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I bought it the other day, not for the first time, but for the first time in a while.
It's a nice magazine with a good lay out. It could do with smaller screenshots and a bit more room for info but it's not too bad.
After looking at it's guide on how to get the cheats on
Perfect Dark it proved that the people who write it play games thoroughly and know what theyre talking about.
Also, as the magazine is official, they're always first with news and screenshot, especially with the Gamecube (which is why I bought it).
So why aren't they the best then?
Well it seems that they've aimed the magazine at the stereotypical age of an N64 gamer (6-12 year olds!) and are completely biased against other systems.
Not only do they not admit that the PS and DC are still great if not as good as the N64, they've even started name calling.
Yes, I'm afraid so. Sony Playstation Two? Fony Greystation Poo.
Sega Dreamcast? Sega Dreampants! This is extremely sad and worse still, all the people who write in have adapted these poor nicknames too!
The other thing wrong with it is that you can't fully trust game reveiws. The worst game still gets over 50% while a good number of poor games get over 80%. They still know which games are better than which but the average scores are way higher than they should be.
I suppose biased reviews and jokes are what you would expect from any official magazine. The official Playstation magazine even claimed that the N64 is dead!
SO:
Pro's- Most up to date coverage. First with news and inside
information. Well worth £2.95. Great for tips and they know
what they are talking about. Generally good quality.
You normally get a free gift.
Con's- Biased and childish (with stupid name calling!) and doesn't
rate some games as low as it should. The free gifts aren't
really all that good.
OVERALL: More or less what you'd expect from an official games magazine. If you want more accurate reviews look elsewhere.
If you want the latest news come here. Apart from that, pretty average.
And NOM writers, please, please, please STOP THE NAME CALLING!
It's a nice magazine with a good lay out. It could do with smaller screenshots and a bit more room for info but it's not too bad.
After looking at it's guide on how to get the cheats on
Perfect Dark it proved that the people who write it play games thoroughly and know what theyre talking about.
Also, as the magazine is official, they're always first with news and screenshot, especially with the Gamecube (which is why I bought it).
So why aren't they the best then?
Well it seems that they've aimed the magazine at the stereotypical age of an N64 gamer (6-12 year olds!) and are completely biased against other systems.
Not only do they not admit that the PS and DC are still great if not as good as the N64, they've even started name calling.
Yes, I'm afraid so. Sony Playstation Two? Fony Greystation Poo.
Sega Dreamcast? Sega Dreampants! This is extremely sad and worse still, all the people who write in have adapted these poor nicknames too!
The other thing wrong with it is that you can't fully trust game reveiws. The worst game still gets over 50% while a good number of poor games get over 80%. They still know which games are better than which but the average scores are way higher than they should be.
I suppose biased reviews and jokes are what you would expect from any official magazine. The official Playstation magazine even claimed that the N64 is dead!
SO:
Pro's- Most up to date coverage. First with news and inside
information. Well worth £2.95. Great for tips and they know
what they are talking about. Generally good quality.
You normally get a free gift.
Con's- Biased and childish (with stupid name calling!) and doesn't
rate some games as low as it should. The free gifts aren't
really all that good.
OVERALL: More or less what you'd expect from an official games magazine. If you want more accurate reviews look elsewhere.
If you want the latest news come here. Apart from that, pretty average.
And NOM writers, please, please, please STOP THE NAME CALLING!
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Wow! This is the first topic I've made which has had over 15 messages, even Ali's joined in!
Anyway, take another N64 magazine like er,... N64 (written by the same people as the Official PS magazine and Gamesmaster).
They know their games just as well as NOM when it comes to tips, walk thru's and cheats and they manage to cram more information in as well. They don't get their news as quickly as NOM BUT:
They write in a way that any one can read it with out it being childish and while in NOM the worst game is over 50%, the worst games in N64 get no more than 10%.
Yes, they are a little bit biased and compare N64 titles to PSX titles every now and then BUT they don't USE STUPID NAME CALLING and they admit that the other machines are good quality but not as good as Nintendo.
That is why after buying both magazines for 3 months, I stuck with N64.
NOM could be better, they just have to GROW UP!
Anyway, take another N64 magazine like er,... N64 (written by the same people as the Official PS magazine and Gamesmaster).
