Gaming magazines

da gamer

Who here still buys gaming magazines? While cleaning up recently I found some old official PlayStation uk magazines, the ones with the demo discs and it got me thinking about how good they were.

I haven't really bought a gaming magazine since the 90s but would like to subscribe to one. What magazines are the best at the moment? Preferably I would like a PlayStation one as I spend most of my time on the ps4 or vita these days. Also where is the cheapest place to buy them? I looked in my local book shop lately and they all seemed to be around 10 Euro which seemed steep as there were no demo discs or collectible books etc with them.

johnny_ultimate

I still buy Edge. I don't care what anybody (by which I mean Retr0) says, it's still a reliable monthly injection of high quality writing about video games, and IMO serves a gap no website really provides yet (not to say there isn't some great writing online).

Sephiroth_dude

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I still buy Edge. I don't care what anybody (by which I mean Retr0) says, it's still a reliable monthly injection of high quality writing about video games, and IMO serves a gap no website really provides yet (not to say there isn't some great writing online).

How much is it these days? I use too buy pc gamer every month but I dont anymore , too expensive.

Retr0gamer

Edge magazine does have great writing and articles but their reviews have always been hit or miss. There is however a severe lack of fun in the magazibe which I miss from older and much better publlications. Other than retrogamer magazine its unfortunately the best you can get.

Official Playstation Magazine was a rag I wouldnt even wipe my arse with. Terrible stuff altogether even if the demo discs had some good stuff like the net yaroze games. Even worse was the short lived Irish version which had the worse writing of any magazine i ever read. The letters page was basically kids arguing saying their opinion was more valid because they can beat metal gear solid or FF7 (always those two) in a faster time.

da gamer

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I still buy Edge. I don't care what anybody (by which I mean Retr0) says, it's still a reliable monthly injection of high quality writing about video games, and IMO serves a gap no website really provides yet (not to say there isn't some great writing online).

I presume edge covers all platforms?

da gamer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Official Playstation Magazine was a rag I wouldnt even wipe my arse with.

Why am I not surprised with this comment. It was actually a very good magazine and one of the most popular at the time.

Sephiroth_dude

da gamer wrote: »

I presume edge covers all platforms?

It does.

Riesen_Meal

Actually found a mint Issue 1 of Official Dreamcast UK Magazine in my mams not so long ago, still had the demo disc and foil with it....

If I keep it another 20 years I can retire early.... :P

Ol' Donie

I buy Gamestm most months.

I hate the idea of a world without games magazines.

Retr0gamer

da gamer wrote: »

Why am I not surprised with this comment. It was actually a very good magazine and one of the most popular at the time.

Nostalgia speaking there. It really was that bad. It had very amateur levels of writing, approaching childish at times and really awful Sony bias (although as an official magazine that was to be expected). There were much better at the time. Websites were beginning to offer a lot better, Edge was pretty great around that time and you had some absolute classic magazines like the all too short lived Arcade.

Popularity is no barometer of quality. Don't fool yourself, it only really sold due to the cover disc contents.

da gamer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Nostalgia speaking there. It really was that bad. It had very amateur levels of writing, approaching childish at times and really awful Sony bias (although as an official magazine that was to be expected). There were much better at the time. Websites were beginning to offer a lot better, Edge was pretty great around that time and you had some absolute classic magazines like the all too short lived Arcade.

Popularity is no barometer of quality. Don't fool yourself, it only really sold due to the cover disc contents.

A writing/journalist expert aswell as a gaming enthusiast, fair play to you. And sometimes popularity is a barometer of quality, particularly when it is a monthly release. People might be fooled into buying something once, but when they keep buying an item it generally means they like said product and find it of a good quality. If it was crap, they wouldn't have bought it the following month.

Retr0gamer

Again, it was for the demo discs not the writing. Being Sony affiliated meant they got the best demo's on there and got them first with some nice extra's like the Net Yaroze games. Which is a shame because it meant they didn't really need to bother on the writing front to sell. I bought a few myself just for some demo's and Net Yaroze games. I would have paid the price of the magazine for that MGS demo alone, there was more gameplay in those three areas than in most PS1 games.

zzfh

man,i remember buying my one and only mag for the demo disc...hogs of war and tomb raider were on there.

da gamer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Again, it was for the demo discs not the writing. Being Sony affiliated meant they got the best demo's on there and got them first with some nice extra's like the Net Yaroze games. Which is a shame because it meant they didn't really need to bother on the writing front to sell. I bought a few myself just for some demo's and Net Yaroze games. I would have paid the price of the magazine for that MGS demo alone, there was more gameplay in those three areas than in most PS1 games.

I agree that the demo undoubtedly helped sell the magazine. But to call it a rag that you wouldn't wipe your arse with is disrespectful. It gave many gamers a good if somewhat brief preview and review of games that got many excited about upcoming titles and helped in deciding whether to buy a game or not. I have gamesmaster magazines and Nintendo magazines from the same period and there ain't too much difference in the writing quality between those and opm.

Anyway, if I want to read something of a journalistic nature I'll pick up the indo or times. As long as games magazines are informative and fun I'll be happy.

