Game Informer, can't believe they are the best now!

[Anthony1]

I remember a few years ago when I really disliked Game Informer. They were so pro-PS2 and so anti-XBOX. Besides that fact that mag was decent, but nothing to write home about.


But now, I think they easily have the best multiplatform mag on the market.

Play is also a very good multiplatform mag, but I think Play wastes a little too much space on non gaming related stuff like movies, music, anime, etc, etc. Sure a few pages of that is nice, but you don't need to dedicate 30 percent of the mag to non gaming stuff.


And then you also have GamePro, which uses horrible paper, and seems to skew their magazine towards 14 year olds.


Games TM from the U.K. is a very excellent mag as well, but it's not a U.S. mag, so I don't really enter it into the equation.

But I'm just kinda amazed that Game Informer, which at one point for me was a afterthought, I always though of it as the mag that Funco land would basically give away, but now, I really feel like it's probably the best multiplatform mag out there.


What say you?

[esquire]

Three reasons why I love Game Informer:

1. Classic GI.

2. Video Game Trivia.

3. Game Infarcer - Can't wait for this April's Edition! That is one of my favorite parodies, especially Gangsta-Dan, the editor.

[digitalpress]

I've given up on paper magazines. I get all of my game info from the 'net these days. I haven't seen a gaming mag in the last five years (since NextGen) that makes me want to subscribe to something.

[Snapple]

I used to like Game Informer because they were so cheap. Most magazines these days are too expensive, with or without a "demo disc" or whatever.

Game Informer, I think, has always been quality. The previews really got you pumped. The reviews were usually fair. They always had a ton of picture. I liked the video game trivia, and I loved the humor. I actually let all my magazine subscriptions expire, so I can't say I know what they've been doing lately though. Maybe the reason they seem so great right now is because other magazines are getting worse.

One magazine I think really fell off the wagon was Game Pro. They used to be the number one magazine, because they just had so much content. Every issue was friggin' huge, and they had the most in-depth reviews of any mag out there. Now Game Pro is a flimsy,overpriced, boring magazine. They don't even have the cartoon pictures of their editors anymore, last I checked. That was a big mistake. The cartoons were noticable and amusing, and I learned about the tastes of each editor, which ones had good recommendations, and which ones insulted my favorite games. Scarry Larry and Four-Eyed Dragon = Good. Boba Fatt = Bad. Just to name a couple examples.

Still, I always liked Game Informer. Especially Reiner. That boy cracks me up.

[Flack]

I've given up on paper magazines. I get all of my game info from the 'net these days. I haven't seen a gaming mag in the last five years (since NextGen) that makes me want to subscribe to something.

I concur. With the Internet, EVERYONE can be a journalist, not just people with enough money to put out a magazine. The biggest problem with print magazines for me is that the news bits on them are usually a month or two old by the time they get to my mailbox.

[Rogmeister]

While I haven't completely burned out on paper magazines, I'm not getting as many of them as I used to and I am just a bit tired of them...so much so that I will likely let any I still subscribe to expire when the time comes. I think a few do run until next year (I know EGM does) so I'll still get some for awhile yet. I do like the ability to take a few magazines to work to glance through...can't do that with a computer. I guess I now feel if I'm going to read, I'd as soon read a real book than a so-so magazine.

[Anthony1]

I understand all of that, how the information is old and outdated by the time you get it, but until you can curl up in bed with your computer monitor, or can take your computer monitor with you to a restaurant or wherever, mags are still a great thing to have.

Plus paper is easier on the eyes.


Eventually, when we have some new technology for paper, when you can hold something in your hands that almost feels like paper, and it can show websites on it, then that will be the shit.

Actually, I think Xerox or somebody is working on something like that. They are working on a new type of display that is bendable like paper, and you hook it up to your PC, and you can download the days newspaper to it, and be able to read it.

Probably still another 25 years away.

[digitalpress]

I understand all of that, how the information is old and outdated by the time you get it, but until you can curl up in bed with your computer monitor, or can take your computer monitor with you to a restaurant or wherever, mags are still a great thing to have.

That's why we still put out a paper edition of Digital Press :)

Though the only thing I curl up with in bed is my lady.


Plus paper is easier on the eyes.

Not *these* eyes. I find paper magazines are getting into smaller and smaller text. Except for the pictures I have a much harder time vs. a half hour on the net.


Eventually, when we have some new technology for paper, when you can hold something in your hands that almost feels like paper, and it can show websites on it, then that will be the shit.

Um... OK?


Actually, I think Xerox or somebody is working on something like that. They are working on a new type of display that is bendable like paper, and you hook it up to your PC, and you can download the days newspaper to it, and be able to read it.

While I understand the "holding it" aspect (you use bed, but I typically read hardcopy on the john), the furthest thing from my mind is a hybrid of both hardcopy and internet. One or the other is enough for me.

[NeoSNightmarE]

wow. now that i think about it, the only cross platform mag that i read is EGM. its always getting bashed but i have a free subscription so i guess i might as well read it. but my all around favorite was XBOX Nation until they recently shut down. and i used to read Nintendo Power religiously.

[vincewy]

I original got Game Informer since Gamestop was offering in store subscription for $10 on 10 issues, can't go wrong with that, but now it's the only print magazine I read now, later I just let my EGM expire, plus I can't stand some of the edoitors on that magazine, can't believe they get paid for doing so much crap, pretty much all my EGMs end up in recycle bin except the early-late 90s issues.

I still miss the old days of Diehard Gamefan (edited), I end up keeping all the old issues I have and still read them. How times have changed.

[RazorElite]

I original got Game Informer since Gamestop was offering in store subscription for $10 on 10 issues, can't go wrong with that, but now it's the only print magazine I read now, later I just let my EGM expire, plus I can't stand some of the edoitors on that magazine, can't believe they get paid for doing so much crap, pretty much all my EGMs end up in recycle bin except the early-late 90s issues.

I still miss the old days of Game Informer, I end up keeping all the old issues I have and still read them. How times have changed.

Agreed, the 10 for $10 deal is pretty nice, and I have been receiving Game Informer for about 3 years now, I really enjoy the magazine.

[Captain Wrong]

I've given up on paper magazines. I get all of my game info from the 'net these days. I haven't seen a gaming mag in the last five years (since NextGen) that makes me want to subscribe to something.

I agree wholeheartedly. Hell, I have free subs to 3 different game magazines and they usually end up in the trash, unread. Worthless hype based birdcage liners.

[SuperNES]

i only get EGM, PCG, and CGW. EGM is usually enough for my console gaming needs, and i have at least 4 years of pc gamer lined up on a shelf, and 4 years left in my subscription. i'm actually going to complete the image it makes when you line up the spines of like, 6 years of PCgamer. (it spells out PCgamer in their logo)

[Graham Mitchell]

Sorry to get all nostalgic, but I actually miss GMR. I thought they were pretty good, and I only very rarely disagreed with their reviews (although I think they were a little hard on the DS). I got that for free, and since I've been so busy over the past 2 years, it was really nice to get that in my mailbox every month (it would also screw up my studying for that evening.)

Did any of you guys read that magazine? What did you think of it? I was honestly surprised--I thought it would suck, but I guess they realized that their audience was going to be a bit older, and they wrote accordingly.

[RazorElite]

Sorry to get all nostalgic, but I actually miss GMR. I thought they were pretty good, and I only very rarely disagreed with their reviews (although I think they were a little hard on the DS). I got that for free, and since I've been so busy over the past 2 years, it was really nice to get that in my mailbox every month (it would also screw up my studying for that evening.)

Did any of you guys read that magazine? What did you think of it? I was honestly surprised--I thought it would suck, but I guess they realized that their audience was going to be a bit older, and they wrote accordingly.

GMR wasn't that bad actually, some of the stuff was pretty funny... I have about 15 issues lying around somewhere...

[MegaDrive20XX]

One reason I feel Game Informer has climbed to the top, is thanks to GameStop shoving that down your throats each time you walk into their store "Do you have a discount card!? WOULD you like one?? :) You get Game Informer with it!! Teehee!"


"No, go away"

"IT'S GREAT! IT saves you 10% today blah blah"

"Go away, we're like...closed or something..."

Yet on positive matters...GI does provide some of the best screen shots for game previews I've seen

[spoon]

I original got Game Informer since Gamestop was offering in store subscription for $10 on 10 issues, can't go wrong with that, but now it's the only print magazine I read now, later I just let my EGM expire, plus I can't stand some of the edoitors on that magazine, can't believe they get paid for doing so much crap, pretty much all my EGMs end up in recycle bin except the early-late 90s issues.

I still miss the old days of Game Informer, I end up keeping all the old issues I have and still read them. How times have changed.

Agreed, the 10 for $10 deal is pretty nice, and I have been receiving Game Informer for about 3 years now, I really enjoy the magazine.

I work at GS. Now we are doing the mag at 15.00. A card holder will now get 10% on used stuff and 10% on trade ins. Sub. also lasts for 12 months instead of 10. Been kinda hard to sell lately.

ANyhow, I agree with waht DP first said. Only mags that even hold my interest are Play and Retro Gamer. I miss XBN though.

[Aussie2B]

I had a free subscription to Game Informer for awhile not long ago since I had the GameStop discount card, and I thought it was complete trash. Their previews were nothing but hype, and their reviews were poorly written, with illogical reasons to praise or bash a title, and reeked of inexperience with the title at hand. Their classic section, while cool in concept, was a complete joke. I bet the people writing about the games hadn't even touched them since they were brand new and were writing off of foggy old memories. Don't even get me started on the token female reviewer.

The absolute worst thing was that every single issue, without fail, I would come across some horribly incorrect information. Now I'm not talking typos or small understandable mistakes, I'm talking momentual mistakes that disgust me thinking of the millions of readers who are going to think it's fact.

I also dislike the snotty attitude they have sometimes. I remember they had a Star Ocean 3 preview (several months after the game had been out in Japan), and they were claiming to be the first to break any info on the game and they knew about it before anyone else, "even you!" they directed at the reader. I was thinking "Yeah, I had only beaten and whored the game MONTHS before they so much as acknowledged its existence".

[Bluteg]

All these posts and no one has mentioned Joe's section in Tips and Tricks O_O

I miss Xbox Nation they had excellent reviews altough no demo disc they were great.

Game Informer is allright I got the Sub for $3 because I was buying a bunch of PSX games at Game Stop and thats what the difference would be after they added the discount. They seem to give great Game Cube games marginal scores
while praising PS2 games that truely deserve marginal scores.

[PDorr3]

I have never bought a GI mag but I think i will give one a try...

[goatdan]

I used to love reading various mags just a few years ago during the age of the N64, PS1 and Dreamcast. It wouldn't be uncommon for me to walk into a store, see a magazine with an interesting topic and buy it. I realized I had purchased enough mags in one month once to pay for subscriptions to most, and I read them all cover to cover, even when I wasn't interested in stuff.

Now, I get Game Informer, EGM, XBN (or I did), GMR (or I did) and Computer Gaming Monthly for free. All of them. And I barely read any of it. I will flip through Game Informer and EGM to see release dates and do quick references on game scores, but I rarely take time to read them. The reviews seem so canned and the longer articles seem to be more of an extended commercial instead of an exciting thing. Oddly enough, this has happened at the same time that my interest in "modern" games is at the highest. When I was buying mags like crazy, I didn't even have a PS1 or Dreamcast.

I really feel that the entire thing has declined lately. I also get Sport Illustrated, and while I don't care much about most sports, I read them pretty much cover-to-cover because I really enjoy the writing. I can't say that is the case with newer gaming mags...

[petewhitley]

The only gaming mags I ever buy are OPM and OXM. I play the hell out of the demos and throw away the magazines. Gaming news is more abudant and timely off the 'net. The demos however, are quite often worth the $10.

[klausien]

I used to think the retro section was cool, but they haven't had any good stuff in it for quite a while. It really does seem like they just pick a rom based on an obscure title, then try it for 5 minutes. Then they write a post-psx biased review. There is no nostalgia there. They were raised on the Playstation.

The magazine used to be somewhat decent, then editors started leaving. Now they are all the same. Personality is what game magazines lack nowadays. They all work from the same batch of pictures and info anyway since the internet has them all scooped. EGM is a bunch of press releases written by a bunch of suits (wolves in sheep's clothing I tell you) and Gamepro is, and always has been, a joke. Gamefan may have been schizophrenic, but it had personality in spades.