They know their games just as well as NOM when it comes to tips, walk thru's and cheats and they manage to cram more information in as well. They don't get their news as quickly as NOM BUT:
They write in a way that any one can read it with out it being childish and while in NOM the worst game is over 50%, the worst games in N64 get no more than 10%.
Yes, they are a little bit biased and compare N64 titles to PSX titles every now and then BUT they don't USE STUPID NAME CALLING and they admit that the other machines are good quality but not as good as Nintendo.
That is why after buying both magazines for 3 months, I stuck with N64.
NOM could be better, they just have to GROW UP!
OK, so I was a bit harsh on the writers. But the thing is that it is too norrow-minded to say the console is aimed at children - because it is not. It's just that most of the good games are cartoon-like in nature, which is what conveys the childish image.
Saying it is 'easy to read' is also silly, because easy to read does not have to be using constant slang. It is, in fact, very difficult to read, because the reviews are divided into unorginised chunks, dotted around the review pages; rather than having a main body of text.
You can't say 'of course NOM are biased', because there is no need to be biased. I can put up with them preferring the N64, but they have an OTT attitude, saying that any console not made by Nintendo must be bad. They wrote off the Dreamcast and PS2 before their release, which is not only childish, but badly-thought-out and undemocratic.
They can call consles what they want, but name-calling simply is not funny at all. I'm sure 99.9% of the population would agree with me on that, and I will not discriminate against anyone against my opinion - but magazines are read by many people, and the idea of magazines is to keep the majority of readers entertained. If most peple do not find a running joke funny, I think that the magazine should drop it.
In short, the magazine is fine if you just want info on brand new games and new developments, but if you want expert opinions or well balanced arguements, NOM is definitely a mag to avoid.
Saying it is 'easy to read' is also silly, because easy to read does not have to be using constant slang. It is, in fact, very difficult to read, because the reviews are divided into unorginised chunks, dotted around the review pages; rather than having a main body of text.
You can't say 'of course NOM are biased', because there is no need to be biased. I can put up with them preferring the N64, but they have an OTT attitude, saying that any console not made by Nintendo must be bad. They wrote off the Dreamcast and PS2 before their release, which is not only childish, but badly-thought-out and undemocratic.
They can call consles what they want, but name-calling simply is not funny at all. I'm sure 99.9% of the population would agree with me on that, and I will not discriminate against anyone against my opinion - but magazines are read by many people, and the idea of magazines is to keep the majority of readers entertained. If most peple do not find a running joke funny, I think that the magazine should drop it.
In short, the magazine is fine if you just want info on brand new games and new developments, but if you want expert opinions or well balanced arguements, NOM is definitely a mag to avoid.
Yeah, the SR mag is ok, but there's not enough reviews and news, half the mag is all advertising. I recommend you make the mag longer and put in less advertisements.
Of course no one is going to listen to me as I am a 13 year old student who finds it fun to get up at 1am and watch WWF on Sky Sports 1, as well as finding it fun to put small batches of barbecue sauce on the road so cars can run over them and they will squirt everywhere. Oh well.
Thanks for reading, Ant.
Of course no one is going to listen to me as I am a 13 year old student who finds it fun to get up at 1am and watch WWF on Sky Sports 1, as well as finding it fun to put small batches of barbecue sauce on the road so cars can run over them and they will squirt everywhere. Oh well.
Thanks for reading, Ant.
ACTUALLY, the Official UK Playstation Magazine is not biased at all, if you read a whole mag. Hardly any games get 10 out of 10, and they are very hard to please. I wouldn't buy a biased mag, 'cos then I wouldn't know what games to buy. But I always buy it, as it's the best PSX mag, as well as not being biased.
NOM's an easy to read magazine! That's why it seems to be for 7 year olds to you.
I don't work for NOM (I wouldn't mind though) as when they were asking for new people in their mag they said you had to be over 16 and at the time I was 14.
OF course NOM are biased, they're an official mag! YOu can't tell me that Official Playstation mag aren't biased at all. In fact no one can have a neutral way of thinking! Gamesmaster mag proved that!
NOM also give games bad scores, they used to have a section in their total test section titled "And the rest" which had all the bad games and their scores.
The writers of NOM also have their own opinions and if they like the games than they are likely to give them high scores and of course if they don't they'll get bad scores.
The name calling of consoles is another feature of NOM which shouldn't change! Why can't they have their own opinions of other consoles and why can't they express them in the way they want to? In fact I was calling the Playstation 2 "The Greystation poo" way before they did!
