Video Game Magazines: Anyone ever/still read them?

[dx1997]

The only ones I use to read, years ago, were Gamepro and EGM. I know that EGM has folded and that's a shame. It was a good magazine in the 90's. As for Gamepro, I picked up a copy and took a look at it a while ago, it has definately changed over the years.

I still remember one of the greatest gags in a magazine was an April Fools prank about Mortal Kombat and how you could be "Ermac" in the game.

Those were the days.

So what's good out there today? I know Nintendo Power is still around too. Anything else?

 

[Psycho Penguin]

EGM just came back but I doubt it's as good as it once was. Game Pro sucks. Game Informer is actually pretty decent and has a nice retro section too.

 

[Black Lushus]

I was getting Game Informer when I signed up for Gamestop's card deal...that subscription has since stopped and I'm not in a big hurry to get it back. It does make for good bathroom reading material though. Back in the day I was all about Nintendo Power and EGM though. Game Pro on occassion when I needed a magazine to read on a long car ride.

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

Gave up magazines a long time ago, as I didn't see the point of paying £15 a month for the three magazines or so I was getting, when all the news was the internet for free.

 

[DrVenkman PhD]

So... with EGM, I read that founder Steve Harris is responsible for bringing it back to print, but I assume all the key players are still working for 1up and have nothing to do with it?

 

[Kageho]

That's correct.

I think I gave up on them after they rated a game so terribly bad, that it was a crime they did. I don't recall which game, but I just went "no way, no more".

Same way I gave up on Gamespot the moment the guys fired that one guy for the "shitty" review.

 

[luke-o]

I'm a subscriber to Official Nintendo and I used to subscribe to Retro Gamer.

I've considered getting a GamesTM subscription too. It's a great multi-format magazine and it beats the shit out of Edge.

 

[Youth N Asia]

I had a Nintendo Power subscription as a kid. Before the days of the internet that was a badass magazine...although even as a youngin' I could tell they were giving games made by Nintendo a higher score than others.

I've also had Game Informer and EGM subs at one time or another. But I don't play any new games these days

 

[Youth N Asia]

Retro Gamer interests me, but damn, it ain't cheap.

 

[TheSSNintendo]

I've been subscribing to Nintendo Power for the last few years.

 

[AlaskanHero]

I used to get Nintendo Power, Gamepro, and EGM back in the day, EGM being my personal favorite just because of Hsu and Chan. Currently, I'm subscribed to Game Informer, which is usually an enjoyable read.

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

Same way I gave up on Gamespot the moment the guys fired that one guy for the "shitty" review.

That was bullshit like, gave an honest review and got fired because the developer had paid shit loads of money for advertisement on the website haha. Can't remember which game that was now, was it Too Human?

 

[Thoth]

Used to read Nintendo Power, Gamepro, and EGM. Took a look at a recent Nintendo Power, and ever since they got taken over by Future US (Nintendo themselves used to publish the mag), it's... actually better, and I'm more aware of Wii and DS games coming for the core audience.

 

[The Amazing Rando]

I used to read Next Generation magazine. I wish I still had them around.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

Whoa, wait a minute. EGM is back?! Holy Shit! Honestly, it doesn't matter to me who's behind the scenes. It's the Alpha and Omega of gaming mags to me. I'll be on the lookout.

 

[Just Burny]

Retro Gamer interests me, but damn, it ain't cheap.

My friend has a few copies and it is pretty awesome.

My brother gets Pc Gamer (UK) so I usually brisk through it while I'm on the crapper.

 

[griffinmills]

Same way I gave up on Gamespot the moment the guys fired that one guy for the "shitty" review.

That was bullshit like, gave an honest review and got fired because the developer had paid shit loads of money for advertisement on the website haha. Can't remember which game that was now, was it Too Human?

Sadly, I was working at Eidos when the Kane & Lynch: Dead men debacle went down. Gertsmann's review wasn't even that harsh IMO. I remember walking past a "big wigs" office and hearing him just losing his mind on the phone with someone from Gamespot he was so upset at the review.

EGN was basically the "god" magazine around here when I was younger. That and Diehard Gamefan because Gamefan had the most badass pictures and it's crazy "quarterman" predictions.

Gamepro was that magazine everyone secretly got and was secretly ashamed to get. That fucking artist, Mao(?), couldn't draw Street Fighter characters for shit but he would get full covers and spreads constantly.

Now the super secret. Gameplayers, later "Ultra Gameplayers" magazine, was the fucking most hilarious magazine out there. I would put it toe to toe easily with any "comedy" magazine like Mad or Cracked. Those dudes were hardcore gamers and legitimately funny/angry to boot. They would get the weirdest shit to review and actually gave out Zero scores sometimes. They got some "net yaroze" do-it-yourself-game that was on sale in japan for Playstation once and the review was so classic I used to re-read it from time to time like a favorite book.

