EGM is the best gaming magazine!

EGM has to be the best magazine on the planet. I have been getting their magazine for almost a year and from what I’ve read, they are better than ANY other gaming magazine. I think that magazines that write about all of the consoles’ games are great (Game NOW and Gamepro are a few that do that). The magazines that write about only one console/company (Nintendo Power, PSM, and XBOX magazine) are okay, but not as good. With EGM and other magazines, they don’t take sides or anything. They like what they like and that’s all.

One of the few downsides of EGM is that they have way more ads then any other magazine. I may be overreacting, but there is a TON of ‘em! It’s like “Wow, this is a great review! Oh, what the crap? Another ad?”.

They have a great sense of humor also. There April Fools jokes are hilarious and great. The latest one, I think, was the Sonic and Tails in Super Smash Bros. Melee. They stumped me on that one. They said that you could get Sonic and Tails in the game (which is a lie) and they gave us a fake screenshot of it. On my friends Gamecube, I spent hours and hours trying to unlock the stupid friggin’ thing. They got me good.

In the Letters section, they have a letter-of-the-month, like in most magazines, except that they give the person who won, a Gameshark for any system. I think that EGM is the only one who rewards the people for writing in. I’m not sure though. Also, when people write to them, they give them mostly honest, nice answers. Instead of some magazines that sometimes put down the people…I’m not naming any names on that one, though…

In their news section called “Press Start”, they are very thorough like PSM, except that they write things about each console. They give details on new games coming out, what the dates are going to be, and what system the game is coming for. That’s how thorough they are. They tell you about new products coming out on the market (new controllers, joysticks, hardware like that) with release dates for them and the skinny on them.
Also in Press Start there is a section called “Afterthoughts” which is a great section also. When a big hit game comes out and does wonders, they interview the maker(s) of the game. Every time I get my new EGM mag, I IMMEDIATELY look at this section. For example, in the February issue of this year had 3 major games in the Afterthoughts part of the mag: Halo for XBOX, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for PS2, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (read my review) for PS2. They did a great job of interviewing the great, talented, genius, God, Hideo Kojima for the Metal Gear 2 part which was a great part.

The greatest thing is the Game Gossip and Speculation section. Man, is this section good. “The Q” does this section and he/she is great at it! It’s a basic rumor mill in the video game industry. I love this section because it updates me on Devil May Cry 2, Grand Theft Auto 4, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 all the time!

Their Previews section is simply spectacular. They always seem excited about a game so much that they write a page or two or three or something on one game. You can totally tell that they aren’t old farts trying to make money that have sold out on their fans (cough, cough, Game NOW, cough, cough).
In each preview, they state what percentage of the game is done and unfinished, it tells you what website to go to learn more about the game, and it also says “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” about each game that they preview.

The way they review games is simply the best part of their whole magazine. It is the best way to review a game. Instead of just one person reviewing one game like most magazines do, they almost always have three people reviewing one game. That is pretty awesome. I know what you must be thinking “Three people, one game. So what?” Well this is where it gets spectacular: there are only about twelve reviewers and they have to play about 33 games each month (which is usually shorter than a month I think). They (the reviewers) are Gods from another world to do this. Think about it: They have to beat the whole game, and then write a review about, and then they have to publish it. This takes time that they, surprisingly have.
I don’t have to get three gaming magazines (I like having choices because if I want a game that two mags recommend and one mag doesn’t, I can easily choose if I want to rent it or buy it. Think, folks! And like I want only one gaming magazine. That would be boring.) but I do. If I could only have one, I would choose EGM definitely.
The way they “grade” things is that, they pick a number between one and ten for the “Sound”, “Ingenuity”, “Replay”, and “Visuals”. They also, after writing a paragraph or two on the game, rate it a number between 1 and 10, 10 being the best. Few games have ever gotten a perfect 10 besides the Tony Hawk games, Halo, and Gran Turismo 3.

Their code section is VERY thorough. There is about four pages each magazine that is specifically dedicated to codes. They tell regular codes and Gameshark codes. I don’t use this section often, but when I do, it TRULY helps me a lot. They always test their codes before they publish them so you don’t have to worry if they work or not. That’s a great thing, folks.

In each magazine, there are about 200 pages in it. For special issues though (like the amazingly huge XBOX vs. GAMECUBE issue, was, I think, about 300 pages. I’m not sure though, so don’t bust my butt if I’m wrong.)

This is my favorite magazine and it should be yours as well. Go out to the newsstand and get it or better yet, buy a subscription. A year for $24.97? THAT IS A GOOD PRICE. I saw an ad that said you can get two years for that much too. I hope you choose this magazine. Thanks for reading my review.