20 Years of Edge Magazine - The Bear and Badger

b0r1s

I know, but don't think Mrs Boris will fall for another gadget purchase yet.

beano

Well that's a shame. Soon, everyone here can be used to guilt trip your missus into agreeing for anything.

"But wifey, the forums says..."

the_beyonder

I bought and read Edge from issue 50 until a couple of years ago, when I realised that I really wasn't interested in most of the content - from the developer gumph at the back to the ever-pointless previews section at the front (is there ever a point to previews? It's just PR and promises that will subsequently be broken), via the redundant columnists (Biffo FTW) there was nothing worth my money besides the reviews and they're all online anyway. Quite honestly I don't really know who Edge is for these days - developers? 'Core' gamers?

Also, the covers..... I mean, this month it's a photo of a PS4. Big fucking whoop.

Elmlea

I bought something like issue 6, the one with Ridge Racer on the cover and lots of stuff about PSX.

The idea of cheaper paper makes me a bit sad. The iPad edition's good but I can't read it in my pool, the iPad doesn't like the brightness of the sun.

Dark Soldier

Elmlea wrote:

The iPad edition's good but I can't read it in my pool, the iPad doesn't like the brightness of the sun.

I feel for you.

EvilRedEye

I'd probably buy a Kindle version of Edge if they did one. That's Kindle as in e-paper Kindles, obviously.

regmcfly

Elm world problems

davyK

EvilRedEye wrote:

I'd probably buy a Kindle version of Edge if they did one. That's Kindle as in e-paper Kindles, obviously.

me too.

the_beyonder

Buying a magazine in a digital format (thus making it akin to a bad website) seems utterly redundant to me, but maybe I'm just an old man.

Elmlea

regmcfly wrote:

Elm world problems

My steam shower still doesn't work.

SonicBoomBoy

SpaceGazelle wrote:

20 years. FFS.

Yep, what i thought.

b0r1s

the_beyonder wrote:

Buying a magazine in a digital format (thus making it akin to a bad website) seems utterly redundant to me, but maybe I'm just an old man.

Actually works well as long as they make the effort to convert it and make it interactive. Reading a review and watching a video of the game is always good.

WorKid

Not sure if it's always been there but it said something about using recycled paper in this issue.
Quality definitely worse than normal. This is my last subscriber issue.

And therefore very likely to be my last every issue. This isn't worth five English pounds.

End of an era....

g.man

That's always been there. It's just cheaper paper.
Can't say It bothers me. If that's what they have to do to keep going in print then fair play to them.
I haven't read Edge in some time now. Cut the strings when we...um...cut the strings.
I picked up last month's issue to read on the plane to Brazil. It ran to 210 pages.
I picked up the new issue because being in Brazil meant I've missed everything about E3 and the new consoles. This month it runs to 130 pages.
Now I appreciate that the size of Edge has traditionally fluctuated throughout the year, but given that this issue is basically the big new consoles issue, you would have thought they would have been able to fill a few more pages than they did.

sign of the times perhaps

g.man

Escape

Dark Soldier wrote:

Elmlea wrote:

The iPad edition's good but I can't read it in my pool, the iPad doesn't like the brightness of the sun.

I feel for you.

The backlight's a boon for me when I'm down the mines.

RedDave2

the_beyonder wrote:

I bought and read Edge from issue 50 until a couple of years ago, when I realised that I really wasn't interested in most of the content - from the developer gumph at the back to the ever-pointless previews section at the front (is there ever a point to previews? It's just PR and promises that will subsequently be broken), via the redundant columnists (Biffo FTW) there was nothing worth my money besides the reviews and they're all online anyway. Quite honestly I don't really know who Edge is for these days - developers? 'Core' gamers? Also, the covers..... I mean, this month it's a photo of a PS4. Big fucking whoop.

Ah yes, the useless previews. I've never liked that Edge (and all other magazines in fairness) would accept rendered pictures for previews. Its not an indication of anything really. And the previews themselves cant be too detrimental as that would be unfair to a finished product (although I do remember a few previews which were quite harsh).

I honestly believe the never-ending run of previews and hype for some games can be more damaging than helpful to a new game. The same applies to movies. I've found that if I dont pay too much attention to these things I enjoy the finished game a lot more.

