EDGE Presents FILE mag

[cyberfluxor]

I was at Barns & Nobles today looking at some magazines and stumbled across this one in particular from Europe. I don't really follow magazines but have thought about it recently to begin following a few. Apparently after doing a little research EDGE magazine is re-releasing their old issues in a "Collector's Edition". I picked up Vol. 1 and a Vol. 2 was released the other week, but I didn't see it anywhere.

So anyhow, what is the overall consensus of this magazine? Do people on here like it, hate it or just shrug at it? I read a few random articles and it appeared to be decent enough for a pick-up and may grab Vol. 2 when I see it. However, I saw a few people placing feedback on another site saying their newer issues suck but the older ones (like in this collection) are a great read. Lastly I saw on their US/CAN website they only have 1 mailing address which happens to be in Virginia Beach, the city right next to mine. Is it possible there's a limited distribution because others around the country haven't been seeing this and there were only a maximum of 3 stocked at the bookstores around here.

[Gamereviewgod]

Edge is the best english gaming magazine in the world. They care about the journalism side of things, along with gorgeous layouts and stock. I paid a ridiculous amount for a subscription. It's the only replacement for Next Generation you'll find.

[cyberfluxor]

Yeah, it is a bit pricey @ $12.99 per magazine, for the collective ones that is. The yearly subscription was pretty high according to the website. If I like these volumes a lot I may just go ahead and sign up for the mag.

[Anthony1]

Edge is the best english gaming magazine in the world. They care about the journalism side of things, along with gorgeous layouts and stock. I paid a ridiculous amount for a subscription. It's the only replacement for Next Generation you'll find.

GamesTM is pretty good too. But yeah, Next-Generation was basically just a USA version of EDGE. The cool thing about that, is that if you are a big time fan of the old Next-Gen, and you wished that they had started earlier than 1995, then you can basically read the issues of EDGE that came along before Next-Gen debuted, cause it's basically the same thing. I've always been interested in collecting EDGE, but the mag is just too damn pricey for my blood. I'm interested in the early issues, and it's very difficult to find them from somebody in the US, and the UK shipping makes them too expensive.

[tom]

Edge, I got approx 135 issues from issue 1 onwards.
see here: http://videogamecollectors.com/gallery/album116

Quite good, sometimes full of mistakes (I wouldn't call it 'the best english gaming magazine in the world', not with those mistakes), the Edge presents Retro 2002 issue was just full of mistakes

We here in Germany now have a German Edge, urgh it's just awful

[Poofta!]

i picked up vol1 about a month or so ago... maybe less. i liked it a lot. never read edge before but i skimmed it in barnes and nobles and liked it so bought it.

def will get vol2 when i see it.

[smork]

Big fan of Edge -- always pick it up here. I'd say that and Retro Gamer are the gaming mags I read the most (with GamesTM coming in 3rd). All British mags, hmmm.... I guess the only American game mag I sometimes read is Game Informer, and I will often read a bit of Arcadia or Famitsu.

I thought that Edge File vol. 1 was an interesting snapshot of the past. I would have changed the focus a bit and put a bit more of the game reviews in there in lieu of sooo many features on 3DO, but still well worth a read.

Haven't seen vol 2 in Borders or Kinokuniya yet, might have to go check after work!

[Anthony1]

So what exactly is this Volume 1 that people are talking about? Is it simple the first issue of EDGE reprinted? Is it the first couple issues of EDGE? Is it certain features from early issues of EDGE, if somebody could please explain, I would be very interested to hear about it.

[Fantastic_Duck]

I bought it. Its pretty interesting, but it reminds me of how obsessed we were with 2 fucking things in the mid 90s:

CD and 3D. That's all the articles focus on, really. Some retro game reviews, interviews with shitheads like Trip hawkins and Sam Tramiel, thats about it.
Oh, they do have a superb repring of a history of the TG16/PC Engine. Really concise and well developed article on my fave game system.

[Poofta!]

So what exactly is this Volume 1 that people are talking about? Is it simple the first issue of EDGE reprinted? Is it the first couple issues of EDGE? Is it certain features from early issues of EDGE, if somebody could please explain, I would be very interested to hear about it.

its a very well made compilation of the most interesting/influential/important events/stories/features/etc during the first year of Edge magazine, which was 1993 to 1994.

i think you will love this =]

it covers 3d0, jaguar, mega drive, n64, pc, pc engine, playstation, saturn, snes.

its 13$, looks nice, heavy, about 260 pages.

some stories:

story on nintendo's St Giga network & Sega channel + comparison

jaguar launch preview

nintendo's super-machine for 1995 (assuming n64, interesting piece on their partnership with Silicon Graphics Inc, makers of special effects for T2 and Jurrassic park)

original Alone in the Dark pc preview (hehe)

several pages on a Supergun expose (arcade at home thingie)

EARLY EARLY look at what will become the PS1 and Saturn. interesting concept sketches etc.

huge playstation launch info and prominent developer's takes on the system

awesome huge feature on PCengine and its MANY iterations and reincarnations.

reviews of all time fav games such as SF2 turbo, MK, night trap (hahah) and many more

scattered info and features on 3d0 and cdi. Virtual reality and some other obscure stuff (like a portable mega drive that hooks up to the tv, supposedly used on jets?)

i recommend it for you man, great buy.


EDIT: advertising must have been expensive, cause theres only like 10 or less pages of ads in teh whole thing. and its kinda weird that theyre for current gen stuff. very classys stuff though. a few of them are actually for magazines by the same publisher.

[16-bit]

I ordered vol. 2 directly from the distributer

[petewhitley]

I bought it. Its pretty interesting, but it reminds me of how obsessed we were with 2 fucking things in the mid 90s:

CD and 3D. That's all the articles focus on, really. Some retro game reviews, interviews with shitheads like Trip hawkins and Sam Tramiel, thats about it.

That's why I didn't like this compilation. I was pretty stoked when I saw it, but once I started reading it I couldn't for the life of me understand why they selected those particular articles for a "best-of". I'd much rather read their reviews, etc. than some laughable attempt to hype-up the FMV-capabilities of the 3DO.

[RCM]

I never was a fan of Next Generation or Edge. I do pick up an issue every once in a while to see what they're doing.

There's a sort of trade only Euro mag out there. I can't think of the name at the moment but it's thin, expensive, and about as up to date as a print mag can be. While it didn't make me fork over my hard earned cash, I thought it was solid. I think the folks behind Eurogamer put it out. It seems modeled after TV and film rags like TV Tech and the Hollywood Reporter.

[cyberfluxor]

I just picked up volume 2 (1994-1995) today at Barnes & Nobles so I guess we'll be expecting them to be sold there for a good while longer. I still haven't read all the way through vol. 1, there's just so much information and screenshots to closely look at. Sure, some of the articles aren't the best written or are scewed a bit but overall a nice read for someone who's never owned older game magazines. I may end up picking up a niche for other mags later on down the road, who knows.

[Overbite]

I bought vol 1 as well and it's neat. I like reading old videogame mags so this is a pretty good thing.

[delafro]

I picked up #1 recently for a lot more than $13 (I don't want to say how much I paid for it other than I must have been insane at the time). Anyways, I enjoyed the articles, but I think some of the print/image quality was pretty poor, like something was a little off in the reproduction.

With the Jaguar/3DO focus, well, that's what was big then, and I think part of the idea here is to have a "time capsule" of what was going on at the industry at that time... the writers make several comments in their editorials about mistakes they made in coverage, so they know in hindsight all that space they devoted to those systems was pretty much wasted.

[Mayhem]

I picked up #1 recently for a lot more than $13 (I don't want to say how much I paid for it other than I must have been insane at the time). Anyways, I enjoyed the articles, but I think some of the print/image quality was pretty poor, like something was a little off in the reproduction.

It's because the system used to produce the first issues way back when is no longer in use and they couldn't find anyway of importing them into the new system used. So they been SCANNED and reproduced in the FILE magazines here. Which is why a lot of the screenshots look "off".

[Flojomojo]

Yeah, the quality in these compilations could be a little better, considering the price. The original magazines were stunning, with huge screenshots, nice layout, thick paper, and plastic-covered covers. I'd spring for a DVD compilation of the whole EDGE run in a second if it were offered, but the FILE collection will have to do.

I ordered vols 1 and 2 direct from their web page at ~$25 each, which was insane but I simply had to have them. It was a bit of a let-down to see them at Borders a few weeks later for $13 each. Vol 3 is out now, but sold out on their web page, so now I get to do the smart thing and buy it locally.

It's fun to see the glory days of the old systems -- I get all excited about PSX and Saturn all over again when I flip through these books.

[cyberfluxor]

3rd one is out? I thought the compilations were released bi-monthly like the current issues. Guess it's time to run over to Barnes & Nobles to see what's up. Thanks for scouting it out!

[Mayhem]

I'd spring for a DVD compilation of the whole EDGE run in a second if it were offered, but the FILE collection will have to do.

Trust me, I know someone here (his name usually associated with magazine scans) who would do it in a heartbeat if there was no chance of getting his arse sued to hell by Future as a result...

[cyberfluxor]

Trust me, I know someone here (his name usually associated with magazine scans) who would do it in a heartbeat if there was no chance of getting his arse sued to hell by Future as a result...
What about the video game black market? I need access to that exclusive club. I need more Pac-Man!! Hook me up!

