Game Informer Magazine

Although I am not an avid gamer like I used to be, I still subscribe to a lot of gaming magazines (Gamepro, Electric Gaming Monthly, PSM, Computer Games, and GI) because I love reading the articles. I think in my reviews on EGM and Gamepro I said that one of those was the best, but I'll have to scratch that off because this is certainly the best magazine you can buy. It's cheap, the articles are of the highest caliber, there's a ton of pages with a ton of info, in depth guides that no other magazine can do, a classic gaming section, etc. there is just too much to tell and hopefully by the end of this review, you will understand why this magazine is the greatest and why no gamer should play games without it.

(In this review I will review the sections of the magazine in order…makes it easier on my part if you know what I mean…)

FIRST THINGS YOU WILL NOTICE RIGHT AWAY

Each issue is wider than a traditional magazine. "Game Informer" is as wide as "Rolling Stone" or "Official Playstation Magazine" so it sort of makes it hard to manage if your in the bathroom or in a cramped airplane but this is a good thing, too, because more info gets smashed in that space. Also, each cover is fantastically done with artistically vibrant colors and screenshots of games and eye-catching articles displayed. The cover makes you want to read the magazine. It's about as long as PSM, but it's actually longer since the pages have more width and length so you're getting a butt load of information.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The table of contents in "Game Informer" is incredible. There's a game index of all the games covered in the issue (similar to Gamepro's) and the sections are showcased with a little summary of what's happening in that particular section. It's very cool to receive the issue and just browse the table of contents just to see what's going on that month. It's informative and very convenient.

EDITORS' FORUM

This is the place where the all the writers give a paragraph (or in some cases the Editor In Chief gives a couple paragraphs) on a particular topic. This is just like EGM's things where the writers have a debate-type thing. The section is a good section if you like to read debates and stuff, but most of the topics are a little too boring for me, but they are well written and they always put up a good fight.

GI SPY

This section is basically "candid photos from the seamy underbelly of the video game industry". It's sort of cool because there are pictures of creators and development teams and stars and stuff, so it's cool to see what they look like. In between the pictures are summaries of what's happening in the pictures or who's in the pictures. It gets sort of boring though, but it's readable.

DEAR GI

From there it goes to the letters section. This is a great section because the letters are all pretty fun to read because they publish the questions that are on your mind and instead of the back sassing the person, they give honest answers that aren't annoying or smart. The letters are a bit long though. I like small letters because they get to the point quicker but the long questions are alright, just sort of weird. At the end of the section is Envelope Art and it's one of the coolest parts ever. The artist's art is showcased and underneath it is a little caption with something funny to say about it and I laugh every issue about what they say under the picture.

GI NEWS

Out of all my gaming magazines, "Game Informer" has the finest News chapter. There are in-depth details on future games, controversial issues in the gaming industry, news on video game movies, delays on games, and so on and so forth. There's a little min section where they invent a game and explain what would happen and the results are sort of funny like an Osbournes-Sims type game for instance. Plus under that there's a "Name That Game" little paragraph where it hints about the game and gives you a screenshot and you have to guess what game it is. You don't get anything for guessing it right, it's just sort of fun. Also, there's a banner where a developer and a reader name off their top five favorite video games sort of like what the early PSM used to do.

There's also a "Good, Bad, and Ugly" section where it tells the lowdown on the gaming industry and games and development companies and under that there's a "Loose Talk" section similar to EGM's "Q" where it displays the rumors of the gaming world like rumors on games and splits of companies (a la Nintendo and Rare…I'm still pis*ed about that). After that there's video game trivia, which is really fun to do if you are really bored and right next to that is the "Break Down" where the staff gives percentages for the gaming world like how many people have PS2s or how many people are logged on to XBOX LIVE at a time (examples…). Another thing is the "Data File" section where there are little paragraphs explaining about games in development and how things are going and all those little tidbits sort of similar to Gamepro's "Static" section.

COVER STORY

Each cover story is usually 8-10 pages and they are chock full of info. A while back there was a cover story about GTA: Vice City and after reading that very informative article, I went out and pre-ordered the game immediately. The cover stories are about a particular upcoming game that they are excited about and they go into major details about the game and dissect it before they even play the final game result. It's like a big preview of the game but it's great.

PREVIEWS

This section usually lasts for about 20-24 pages and is one of the finest things about this magazine because the previews are so well written and performed. The writer gives a couple paragraph explanation about the game and next to it is screenshots of the game and under the screen shots the writers are usually explaining what's going on in it. The amount of photos that they put in the preview section is absolutely stunning and a great visual experience to know if the game has good graphics or horrid ones. Something that I consider part of this section is the "Photophile" section. These are little previews of games where there's one screenshot and it explains a little about the game that they have little information for.

REVIEWS

This section usually starts out with each writer's bio where it displays the writer's picture, current games they are playing, their expertise, their likes, their dislikes, and their name. It's good for me because I like to get to know the person whom I read reviews from each month. It also displays the scoring system (1-10) and how they write their reviews. As usual, there are a couple paragraphs about the game and then they give their rating, they display the replay value of the game, the concept of the game (what's the point of the game), the overall graphics of the game, the sounds of the game, the controls/interface/playability of the game, and the entertainment/fun factor of the game alongside with photos galore. Something else that is really interesting is that there are two reviewers reviewing the game. There's the main reviewer writing a big chunk of the review and a secondary opinion from another reviewer. This is often helpful to me because I like two peoples' points of views better than one…that why I subscribe to a ton of gaming magazines.

In this section you will also find a "Newbie Cheat Sheet" where it tells you what some thing mean like "third-party-publishers", "CG", and "ISP". This is really helpful to me because it helps me write better reviews and/or help me play the game/understand the game better. Also, I think I forgot to mention this earlier: "Game Informer" reviews games from all systems instead of just one or two and that includes computer games.

CHARTS

This displays what's selling the gaming industry. It tells what games are hitting the top of the charts and it explains what's big in Japan, what PC games are on the top of the buying lists, and what games the "Game Informer" staff are playing. It's pretty straightforward. Also, there's a "Reviews Archive" in the mix where it tells the listings of the games that "Game Informer" has recently reviewed and those ratings. This is extremely helpful to me because a couple months back, my subscription ended and before I couple order it again, I missed a couple issues so this is good for me to catch up on what's hot and what's not.

SECRET ACCESS

This is where all the cheaters go. There are Gameshark codes here and regular codes to make your cheating habits tamed so it's all good for those people. The only real thing that sucks is that there aren't as many codes in this section as in other magazines, which might let done the code-hungry crowd. After that, there's usually a guide to a game. The guides that these guys come up with are spectacular. When I got Eternal Darkness for Gamecube, I checked out their guide and made it through the game just fine. Instead of telling you where to go, it tells you where to go and how to get there, which is extremely helpful.

CLASSIC GI

This is where all the classic gamers (AKA "old fart gamers" as I call them) should go because it has guides to classic games and even reviews to older games. Being a fan of SNES, NES, and Genesis games, I come here to see what's good and get help getting past some things in some games since I still buy used classic games. In this section you will even find a "Greatest Game Of All Time" mini-section where a writer gives his/her opinion on one of the best games of all time. This helps me out because then I can go back and play those classically great games from yesteryear and so can you.

ETC.

This is a section, which tells about merchandise and where you can buy them. "Game Informer" itself doesn't sell these products, but they display them with their websites and prices so that you can go out and check for yourself. The items in this tiny final section may include action figures, controllers, movies, Anime, comics, statues, and miscellaneous things that most gaming nerds like myself enjoy. Be on the lookout, consumers!

SPECS

One Year: $19.98
Two Years: $24.98
My Take On The Price: It's reasonable because you get what you paid for. This is a really good deal because each issue is jam-packed with games and up-to-date information.
Arrival: It depends on when you subscribe (I think), but I usually get each "Game Informer" issue at the end of each month
Pages: Usually there are 100-118 pages each issue but on some occasions there are more.
Material: The gloss pages feel really smooth…
Ads: There is a hefty load of them but not as much as other magazines but just enough to get annoying but don't really subtract the feeling of ecstasy from the pages.

CLOSING STATEMENTS

So that's my review on "Game Informer". I really hope you enjoyed it because it took me a friggin' long time to write. In my opinion, you should buy this magazine first and then go on later to the other ones because this magazine has more to offer. No, it doesn't have free demo discs or coupons; it just has quality articles and fun reviews. Buy this immediately because magazines like this doesn't come around very often. So to sum it up to you into two words: Buy it.

JiggyJay

QUOTE FOR THE REVIEW: "Slander Doesn't Exist In Magazines, Only Chaos." My friend and I still don't know what it means.

SIMILAR MAGS

Gamepro
Electric Gaming Monthly
GameNOW (even though GameNOW/Expert Gamer sucks)