 

[Matt Young]

I read EGM till it ceased production. I have every issue from #100 till the end. I'll probably re-up on Game Informer via Edge card when I have some extra cash.

 

[El Psycho Diablo]

Play magazine isn't really that bad. Except for this weird love they have for Sonic the Hedgehog games.

 

[Jingus]

I subscribed to Nintendo Power when it first came out and got about the first year of issues. Super Mario Bros 2 was on the first cover. Damn I feel so terribly old. But that magazine was a godsend for a socially-maladjusted young recluse such as I was. You had other sources for game tips, like the prohibitively expensive 1-900 help line and some of those How To Win At Nintendo Games books (anyone remember those? written by a guy named Jeff Rovin, iirc). But Nintendo Power was the only one that came out every month with new content for a relatively cheap price.

I also agree that EGM was the shit. Back in the early-mid 90s, when every issue was hundreds of pages long, DAMN those were the days. I didn't hate Gamepro as much as everyone else, picked up that one every now and then, but EGM was clearly where it was at.

 

[griffinmills]

I'm of the opinion that everyone hated Gamepro to be cool but still read it in their closets. ;D

 

[luke-o]

Retro Gamer interests me, but damn, it ain't cheap.

My friend has a few copies and it is pretty awesome.

My brother gets Pc Gamer (UK) so I usually brisk through it while I'm on the crapper.

If you don't want to pay for it, just download their podcast. You can find it through iTunes.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

Gamepro has officially closed up shop. The quarterly magazine And now the website are dead.

http://www.gamesradar.com/Gamepro-shutting-its-doors-after-20-years/

 

[Smues]

I had a subscription from probably around 91/92 until just a few years ago (my parents kept renewing it as a Christmas gift.) The internet pretty much killed it's usefulness, but I was a big fan in the 90's. As a nine year old or however old I was when it came it I thought the first 'LamePro' April Fools parody was the funniest thing ever made in the history of ever. Bubbonic the Blowfrog and his pal Snails? HI-LARIOUS.

I had a subscription to Gamepro and Nintendo for most of my childhood, so Gamepro was my main source of non-Nintendo related reviews and news. RIP Gamepro.

 

[skullman80]

I get Game Informer because of Gamestops Power Up rewards plan or whatever. I enjoy reading it, nothing great, but interesting articles at times.

I have a whole box full of old Nintendo Powers from when I was a kid. I had a subscription for the longest time.

 

[BUTT]

When I was ages 8-10, each month's GamePro was the center of my universe. I'll never forget the first time I saw Mortal Kombat II or Super Mario 64. I know the internet's general opinion of it is that it was a crappy shill magazine, and maybe that's true, but for a kid during that time, it told you exactly what you wanted to hear. And they weren't afraid to slam a game if it was warranted. I remember them awarding the heavily hyped (and advertised in their magazine) Sega CD version of Mortal Kombat scores of 2, 2, 2 and 1. Though their perfect 5.0 FunFactor score for Bugs Bunny's Rabbit Rampage may have been undeserved.

My favorite LamePro was the one in '96 where they made fun of DieHard GameFan's use of the term "little Jap bastards." At the time, unaware of the controversy I thought it was crazy that GamePro used the word "bastards" but now that I get it I recognize the brilliant satire.

 

[Damaramu]

I used to read Game Informer. It was just so harsh on anything Wii and felt like a PS3 cheerleading magazine.

 

[NoCalMike]

It's hard to justify subscriptions (outside of the one you get free as a Gamestop rewards member) when all the information is already available online.

When I was a kid, I remember reading Nintendo Power.

 

[The Metal Maniac]

I had a subscription to Nintendo Power magazine for a few years; it was originally a birthday present, and it got a renewed a few times for other gifts. I did like the magazine, except for the fact that up until the PS2, I was always a generation behind systems (I got my NES shortly before the SNES came out, and I got a SNES the year N64 came out), so I had a magazine telling me all about the super-awesome new SNES games I couldn't play.

But that magazine was a Godsend back in the day. Remember how hard video games were when there was no Internet, the manual barely made sense, and you didn't know anyone else who played the game? Je-sus.

 

[SFH]

Gamepro had a postcard/coupon for a free magazine around the time of Mortal Kombat II's release on home consoles. So I sent in for a free magazine, apparently not reading the fine print that it was free with subscription. Their bad for sending me shit without me paying, but after a few free issues I got a really angry letter from someone there. The gist of it was I never paid and was pretty much blacklisted from subscribing again. I was in 9th grade, I didn't care.

It really was a great magazine. Oh and it just so happened they sent me exactly what I wanted: codes for SNES MKII as well as all the moves. The next issue had all the combos.