[ShenmueFan]

Edge is the best english gaming magazine in the world. They care about the journalism side of things, along with gorgeous layouts and stock. I paid a ridiculous amount for a subscription. It's the only replacement for Next Generation you'll find.

WOW.

I have seen Edge a few times of store shelves here in the US but never really paid it much attention. I *really* miss Next Generation and if you guys say it's almost exactly the same I'll definitely have to check it out.

BTW, I love reading old mags from the 90s even if the focus was on CD and 3D...back then, to me, those things were "the future"...now people take both for granted and I have a hard time finding new things to get excited about. So being able to curl up w/ an interview with Atari's Tramiel or reading the "latest" scoop on AM-2's Virtua Fighter 2 sounds like an awesome read to me!

[Windy Miller]

I've ended up buying these 'compilations' even though I have a complete set of Edge (& Gamestm & Retro Gamer) on a bookshelf beside my bed. :embarrassed:

I'm sure that I've read somewhere that issue 3 of FILE is to be the last one & the next Edge 'special' is going to be something different.

[16-bit]

You can still order vol 1 thru 3 in the US direct from the distributer:

Their phone number is 1-800-428-3003

Vol. 3 cost me 18.95 and vol 1 and 2 cost me 20 each (I ordered them over a month ago)

[Steve W]

I bought a copy of Edge Presents File, even though I own all the issues of Next Generation and have read most of those articles. What got me, though, was their review of Alien Vs. Predator for the Jaguar. I can't believe how many times they mentioned Doom in the article. They should have just written "Why isn't this Doom? I want more Doom!" over and over. And it's like they weren't even playing the same game, from the way they were describing it. Bad journalism all around.

[cyberfluxor]

Yeah, I've been catching a lot of mistakes in their proof reading department along with bias and scewed views on some games. There's a lots of comparisons with other systems similar games instead of looking at how well the game they're discussing performs on it's platform. I mainly read the magazine not for the errors but for the perspective of gamers views from a time where I didn't pay attention to the market. I can buy an SNES game and play it, then give my own opinion but to read what others were thinking at the time is what's interesting to me. Why I chose this magazine? Because it's available at the store locally and don't have to deal with online trades or purchases. If another collection of classic magazines are released locally I'll more than likely jump on that too, especially these that comprise of 6-12 issues in one mag.

Oh, and on a second note, I went to Barnes & Nobles yesterday and they said Vol. 3 won't be in stock intil April, which should be around the 10th.

[Daltone]

There's a lots of comparisons with other systems similar games instead of looking at how well the game they're discussing performs on it's platform.

Out of curiosity - is that not what you'd want in a multi-platform magazine?

Edit: Managed to forget to post about the actual topic. This actually sounds really good, although I wasn't even aware of it 'till now. I wish Games Master would do something like this - it just wasn't the same without Patrick Moore all over it.

[cyberfluxor]

Out of curiosity - is that not what you'd want in a multi-platform magazine?

Well, they want to say how worst or better this particular game is over another on a different system that has a different development team altogether. It does make a significant fact to toss it out there in one sentence, but in a few reviews they seem to smear it to the extent where I want to grab the author and tell them to get back to the game being reviewed.

[gameofyou]

Ok, I found out about these Edge Presents File magazines way late. None of my local bookstores carry it anyway, so I still would have been out of luck.

However, I called (just today) the 800 number that 16-bit posted, and they still have all 3 issues! They are $19.50 each, and that includes the shipping.

Thanks 16-bit !

[cyberfluxor]

I just picked up Volume 3 and it appears to have far more interviews than the other two. After flipping through it before I purchased it I realised a few good articles worth mentioning:
Artificial Intelligence (Dec 95)
Videogame Violence (Jan 96)
Digital Dexterity (Aug 96) - Discusses game controllers

Are they not doing a volume 4?

[fishsandwich]

I found Volume 3 at a B&N yesterday (april 1st) so that are out now. And that's no joke.

[RJ]

I got FILE #2 when I went to B&N last month to get RetroGamer w/ the Xevious feature, kindof an added bonus. I had a gift card so I paid <$10 on both. I liked Vol 2 so much I got Vol 3 (yellow cover) today. IMO not as interesting as #2, but at least I'll pass the time at work reading it.

I may get/look for #1 for a complete set.

[Windy Miller]

The new EDGE PRESENTS is out today in the UK, priced £8. It's called The Art of Videogames, 258 pages of sketches, promo art etc with a few words from the developers & publishers. I've posted pictures in this thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100055).

[Poofta!]

OK so I'm resurrecting a 6 year old thread to ask this question:


Anyone have Volume 2 for sale or trade? I picked up 1 & 3 (and talked about 1 in this thread 6 years ago...) but somehow never saw and missed volume 2. Anyone want to part with theirs?

Thanks,

and MODS, I am sorry :embarrassed: