible ;-)
It was no problem though. The N64 had basically died at that time and I myself was confused about what console to go for next.
Around this time I was using my PC and the Internet alot, so you can imagine how many gaming sites I had added to my favourites. To this day I still use those very sites for all my gaming needs, which the magazine used to cover.
So I can now go online, read a number of reviews, view as many screenshots as I like and even watch videos.
And the best thing about this...it's free.
This leads me to ask a simple question.
Why do people who use these forums buy games magazines when they have the Internet?
If I went out and bought a magazine now I could flip through the pages and like I use to do in the playground to football stickers say "Got, got, got" but this case say "Heard it all before, heard it all before, heard it all before". Because I would have.
Let's take the latest bit of news in - Nintendo are selling GameCubes in Europe with a free game come Febuary 3rd. Now games magazines won't pick up on that until tomorrow, or maybe even later. Then they have to give it to their staff to write about and do layout etc and it's on the shelf in about a months time.
If I knew all this one month ago why do I would I want to know it again?
Old news is no news I say.
So, magazines? Great if you haven't got the Internet but if you have a waste of money.
Or are they not? You tell me why.
Not your monthly top shelf material but more the middle section, a place where grown ups and children alike can reach. Gaming Magazines.
After seeing there was talk of not only Nintendo Magazines but also Xbox ones and PS2 I thought I'd bring the chat right over here and express my opinion on them. Hey, it's better to talk in large crowd rather then four or five people. More opinions, more natter (if that is a word), more chatter.
So do I buy Games Magazines?
When the N64 was strong and I was a weak little 13 year old I did. I bought Nintendo Official Magazine for around two years, every month, without fail. It gave me the information I needed all packed into one magazine. I looked forward to going to the shop and buying the magazine, just to see what new games were announced and all that.
Then suddenly I stopped buying them, my Dad wasn't giving me enough pocket money and no way was I getting a job, GCSE's were approaching.
*I promote studying in every single way possible ;-)
It was no problem though. The N64 had basically died at that time and I myself was confused about what console to go for next.
Around this time I was using my PC and the Internet alot, so you can imagine how many gaming sites I had added to my favourites. To this day I still use those very sites for all my gaming needs, which the magazine used to cover.
So I can now go online, read a number of reviews, view as many screenshots as I like and even watch videos.
And the best thing about this...it's free.
This leads me to ask a simple question.
Why do people who use these forums buy games magazines when they have the Internet?
If I went out and bought a magazine now I could flip through the pages and like I use to do in the playground to football stickers say "Got, got, got" but this case say "Heard it all before, heard it all before, heard it all before". Because I would have.
Let's take the latest bit of news in - Nintendo are selling GameCubes in Europe with a free game come Febuary 3rd. Now games magazines won't pick up on that until tomorrow, or maybe even later. Then they have to give it to their staff to write about and do layout etc and it's on the shelf in about a months time.
If I knew all this one month ago why do I would I want to know it again?
Old news is no news I say.
So, magazines? Great if you haven't got the Internet but if you have a waste of money.
Or are they not? You tell me why.
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PSW is the one I get most.
BTW, Broadband is hardly standard yet so downloaind big demo's for *free* is not an option for most people.
BTW, Broadband is hardly standard yet so downloaind big demo's for *free* is not an option for most people.
PC Gamer, that brings me on to something else.
Demos.
Stick two CD's on the front and it's £5.
Stick a DVD-ROM on the front and it goes up to £7.
Go on a website and download...for free.
Some people may not have Internet access or a fast connection (broadband takes no time at all for demo size files really) and so I have no problem with that. But broadband and faster is becoming standard these days. I use to buy PC Gamer around the same time I was getting NOM. Check the front cover, see good demos and I'll buy. I had a modem, I couldn't really download a massive file at something like 4kb's per second.
With demos and consoles it's a different story. I've bought a PS2 mag just for a demo disk but only because I couldn't get it anywhere else. Console demos are good, PC ones can be downloaded. If GC demos get released (unlikely) then I'll definetly buy the magazine. Not for the content but for the demos just because I can't get them anywhere else for nothing.
Edge, granted they are seen as the 'adult' gaming magazine and the more sosphisticated through style of writing but somewhere on the web will have just as good a standard articles as Edge. I don't have much of a problem with Edge though and here's why.