Moot_Geeza

RedDave2 wrote:

I've never liked that Edge (and all other magazines in fairness) would accept rendered pictures for previews. Its not an indication of anything really.

I remember I stopped buying Sega Power when they previewed Star Wars Arcade and Doom on the 32X, and filled eight pages with screenshots of the arcade game and the PC version. A few years earlier I thought it was a bit off when they reviewed the Champion Edition of SFII on the Megadrive (which had black borders at the top of the screen, separating the energy bars from the action). They gave it 98% iirc, but seemed unware at the time that Capcom had switched development to a 'Special Champion Edition', with extra turbo speeds and no border divide etc, which they slapped another 98% on in a subsequent issue with no real apology. So not only did they attribute a score to a preview copy, they effectively reviewed the wrong game too.

davyK

Escape wrote:

Dark Soldier wrote:

Elmlea wrote:

The iPad edition's good but I can't read it in my pool, the iPad doesn't like the brightness of the sun.

I feel for you.

The backlight's a boon for me when I'm down the mines.

My Kindle's one of the first international editions - (v2) with the keyboard and roaming 3G so I can buy a book or do basic web browsing anywhere - no backlight for me then - but I like it that way. Think it set wifey back the guts of £300 back then......how things have changed.

b0r1s

I'd have to say its exactly opposite for me on the previews, it gave me something to get excited about, didn't really matter whether the game lived up to the hype or not... But then again I'm a sucker for movie trailers.

g.man

Yeah, I always really liked the previews too.

coming soon

g.man

Escape

Nagoshi. Hype. [numbers]. Reg.

Elmlea

g.man wrote:

Now I appreciate that the size of Edge has traditionally fluctuated throughout the year, but given that this issue is basically the big new consoles issue, you would have thought they would have been able to fill a few more pages than they did. sign of the times perhaps g.man

It is; like someone pointed out a few posts ago, your news is easy to grab via the internet now, so by the time Edge is published, any news stuff is out of date. They can do opinion and dissection, but raw news doesn't really cut it anymore.

the_beyonder

b0r1s wrote:

I'd have to say its exactly opposite for me on the previews, it gave me something to get excited about, didn't really matter whether the game lived up to the hype or not... But then again I'm a sucker for movie trailers.

I enjoy a good movie trailer, but I wouldn't pay £5 to watch 'em.

ChopperByrne

Pretty certain this was my first issue:

Collected for a few years, but stopped when the articles just weren't interesting anymore.

They need to bring back Red Eye.

b0r1s

the_beyonder wrote:

I'd have to say its exactly opposite for me on the previews, it gave me something to get excited about, didn't really matter whether the game lived up to the hype or not... But then again I'm a sucker for movie trailers.

I enjoy a good movie trailer, but I wouldn't pay £5 to watch 'em.

I dunno, if someone got all the best trailers put em together into an hour long film I'd go :-)

Keeyop

b0r1s wrote:

the_beyonder wrote:

I'd have to say its exactly opposite for me on the previews, it gave me something to get excited about, didn't really matter whether the game lived up to the hype or not... But then again I'm a sucker for movie trailers.

I enjoy a good movie trailer, but I wouldn't pay £5 to watch 'em.

I dunno, if someone got all the best trailers put em together into an hour long film I'd go

Its like the trailer tapes you used to get with Empire magazine in the early 90's, no matter how good the trailers are though, after about half an hour it starts getting tedious.

beano

ChopperByrne wrote:

They need to bring back Red Eye.

I thought he still contributed to hype or reviews. But yeah, a column would be nostalgic.

the_beyonder

Edge needs some oomph. An angle. Some controversy. It just seems so bland and 'industry'.

Paul the sparky

It had plenty of that with the last issue unfortunately.

I don't need oomph and controversy from a video games magazine.

tigersgogrrr

God knows what my first issue was. Maybe the original Burnout issue?

My favourite features were always Time Extend and particularly The Making Of... when they touched on 16-bit and earlier titles. I always found those fascinating. The The Making Of... special is a fantastic read. I still think it's probably the best game magazine on the market, but that market has simply become increasingly irrelevant over the years and, for me, there's not enough of interest in the magazine to warrant a purchase.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories