Official XBox Magazine... in more ways than one.

Well, there aren't many XBox gaming mags out there... this is one of the few. Heck, it is the "official" XBox magazine! It some ways, the word official with anything associated with Microsoft may mean a lot of bias towards Microsoft's way. To a certain degree, that's true. In other ways, the magaizine's official status really helps out in getting some of the most secretive news and screenshots for huge XBox games... like Temco's Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball and Ninja Gaiden.

Cost

Before I get into anything else... let's just talk about the cost of this magazine. The newsstand price is $7.99 with the DVD... yes, I said $7.99! I have not seen a version without the DVD but I've been told that it exists at $4.99 a pop (I can't confirm that however). The subscription rate is $29.95 with the DVD disc included (I got it at $24.95 a year when I started 6 months ago)! That's a big difference... so if you're going to get the Official XBox Magazine, you're better off getting a subscription since it costs the same as 3 1/2 magazines at the newsstand.

Okay, that out of the way... What the major upside of this mag? (whisper... D-V-D!)

Well, the DVD of course. Do you know how hard it is to get XBox game demos? Well, this is one of the easiest ways to get your hands on some good demos before you buy a game! You get some quality in-game video clips from current and upcoming games like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Halo, Max Payne, as well as playable demos like Spider-Man the movie, Hunter: The Reckoning, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Vortex, etc... The DVD was one of the easiest ways to get the costume upgrades to Dead or Alive 3. Unfortunately, the rest of the stuff on the DVD from the top 10 video plays to the Can you believe that? sections are rather... urmm... pathetic. Some video reviews are on the disc but it is easier to read the review in the printed magazine page than on the screen. The other annoying part with the DVD is the downtime mode... if you leave the XBox alone, the menu will twist and turn, spin and rotate... just like a windows screensaver... well, exactly like a basic windows screensaver!

The Printed Word!

Well, I think the XBox is a great machine... but every system has some crappy games. XBox magazine has reviewed up to 98 games since the magazine's start date of December 2001. Strangely enough, the average rating has been around 7.3 to 8.6. A tad bit on the high side... 15 of these games are rated at 9.0 or higher! Only 5 games are rated less than 5.0 and a TOTAL of 13 are rated below 6.0! 63 games are rated between 6.5 and 8.9! These number indicate above average to excellent games! Now how would I know this... did I go through all 10 issues of Official XBox Magazine (OXM from here on out) to discover this info? Well, OXM give a list of all it's reviews since the first issue near the back of the magazine. At least it is very easy to find all the magazine review ratings.

So then... how are the reviews and previews then?

Overall, the information given in the reviews and previews aren't bad. They are extremely reminiscent to the now defunct Next Generation Video Game Magazine format. Every game take up at least half a page and up to two pages with few exceptions. Every review contains in-game shots, a brief synopsis of each game, a few "fun facts" and a section giving the good, bad, and perplexing parts of a game in the verdict section (as well as comments on the graphics, sounds, gameplay, and immersion). The only thing bothersome is that you don't know how they come up with the the Final Verdict Score... which runs on the high side for most games. Yes, Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon should have earned the 3 OXM gave it... but how can you justify 9.1 for Wreckless?! Hunter: The Reckoning getting a 8.9?! When you play the demo on the DVD, you won't even think of Hunter: The Reckoning being close to 6.0 for the poor controls (Yes, that is my opinion of Hunter)! Overall, the reviews are done well even though the numerical rating of the games are too high for several games.

The previews are done in similar style to the reviews, which is a welcome sight. Usually, the previews are two pages in length although one page is half covered by an in-game screenshot! Both the preview and review give you just enough information to catch your interest. The reviews and previews are well done and feel more informative than other magazines out there... except for the high numerical scores given to games.

Features

This is one area where OXM will mop up against other XBox game magazine... OXM can gain exclusive footage of Microsoft's own games and the other big gun companies for the XBox... just like the detailed multipage preview for Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball and Ninja Gaiden! The Unofficial XBox Magazine (yes there is a magazine with that name!) couldn't do that! Like the reviews and previews, the features give a good deal of information and then some.

Ads

I had to put this in here since advertisements take up at least 1/3 of the 130 page magazine! No... I'm not joking about that... if you're lucky, an issue or two may have only 1/4 of the issue with ads. Maybe that why the subscription price is so low compared to the newsstand price... scratch that... it's probably the only reason!

Anything else in an OXM issue?

There is a First Looks (Previews of games that are not even close to completion but deserve at least a page of info on them! Like True Crime:Streets of LA) and an All Access section (short news segways as well as rumor mill). Otherwise, there isn't much more to the magazine.

The Final Verdict

7.2 out of 10 if I use OXM terms...

Seriously, OXM is solid magazine and worth a subscription if you own an XBox. The decent to good reviews (as long as you don't take the numerical final verdict score seriously) and DVD demos are worth the subscription price alone! I'd just like them to clean up their numerical rating system a bit... 60-70% of XBox games should not rate above average... that's ridiculous... and I played just about all the games they rated. OXM does a good job on the write up of games... just not in their numerical rating of games.

Overall, I'd recommend OXM... it's a good compliment to your XBox.