Say I take the sales for gaming mags over a month, I bet Edge won't be at the top. It'll be something like GamesMaster or something like that. This just goes to show that people are buying the more console dedicated magazines which are usually full of out of date pap and reviews you can find anywhere. Edge has good articles, I've read a few, real experts, but it's not the highest selling games magazine. More people are buying rubbish they can get for free and in a larger quantity and quality.
The real writers/gamers are people expressing their opinion for no money at all, the ones in magazines are being paid for what they do and if they weren't then who knows, maybe they wouldn't bother writing anything about games.
Demos.
Stick two CD's on the front and it's £5.
Stick a DVD-ROM on the front and it goes up to £7.
Go on a website and download...for free.
Some people may not have Internet access or a fast connection (broadband takes no time at all for demo size files really) and so I have no problem with that. But broadband and faster is becoming standard these days. I use to buy PC Gamer around the same time I was getting NOM. Check the front cover, see good demos and I'll buy. I had a modem, I couldn't really download a massive file at something like 4kb's per second.
With demos and consoles it's a different story. I've bought a PS2 mag just for a demo disk but only because I couldn't get it anywhere else. Console demos are good, PC ones can be downloaded. If GC demos get released (unlikely) then I'll definetly buy the magazine. Not for the content but for the demos just because I can't get them anywhere else for nothing.
Edge, granted they are seen as the 'adult' gaming magazine and the more sosphisticated through style of writing but somewhere on the web will have just as good a standard articles as Edge. I don't have much of a problem with Edge though and here's why.
Say I take the sales for gaming mags over a month, I bet Edge won't be at the top. It'll be something like GamesMaster or something like that. This just goes to show that people are buying the more console dedicated magazines which are usually full of out of date pap and reviews you can find anywhere. Edge has good articles, I've read a few, real experts, but it's not the highest selling games magazine. More people are buying rubbish they can get for free and in a larger quantity and quality.
The real writers/gamers are people expressing their opinion for no money at all, the ones in magazines are being paid for what they do and if they weren't then who knows, maybe they wouldn't bother writing anything about games.
I get OPSM2 because of the demo disk that comes with it. This month we had playable goodies like Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Primal, Tiger Woods, WWE Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth, Sly Raccoon, NBA Live 2003, ATV2: Quad Power Racing, Crashed, Space Channel 5 V2 (which has now been canned, so we've at least got one level lol), Ghost Recon and 8 game footage videos.
Because it's the 'official' PS2 magazine you always have a sneaky suspicion that the reviews are biased, and sometimes they do seem to be, so I use the internet for a second opinion. In terms of articles, though, they have a lot of exclusives, a shed load of free competitions that you can enter by e-mail, and it's all linked nicely together with the magazines website which is updated with fresh news daily (and also runs comps/forums/discussions/game reviews and so on.
Because it's the 'official' PS2 magazine you always have a sneaky suspicion that the reviews are biased, and sometimes they do seem to be, so I use the internet for a second opinion. In terms of articles, though, they have a lot of exclusives, a shed load of free competitions that you can enter by e-mail, and it's all linked nicely together with the magazines website which is updated with fresh news daily (and also runs comps/forums/discussions/game reviews and so on.
I buy gaming magazines (well, one anyway...)
It's mainly due to convenience. I do hear most big news first online through the forums but to be honest I can't really be bothered going to websites to look at screenshots and that.
I used to get PC Gamer once ever few months, but now I see no point as my PC is now too crap to run the most recent releases, so if I'm interested in a PC game I'll research it on the net. But I still buy NGC every month... I just like to read the news and articles and reviews. Like you said it's best to get lots of different opinions. I'm unlikely to buy any game based on one review. Some games I'll decide to buy before I read a review (like the new Zelda, or another sequel of a series I enjoy such as the new F-Zero on GC), but most games I will read a review in a magazine and if the game sounds interesting I'll probably research it a bit more online. I'm not really sure what it is about a magazine. It's tangible. You can just read it all and see screenshots all similtaneosly, without waiting for something to load. And there's a set format. Maybe if you're browsing on the internet you see a news 'headline' thing, but it doesn't look too interesting so you don't bother following the link to the news article, but in a magazine your more likely to just read it anyway... Or I am at least. Yeah, it costs money, but it's only £3.50 a month...
