Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The best platform gaming magazine, period.
_____If you are looking for information on platform gaming, then look no further than EGM. And there is a wealth of information to be had in every issue._____Game industry news: EGM has the latest printed info on news related to game companies, both software and hardware. They cover everything from electronics shows to release parties to mergers/buyouts. Some of these details may only interest more mature readers, but it is still excellent info, professionally researched and written. _____Rumor mills: The mag has a small section on the latest gaming rumors, like what a particular software manufacturer might be working on, or what franchises are being revisited, etc. _____Upcoming previews: From games about to be released to ones that are months down the line, EGM has the scoop on every game announced for all platforms. Highlights include storylines, gameplay, and music, everything that is important to gamers. _____Reviews: Released games are thoroughly hammered through by EGM's crack team of reviewers. The reviews are not single-number reviews as some have stated before. There are actually several ratings that come into play. First, the game is rated by three reviewers, and the average of those three becomes the overall score. Second, the game is also given average ratings on Gameplay, Sound, Music, and Replay value. So you get several opinions on a game in review. And that's what they are, anyway - opinions. They are sometimes unanimous (i.e. giving Halo for the Xbox all tens), or they can vary wildly (two reviewers can give a game high marks, while the third scores it low). Ratings on four categoies, plus the educated opinions of three reviewers, all averaged out, give readers some good heads-up info on a game that he may intend to rent/buy. _____Import gaming news: A little bit of information is given on gaming news happenning in Japan. This usually includes the top ten selling games in Japan, some rumors, and some release dates. There are usually only a few pages of import news, not a lot as some have said, but just enough to keep the import gamer informed. _____Interesting and funny articles: I can only highlight a few of the many excellent articles written by EGM staffers in the world of gaming. These include "The top 100 games ever," "the top 20 ... games ever," an article on the new style of arcades, a piece on university programs for game developers, the list can go on forever. The magazine doesn't just stick to "here are the games, and what we think about them," it covers EVERYTHING you could possibly imagine that has to do with gaming. _____Codes and secrets: There is a section on cheat codes for those who are into that kind of stuff, for recent games. Sometimes they go more in-depth and walk you through some difficult points in certain games. _____Little tidbits: Almost every square inch of this magazine has something, some little secret or bit of info, some related to the main article on the page, and others just there for fun. Reading an article about Final Fantasy X? Look to the bottom of the page and see s small strip on the history of Final Fantasy games. Got an article about Super Mario 64, the first 3D Mario game? Check out a sidebar depicting all of Mario's previous incarnations. _____One thing I have to add is that this magazine is FUNNY. The writers and editorial staff have raised the bar on the hilarity of their articles, covering things from Solid Snake's mullet to Lara Croft's *assets*. Read the "Letters to EGM" section and prepare to laugh uncontrollably. _____The platform gaming industry is huge, but EGM manages to cram a ton of useful info into every issue. Of course, PC gaming is not covered in the mag, but you can get that kind of stuff in a magazine dedicated to PC gaming anyway, so what's the problem? As far as "giving the magazine away for free," I have never seen it given away for free. I pay for a subscription and I've seen "first issue free" promotions, but doesn't every magazine do that? This is a magazine you pay for, and you get more than your money's worth.
Rating:  - Good art direction but poor content
This magazine probably has the best art direction for any of the game magazines. EGM is very nice looking and has lots of good eyecandy. But just as in video games, eyecandy alone does not make for a good game. Likewise, a good looking magazine is not necessarily a good mag. The writing in EGM is juvinile and low brow. I personally cannot stand the "hey dude" writing style of the editors and contributers. What use to be an outstanding critical magazine for gamers has self destructed into a mind boggling strategy to reach the lowest common denominator by relying solely on visuals.Added to this are the inacurrate game reviews presented in every issue. There is very little original opinion here as the reviewers probably read *the other* game magazines to find ideas for thier poorly written and biased game reviews. Don't be fooled by all the great graphics in this magazine. Behind all the smoke, there lies little useful content between the front and back pages. Sorry to say that the strength of this magazine is only visual. Unfortunately, there are very few alternatives to EGM as many of the other game magazines are even worse. Consider that their popularity is mainly due to default. They are the best of the mediocre. The best reviews and articles are found on the internet such as on gamerankings.com. They have a comprehensive review list for games. The articles found there are much better than you would find in EGM and its free.
The subscription price of EGM is not worth the product. You would do better to just read EGM at the magazine stand to pick up the few morsels of information that you need.
Rating: - The BEST Video Game Magazine Out There. Period!
I've been reading Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) for 11 years now and I maintain that it is the best video game magazine out there by far. The articles are well written and sometimes funny. The reviews cut down to the chase and they give you the real scoop-EGM maintains it's policy of not being influenced by multi-millioin dollar video game companies and all the media hype when reviewing its games. I could go on and on about how it's great but how does it compare to other video game magazines?
Gamepro does a decent job as a video game magazine but it's articles in general are not as comprehensive as EGM's articles. Gamepro severly lacks the creative articles that EGM has (ex. Top 100 Games of All Time, the inside info. on how bad games come into the market). As for the game reviews, Gamepro is often too simplistic and at times too generous in rating qualities of games. Although you pay more for EGM's subscription ($19.97/yr.)than GamePro's subscription($14.97/yr.), the quality of magazine you get is MUCH greater.
Many of the other game magazines out in the market are concentrate on specific system (ex. PSM-Playstation 2)making it seem like those magazines are more in depth (and possibly better) than EGM on a system to system basis. Note the saying that "quality over quantity" is in effect here. The coverage that EGM offers in each issue is comprehensive enough to rival that of magazines dedicated to one and only one system; The forty pages EGM might devote to PS2 games competes well with the 150 so pages a dedicated Playstation magazine offers.
I'm not rich and when purchasing video games I want to make sure that every video game I purchase is well worth every cent that I use. This also applies to the video game magazine that helps me make these video game purchase decisions. If you're like me and want the most out of your money, look no farther than EGM.
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