[Daniel Thomas]

I've given up on paper magazines. I get all of my game info from the 'net these days. I haven't seen a gaming mag in the last five years (since NextGen) that makes me want to subscribe to something.

Amen to that. Our problem is that we remember all those great magazines from the '80s and early '90s. I keep in touch with Tips and Tricks because of all the people involved (uh, ahem) from the zines to the old VG&CE alumni like Andy Eddy.

[Sylentwulf]

The only mag I really care for is Play. Which is SUPPOSED To have like 30% anime stuff, that's kinda the whole point of the mag :/

My only problem with play is that it's too damn expensive. They need to drop that unbelievably high quality thick paper, and drop the price with it, then I'll subscribe again.

[rbudrick]

Eventually, when we have some new technology for paper, when you can hold something in your hands that almost feels like paper, and it can show websites on it, then that will be the shit.


Um... OK?

Digital paper, Joe. You seen Minority Report? Those newspapers and such are real. They really are making those and I've seen prototytpes in the Boston Museum of Science.

-Rob

[digitalpress]

Um.... OK.

:)

[fishsandwich]

I, too, love Game Informer... I am also very sad to see the demise of GMR. I got a subscription to Playstation Magazine, but it's just not the same.

Oh, well. I still .ike EGM ok, but they aren't what they used to be.

Cheers

:/

[sabre2922]

GameInformer is a great mag better than EGM anyway.

The GREATEST CONSOLE GAMING MAG EVER WAS GAMEFAN :D it was the only gaming mag to give complete and most importantly UNBIASED coverage of the Dreamcast.

[ianoid]

I am a big fan of GI. And I think I'll only get out of magazines when computers are light enough to read on the can.

There were some harsh comments about GI posted, which I feel are undeserved. The reviews are critical and harsh, and that's necessary. I get the feeling that most of the reviews are based on a play through.

I'm less and less interested in previews and more into the industry interviews they do. Previews are just hype. That's what the industry is about- generate hype, sell games, make money. I doubt that anyone would invite a magazine to spy on their upcoming product unless they maintained a positive attitude. After, all, it's not over until it's released.

Their Classic GI section is good, but it's not fantastic like Joe's section in Tips and Tricks. I just read that at Borders or whatever since I feel like T&T is mostly for people who need T&T. I play maybe 2 or 3 different modern games a month, and there's no way I need tips for them regularly that I can't get off the net if I'm at a dead end.

I don't really feel that the EGM reviews are as harsh as GI, and harsh is good. I like to think that GI, being in the middle of the midwest, away from the hype of the studios on the coasts in big cities, are somewhat more partial.

And I like the sense of humor esp. the captions.

I didn't like GMR. I got it because it was free with the discount card. I didn't resubscribe. It had a good basis as a UK mag, but it came over as trying to hard to be cheeky and edgy. It reminded me of that cool dog they inserted into the Simpsons to increase the market appeal to young boys. Name please?

[16-bit]

I don't buy it often, but I think Tips & Tricks is a worthwhile magazine. As others have stated, Joe puts together a retro section that easily trumps Classic G.I.

Even if news is obsolete for print mags, I suppose it is nice to have information at your fingertips when playing games and pictures are better than all text faqs.

Given that newstands are giving space to retro magazines like UK's excellent Retro Games & the overall popularity of retro gaming, it would be nice if Tips & Tricks launched a quarterly Retro Revival Tips & Tricks with strategies for classic games that remain popular to this day + an expanded collector corner....Joe, please run that by them ;)

[boatofcar]

I've given up on paper magazines. I get all of my game info from the 'net these days. I haven't seen a gaming mag in the last five years (since NextGen) that makes me want to subscribe to something.

Retro Gamer Magazine is worth every penny.

[-hellvin-]

I dropped all my subscriptions except game informer. I found it was the only mag I enjoyed reading, most of the others if they were wrapped I would just throw under the table still in wrapping and never read. I enjoy trivia and the retro section a lot. I've also been enjoying the 18 issues of Sega Visions that recently arrived. I had a few issues back when I first owned my genesis and I'm loving reading all the sms/gen/cd reviews.