It's mainly due to convenience. I do hear most big news first online through the forums but to be honest I can't really be bothered going to websites to look at screenshots and that.
I used to get PC Gamer once ever few months, but now I see no point as my PC is now too crap to run the most recent releases, so if I'm interested in a PC game I'll research it on the net. But I still buy NGC every month... I just like to read the news and articles and reviews. Like you said it's best to get lots of different opinions. I'm unlikely to buy any game based on one review. Some games I'll decide to buy before I read a review (like the new Zelda, or another sequel of a series I enjoy such as the new F-Zero on GC), but most games I will read a review in a magazine and if the game sounds interesting I'll probably research it a bit more online. I'm not really sure what it is about a magazine. It's tangible. You can just read it all and see screenshots all similtaneosly, without waiting for something to load. And there's a set format. Maybe if you're browsing on the internet you see a news 'headline' thing, but it doesn't look too interesting so you don't bother following the link to the news article, but in a magazine your more likely to just read it anyway... Or I am at least. Yeah, it costs money, but it's only £3.50 a month...
where can you get articles like EDGE ones?
and where can I find RedEye articles?
Tell me and I'll stop reading magazines.
and where can I find RedEye articles?
Tell me and I'll stop reading magazines.
where can you get articles like EDGE ones?
and where can I find RedEye articles?
Tell me and I'll stop reading magazines.
and where can I find RedEye articles?
Tell me and I'll stop reading magazines.
Trained pros? Don't need them.
If I want info on a game I first go to ign and read the review (which is free after about a week), then I ask some people in the forums and out of the forums what they think of the game (they give a better opinion then any other) and then I'll take a look at this site for user reviews.
I get all the news whenever I come on the Internet as I have sites which have all this updated daily.
Buying a magazine and using those reviews as your only guidance is like picking one random reviewer on here to guide you through games for the next two years. I'd rather have a healthy load of opinions and not some probably biased crap from a big companys magazine.
If I didn't get in touch with most the people on here I'd still be buying the same old Mario, Tomb Raider and all the other big name stuff.
If I want info on a game I first go to ign and read the review (which is free after about a week), then I ask some people in the forums and out of the forums what they think of the game (they give a better opinion then any other) and then I'll take a look at this site for user reviews.
I get all the news whenever I come on the Internet as I have sites which have all this updated daily.
Buying a magazine and using those reviews as your only guidance is like picking one random reviewer on here to guide you through games for the next two years. I'd rather have a healthy load of opinions and not some probably biased crap from a big companys magazine.
If I didn't get in touch with most the people on here I'd still be buying the same old Mario, Tomb Raider and all the other big name stuff.
*starts reading*
Monkey_With_Attitude wrote:
> I've just returned from the Nintendo forum, and the current talk in
> there - Magazines.
>
> Not your monthly top shelf material
*stops reading*
Unusual coming from you MWA.
Heh.
Great post there mate
Monkey_With_Attitude wrote:
> I've just returned from the Nintendo forum, and the current talk in
> there - Magazines.
>
> Not your monthly top shelf material
*stops reading*
Unusual coming from you MWA.
Heh.
Great post there mate
Can you use the internet whilst on the loo? Can you get trained preoffesionals views on things on the internet (without having to pay like on IGN)? Rarely. Can you take the Internet into school and look through it and chat about it with your mate?
There's nothing that I like to do more than sit in the bath and read a magazine and the internet? Tried it once and was 'shocked' by the results..
There's nothing that I like to do more than sit in the bath and read a magazine and the internet? Tried it once and was 'shocked' by the results..
Oh and another thing I forgot to add in.
All I hear is "NOM do crap reviews" "NGC are better" or "The official PS2 magazine gives any game with hype a high score".
So why buy the magazine if you have a number of sites at your disposal all offering a different viewpoint on the game?
Erm, gamerankings.com, that place gives all the reviews you need for any game.
All I hear is "NOM do crap reviews" "NGC are better" or "The official PS2 magazine gives any game with hype a high score".
So why buy the magazine if you have a number of sites at your disposal all offering a different viewpoint on the game?
Erm, gamerankings.com, that place gives all the reviews you need for any game.
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