Xbox 360 Why Games Magazines Are Crap

[CardJoe]

I hate crap like this. GamePro boasted for a while about having the exclusive low-down on Gears of War 2, mentioning it twice on the front page of the magazine and getting one really excited.

What did the "exclusive" turn out to be? Speculation from "insiders" about how "it's not enough to just retread shooter territory in Gears 2. The first game was great, but it didn't blow anyone away with originality. It simply put all the best aspects of other shooters into one amazing package. And aside from the obvious graphical superiority and online co-op mode, most of Gears of War was standard shooter stuff."

?!?!

Originally Posted by Crap Article

What should we expect? In Gears 2, expect a slight graphical boost. We also think four-player co-op is a must this time around. Seeing as how a number of other games are doing the team co-op thing, Gears 2 shouldn't slack in that department. Overall, the multiplayer will probably see the most changes in the sequel. Though definitely fun, Gears of War's online multiplayer component was no-frills. Expect a better matchmaking system, more game modes and better ranking.

What shouldn't we expect?
Don't expect anything crazy or revolutionary. This probably won't be a game that blows down doors and bends genres. The graphics probably won't be a huge jump over the first game simply because there's not a lot of leeway there, as the first game was already so graphically impressive. Also, don't expect anything crazy on the online side like customizable video sharing. This is an action-packed shooter and Epic will surely be sticking to the heavy action stuff.

It's certainly possible for Gears of War 2 to slip into 2009, but we think Microsoft is pressing Epic to deliver the game by the holiday season of 2008. That's when it could help the Xbox 360 the most.

Of course, even the speculation turned out to be baseless crap - Mark Rein has since come out and said that not a single fact is valid, that they never gave GamePro any exclusive and that the insider information is most likely false because its way off the mark.

People pay for this ****?!

Check Kotaku for the in-full illegal magazine scans - http://kotaku.com/353059/read-gamepr...-war-2-article

[DougEdey]

I stopped reading magazines after ONM got new staff in.

[Fod]

EDGE forever!

[BigD79]

Originally Posted by Fod

EDGE forever!

+1

[Woodstock]

meh and bits free and better quality, even if theres less, but then again most of the stuff in gaming mags here that ive seen is addvertising

[Veles]

I've not bought a mag in ages, not since PlaystationPOWER really. I occasionally bought the official mag every now and again for the demos and stuff, but since you can download them now, there really isn't any point in a magazine anymore, I can get all my information off the internet for free.

[BigD79]

Originally Posted by Veles

there really isn't any point in a magazine anymore, I can get all my information off the internet for free.

Defo, I sub to Edge mainly for something to read when I'm offline. Sometimes it can have "dated" stories i've read on the web. For upto the second info you can't beat the internets... and Bit-Tech specifically, obviously.

[badders]

Hello Shopkeep, I'd like to pay £5 for a book full of adverts and games news I've already read.

[Bauul]

Exlclusives is one of the last things Magazines have, you almost can't blame them for trying.

Emphasis on the almost.

[Jamie]

I wish we had exclusives like this!

[CardJoe]

We get proper exclusives though - like the Haze thing where we got to go hands on with the game for hours and hours, see a lot of things we promised not to mention to anybody and got to do it all a full fortnight before everyone else.

And by we, I mean I. :P

[Ghys]

Originally Posted by CardJoe

What did the "exclusive" turn out to be? Speculation from "insiders" about how "it's not enough to just retread shooter territory in Gears 2. The first game was great, but it didn't blow anyone away with originality. It simply put all the best aspects of other shooters into one amazing package. And aside from the obvious graphical superiority and online co-op mode, most of Gears of War was standard shooter stuff."

Let's see ...

From their words the game is ..

-A great game
-All aspects of other shooters in one package
-Graphical superiority
-Online Co-Op mode

but still the game was standard shooter stuff ?

that's bs

I have never even played the game but that kind of talk gets on my nerves anyway

I bet these guys play Nerf Arena every freaking night

nubs ..

[Bungle]

Games magazines? They still selling those things?

[mikeuk2004]

I think thet last mag I bought will have been either Gamesmaster, CVG or Total when I was in school at 15 which was about 12 years ago. I used to buy all the magazines back then and then it just stopped. I looked at a games magazine a month ago and the price of them now is very high. Your better off using the internet for reviews, news and even demos and videos all for free.

[Kipman725]

PC gamer used to be a pretty awsome mag back in the day. Full of witt and sarcasm... you didn't buy it for the games more the wrighting.

[EternalIllusion]

Last gaming mag i bought had the PS2 launch on the cover.

[oasked]

I haven't bought a gaming mag since Max Payne 2 came out.

Some of them are quite good, but the trouble is that it takes them such a long time to go to print that they are often out of date by the time they make it to shelves. They're also really expensive - £6 usually.

Bugger that, I'll read it all on the internet for free thanks.

[Jamie]

Since we are reminiscing, the last games magazine I bought was the official nintendo 64 magazine when Ocarina of Time was reviewed.

[boiled_elephant]

I like PCGamer for the subtle humour and sense of togetherness tinged by snobbery. It makes it more interesting than a website - where sites are democratic, magazines are fascist, and in some ways they benefit. Like having content edited, and not having to wade through every tom, wang and harry's unfounded views.
When you get a magazine, you get the view of a half dozen people. With the net, you get everyone's views. Some days, I prefer the former.

The most wank magazine I bought was PCPlus. It's modding for grannies, and not even much of that when it comes down to it.

[Amon]

I used to read a lot of gaming magazines. GMR, a small indie publication, stood out as a relatively good read. It never slanted on major release titles any more than the small gems. The rest were shite.