Remember you have the choice. If you don't like the magazine then buy something else! IF you do like the magazine then that's great!
I don't work for NOM (I wouldn't mind though) as when they were asking for new people in their mag they said you had to be over 16 and at the time I was 14.
OF course NOM are biased, they're an official mag! YOu can't tell me that Official Playstation mag aren't biased at all. In fact no one can have a neutral way of thinking! Gamesmaster mag proved that!
NOM also give games bad scores, they used to have a section in their total test section titled "And the rest" which had all the bad games and their scores.
The writers of NOM also have their own opinions and if they like the games than they are likely to give them high scores and of course if they don't they'll get bad scores.
The name calling of consoles is another feature of NOM which shouldn't change! Why can't they have their own opinions of other consoles and why can't they express them in the way they want to? In fact I was calling the Playstation 2 "The Greystation poo" way before they did!
Remember you have the choice. If you don't like the magazine then buy something else! IF you do like the magazine then that's great!
Like I said in my review, NOM are talented and are good at playing games AND they always get the news first but like everyone else is saying, it's aimed at the STEREOTYPICAL age of N64 owners. A stereotype made 3 years ago before even Goldeneye came out let alone Resident evil, Perfect Dark and Shadowman.
And by using words like Greystation and saying things like "It'll leave a great big brown stain in your boxer shorts" (YES! THEY ACTUALLY SAID THAT! In a Turok Rage Wars Preview!) well, they're just asking for all my friends to take the p**s out of both the magazine, N64 owners (such as myself) and stops me from buying the magazine.
And by using words like Greystation and saying things like "It'll leave a great big brown stain in your boxer shorts" (YES! THEY ACTUALLY SAID THAT! In a Turok Rage Wars Preview!) well, they're just asking for all my friends to take the p**s out of both the magazine, N64 owners (such as myself) and stops me from buying the magazine.
Ouuuhhhh. Shouldn't have said that.
We had a discussion not so long ago about why consoles are toys, ALL OF THEM, PS2 INCLUDED. And why the games are the ones that aren't the toys.
I know this is used as an example all the time, but Perfect Dark is an 18 after all. And the upcoming Eternal Darkness is an 18 too.
Saying the games on the N64 are childish is pathetic, but also, it would make more sense to say there are more games on the playstation that are childish.
Heres why: People see bright colours, animal characters, and "fun" games, as childish. But it seems, there are much more childish themes than bunnys and bears. Gore. The only people who like gore, lots of gore now, I mean buckets of blood spurting everywhere, are teenage boys.
If you do find pleasure at the sight of blood, then please, seek help.
So tons of blood is more appealing to boys, al la children, than bears with birds in racksacks.
So, I am saying that Resident Evil, is, in many ways, more childish than Banjo Kazooie.
Yes, yes that is what I am saying. And I believe it to be true.
I'm not saying Resident Evil is a bad game. But Banjo Kazooie is better. Even though it is seen as "childish".
Resident Evil is not in the slightest bit seen as childish. In fact, I expect many people are deeply offended by the game. But those that think the blood and gore "rocks", are either insane or pre-pubecent.
We had a discussion not so long ago about why consoles are toys, ALL OF THEM, PS2 INCLUDED. And why the games are the ones that aren't the toys.
I know this is used as an example all the time, but Perfect Dark is an 18 after all. And the upcoming Eternal Darkness is an 18 too.
Saying the games on the N64 are childish is pathetic, but also, it would make more sense to say there are more games on the playstation that are childish.
Heres why: People see bright colours, animal characters, and "fun" games, as childish. But it seems, there are much more childish themes than bunnys and bears. Gore. The only people who like gore, lots of gore now, I mean buckets of blood spurting everywhere, are teenage boys.
If you do find pleasure at the sight of blood, then please, seek help.
So tons of blood is more appealing to boys, al la children, than bears with birds in racksacks.
So, I am saying that Resident Evil, is, in many ways, more childish than Banjo Kazooie.
Yes, yes that is what I am saying. And I believe it to be true.
I'm not saying Resident Evil is a bad game. But Banjo Kazooie is better. Even though it is seen as "childish".
Resident Evil is not in the slightest bit seen as childish. In fact, I expect many people are deeply offended by the game. But those that think the blood and gore "rocks", are either insane or pre-pubecent.
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