Retr0gamer

Gamesmaster I remember went from one of the best magazines around, drawing in all the talent from future publishings other magazines, to being one of the worst with the fall in quality of Future publishing during the PS1 era. The amount of coverage wrestling games got was ridiculous.

If you wanted quality magazine writing at the time, really the popular magazines weren't great. The PS1 era was really poor for magazines with only really Edge, Arcade and a few others being standouts in a sea of crap. Even EGM went downhill around then. American magazines were a lot better then, the total hyperbole of Gamefan was a lot of fun. It was probably a lot worse written than OPM ever was but just how bizarre it was and the highlighting of weird imports made it a lot of fun. The PS1 era came at the height of the dotcom bubble so all the talent went to websites were the ridiculously big money was and you had the likes of IGN and that website (can't remember the name) that morphed into 1up being created. Magazines really suffered as a result.

Varik

Remember getting I think it was a PlayStation magazine that came with a VHS tape for the PS2 release. I think I got Play, PC Gamer, and PC Format. Have crates full of them still, and the DVDs that came with later ones. Went to college and at last had a high speed internet so could get demos and videos that way.

When I was younger still during PS1 era I got a cheaper one that I used to skip lunch some days to buy, might have been powerstation.

Will look when home but I've got one with FF9 on it and can still remember the anticipation.

johnny_ultimate

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

How much is it these days? I use too buy pc gamer every month but I dont anymore , too expensive.

7-8 euro usually.

murphyebass

I like/d the official Nintendo magazine. Is it gone now? I think I heard recently it was stopping publication.

Anyway last one I got had donkey kong tropical freeze on the front.

I bought it years ago and bought a few again since buying the wii u.

The colours are/were so Nintendo.

Quite childish but really nice to browse through imo

Other than that I like most just use online now which in itself is a bit of a shame.

In one way we're more informed than ever before which is great as you don't tend to buy crap games anymore.

But I feel you end up seeing too much of the game before release and I don't even mean for spoilers.
I'm talking just seeing the game in movement.

The magazine era was cool in this respect as you only saw pictures prior to release so when you went to play it it seemed even more amazing.

Kiith

I always like GamesTM and PcGamer, as they were the best of a bad bunch usually. Haven't bought either in years though.

Kimbot

I think I have a complete collection of Playstation Ireland magazines tucked away in the attic somewhere. If i remember rightly it only lasted about 2 years and they scrapped it.

Retr0gamer

jonny24ie wrote: »

I think I have a complete collection of Playstation Ireland magazines tucked away in the attic somewhere. If i remember rightly it only lasted about 2 years and they scrapped it.

Do the world a favour and cleanse it of that filth. Burn it with fire!

Kimbot

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Do the world a favour and cleanse it of that filth. Burn it with fire!

Hence why its in the attic haha I used to get them for free so I didnt complain

K.O.Kiki

Retro Gamer is the only magazine with fun & quality tbh.

TomCo

Pc Zone and Amiga Action.

*drops mic*

Varik

Magazines mostly gone, the middle sized and a lot of the smaller dedicated websites site likely not far off. Before too long we'll just have the larger sites and the YouTubers/ Streamers. I'd say most big sites have more revenue coming in from ads on their videos or externally hosted than on the site proper.

murphyebass

TomCo wrote: »

Pc Zone and Amiga Action.

*drops mic*

Now that you mention Amiga action I used to get Amstrad action back in the day.

Used to love looking through them.

Skerries

I still have a subscription to PC Gamer but that is mainly so I have reading material for the toilet as I don't like bringing my phone in there.

I have recently got rid of a load of them but still have a hape of them which I need to get rid of

I also have a load of Spectrum and Amiga mags down in the shed but the weather has most likely destroyed them by now

I got an email the other for 25% off the usual sub price

Click here to renew via our online subscription store
Call us on +44 (0) 1604 251045 and quote the special Easter code EGGSHAPED
Treat yourself to something truly relevant to your interests and secure your special Easter discounted rate today - this offer ends on 6th April 2015!

RobertFoster

Anyone remember a multiplatform Irish magazine called G4? I think it was bi-monthly, and only lasted a year or so. I enjoyed that at the time. I can't remember the last time I bought any magazine, even non-gaming ones.

Retr0gamer

RobertFoster wrote: »

Anyone remember a multiplatform Irish magazine called G4? I think it was bi-monthly, and only lasted a year or so. I enjoyed that at the time. I can't remember the last time I bought any magazine, even non-gaming ones.

Pretty sure that's the magazine the original mod of this forum, Shinji used to write for before moving to eurogamer and then pastures greener. Absolute legend and I'm still not sure how he didn't ban me after putting up with all my teenage ****.

Lemlin

RobertFoster wrote: »

Anyone remember a multiplatform Irish magazine called G4? I think it was bi-monthly, and only lasted a year or so. I enjoyed that at the time. I can't remember the last time I bought any magazine, even non-gaming ones.

G4 was published by TP Media. I wrote a review of an R-Type game on the PS1 for them back in the day. They ceased production of it when they started the Official Irish Playstation Magazine.

edit: just looked it up and it was R-Type Delta.

bugs

Used to read mean machines and NMS (Nintendo magazine system). Seemed to share a lot of staff, though nms would have been the later mag I suppose. Available online free I believe, and as good to read today as they were ~20 years ago